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SIERRA LEONE RESOURCES Sierra Leone-Plymouth Partnership—www.SLPP.org |
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"Sierra Leone-Plymouth
"Walk on African Main St.," 9-05 à
Review: In the Land of Magic Soldiers by Daniel Bergner," 5-06
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Articles/Reprints ---
Articles about Sierra Leone in "The Flame" Newsletter "A Walk on Main St. in an African Village" September 2005
My
wife, Ann, and I visited our first African village three years ago, and we are
anticipating a series of two or more Church trips to an African village in
Their village was a two-day journey from the capitol, so we told Jessie we could find our own way there. She basically told us (in a nice way) we were crazy. Firmly she said, We will come get you. We discovered later that unsuspecting foreigners often are charged outrageous prices, are besieged by beggars and subject to pickpockets, and even can wonder into dangerous areas, as in large American cities.
She also cautioned us to be aware of our wealth compared to villagers. Imagine, she said, Bill Gates visiting your home for four days.
After several days and trips by plane, bus, and bush taxi, Ann and I arrived two hours away from their village, Icharanawa, south of Zinder. It was late December with days a dry 80 F. and nights in the 50s. As there was no road for the last two hours, we traveled by bull cart. (I was raised on a farm, so I warned Ann to give the bull clearance if it lifted its tail.) Our driver, Kanta, was one of the richest villagers because of his cart, his bull, and a herd of goatsthe equivalent here of owning a ranch and a truck hauling company. As a good Muslim, his riches made him responsible for supporting two wives.
As
we entered the village, people followed us to the Chiefs home.
Dozens crowded into his compound: a packed-dirt yard surrounded by a
stick fence sixty feet across with several wall-less buildings and small, round,
mud-brick huts. People smiled and
stared as the Chief, his eyes gentle and intelligent, greeted us and introduced
his chief wife (of three), chief son and favored nephew. Jessie
told us he liked pictures of where people lived, so we gave him a calendar with
photos of
Then Kanta drove us to
One
of two mosques was near us on
We brought the tailor on
At the opposite end of
Three days later we climbed back into Kantas bull cart.
Neighbors and friends gathered to wave goodbye and share handshakes and
hugs. Ann and I were deeply moved.
The
Sierra Leone-Plymouth Partnership plans two or more trips to a similar small
village. These new trips also will
have a Peace Corps guide: church member Jeff Hall, who lived in the village for
two years in the late 1980s and maintains frequent contact.
The trips will be life-changing opportunities to see an |
Most recent update of this page: 15 July 2008
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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. Public Web address: http://www.SLPP.org. Questions, suggestions, comments, & requests for site links: Contact Richard Jewell. |
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