This may have been helpful earlier

The other day I discovered this very handy map of Sierra Leone.  This may have been handy in previous posts but now you can see where Freetown, Bo, Makeni, Magburaka, Banana Island and the Turtle Islands are in this country (which holds to the universal measure of being the size of Wales (More or Less listeners will understand!))

Banana Island

It may seem that my life has been a bit of a holiday recently.  After not having done too much travel I have been out and about visiting the tourist spots of Sierra Leone.  Last weekend it was Banana Island with 8 friends.

According to the Bradt Guide - the only guide book for Sierra Leone and as such a vital piece of reading while living and visiting - Banana Island is in fact three islands in a long row with a makeshift causeway of rocks joining them.

Banana Island View

We stayed at Dalton’s Banana Guesthouse which has a lovely backpacker feel with communal eating and accommodation ranging from the super comfy with en-suite to the family tent with access to shower and toilet block.  We were in the tent and it was amazingly comfy and cool – a real find.

Dalton’s also has a boat which makes the journey from Kent.  It is a 20 minute crossing which passed quickly as I watched the tropical paradise approach. But hang on what’s that in the sea?  Rubbish that’s what it was.  This paradise is spoilt by the rubbish that is allowed to move in and out with the tide.  It is really not a pleasant experience to have plastic water packets sharing the water while you are swimming.  It is such a shame as an organised cleaning of the beach and organising proper waste disposal would soon rid the beach of this problem.  Once again sanitation let’s down Sierra Leone.

After a night of Scruples and fine sleep  we five girls headed for a walk through the forest to the causeway.  It was further than we expected but we cheerfully carried on after a rest stop for Laura’s amazing brownies.

Me, Laura, Ali and Petra ready for Brownies

The causeway was choked with rubbish too but we did manage to have a swim out over the rocks.  Lovely after a sweaty tramp through the woods.

Our Little Mermaids - Ali and Petra

Back to the guesthouse and then the long journey back to Freetown with boat and taxi.  All worth it though as despite the rubbish I will head  back to the Islands for their peace and tranquility.

Rogbonko Village Retreat

A couple of weekends ago Thea, Nargis and I headed for the peace and tranquillity of Rogbonko Village Retreat.

This is a lovely spot built on the edge of Rogbonko Mathaka village.  This village is in the northern province of Tonkilili and not very far from my new work base of Magburaka.  And after the weekend there it will definitely be on any itinerary I pull together for friends.

Here is a link to their website

http://www.rogbonkovillage.com/

It is about a 4 hour drive from Freetown and many thanks to Thea for doing all the driving.  We stopped in Makeni for lunch and arrived at Rogbonko around 4pm.

Main Street Rogbonko Mathaka

 I was exhausted and flopped down on my bed in the lovely cabin.  Well that was me – in a cool dark room I slept and slept.  I woke around 3am to enjoy the complete darkness and silence!  Amazing.

Fully rested, the next morning we had a local breakfast of eggs, sweet potato and onion sauce.  This prepared us for a walk through the village and cashew plantation.  We arrived at the river which was a hive of activity as people from two villages gathered to do their washing.

Wash Day

Part of the walk was a ride in a dug out canoe but we had a problem.  It had sunk.  So “White Boy” waded in to locate it and bring it out for us to use.

Our boat

 We were a trifle concerned but squatting in the middle of the boat we made it to the other side to see the sugar cane.

A wonderfully restful and recuperative weekend.

View from Sugar Plantation

Mid February – a time of change

Today was my last day in the Directorate of Financial Resources at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.  Funnily this is exactly one year on from leaving Tata Steel.  Here are some pictures of the farewell they gave me and my gift.

The Management Team:  Sorie, Amara and I

Sorie, who kept me sane

The team, who kept me smiling

My gift

But I hear you ask, what is going on? Your one year VSO placement at the Ministry was due to finish in March.  Yes it is but I am leaving early as a new chapter is about to begin.  I may be finished with VSO but I am not departing Sierra Leone just yet.

On 1 March I start working for Concern Worldwide as a Finance Officer.  Concern work in Freetown, the Western area and Tonkilili District.  My volunteer role is a new one where I shall be spending half my time in the Freetown office working on donor reporting and the other half in the Magburaka office, the administrative centre for Tonkilili District, working with local partners.  So I shall be an UpLine Girl rather than an Uptown Girl. 

