I arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone on Tuesday evening. I completed 2 days of briefings and then went on to the project post on Friday. That entailed a 7 hour drive into the bush, the last 2 hours being the worst road I had ever experienced in my life! It is difficult to impress me with anything like depravity, extreme weather, bad travel conditions, poor infrastructure, bugs, insects, rodents or reptiles, physical ailments/poor health etc., so when I say this road was bad, trust me that I am not exaggerating. I will be a frequent traveler on said road being that I will be going to health posts weekly, so there will be time to post photos but I fear they will not do it justice and I may need to post a video on Instagram for full effect.
Sierra Leone is beautiful. The people are beautiful and the scenery is stunning. The above photo is the Sewa River at dusk just before a thunderstorm. The rainy season hasn’t started in earnest yet but every few days we get a little rain here and there and sometimes it is quite impressive. Once the rainy season starts, it will last 6 months.
The village where we stay is called Baama. There are 8 total expats in 2 different houses about 5 minutes apart on foot. The house I stay in is called the farmhouse. The other house is called the city house. I suggested we call one the snake house and the other the scorpion house because we are always finding snakes and they are always finding scorpions.
The accommodations are basic but sufficient. We each have our own room. Mine has a full sized bed with mandatory mosquito net, armoire, mirror and a window. No bedside table so I am using a chair at the moment. Definitely not furnished by Wayfair. The room is small but I have a fan so I can sleep relatively comfortably at night. We have solar electricity but a generator for back-up.
We take bucket showers. There is cold running water in the kitchen sink and in another sink where we brush our teeth. The cleaner and her helper cook lunch and dinner for us during the week and also wash our clothes, do the dishes and clean the house. We are mostly outside on the porch when we are home; it is too hot to be inside our rooms and there is no common area indoors. We generally are in our rooms to sleep and change clothes. It is about 95 degree average here. High 70s at night.
The other expats are from all over. Tunisia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Germany and Lebanon. They make up the team that is Logistics, Medical Coordinator, Program manager, outreach nurse, doctor and midwife.
The office is located straight down the road about a 5 minute drive. I have a desk space there and will work out of the office but will be visiting health posts during the week much of the time. More on that in a later post.
The people in the village could not be more lovely or welcoming. This is not a tourist country and this certainly is NOT a tourist town! I am sure the first foreigners some of them have seen was a few years ago when Ebola came calling. 60% of the population is Muslim and the rest are Christian. They live peacefully together and even inter-marry. They attend each others functions and celebrate Eid and Christmas together and are a shining example of how religions do not need to be at odds with each other.
The area we are in is largely supported by diamond mines. That is the main work of many of the people here. Southern and Eastern Sierra Leone are very rich in diamonds and control of the diamond mines was the cause of the 11 year armed conflict, which ended in 2002. The conflict was particularly long and violent because both the rebels and the government were funded by blood diamonds mined by slave labor.
English is the official language of Sierra Leone, meaning that it is used in legal documents, government, schools and media. Since this is a very poor country, much of the population remains uneducated and without education, people do not learn to speak English. Krio is widely spoken by most people. It is an English-based Creole language that I believe will be fairly easy to learn once I get into it. Aside from those, Limba, Kissi, Kono, Fula, Mandingo, Kuranko and Susu are spoken by different people in different areas of the country.
This week I begin my briefings and orientation in the project. I will be writing more about my experiences here both clinically, culturally and personally when I have the time. Open to suggestions about specific topics as well.
3 Responses
It’s so wonderful to read about Muslims and Christians living peacefully together, sharing functions and celebrating Eid and Christmas together. My best friend is Muslim and we also celebrate holidays together. Our bond has been made even stronger by learning that we share the same core beliefs and faith. Thank you for sharing this. 💕
I love how nonchalant you are about snakes and scorpions!!! Can’t wait to hear all about your adventures! When I was in Senegal the coffee was THE BEST (cafe Touba…did you try that there). Hopefully they have amazing coffee in Seirra Leone, as well! xoxo
Have you met me? There isn’t much that ruffles me in that regard. We had scopions in Afghanistan and there were tons in Guatemala as well. I am no stranger to the scorpion.