Archive for the ‘ sierra leone ’ Category

A Point Halfway

As of tomorrow evening around 9 in the p.m. I will have officially been in Sierra Leone eight weeks. I've heard the phrase "Americans have the watches, but Africans have the time." I haven't worn a watch in years, yet I'm not so good at having time. A wise man once said, "Life moves fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

In an attempt to look around, I have begun a new season of pondering life. Why am I here again? What am I doing? How can I best serve my team, the Lighthouse folks, and others here in Freetown? How have things affected me? Has anything changed about me? How do I now see life? Why am I so selfish? What things have I done here made me come alive? What is next in life? How do I think about the future and be present here and now? Who shot JR?

These are (mostly) important questions. The things I've experienced, relationships I've established, and the thoughts I've had will be fodder lessons years into the future. There is not enough time to ponder all that comes my way while I am here, yet I am attempting to get a jump start on processing my experience. If necessary, I want to redirect my paths or jump on new ones in an attempt to get the most out of my remaining two months.

So if you have a question that would help me process my experience here, please send it my way. I will share them with my team as we all take a few steps back and think about our first two months here.
Things I've learned during my first 8 weeks:

  • I like: good laughs, deep conversations, frozen yogurt, coconut, walking, a cool breeze at night, nighttime rain
  • The mirror of a poda poda will give way if it hits you as you walk
  • Said mirror might hurt as it gives way
  • Duct tape is just as important on the other side of the world, if not more so.
  • Palm oil just might be evil.
  • Electricity is really optional for life, though it is still very welcome.
  • The headlamp is one of the greatest inventions in the world.
  • If a white man goes to a culture that has three different words that mean "white man," he will hear them pretty much everywhere.
  • God is good and faithful and patient and forgiving
  • Email is a really amazing invention. Gmail makes email even more amazing.
  • I enjoy a good beer more than I thought (no spirits for me while I'm here)
  • Emails and comments from good friends make me feel loved
2006
04/13
CATEGORY
sierra leone
10 comments

What is Poverty?

What is poverty?

Simple question, eh? Lack of money, right? I'm not so sure.

This question was posed to us our first week here in Freetown. It really annoyed me at first because it is such a straightforward, simple question, but demands a complex answer. There are so many dimensions that can play into the poverty of a person or group: money, community, relationships, access to political power, physical/mental/spiritual health, etc. What is the combination of factors that come together to cause someone to be poor? Am I poor? Are you?

I am (as are you, most likely) not poor in the eyes of my government or anyone around me here, however there still may be areas in which I am poor. As I have sought to chip away at my own brokenness – the identification that I am not perfect, that I do not have it all together, that there are areas of my life that I would like changed for the better, and that I have hurt others and myself in the process of doing life … in short, my sin before a perfect and loving God – I see that, though I am not poor in many ways, my poverty in a few ways can help me relate to the poor around me. We are alike in more ways that we are different – we have hopes, dreams, faults, talents, loves, annoyances, etc. Out of this realization I can build relationship with others on a similar level. We can then help out each other with the gifts/talents/skills that we have. There is no reaching down to help someone out – an orientation that says "hey, you need to be more like me as I have it all together … so come up to my level"; rather, we encourage each other along, working through our brokenness and varying poverties together, searching for a richer future that does not necessarily equate to dollar signs.

These are thoughts that I'm having these days.
So I challenge you: what do you think poverty is? You don't need to answer here; post something if you'd like. Just think about it.

2006
04/11
CATEGORY
sierra leone
4 comments

My Madness Has Subsided

Sorry for all of you out there that were hoping for some "vivid dream" posts. Thankfully, yet slightly disappointedly, my dreams have been no more vivid than normal and have produced nothing of interest to the general public. This is a good thing. Say yeah.

2006
04/11
CATEGORY
sierra leone
Comments Off

New Picture!

Happy Unknown Holiday!

A Burned Out Poda Poda

 

 

2006
04/10
CATEGORY
sierra leone
Comments Off

Still Alive

Thank you all for your patience. Life here in Freetown is moving quickly. Our routine has greased the skids for the weeks to fly by. This does not mean, however, that the day to day is anything but good. Today is a Muslim holiday observed as a national holiday, which one I don't know nor does anyone else that I've asked (although I've yet to see or ask a Muslim … they're on holiday). What this means is that the streets are practically empty and the pace of life is slower. For example, shops and street vendors did not start their business until after noon.

