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Published: September 1st 2005
* * *I just added a bunch of pictures to the Sarajevo entry if you want to check them out* * *
Well, my trip is now over and I'm back in Calgary. To finish it off, I spent just over two weeks in Sierra Leone to do some volunteer work with my dad and sister Shanti. It was a great experience, and very interesting because it's so different from our western society. It's definitely not the place to go if you're looking for comfort and conveience, but that's makes the whole experience more interesting. Unfortunately, my camera died on day 2 so I missed out on a lot of good pictures, but I've got some posted here.
Sierra Leone is a poor country and just came out of a civil war a few years ago but the people are very friendly and outgoing. I especially enjoyed interacting with the kids, who are very intrigued by white people. Everything seems to be old and rundown: the roads, the vehicles, the buildings, and the general infrastructure. Freetown, the capital and biggest city, is usually without power and many people life in small shacks. It's also a very lively city with
crowded streets and lots of noise, probably because there's not much to do in a shack with no electricity. The rest of the country feels very rural.
I spent about half of my time in Freetown and half the time 'upcountry'. The roads are pretty brutal but I only got carsick once fortunately. I got to borrow a dirt bike for a day and that's definitely the way to get around (although Shanti may not agree with that). Shanti and I got a ride to Bo (the second biggest city) from Freetown in a World Vision Land Cruiser with an insane driver who didn't slow down for the bad sections or the villages where there were many people and animals walking on the road. It was like being in a paint shaker for 3 hours...all the pens in my pack exploded during the drive. We even killed a goose while roaring through a village, and our driver got an earful from the villagers when the truck stalled.
So what did we do? I came here hoping to get involved in some water projects but there isn't much activity with that until the dry season so I just helped
my dad and Shanti with their work. My dad's organization is Christian Veterinary Missions and he's setting up small chickens farms to help poor farmers. There was also a large shipping container of donated supplies that got shipped from Canada but it didn't get released until after I left. Shanti is a teacher and I was her 'assistant' while she conducted a literacy workshop for teachers from small villages. I also went to an orphanage with Shanti and took pictures of the kids so that they can be matched up with sponsors.
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Jasen
non-member comment
Welcome back
It's been great reading your blog. Hopefully you'll have some more stories and pictures to share next time we see you (maybe on Friday the 9th?).