But first two weeks off work to pack and move myself to Magburaka.  I am quite amazed at how much I have amassed in such a short time.  I will be sad to leave my VSO house as I have been very happy there. 

Apart from packing I am making the most of the time off by visiting Banana Island this weekend and making a four day trip to Turtle Island next weekend!  All part of my reconnaissance for drawing up the perfect itinerary for those who come to visit. 

Childhood

The other night as I was walking home I took my usual route up the cut through which goes past a number of houses, a carpenter’s workshop and the local shop.  This is always a hive of activity as there is also a standpipe where people can draw water and do their washing

.

Washing here does not mean separating the clothes and throwing them in the washing machine but is a far more labour intensive activity.  Usually it is the women or girls bent over the bowl but that day I witnessed a sight I would never see in the UK.  A wee lad of about 5 was bent over his washing bowl holding on to the washboard propped inside as with his other hand he was using a scrubbing brush to wash his school trousers.  I was initially charmed but then started to think about how different his childhood is to that of the 5 year olds I know.

Every day I see children working.  They may be selling packets of water in bowls precariously balances on their heads, collecting jerry cans of water from the local pipe and carrying them home without losing too much of their precious cargo.  The most impressive is often the 9 year old with 6 or 7 baskets of charcoal stacked on her head. There may be an older child carrying a baby strapped to their back as they lead another child to school. They cross busy 4 lane roads dodging okadas carrying the household rubbish to the local dirty box.   There are young girls with trays of mangos, ground nuts, washing powder... anything that can be sold. 

A heartbreaking sight is that of any child who has lost their balance and dropped her goods on the ground.  They will be sobbing uncontrollably as they know there will be a beating waiting for them at home since they will have lost the family some much needed income.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that with only one and five children in Sierra Leone reaching 5 years old so these children are the lucky ones.

It's a dog's life ....

When my ex-colleague Raghav transferred to the London office of Tata Steel from Mumbai he made one observation in particular that stayed with me: “You don’t see many stray dogs in London”.  This of course made us Londoners laugh as the concept of stray dogs roaming the street was very foreign to us.  After nearly one year here in Freetown I may have a similar reaction myself when I return to the UK.

Freetown is full of stray dogs, all of which appear to have a very limited gene pool.  So it’s ginger or white and spotty like these two – lovingly known by me as “White Dog” and “Puppy”. 

Despite a terrible fear of dogs as a child I have grown into a dog friendly adult which is lucky as I encounter them throughout my days and nights.  The first I encounter each morning are these who live around the corner – docile yes in the day but at night the problem is the incessant barking which can drive me to distraction when trying to sleep.

The prettiest dog, in my opinion, lives up my street too.  Here is Blackie – isn’t she gorgeous.  I am slowly trying to win her affections but she is very nervous and tends to snap if people encroach on her space.

We also have puppies in the street who are camera shy.  Sadly there were 3 but now only 2.  That’s the other side – I’ve seen more dead dogs here than I’ve ever seen.  Dog life expectancy is not high due to neglect, hunger and cars.

Here are some others that we met at Bureh Beach the other Sunday – adorable.

I speak to them all and there are some very lovely characters who make me smile when I see them in the morning.

If it's good enough for Kate and Michelle

It seems that the fringe is back - or if you are in America -  bangs.

Many people are embracing this new trend and I am one of them.  To be honest I'd been toying with the idea for a while so when I went to see Lesley in January I managed to convince her it would work.

As my hairdresser for more years than either one of us would care to remember Lesley is used to my ever changing styles - I never believe in having the same cut twice.  Over the years I have regularly gone from short to long and back again.  So it only had to be a matter of time before I became bored of the one length look.  She did take a bit of convincing but I think the result is great. (thanks to Suvarna for having the patience to take the perfect picture and telling me the fringe takes ten years off me!)

Oh and my famous fringe story? well last time I had one (circa 2005) Shirley Bassey was in the salon and we ended up at the reception desk paying at the same time and she liked it!  Compliments from a stylish lady indeed.