Hiiiiii Everyone!!!!!! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been busy, busy here. my three weeks traveling around the country were amazing, but tiring. i spent a week in Kailahun a large village all the way on the eastern border, about 2 miles from Guinea. no electricity, no running water, and many, many cockroaches. i then traveled to Bo, the second largest city/town in SL, located in the southern region. the last leg of my trip was to Mile 91, a small village in the northern part of the country. my research has been based around child protection in Sierra Leone, so I interviewed chiefs, teachers, students, government officials, religious leaders, radio station staff and other stakeholders in each community. the field work was a lot harder than i thought it would be and i learned a ton about designing and conducting research on my own. i met some truly inspiring people and then some very shortsighted people who prove that this country still has a long way to go, despite the amazing progress it has made only 7 years out of war.
my remaining week and a half here will be spent writing my final report, and then im off to spain for a week!!!!!! so very excited, i always wanted to go ever since my high school spanish presentation on valencia, haha. see everyone back in dc and nj soon!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Leaving Freetown
Hi everyone! I'm leaving Freetown tomorrow and traveling to some of the rural provinces around the country to collect data for my project. I'll miss the beaches and liveliness of the city, but I'm really excited to see how life is different in the villages. Not sure how good internet access is out there, but hopefully I'll be in touch. I finally posted some pictures on facebook, take a look of your interested.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Life in Africa
If there is one thing I miss besides friends and family, its convenience. The Internet is soooooo slloooooooowwwwww around here, it takes literally 20 minutes to send an email with an attachment, especially with the Internet at home. At work its no better- there are 2 Internet chords to share between 4 people, so even when the Internet is working, there is no guarantee that I will have access to it. And the public transportation is a whole other story. When the director leaves work early and I cannot catch a ride with her and her private driver, I have to take the "puda puda", aka a "bus" about a foot longer than the average soccer mom's minivan. They pack 20 PEOPLE on the them, not including the babies sitting on their mother's laps. Uhhh, its so hot and sweaty. And I miss electricity, I'm not really a fan of peeing in the dark. Also, its the beginning of the rainy season here, meaning mud and moldy clothes. It rained so hard the other night, that I got soaked in my bed and the window in the bedroom next to mine shattered. But I guess this initial frustration is just a part of getting used to life here. One of my friends here told me that I have to get used to the tune of Africa. Working on.
The kids I live with in the house are starting to open up to me slowly (When I say kid, I mean between the ages of 20 and 22. Everyone matures so much slower here, so they come off as a lot younger than 20-22 year olds in America). Everyone has a story. One kid lost both his parents and drinks alcohol some nights to fall asleep. The girl in the house is fortunate enough to have both her parents, but they live in another part of the country. Her father is crippled from a stroke and has other ailments from the war, so he can't pay for her schooling. She came to live with Frances and she pays for her school. And then of course there's the boy who used to be a solider.
I'm great- I took off work today and am on my way to hike to a dam near the beach with Lara. I will post pictures soon, promise. Hope all is well with everyone.
The kids I live with in the house are starting to open up to me slowly (When I say kid, I mean between the ages of 20 and 22. Everyone matures so much slower here, so they come off as a lot younger than 20-22 year olds in America). Everyone has a story. One kid lost both his parents and drinks alcohol some nights to fall asleep. The girl in the house is fortunate enough to have both her parents, but they live in another part of the country. Her father is crippled from a stroke and has other ailments from the war, so he can't pay for her schooling. She came to live with Frances and she pays for her school. And then of course there's the boy who used to be a solider.
I'm great- I took off work today and am on my way to hike to a dam near the beach with Lara. I will post pictures soon, promise. Hope all is well with everyone.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Child Solider
Today I realized that I live with a former child solider. As ignorant as it is, I had this weird idea that somehow one would look different, that I would be able to tell. But he fits in perfectly with all of the other boys living in the house. He is kind, well mannered and ambitious. He is starting college next semester. I had no idea.
