The solar team testing to find the best angle to place the panels

Solar installations in Southern and Eastern Provinces

Just back from a week on the road with the solar team. We travelled first to Moyamba and then on to Bo, Salones second city, and finally over the Moa River to the Liberian border installing solar panels in hospitals and community health centres. The communities were very excited at the prospect of light in the evening and many people gathered to watch the team do their magic, including the village chief and gaggles of excited kids. It’s difficult to believe that these villages have survived for so long with only open fires and kerosene lamps for light especially considering it gets dark by 7pm all year round. The team are extremely well trained, Kamada the boss having travelled to India with the organisations director Idriss, to learn solar engineering from Bunker Roy’s Barefoot College some years ago. Since then Safer Future has been providing free training to young people interested in learning the trade. These young people are then able to gain employment by either getting jobs as solar engineers or continuing work with Safer Future on government funded contracts to install solar in remote areas. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds this year’s training will not be able to take place.

It’s has been really great to get out of the office and into the field to see the projects working, see the effects they are having on the communities involved and see the quality of work being performed by the engineers.

The idea of giving people who have been in darkness until now access to light is still a tough one to grasp but there really is still such a long way to go. Even in the capital many people don’t have electricity, use the polluted rivers to wash in, and almost everyone still cooks on open fire, fuelled by the quickly diminishing rain forests.

Andi our in house chemist is currently trying to set up a bio fuel project on the farm to create ethanol based fuel for use in stoves, motorbikes and other farm equipment. This will be a relatively inexpensive and sustainable project as after it has been set-up all that is needed to maintain it is bio-waste…..stay tuned.

A quick update

Week four already…time is flying! After a tough week in the office afthis weekend was spent relaxing between the beach and the farm. Friday night was my first night sleeping under the stars with the soothing sound of the ocean coaxing me to sleep. It was really beautiful, so much so that every time I woke in the night I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning, almost squealing to see the view of the stars above, the bonfire crackling and keeping me warm and the powerful waves crashing off the rocks close to my feet with nothing to protect me but a 19 year old Austrian and a mosquito net.  Saturday comprised of a long walk on the beaches where we stumbled upon an eco village called Tribe Wanted on John Obey beach. This village was set up by a British and Italian who were interested in setting up a self-sustaining holiday resort where tourists can come and stay, volunteers can come and work and the local fishing villages can gain employment and training on sustainable living. Currently 25 local people are employed by the eco village to build holiday bungalows, mud domes that look like they belong in a Middle Eastern desert, permaculture that sustains the local villages and tourists and a solar house, which provides the power. Some sceptics out there may wonder what the point in the village is, the reason I really like it is that Africa really seems to be a place where the west and east come to remove valuable resources leaving behind little more than junk they no longer need, empty, dangerous mines, polluted rivers from mineral extraction etc. and this village is something positive that will leave a lasting effect on the local communities and attract positive attention and like minded travellers to come, visit and take care of the local environment before they leave again. Check it out if you get the chance: http://www.tribewanted.com/ 

Monday morning and back to the office, today I am preparing for a meeting with the director and other volunteers to brainstorm 2-3 major points which need to be addressed regarding the running of the organization and what improvements can be achieved or at least started during my short time here. My current list is quite long and includes topics such a financial transparency, reporting, and accountability, pressing topics in any organization but particularly important for NGO’s when continued funding is dependent on the quality and timely delivery of reports and budgets. As my experience with the organization and the culture here is limited to just a few weeks I will rely heavily on the input from the director and other volunteers in making a plan that will last and be integrated into the working culture here at Safer.

Later today I will be travelling on a tour of the Eastern and Southern provinces to oversee the installation of solar panels in local schools, libraries and community centres. This project is funded by a partnership between Safer Future who provide the knowhow and labour and (NCSA) National Commission for Social Action who provides the majority of funding and monitoring power. 

Rehabilitation of Junior Secondary School Allen town

Some very generous friends from Ireland/Germany, who know me far too well J had been expecting me to get in touch around funding for projects out here as soon as I arrived, have generously donated €500!

There are many worthy projects at the moment but one in particular takes priority. The Junior Secondary School run by Safer Future has not been able to re-open after Christmas break as the plastic make shift roof has been destroyed during the wet season and now will not protect the children from the glaring African sun. The funds get allocated to the rehabilitation of the Junior Secondary School and the principal is so exited at the news he doesn’t want to want a week until the money arrives so some of us volunteers chip in and give him the money that day so they can get working straight away.

The next day the roof has been replaced with much more stable Zink sheets and we have also been able to make doors for the school so the kids don’t need to carry the furniture in and out every day from the locked store room, which means that the furniture will also last longer.

The rest of the money has gone towards buying bricks to fix up the crumbling steps and edges of the building to make it safer.

Big thanks to the Walsh family; your generosity has made many a face smile this Monday as the school re-opens! A special assembly was held to say thanks to you both, wish you could have been here!

