Blog 1
24th October 2007
I have now been here for almost a month and thanks to Krystle this has been a relatively easy change. During my first month I have had the pleasure of getting to know Freetown and meeting many of Krystle’s wonderful friends who have been so warm and welcoming to me. Caro then arrived (for those of you who don’t know Caro is another friend from my school days in London) and we spent two weeks exploring Freetown, the beaches and Krystle’s bedroom! It was lovely to spend time with old friends and catch up in a way we haven’t done for a very long time. This has been a wonderful way to start this year.

We have had VSO ICT (In country training) over the last 10 days, this has consisted of cultural, political and general briefings preparing us to work in the country. Although this has been extremely useful, it has also highlighted how much more there is to learn and what an overwhelming task and challenge lies before me. I look forward to it wholeheartedly.

Freetown seems like a wonderful place to be, it is currently green and lush from the rains. The beaches are gorgeous and littered with little bars all along. The city is NGO central; I have never seen so many vehicles belonging to the various UN departments and INGOs. They are everywhere causing traffic jams. Due to this there are people working in the sector here from all over the world and the ex-pat community is thriving.

Blog 2
30th October 2007
I have finally arrived in Makeni which is where I will be working for the next year. Makeni seems to be a lovely town, fairly small, very green and definitely the best place to be outside of Freetown. I am living with 2 other VSO volunteers, James from the UK and Buddy (Salvador) from the Philippines (both of whom are lovely, I have been really lucky). I have only just arrived yesterday quite late at night. I was hoping to get a couple of hours to daylight to settle in, but it seemed that that was too much to ask for as we were delayed by almost 4 hours! The house has three bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We have no electricity or running water but luckily the well is only in our back yard, I look forward to how my upper arms are going to look after a year of pulling water up twice daily. The neighbourhood seems nice, I look forward to exploring it.

I have had my first day at work. It has been a particularly interesting one. I was picked up in the CDHR (Centre for Democracy and Human Rights) vehicle and brought to work for 9 am, after being introduced to everyone and showed my desk, I was whisked off for the name giving ceremony of our office manager BJ who is the proud father of two week old Mari. She is a gorgeous baby. As part of the ceremony a goat was slaughtered I have been given my share with which I intend to make mutton curry.

I was then brought back to the office only to be taken to the local prison where we are monitoring the conditions that the inmates are living in. I have never been to a prison before, and never given too much thought to the rights of a convicted felon. However as I walked into this prison where most of the demographic are young and male and heard some of their stories, I was both surprised at the commitment of the prison guards and although not particularly surprised at the conditions of the inmates, was certainly not prepared for what I saw. A UN assessment of prisons in Sierra Leone done earlier this year has proclaimed most of the detention centres as unfit for human inhabitation.

I have since had a chance to talk to my boss, Massie, and gage a better understanding of what I will be doing this year. Although the organisation is engaging in some form of advocacy on some levels they do not have an advocacy program. What they want me to do is to initiate and develop one that particularly involves the work done at field level and is strategic and effective at all levels. They then want me to capacity build my colleagues in Makeni and in the 7 district offices we have to be able to carry out the strategic plan for advocacy. This is surely a huge task…

My first month in Freetown was easy for me to adjust to because of Krystle and Caro being there and then In Country Training. I feel like I am only now starting my placement and the next week is going to be a little tough, as I settle into my new home, neighbourhood, town, and job and of course getting to know the people that I am meeting. I am going through phases of both being terribly excited and happy to being nervous and disheartened. However mostly I am feeling content with how things seem to be going and seeing a lot of potential for me to be happy here and to grow both personally and professionally during this year. What more can I ask for?

PS. I am finding it really hard to write this blog as I am not sure who is reading it and what types of things they want to read about. I feel like I have written a somewhat censored diary and plastered it on the World Wide Web. Any suggestions about what to write about and comments about existing content would be greatly appreciated.

Blog 3
1st November 2007
Today I went for a march to launch a report published by Amnesty International and us (CDHR). The report is entitled “Sierra Leone; Getting reparations right for survivors of sexual violence” it is lobbying the government to include victims of sexual violence in with the amputee victims to receive reparation. It is estimated that 250,000 women and girls have been victims of war-related sexual violence. The rally was meant to launch the report which will subsequently be used as an advocacy tool to lobby the government. The rally was also meant to be a forum in which to engage the community in an issue that otherwise remains marginalised and stigmatised. This rally brought it to the forefront if only for a while.

Blog 4
9th November 2007
The last couple of weeks in Makeni have been great. I am beginning to get into my work, and have many plans for what I want us to accomplish over the next year. I am meeting many interesting people mainly through the “development network” which is both small and accessible. I have been exploring the town and getting to know people, the town is nice but it’s no Freetown! But I can see myself being happy hear. I also feel more settled in my home, as I have taken the trouble to make it feel that way. James and I have spent time, money and thought into doing up the place so that it feels more like home. It feels more that way every day.