I spent this week reading up on the background of Golden Kids News and listening to a couple past broadcasts. The format of the program is that children between the ages of about 6-17 are trained as journalists and go around the country interviewing kids, parents, government officials, NGOs, and other stakeholders interested in children’s issues. Frances told me that one of the kids in the house was actually one of the very first reporters of Golden Kids News when it began in 2003 and that I should talk to him. Tonight he told me all about the war and how he was recruited into the junta and served for the last two years of the war. After disarmament and demobilization, he was sent to a center where he stayed until the ex-combatants were to be sent back to their villages. After being in the center for a few months, he received a letter from Search asking if he would help to begin a new radio program, Golden Kids News. It changed his life. It gave him a constructive way to utilize the leadership skills he had gained as a child solder and it even helped him reconnect with his parents. His parents heard his voice on the radio and came looking for him. He said that this also happened to many other cub reporters who thought their parents were dead. He believes that Golden Kids News has greatly impacted the way children are treated in Sierra Leone, and I am incredibly excited to begin measuring part of that impact in the next coming weeks.
I spent this week reading up on the background of Golden Kids News and listening to a couple past broadcasts. The format of the program is that children between the ages of about 6-17 are trained as journalists and go around the country interviewing kids, parents, government officials, NGOs, and other stakeholders interested in children’s issues. Frances told me that one of the kids in the house was actually one of the very first reporters of Golden Kids News when it began in 2003 and that I should talk to him. Tonight he told me all about the war and how he was recruited into the junta and served for the last two years of the war. After disarmament and demobilization, he was sent to a center where he stayed until the ex-combatants were to be sent back to their villages. After being in the center for a few months, he received a letter from Search asking if he would help to begin a new radio program, Golden Kids News. It changed his life. It gave him a constructive way to utilize the leadership skills he had gained as a child solder and it even helped him reconnect with his parents. His parents heard his voice on the radio and came looking for him. He said that this also happened to many other cub reporters who thought their parents were dead. He believes that Golden Kids News has greatly impacted the way children are treated in Sierra Leone, and I am incredibly excited to begin measuring part of that impact in the next coming weeks.
Lunch
Today I went to lunch with one of the men in the office. I asked him about his life in Sierra Leone and, he said he has lived here his entire life, mostly in Freetown. He then said something to the affect of, “If anyone knows about the war and peace, it’s me, I was here when the war started, when the war ended and when the peace process began.” One of the things I have been dying to know is what it was like in Sierra Leone during the war (the civil war lasted from 1991 to 2002ish). I still can’t figure out how to ask about it appropriately, and I’m sure people don’t like to talk about it, especially to an American they just met. But I took his response as an invitation to inquire what Freetown was like during the war. “It was hell,” he said. He explained that there were always dead bodies in the streets. The factions would shoot people at random and sometimes put tires around their waists and set them on fire. The police were the first to be targeted by the RUF, so the people had no one to trust or turn to. Freetown, aside from the eastern region where the diamond mines are, was the main target of violence. He said many of his close friends died….after that comment, he looked away and said that he does not like talking about it. I thanked him for sharing and apologized for asking about it.
The conversation then moved on to politics, the U.S. and what’s going on in other countries. Many people in Sierra Leone dislike Bush and absolutely love Obama. I wasn’t surprised, but I still asked him why. “When America sneezes, Africa catches a cold.” Many people, he explained, dislike Bush for the war in Iraq because it has a negative impact on Africa’s economy.
While on the topic of the U.S., he also commented that he hates the U.S. media’s portrayal of Africa. He explained that there are such beautiful, wonderful things about Africa, but many American’s will never know of them because the news only talks about the continent’s many wars, corrupt leaders, and poverty. I learned that another reason for this lack of understanding is that there are no continent-wide African news stations reporting on international affairs. An African perspective on the world is missing. This also means that all the news Africa receives on the world comes from outside sources- American, European and Arab sources to be exact. It is possible that people, both African's and otherwise, would have slightly different understandings if exposed to an African viewpoint of the world.
I’m doing well. The food here is soooo spicy, I’m hoping my stomach gets used to it soon. Maybe I will try the beaches this weekend, they are supposed to be some of the most beautiful in the world. Oh, and one subtle cultural different I noticed: It is perfectly acceptable to pick your nose in public, but you should never, ever pick your teeth in public. They have tooth picks on tables in restaurants so that people can pick their teeth properly. I would argue that it’s the opposite in the U.S.- people pick their teeth with their nails all the time, but picking your nose is kind of gross.
The conversation then moved on to politics, the U.S. and what’s going on in other countries. Many people in Sierra Leone dislike Bush and absolutely love Obama. I wasn’t surprised, but I still asked him why. “When America sneezes, Africa catches a cold.” Many people, he explained, dislike Bush for the war in Iraq because it has a negative impact on Africa’s economy.
