SIERRA LEONE RESOURCES

Sierra Leone-Plymouth Partnership—www.SLPP.org

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2006 Trip #1--Travel Journals with Photos

          
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Hail to the Paramount Chief
by Steve Wellington --Song & 1 photo

Editor's Note: In May 2006, Jeff Hall--who was the leader of the fifteen U.S. travelers to the three villages and is shown in the photo below--was inducted as an honorary Paramount Chief of one of the regional Chiefdoms--the equivalent of being crowned an honorary prince or duke.  Jeff and the other SLPP travelers have received many honors, often in the form of  honorary tunics.  The song below is an homage to Jeff, to the trip and villagers who welcomed the group so warmly, and to the "Flat Tire Choir" that the 2006 travelers started while waiting for one of five flat tires during their trip to be changed.

Sung to the Tune "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"

 Lyrics Copyright 2006 by Steve Wellington

Sung by the 2006 Sierra Leone Tour Members with Many Thanks to Jeff Hall, June 25, 2006

REFRAIN:

Jeff Hall, our Paramount Chief

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

Jeff Hall, our Paramount Chief

O Africa has taken us home.

VERSES:

We landed in Freetown and what did we see

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

A people so friendly and longing to be free

O Africa has taken us home.

We loaded up the trucks and headed toward the bush

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

The roads were so bumpy and painful on the tush

O Africa has taken us home.

We arrived in Jokibu to a huge celebration

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

The people were all gathered and full of jubilation

O Africa has taken us home.

REFRAIN:

Jeff Hall, our Paramount Chief

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

Jeff Hall, our Paramount Chief

O Africa has taken us home.

VERSES:

The school kids all were singing, the dancers all were shaking

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

We handed out our presents, so many for the taking

O Africa has taken us home.

We stayed in Jokibu and Pujehun and Foindu

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

We inspected all those roofs, so shiny and so new

O Africa has taken us home.

We discovered all the wells were broken and polluted

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

Tom picked new well locations in places that were suited

O Africa has taken us home.

REFRAIN:

Jeff Hall, our Paramount Chief

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

Jeff Hall, our Paramount Chief

O Africa has taken us home.

VERSES:

The farewell celebration was noisy, hot, and happy

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

The villagers we danced with, the tunics all were snappy

O Africa has taken us home.

Oh no, another flat tire, our adventure wasn't over

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

The airport was the pits; delays left us like rovers

O Africa has taken us home.

Through trials and tribulations, Jeff made the trip go 'round

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

Three cheers to our leader; we came home safe and sound

O Africa has taken us home.

REFRAIN:

Jeff Hall, our Paramount Chief

Sierra Leone is where we did roam

Jeff Hall, our Paramount Chief

O Africa has taken us home.

Waking Up in the Village
by Jan Neville - 500 w. & 3 photos

Text © 2006 by Jan Neville.  Photos © 2006 by R. Jewell

It is 4:50 a.m. and I am lying in bed listening to the sounds of Pujehun village waking up, just as I listen to the sounds at night as I go to sleep. This has become one of my favorite times, lying and listening, trying to absorb the sense of deep community happening outside my walls. It feels so unhurried, so relaxed and natural.

At 4:45 I awakened to the sound of the beating of the drum from the mosque.  Boom; boom-boom. Boom; boom-boom. Then the voice of the imam, calling the Muslims to prayer. It’s still dark outside.

I hear the whirring of thousands of insects out in the bush, like a backdrop of sound. A rooster crows, and an occasional goat bleats, stirring before daylight.

The village wakes slowly, in Africa time. It does not leap to alertness, fueled by caffeine. It stirs gradually and stretches. Another rooster crowing in the distance followed by the cooing of morning doves in the bush.

At 5:00 I hear the soft chanting from the mosque, Muslims called together beginning their day in prayer. Then gradually more sounds of people stirring, footsteps on the path outside our house. Quiet voices speaking in Mende. Now, more crowing and goats bleating. Kid goats calling their mommies. I smell the smoke as fires are lit for breakfast and hear sounds of wood snapping as sticks are broken to feed the fire. More voices and footsteps. I drift back to sleep.

At 5:30 comes the clang of the church bell, calling Christians to prayer just a few yards away from the mosque. Both groups giving thanks to their God. Both living in harmony within the village family, working side-by-side, caring for one another. What a lesson the rest of the world could learn from this.

I doze. More voices speaking Mende. I don’t understand what they are saying, but I feel the language wash over me. Soft round sounds, like the shape of the earth, always in conversation, taking time for one another. Layers of sound, voices in the distance smoothed together and then individual voices nearer our house. I can understand none of it, but am enjoying the feeling it conveys.

It's 6:00 and the sound I’ve been waiting for flows from the mosque, or is it from the church? The sound of voices singing in unison, a cappella. The tune is familiar, but of course I can’t understand the words. It’s light and lyrical, as the voices blend together lifting their prayer up and sending a lovely shiver down my spine. Every morning the same song, the same ritual.

Now it’s getting light outside; the sun is coming up. More voices and more animal sounds. Chickens and goats. Someone is sweeping the dirt area outside our house. I hear people walking by carrying water from the well. Now the sound of children’s voices and a baby crying. The smell of the fires and sounds of cooking.

It’s been a gift for me to wake each day this way, so contrary to my routine at home. In a sense it’s been my own form of prayer, holding the villagers in my heart as I listen and breathe.

                                    

Each village has at least one Christian church and one Muslim mosque.  The church above is Methodist.

Africa image courtesy Barry's Clip Art.

Written content & page design unless otherwise noted: Richard Jewell 

Photos unless otherwise noted: © 2004-10 by Jeff Hall, Richard Jewell, other members of the Sierra Leone-Plymouth Partnership, or Foindu-Jokibu-Pujehun photographers. 
First publication of Web site: 15 Aug. 2005.  

Public Web address: http://www.SLPP.org.  

Questions, suggestions, comments, & requests for site links: Contact Richard Jewell.