It’s difficult to know how or where to begin to give you a “trip update” from our (Perry, my husband Bob, our dear friends Peter and Cynthia and myself) April trip to Sierra Leone. It was one of the best. Fellow travelers, where we traveled, our productive meetings, the indescribable way we were welcomed – everywhere – was “pas mak” (beyond the mark).
-Cindy
April 2
We hit the ground running! Joseph and team welcomed us warmly at Sea Coach on the Freetown side after we landed. For those of you who don’t know, one must navigate from Lungi Int’l Airport, across a large body of water via a water taxi to Freetown. We had Kinny’s delicious cassava leaf, native rice and cold Star beer waiting for us at Joseph’s place.
Our “TEAM” just before leaving Freetown: L to R – Bob, Clinton, me, Perry, Cynthia, Peter, Joseph, Abu
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April 3
We left early to drive to Yargoi, about 5 hours from Freetown to the south, then took a 60+ min boat ride to Bonthe on Sherbro Island.
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April 4
Our boat captain took us for the day trip to the Turtle Islands – one of the most remote areas of Sierra Leone I have ever visited – and where you can see climate change in action. We visited two schools: one partially finished school in the village of Baoma, and another in Dema, a government school that has seen minimal support for many years. Both villages welcomed beyond words. The isolation of these remote communities is impossible to describe, the lack of opportunity for the children, heartbreaking. Yet, the teachers were present, trying to teach, with no supplies. They were gracious, generous and so very kind.
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April 5
60 min boat ride back to Yargoi, followed by 5 hr or so drive to Maforeka/Mabonto in Tonkolili District, the middle of the country. On the way, we stopped for a couple of hours in Rutile (a big mining area) to have the air conditioning of one of our vehicles worked on. You laugh, but air-con is important – esp when driving for miles and miles on bumpy, dusty roads during dry season, and behind large trucks billowing thick black smoke. And, Rutile has mechanics who know how to work on vehicles and fix anything.
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April 6
Big day. We visited the Maforeka Primary School early in the morning – literally across the road from the guest house where we stayed. The children sang, and sang, and sang
Then, we headed off to Masosingbi for the school opening! Perry is now the Paramount Chief. Thank you to Vickie for sending her media crew out from Freetown to record much of the ceremony, take video of the village, and record interviews with key people – stay tuned.
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April 7
We left early to visit Masanga Primary School, about 8 – 10 miles away from Maforeka where we stayed the previous two nights. Agnes, the head mistress of Masanga, welcomed us above and beyond – as always – love that woman. We then headed back to Freetown for a restful evening regrouping with Joseph.
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April 8
At noon, we all attended the official opening ceremony and celebration of Uman Tok. Juliet, Kim and team did an amazing job. I cannot find the words to describe how life changing this team has been for the women – and men – who are part of this group. We are talking about women who were on the streets, men who were trafficked, children who were left for dead. This inspiring group of women and men are uplifting one another, making a FAIR, livable wage, based on how hard they work, to support themselves and their children, and at the same time, by the end of June will have made 40,000 menstruation kits for girls and women across Sierra Leone. Like I said, it brings tears to my eyes the impact of this program and these women and men.
After the ceremony, we, uhm, headed to the beach. Tokeh Beach. You will not find a more deserted, world class beach, pristine, sand like white sugar beach anywhere in the world……
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April 9
A day at Tokeh Beach. Sipped ginger beer mojitos. More than our fair share. Highly recommend.
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April 10
Returned to Cockle Bay, dinner with Joseph. Sent Perry off sadly to the airport at Lungi for his early morning flight to Cyprus.
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April 11
Cynthia, Peter (our friends from Seattle), Bob and I met with the US Ambassador. What a great guy. I have (almost) always been very impressed with the US Ambassadors to SL. Ambassador Reimer was authentic, engaged and delightful. He by the way went to a small Mennonite College in Indiana where my parents and all my siblings went – at the same time – and, his father was the college advisor of one of my dearest Peace Corps friends. It truly is a small world.
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April 12
We left early to drive to Kabala, in the far north of the country – where we have expanded to build now 6 schools. We stopped along the way because the vehicle was making funny noises and Clinton of course, new a mechanic at the exact time that we needed one. In Makeni, the provincial capital of the north, we stopped at a grocery store along the main road to pick up water and snacks. And, who to our surprise was there, but the former President of Sierra Leone, Earnest Bai Koroma, sitting off on the side at a desk with some friends. We, of course, had our picture taken with him, and then proceeded on our way. We met Salifu (our contractor) in Kabala and he and Clinton made sure we were settled in and taken care of at our Italian villa – literally.
