03/01/08
I have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year break and am now back at work. Nothing I can say is going to give justice to the wonderful holiday that it was. I needed a break from work and time to explore Sierra Leone a little and get to know some people better. I travelled with 3 other VSOs Jayne, Julian and Grant, all wonderful travelling companions.

Christmas was spent at Banana Island, possibly one of the most beautiful places I have visited in a long time. The landscape was beautiful, green and largely untouched. Even someone like me who isn’t a big fan of beaches and sitting around would have to admit that the serene nature of this place made it easy to get sucked into the relaxed atmosphere as a result I became very good at doing nothing for long periods of time something that is really quite an art particularly for people like me.

We then went onto Kabala for New Years. This is a town in Koinadugu district in the north where it is actually quite cold and somewhere everyone goes to over the holidays, particularly for New Years. The place is very scenic, surrounded by hills and mountains as the town sits in the valley. There is a hill there that everyone climbs on New Year’s Day, this tradition has been going on for a while and involves sitting at the top of the hill, eating, drinking and dancing. Believe it or not I did actually climb this hill, fell 4 times (once on the way up, once up there and twice on the way down!) My body is still hurting as a result of this exertion. I’ve always said that nothing good comes of exercise. However it was so beautiful at the top, well worth the climb, I just sat there in awe of the world and felt inspired and overwhelmed by the natural beauty that I was surrounded by. A wonderful way to start the New Year…

As the holiday has come to an end, I am excited to be back at work. There is plenty to do and I have a renewed energy and sense of purpose. Have been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish in the next year and where I want our organization to be when I leave, it isn’t so easy thinking of the bigger picture and the task ahead is overwhelming, but I would be really disappointed if I didn’t accomplish what I am here for in the year and so I must think about it very carefully and plan my year and my work well.