It rained last night – the second rain in less than a week. To use a cliche, when it rains, it pours. A few nights ago a thunderstorm came off the Atlantic and drenched us with over an hour of hard rain. I'm told that this is but the beginning of the rainy season. When it comes with full force, the hard rain will last up to seven hours. The benefit of such rain to those who are accustomed to a more temperate climate is that the temperature drops several degrees after the rain. However, if the sun comes out, the ground water will quickly become a sticky humidity for all to enjoy. Thankfully, today has been somewhat overcast and the cool weather has remained. Overall, the weather has been very nice for us here. The heat has at no time been unbearable and the temperature should only get cooler until we leave in June.

 

2006
04/10
CATEGORY
sierra leone
1 comment

Trashy Picture

Micah snapped this picture of one of the trash piles created as a result of the national cleanup day. This one has been collected by the government, as are most of the ones in the downtown area. There are still may piles yet uncollected in the surrounding areas of Freetown.

In jest and protest, residents often pile trash in the middle of an intersection or road in such a way to make passing by car difficult, if not impossible. This picture is taken near Kroo Bay, in the downtown area of Freetown. The cleanup day near where I live was not this dramatic, as the population is less poor and densely situationed. There was no pile of trash outside our house; it is relatively clean every day.

Trash Day - Micah

 

2006
04/03
CATEGORY
sierra leone
2 comments

A Glimmer of Hope?

Justice appears to be on the horizon. Charles Taylor, a modern day maniac likened to Hitler, was captured today in Nigeria. Check out the story here and see some pictures here. He is the former president of Liberia, Sierra Leone's neighbor to the east. He has been charged with aiding the rebel forces that committed the horrible atrocities that have become synonymous with Sierra Leone. He and his government traded weapons for the "blood diamonds" mined in Sierra Leone during its civil war. He has also been charged with laundering money for Al Qaeda by trading cash for diamonds. Diamonds are much harder to trace which comes in handy when the bank accounts are frozen. So, long story short, Charles Taylor is a bad guy.

Educational Link: Learn more about Charles Taylor at Wikipedia.

Please pray for justice in his trial and that Sierra Leoneans would be given a sense of hope in seeing justice in action.

Side Note: I believe that I saw the helicoptor that carried Charles Taylor to Sierra Leone fly over my house today. Crazy. We live about two miles from the UN compound where it landed.
2006
03/30
CATEGORY
sierra leone
2 comments

Update: National Cleaning Day

I heard a rumor yesterday about the national cleaning day I mentioned a few days ago. According to an unnamed source, not that you would have any clue who it was anyway, a Belgian group provided the Sierra Leonean government with a large sum of money to help clean up the city. The money was allegedly misused. With a pending visit of individuals representing the Belgian group, the government needed to do something to convince them that the funds had been utilized according to their intended purpose. The national cleaning day was allegedly instituted to accomplish this goal.

Is the rumor true? Who knows? I don't necessarily give it too much credit, but its mere existence is indicative of how the average Sierra Leonean views the government. There is so much corruption that every action is seen through the filter of "I wonder where the money really went?" In the U.S. there might be an investigative news story or even a congressional hearing, but here there will only be accusations passed on by word of mouth. The "story" may be printed in one of the many daily newspapers, but, unlike in more familiar places, there is almost no trust in the media here. Lies and corruption are as abundant in the media as they are in the government … at least that is the impression.

Accompanying the filter is a sense of hopelessness. There is no hope for a hearing or truthful, trustworthy media report. There is little hope for justice in this land where injustice is rampant. And it is hope that I feel is vital to rebuilding this country. You cannot demand hope of someone; it must rise up from within him. Only then will a person have the sustained strength to work for desired changes.

We're trying to instill such hope in the young adults of the Lighthouse program and the kids that come to the Kroo Bay GNC. We want them to know that they have worth and are valued. They are created in the image of the all-powerful God. For this reason alone, they are of immense value that cannot be taken away. There is hope for them. The road will not be easy or short, but there is hope that they will be able to live rich lives outside poverty.

2006
03/30
CATEGORY
sierra leone
1 comment

A Note to Employees of a Small Pharma Company

To all of my friends at a small pharmaceutical company that have corresponded with me via email, please check your junk mail folders. Apparently Lotus Notes finds me disagreeable and attempts to junk me. I think you can highlight the message and use the "Spam Management" button to keep messages from my email address from going to your junk mail folder.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

2006
03/30
CATEGORY
sierra leone
1 comment

Email Grace

I ask for your continued grace as I respond to your emails. Thank you all so much for taking the time to write me. It brightens my day to log in and see your name waiting for me. There is a larger backlog of email than I would like at this time, something that I will try to remedy this week.

Thanks!

2006
03/28
CATEGORY
sierra leone
1 comment