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April 13
We had a lovely breakfast at our villa, then head to see the District Officer and District Counsel in Kabala. Meeting all the District people is very important …… the highlight was meeting District Counsel Zainab Kamara – more about her later. Then we headed off to Bafodia – where Cynthia and Peter had lived 37 years ago……on the way we stopped at “our” school in Seredugu – it is way the bleep out there – and Counselor Zainab arrived before us, on the back of a motor bike and earnestly showed us the school nearby that had been burned down. She is one amazing woman. Young, ambitious, passionate about girls education and women’s rights. The singing, dancing and speeches that welcomed us in Seredugu was beyond compare – except for our later in the day(s) adventures….we arrived a bit later in Bafodia, and oh my goodness…..it is indescribable the welcome……dancing, drumming, gifts……….we stayed at the Paramount Chief’s house, self-contained large rooms, air-conditioned, dressed in traditional clothes, given the fruits of the village – palm oil, goats, chickens, bananas, pineapple, mango, palm kernels, palm wine, black soap, rice, cola nuts…. Cannot say enough about this Paramount Chief either. He is young, ambitious, educated and passionate about following in his grandfather’s footsteps as one of the most powerful Paramount Chief’s in Sierra Leone’s history. Shiaka Stevens a former President of Sierra Leone, we were told would travel to Bafodia, “back in the day” to get his “Ronko” (a traditional outfit) re-charged by the then Paramount Chief because he was so powerful. This is a fascinating , remote area of the country………
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April 14
Visited Kadanso and Kamabengeh. More over the top the visits …. roads you can’t even begin to imagine – my phone, literally, recorded 12,500+ steps without leaving the vehicle because we bounced so much. Clinton, however, is a driver beyond belief. How he can navigate a vehicle on these roads that are no more than a river bed is beyond me. He famously, however, while here in the US for a training workshop with the US National Security for his job at the US Embassy Freetown, famously ended up teaching the US driving instructors because he could drive poor road conditions better than they could.
Again, in these remote of remotest villages I have ever been in in Sierra Leone, we were welcomed beyond belief – because they HAD A SCHOOL that SfS had funded – AND we came back AND we, i.e. Clinton had made sure they have books and school supplies, reproductive health education, and menstruation kits for the girls. Clinton and Salifu (our contractor in this area) were praised repeatedly in every village, again, and again, and again. I have no idea how our construction team got the building materials to make these schools possible – but we saw them with our own eyes – Bob, me, Cynthia and Peter. Peter and Cynthia btw had visited these villages 37 years ago when they had lived in Bafodia – and remembered them well. On our way back to Bafodia that evening, exhausted, we visited Madina. This is the school that my “X” funded last year during the pandemic. It was during Ramadan, but the women especially came to greet and dance with us. There were so many smiles.
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April 15
we left Bafodia early morning and stopped at Koramasilaia – what a gorgeous village – they had wanted to have a ceremony and we told them we did not have enough time, and, to save the celebrating till the donors come (saving for you Nellie).
We then went on to Lengekoro – this is the 42nd!! school our team is finishing up. Again, words are difficult to describe the incredible welcome we received from everyone, especially the women. The general theme – in ALL these villages up here was, “thank you so much for building a school in our village so we don’t have to send our girls away to go to school”….”because they come back pregnant”……on our way back to Freetown we again stopped at the same grocery store to load up on water and snacks and of course, met the former President. We updated him on our adventures and he was surprised we actually went to those villages. He jokingly said, those villages are in Guinea, not Sierra Leone.…..
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April 16
we headed to Tacugama, the chimpanzee reserve on the outskirts of Freetown. April 17 – What a delight it was sipping early morning coffee to the sounds of the jungle, under the dense canopy of vegetation. For all of you who care about animals and the environment, Tacugama is a must on your next trip. They are doing amazing work there, supporting rescued indigenous chimps. Jane Goodall herself has visited a couple of times.
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April 18 – 21
The next few days were filled with meetings with PFC, Uman Tok, The Learning Foundation and The Sierra Leone Book Trust. As always, I leave inspired by the incredible staff and the work they do. They are passionate, professional and dedicated. Together they help us provide support to the school communities where we have constructed schools – and beyond.
A meeting with the Mayor of Freetown! Juliet, me, Kimberley and Augustine from the UT team. Mayor is in the center. She was lovely and very interested in the work UT is doing. She is a big advocate for girls education and women’s rights.
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Thank you for reading this – looking forward to connecting with you all soon. My personal sincere and deepest gratitude for all you do to help empower Sierra Leoneans to provide better, more opportunities to access education in Sierra Leone.
Cindy Nofziger
Schools for Salone | Executive Director