Jay in Sierra Leone: Today London. Tomorrow Africa.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Today London. Tomorrow Africa.

I’m sitting in a tiny hotel room at Heathrow airport. Already had to move to a new room because I blew a fuse with all the stuff I had plugged in – trying to suck as much energy into my electronics as possible before I land in Freetown, where power is on as frequently as Kenny vs Spenny.

I think I’m prepared, even though vision may be a problem – my glasses were a casualty of my last weekend in Ottawa. I packed 2 bags totaling 27 kgs. Not bad. Only one long-sleeve item.

It was a couple weeks of “send-off” beers, good-byes and a bit of crying (not me! hahaha… although my nieces can put anyone on the brink)

I have 2 alarms set and a wakeup call for 5 am. Good night.

No comments:

Post a Comment

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.

Jay in Sierra Leone

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Today London. Tomorrow Africa.

No comments:

Facts-o-Plenty

Blog Archive