Bureh beach

Big city life - due to the war there was a big influx of people to the urban area of Freetown causing a jump in population from 800,000 to over 1.3million

Freetown

Weekend on the islands

Just back from a weekend on Banana islands with the other volunteers.  We left at lunch time on Friday to go meet Charlotte, her mum Andi and his brother at Bureh beach before travelling to Kent to get the boat to Dublin island – home hehe, and it felt like it could be home! Went for a swim in the beautiful clean ocean (cleanest I’ve felt all week) and then packed up our stuff to go to Kent. We started walking and half way there we got a taxi – 11 people in a small car, well 8 inside and 3 outside, as the driver took a bend Alusein fell off the back of the car and ripped himself up pretty badly. There was a lot of blood and screams, quite horrific and we had just been laughing and taking photos at the sight of 11 people in a car – pretty stupid eh but I think we all learned a lesson! The roads here are terrible and the drivers are reckless, I see multiple accidents each time I travel. The taxi rushed Alusein to the next town to find a doctor and we walked behind. After a few hours he was all stitched up and put to sleep and we headed for the island.

What a beautiful, unspoiled paradise, Daltons’ guesthouse is half way down Dublin Island, directly on the beach. We had a wonderful meal of fish and a few beers and hit the sack. On Saturday we got up, had breakfast and went on a fishing trip with Greg the owner for a few hours. We snorkelled around the reefs while Greg was busy harpooning our dinner for that evening. The next day we headed back to Bureh to see how Alusein was holding up and he was already back to work in his beach restaurant. There was a big party on the beach with music and food and hundreds of locals, apparently this happens on most beaches every Sunday, needless to say we joined in.

Will try and get some photos up shortly!

Day 3 - Time for some work

I am already feeling much more settled in my new hood, went to the local bar last night at Allen town junction for a few beers with Giga and Idriss, and watched the town burst into life as dusk approached. Not many places have electricity so we sat with the dim light of kerosene lamps and bonfires, to the sound of African/Jamaican music being pumped out of the bars. As the mosque’s began to 

Call people in for the evening prayer the music was shut off. I tasted a local palm wine – pojjo, which is harvested directly from the palm trees into plastic containers and ferments getting stronger and stronger as the day progresses – think I’ll stick to beer for now. They also sell sachets of cheap alcoholic concoctions; spirits mixed with food flavouring, a taste tells me these things could cause some serious internal damage. Okay enough about the nightlife for nowJ

If I had to sum up the most pressing impressions so far it would have to be the lack of clean, safe water to drink and wash with and the dirt and smells, luckily the house where I am staying is very clean and the office where I work as well, but naturally there is a massive difference to European standards that is just difficult to comprehend having grown up there. Another really strong feeling at the moment is ‘where to start?!’ things here are just so different, but I think after some time that will all become clearer. And finally at the risk of sounding righteous, it really is all about attitude, these people laugh and smile a hell of a lot more than many of us Europeans who have everything at our finger tips. Not only that but it seems whatever the circumstances the same topics dominate: love, desire, fear, jealousy….

The first day at the office involved a lot of introductions and new faces, the dial up Internet connection is painfully slow and this really impedes productivity. Went to visit the farm where I got shown around, the pineapple plantations, cashew trees, chicken huts etc.  Lack of water in the dry season is a major issue but they have found some very clever irrigation techniques, which manage to circumnavigate this problem on a small scale for now.

Andy one of the volunteers who studied chemistry with a specialization on plastics, is doing some really interesting work such as fermenting rotten fruit to make lighter fluid for fires, he also brought a shredder to recycle plastic but there is not enough electricity to run the machine on a regular basis. Plastic is a big issue here, most products come from China and are made of plastic and there is no system in place to recycle this material and also the current culture here also does not support much recycling, for plastics at least, litter covers the streets, from plastic bottles to the plastic bags soft drinks and alcohol are served in. If you go to a kiosk to buy anything you get given a plastic bag for free and these are then found all over the streets. Andy and his girlfriend Charlotte wanted to potentially start a self sustaining business which would model the inspirational businesses which have been developed in China to recycle high quality plastic. Mountains of plastic are collected and cut up according to colour and each family in a village will take a certain colour plastic to ensure after it is shredded and melted it is of the purist quality. In some villages the government has even given households plastic shredders and melting machines to facilitate the process. Not only does this encourage people to keep the environment clean but they can also make a living for themselves by selling this plastic back to the bottle factories. The main issue with transferring this idea to Sierra Leone is the lack of electricity. The government simply turns the power for the country on and off for days at a time without any notification to local businesses or residents. Luckily Safer Future has solar back up generated by the solar panels but this also does not last long and is only strong enough to power small devices such as light bulbs.