While on the topic of the U.S., he also commented that he hates the U.S. media’s portrayal of Africa. He explained that there are such beautiful, wonderful things about Africa, but many American’s will never know of them because the news only talks about the continent’s many wars, corrupt leaders, and poverty. I learned that another reason for this lack of understanding is that there are no continent-wide African news stations reporting on international affairs. An African perspective on the world is missing. This also means that all the news Africa receives on the world comes from outside sources- American, European and Arab sources to be exact. It is possible that people, both African's and otherwise, would have slightly different understandings if exposed to an African viewpoint of the world.
I’m doing well. The food here is soooo spicy, I’m hoping my stomach gets used to it soon. Maybe I will try the beaches this weekend, they are supposed to be some of the most beautiful in the world. Oh, and one subtle cultural different I noticed: It is perfectly acceptable to pick your nose in public, but you should never, ever pick your teeth in public. They have tooth picks on tables in restaurants so that people can pick their teeth properly. I would argue that it’s the opposite in the U.S.- people pick their teeth with their nails all the time, but picking your nose is kind of gross.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
First Day
Hi Everyone,
I safely made it to Sierra Leone last night. I have some downtime at the office today because the office director, Ambrose, is out of the country until Friday. I thought I would take this time to fill in everyone on my first 24 hours here and what I will tentatively be doing the rest of my time here.
My long day of travel went really well. The flight to from New York to Brussels was really luxurious; I had a whole row of seats to lay down on, glasses of wine, and my own TV on which I watched awful cheesy chick flicks. The flight to Sierra Leone landed in Senegal first and then took off again for Freetown. An expediter helped me through customs at the tiny airport (which, for those people from home, was literally the size of Lizzy's newest house in Franklin Lakes) and after a 2 hour wait, I rode a hovercraft from the airport to Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. There, one of Search for Common Ground's drivers met me and took me to the house where I will be staying while in Freetown.
The house belongs to France Fortune, the Director of all of Search's regional offices in West Africa, including Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia. She is a wonderful and vivacious woman who reminds me of Pon. Her house is huge for West Africa standards and there are soooo many people living there. Last night, after having dinner and chatting with Frances and Lara, the other American intern who has been working for Search in Sierra Leone for over 8 months, I was introduced to the many members of the household. They are either her kids, someone's cousins, people she employs, friends, or other travelers. The house is very busy. Only the common areas of the house have electricity and power outages are frequent. However, the new government will sporadically turn on power throughout Freetown, during which more rooms in the house are lit (though never my room). To my surprise, there is running water, but the bathtubs do not have shower heads and the toilets do not flush. To bathe, I fill a bucket with water from the bathtub's facet and then take this giant bowl and pour it over my head. No more 25 minute showers, that's for sure. To "flush" the toilet, I fill a bucket with water and pour it into the toilet and everything is supposed to go down the drain. I haven't exactly mastered that yet, lol. There is no airconditioner in the house because the generator is broken at the moment, so last night I just slept on top of the bed with mosquito netting over it. But despite the heat, malaria pill dreams, and jet lag, I slept well last night.
So, what exactly am I doing here? Though some of you might have a vague idea, here is a clearer description of the project I am working on during my stay. Search for Common Ground is an international non-governmental conflict resolution organization committed to changing the way the world deals with conflict. Here is the website in case you want to check it out: http://www.sfcg.org/. One of the main ways Search accomplishes its mission is through the media. In Sierra Leone, there are at least 5 radio programs that broadcast nationally. For example, one program deals with political issues, another addresses women's rights, another is a popular soap opera which discusses various social problems throughout the country, etc. My project here is to do an evaluation of the radio program dealing with children and youth issues, called Golden Kids News (here is a description of Golden Kids News on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_lFFJaMc4w). In order to evaluate the impact of this radio program on listeners, I will be spending the next few weeks traveling around the country. I will be spending a week in Kabala, a small town in Northern Sierra Leone where Search has a second office, and then another week in Bo, another rural area where we have our third office in the country. My short time in the offices will be spent talking to the producers of Golden Kids News. I will then spend about a month traveling around to villages where I will be interviewing, holding focus groups (which are pretty much group interviews), and giving out surveys. The rural areas are supposed to be much safer than Freetown. These tools, which I will be designing this week, will help to collect data about how the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of listeners may have changed as a result of listening to Golden Kids News. I will then spend my last few weeks back in Freetown, where I will write up my report and present my findings to the Directors and staff. If there is time left over, hopefully I will get to travel around to other countries in West Africa.
