Hello from Freetown

Happy Easter! I had a quiet Easter on the Freetown peninsular. Over the break the Country Director and Assistant Country Director went on holiday to Dakkar so I was briefly promoted to acting Country Director!

Over the long weekend I visited the local Chimpanzee Sanctuary, known locally as the Baboon Skul. Recently there had been an escape and two visitors had been mutilated by a big male chimp, so I wasn't expecting a beacon of animal welfare. It turned-out to be very well run and most of the chimps looked pretty content. I also went on a trek to a local water fall and visited the beach. The beach was extremely busy with huge crowds partying to rival 'Sound Systems', Nottinghill Carnival style, getting merry on palm wine and beer.

Work is starting to pick-up a bit and have been in tense negotiations for parcels of land in Freetown on which to build new Street Childrens' Centres. Have managed to negotiate from $60,000 down to around $5,000 on the first plot. I have also been exploring jungle tracks looking for routes for new roads to remote communties. During one trip we bought four litres of palm wine, collected fresh from the tree, for about 40p. It was warm and insipid and smelled of sweaty socks. That evening I took it as a bottle of chilled white to a party and, after a few beers and whiskies, drank a good half-litre or so in a show of brovado!

It has been an interesting couple of months getting to know the rural Sierra Leonian psyche and their view of the whiteman (Poo-mui) and the land of Poo. In the rural villages there is a very strong belief in bush societies, witches and traditional medicine. Most illness or misfortune is blamed on witches and 'bad medicine' (curses) being placed on you by your enemies. Although Poo-mui medicine is understood to be very powerful, especially injections, traditional cures and curses are the definitive and are usually very cheap or free. We then have to be very sensitive to these beliefs and take them into consideration in our work.

It has also been interesting learning about the 'Aid Industry' and the different organisations involved. It seems that about fifty percent of the economy in Sierra Leone is based around NGOs, the UN and charitable organisations. For instance some of the best paid and most sort after jobs are with NGOs and the main high street in the small town of Kenema is full of either NGO or Diamond Trader's offices. NGOs are therefore in for the long-haul as they try to reduce the donor depenedency of the country before they withdraw.

That's all for now

Alex