Back to the water issue, in Allen town there is a water source which pumps water to the village but locals have cut this pipe at will to fill their buckets so they do no have to travel so far and the water then flows constantly from these slashes in the pipes all over the streets, not only wasting water but also spreading disease as it picks up waste and rubbish on its journey. A solution for this issue is really hard to fathom as I don’t think holding a town meeting and explaining this problem and asking people to walk further to get water rather than cutting pipes will be a viable solution. It seems as people have very little here this has created a mentality of ‘take what you can get, when you can get it’ which is quite a short term outlook but also understandable when you see the conditions people are living in. Although it sounds like it is each person for themselves here there is also paradoxically an immense sense of community and as the foreign white woman I feel very much looked after and protected by the whole community due to the respect people have for Idriss and what he has done through Safer Future for the people.

My first project will hopefully help me better understand the WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) division and the complexities associated with creating a project proposal, getting funding, implementing and monitoring the success of a project. 

A friend in Germany expressed interest in fund raising to build a well in Sierra Leone, therefore my plan is to travel to Port Loko district to see for myself the similar projects which have been implemented and to assess if any of the materials bought by UNICEF can be re-used for future projects. Basically the WASH division have a mission to educate villages around the dangers of open defecation and to empower and support the people of these villages to build a toilet for themselves both financially and technically. The Safer Future crew then monitor the success of this project and based on the utilization of the toilet and cessation of open defecation they then move on to the next step – building the well. One skilled technician is contracted locally or supplied by SFYDP along with a team of local unskilled workers to construct or rehabilitate existing wells. This process is closely monitored and supported to ensure that the local people are using the new facilities correctly.

This is a lengthily process involving quite some time and cooperation from both SFYDP and the local community and I’m looking forward to seeing how it works for myself.

Day 1 – Arrived safe and sound in SL!

Wow, nothing I could have read, watched or dreamt about could have actually prepared me for this…….

Arrived in Lungi yesterday evening and was very happy to see someone waiting outside the airport with a sign with my name on it.  No issues with baggage or getting through security although there was a big slash down the front of my suitcase. Hopped in Sultan’s waiting jeep and sped through the streets to try and catch the ferry to Freetown, it took me a few minutes to figure out which side of the street we should be driving on as he zipped between people, animals, cars.

I used to think Bangkok was a flurry of sights, sounds and smells but it’s nothing on SL. We had a 3 hr wait for the ferry to Freetown and this has given me a sense for the differences of time between Europe and Africa. Time just passes, no stress - people talk, eat, drink, buy and sell. Gaggles of beautiful little kids started surrounding the only white chick at the port – Opodo!!! and they taught me my first few Krio sentences while using any opportunity to reach out and touch me. And then look away giggling.

The ferry ride was another shock to the senses, from the dead dog floating beside the ferry to the kids using it as a target to spit at. Just as we approached Freetown the workers came and dumped the rubbish bins overboard into the already heavily polluted water.

The drive from the port to Allen town; my new home, was a blur of lively bars and clubs, bonfires and make shift markets and shacks densely populated with people. I reckon it’s going to take a few more days before I am settled enough to start taking in the details of this new place.

At about 10pm we arrived at Idrisss’ house, my new home in Allen town. It’s too dark to see much but it’s a full house of welcoming faces. I toast the New Year with a glass of warm champagne and a concoction of food that I have yet to know what it was. Time for bed! And to my surprise and delight there is a cozy double bed waiting for me J

After 12 glorious hours of clammy sleep it’s time to see what I’m in for in the light of day J I wake to find a sweetly written note has been pushed under my door, welcoming me to Sierra Leone with a message ‘I need to get to the point I want you to be my friend, my best friend’ by Idrisss’ youngest daughter Idiatu.

The 2^nd is a holiday, which is nice as I slept til after 11am. Time to meet the family; Pricella, Idrisss’ heavily pregnant wife, Idiatu and Mary mar his two daughters and a few other brothers and uncles make up the clan.

After breakfast Pricilla took me aside to give me some advice while I’m here in SL. Apparently there will be elections this year, which means that I should not go out with anyone as I could be taken as a sacrifice for the elections – although I have not felt threatened in Lungi or here in Allen town I don’t think I will be going out on my own anytime soon.

I also got to meet the other volunteers, Giga a very clued in 19 year old from a little village in Austria has been here since July on his civil year before college and speaks krio fluently with a thick African accent. Andy also from Austria studied chemistry and is trying to set up a plastic recycling project here and Charlotte from France who is writing her Masters thesis on agriculture in Sierra Leone. They both live on the farm near waterloo and have been here since September. I am very grateful to have some friendly, experienced people to show me the ropes here!

My first day at work starts tomorrow, we will have a team meeting in Allen town and then travel to the farm to give me an overview of the facilities there before figuring out where I can be best put to use.

On another note, I have never had such an emotional shower; okay it’s not quite a shower, more like a hole in the ground and a bucket of water. I went from feeling like the ‘clichéd stupid white girl’ not sure how anything should work to feeling extremely invigorated by the simplicity of life and the back to basics of everything. I have a feeling this little adventure is going to be a rollercoaster of learning and feeling.

Anyway that’s it for now!