So, that's about it! My first and most important task is to learn Kriol. Even though its broken English, it is surprisingly difficult to understand. The people around the office are eager to teach me the slang, so i will hopefully pick it up by the end of the month.
I miss everyone already, I hope all is well. Let me know how you are doing!
I safely made it to Sierra Leone last night. I have some downtime at the office today because the office director, Ambrose, is out of the country until Friday. I thought I would take this time to fill in everyone on my first 24 hours here and what I will tentatively be doing the rest of my time here.
My long day of travel went really well. The flight to from New York to Brussels was really luxurious; I had a whole row of seats to lay down on, glasses of wine, and my own TV on which I watched awful cheesy chick flicks. The flight to Sierra Leone landed in Senegal first and then took off again for Freetown. An expediter helped me through customs at the tiny airport (which, for those people from home, was literally the size of Lizzy's newest house in Franklin Lakes) and after a 2 hour wait, I rode a hovercraft from the airport to Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. There, one of Search for Common Ground's drivers met me and took me to the house where I will be staying while in Freetown.
The house belongs to France Fortune, the Director of all of Search's regional offices in West Africa, including Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia. She is a wonderful and vivacious woman who reminds me of Pon. Her house is huge for West Africa standards and there are soooo many people living there. Last night, after having dinner and chatting with Frances and Lara, the other American intern who has been working for Search in Sierra Leone for over 8 months, I was introduced to the many members of the household. They are either her kids, someone's cousins, people she employs, friends, or other travelers. The house is very busy. Only the common areas of the house have electricity and power outages are frequent. However, the new government will sporadically turn on power throughout Freetown, during which more rooms in the house are lit (though never my room). To my surprise, there is running water, but the bathtubs do not have shower heads and the toilets do not flush. To bathe, I fill a bucket with water from the bathtub's facet and then take this giant bowl and pour it over my head. No more 25 minute showers, that's for sure. To "flush" the toilet, I fill a bucket with water and pour it into the toilet and everything is supposed to go down the drain. I haven't exactly mastered that yet, lol. There is no airconditioner in the house because the generator is broken at the moment, so last night I just slept on top of the bed with mosquito netting over it. But despite the heat, malaria pill dreams, and jet lag, I slept well last night.
So, what exactly am I doing here? Though some of you might have a vague idea, here is a clearer description of the project I am working on during my stay. Search for Common Ground is an international non-governmental conflict resolution organization committed to changing the way the world deals with conflict. Here is the website in case you want to check it out: http://www.sfcg.org/. One of the main ways Search accomplishes its mission is through the media. In Sierra Leone, there are at least 5 radio programs that broadcast nationally. For example, one program deals with political issues, another addresses women's rights, another is a popular soap opera which discusses various social problems throughout the country, etc. My project here is to do an evaluation of the radio program dealing with children and youth issues, called Golden Kids News (here is a description of Golden Kids News on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_lFFJaMc4w). In order to evaluate the impact of this radio program on listeners, I will be spending the next few weeks traveling around the country. I will be spending a week in Kabala, a small town in Northern Sierra Leone where Search has a second office, and then another week in Bo, another rural area where we have our third office in the country. My short time in the offices will be spent talking to the producers of Golden Kids News. I will then spend about a month traveling around to villages where I will be interviewing, holding focus groups (which are pretty much group interviews), and giving out surveys. The rural areas are supposed to be much safer than Freetown. These tools, which I will be designing this week, will help to collect data about how the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of listeners may have changed as a result of listening to Golden Kids News. I will then spend my last few weeks back in Freetown, where I will write up my report and present my findings to the Directors and staff. If there is time left over, hopefully I will get to travel around to other countries in West Africa.
So, that's about it! My first and most important task is to learn Kriol. Even though its broken English, it is surprisingly difficult to understand. The people around the office are eager to teach me the slang, so i will hopefully pick it up by the end of the month.
I miss everyone already, I hope all is well. Let me know how you are doing!
My Blog
Hey Everyone! This is my blog for the summer where you can read about my time in Sierra Leone from June 3rd to August 19th. Thanks! Please comment and keep in touch.
Erica
Erica
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