My flight to Sierra Leone is a little more than a week away. I’m having a nice relaxing Sunday after a couple weeks of draining preparations…. 4 wisdom teeth extractions (good timing!), 16 hours of moving in one day, 5 days of VSO training, malaria pill testing and multiple vaccinations– the last one, yellow fever, gave me a fever!
With most of the major prep work out of the way I’m starting to get excited about Sierra Leone and also sad to be leaving my friends and fam. It will be hard to step out of my life right now – great job, wonderful girlfriend, first place in my hockey pool ☺, my sports routines - and into a place where no one knows me and pizza may be hard to find!
My brother and some of the ‘boys’ are coming into town next weekend for a little party time, including Habs vs Sens. Then I’m off to the Soo on Sunday with a flight to London on Wednesday.
Until then, I’ll try to pack my life into 2 small bags!
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Facts-o-Plenty
In 1462, Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra mapped the hills surrounding what is now Freetown Harbour, naming shaped formation Serra Lyoa (Portuguese for Lion Mountains). Its Italian rendering is Sierra Leone, which became the country's name. During the 1700s the major slave trading base in Sierra Leone was Bunce Island, located about 20 miles into the Sierra Leone River, now called the "Freetown Harbour."
The 2007 estimate of Sierra Leone's population stands at 5,866,000, the majority being youth and children. Freetown, with an estimated population of 1,070,200, is the capital, largest city and the hub of Sierra Leone economy.
Although English is the official language spoken at schools and government administration, Krio (language derived from English and several African languages and is native to The Sierra Leone Krio people) is the Lingua franca.
Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one-third of the population). The military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 presidential election, but still look to the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - a civilian UN mission - to support efforts to consolidate peace. The new government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption.
Sierra Leone is an extremely poor nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its physical and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. Nearly half of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement government revenues. The IMF has completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and reduce inflation. A recent increase in political stability has led to a revival of economic activity such as the rehabilitation of bauxite and rutile mining.
The 2007 estimate of Sierra Leone's population stands at 5,866,000, the majority being youth and children. Freetown, with an estimated population of 1,070,200, is the capital, largest city and the hub of Sierra Leone economy.
Although English is the official language spoken at schools and government administration, Krio (language derived from English and several African languages and is native to The Sierra Leone Krio people) is the Lingua franca.
Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one-third of the population). The military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 presidential election, but still look to the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - a civilian UN mission - to support efforts to consolidate peace. The new government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption.
Sierra Leone is an extremely poor nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its physical and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. Nearly half of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement government revenues. The IMF has completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and reduce inflation. A recent increase in political stability has led to a revival of economic activity such as the rehabilitation of bauxite and rutile mining.
1 comment:
Oh Jay,
I have really enjoyed reading your blog.
No water ever at my house. In Bonthe - it's a bucket and the "night man". Water table is too high for latrines. We had a well next door. Boiled all our water.
Freetown was once known as the Athens of West Africa. Fourah Bay College was a world class institution in it's day. Yes people were poor - and dirty when I was there but there was no violence of any kind. The worst crime was petty thievery. I lost all my bikini tops - and of course - gave away all my Levis.
Bribery was the business of all officials and that's how things got done. When the priest got my work permit, he asked for my passport and $20 US to bribe the visa official.
Fun Fact: The City hotel (I'm sure it's gone now) was on the waterfront and we used to stay there when we went to Freetown. Old, run down, owned by a very old Swiss - very Sierra Leone -Graham Greene wrote The Heart of The Matter in that very spot. Also, did you read Things Fall Apart? Tho in theory Nigerian, very SL. Sierra Leone has such a rich history.
I've spent a few hours now reminiscing and enjoyed every bit.
Julia
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