Provinces

Hiya,

I recently had a trip to the provinces, I went to a village called Jujuma, (That’s correct phonetically). I have obviously spent many days and weeks in and around Freetown, but its not the entire country, and to be fair, probably isn’t even a good indicator of what the rest of the country is like. So, I decided to go with Fodie to his home village and meet with his family. What an experience!

The journey was arduous, the road was good all the way to the final one to the village. Polka held up well, until I hit a rock which damaged the bumper…… I fixed it Nigel..Sorry! But it highlighted two flaws with her….. her wheels are too small which makes ground clearance really too low. We will have to fix this issue, however, bigger wheels need bigger tyres, which all add up to a fair few quid! There is no immediate rush, but we certainly need to sort this before we use her full time for building. The other issue is that her lights are not adequate in the pitch black on rough roads…. This I have in hand, whilst repairing the bumper, I had some brackets made to be able to install spot lights. So this won’t be an issue anymore (Sorted Frank too). We traveled all day and picked up a couple of stranded travelers on the way. So I needed a bed when we got there.

Fodies family were very welcoming and live in a small dwelling made from mud bricks. I was given the “big bed”, Fodie and my co driver slept in a smaller bed next to me. I did offer, but they insisted! After a little nap we went out into the village and I was introduced to the Chief of the village, then the cheif of the section and also of the entire region. Its customary to be introduced and would be seen as an insult if it were not done! After this we walked around the village and it would seem that Fodie is a minor celebrity!! A village boy done good! Well, that’s how they see him…. however, he struggles in Freetown (along with the majority of the populous!) Its seen as the land of milk and honey, but the truth is very clearly different. The poverty in the villages is evident, they have to walk some distance to draw water, and literally have no monetary income what so ever in a lot of cases. The local facilities and amenities are poor at best, verging on the non existent. Everyone made me feel very welcome and I sat pondering the differences of life in the provinces compared to the slums of Freetown. They are both very poor, but the challenges they face on a daily basis differ very much. I would hope that when we have an established project up and running in the Freetown area, that we could expand out to the provinces.

We slept the night at Fodies family home, then we visited his extended family in all the small local villages the next day. I was paraded around and felt like a superstar! Each village meeting with the “Headmen”, and talking about our project. They all approved but explained that they were in desperate need too…… it was evident that they are correct, but our project has to start somewhere. With God’s help we’ll be able to help here too. It is very humbling to be presented gifts from people who have virtually nothing to their names. But to refuse would be insulting, so I was given bananas, plantain, yam and I managed to pay for some freshly cut coconut. I was also given another chicken! One particular village were very poor, and I presented the chief a small amount of money to distribute to the most needy as they saw fit. (Thank you St. Helens for the gift of money for this purpose). It wasn’t a great deal of money, but it can make the difference here. I still have some left for the next person who is in great need.

After this visit we said our goodbyes and collected our belongings from Fodies mother, And again was given many more gifts of precious food. We made our way to another village some 20 miles away where Fodies girlfriend lives, We intended to buy some Palm oil and other goods for him to sell back in Freetown. When we arrived, I was introduced to a beautiful little girl who I found out was Fodies Daughter! He lives a very difficult life trying to make his way in Freetown, whilst his daughter and girlfriend live so far away. We stayed in another mud house, all three of us sharing the same bed……. if you want to experience this country, its impossible to do it from a hotel room!! No fly net this time, but I didn’t get bitten once! The house was full of the belongings which were most valuable to the family, so there is all sorts of strange things laying around, but they welcomed a stranger with open arms. It was the same scenario with the last village with meeting all the chiefs, and once again they explained that they were just as desperate as the people in Freetown. The following morning was a delight, while Fodie bartered for different goods and Palm oil to take back to sell. I entertained approximately 30 small children. They were trying to teach me Mendi and I’m sure they got me to say that I was marrying this one or that without me knowing!! I tried my best to say their names but some of them were difficult to say, and there was sooooo many!! I had them all laughing by jumping up as if to grab them! (they had never seen a white person before, so the little ones were quite scared at first!) They soon decided that I wasn’t going to eat them, so I then got them all laughing at me by pulling silly faces. This lasted until Polka was loaded and we said our goodbyes. the gifts were present again. Like I said, humbling.

The journey home was troublesome……. we left too late. Commercial vehicles aren’t supposed to travel after 7pm as its believed that Ebola victims may try using them for transport!?!? We picked up some strays again, just being Christian I suppose…. and its true to say that God looked after us, we met a few army lads who wanted to get back to Freetown, so we offered them a lift. When it got past 7pm, the road blocks waved us down, but because the army lads were on board, we were generally waved through! The ones we weren’t, cost us a few “tips”! However, we managed to “tip” our way all the way back to Freetown by midnight.

A successful journey, our first micro-loan (don’t worry Nigel, we made it all back with 130,000 profit!) A real experience of the country. And I’ve fallen in love with the country and the people who dwell here even more. They might not have the money and riches of others, but they are a truly inspirational people. It makes me even more determined to make a difference to improve their lives….. and with gods help we will.

Ian x