Salone Journal 1

Salone Journal

July 3, 2007

Today is our first full day in Freetown and the jetlag continues to mow us down. We saw the city and experienced the wonders of groundnut stew. It is the richest, most flavorful dish that I have enjoyed in a very long time. Auntie Edna continues to spoil us with her wonderful cooking. Everyone is warm, friendly, and very perceptive, particularly John who works at the house. We spoke about the war, youth, unemployment, corruption, and the low salaries local Sierra Leoneans receive. He is apparently an agronomist, and contracts out periodically to NGO’s that train people in the interior to farm. We start in our NGO’s tomorrow! More to come soon…

July 4-7, 2007

I began to work on Wednesday with the Center for the Coordination of Youth Activities down on Campbell St. Getting around is fairly easy, one can either take one of the route taxies or poda-poda, which is a van jam-packed with people. The roads in Freetown are fairly shoddy due to the rains, cars get stuck frequently and the road that leads up to our house is a treacherous swamp. Several of the people I spoke to complain that instead of the community pitching in to have the road tarred, those that can purchase off-road vehicles, while the rest trudge up and down the road. As for my job, CCYA is full of young men who range from their late teens to their early thirties. The National Coordinator, Ngolo, and the Program Coordinator Edward gave me an orientation on CCYA’s programs they implement up-line. The elections are right around the corner and a lot of their focus is on ensuring peaceful elections and youth participation.

Edward spoke about the war and the circumstances that led up to it, particularly the systemic disempowerment of the youth. In the provinces young men lacked access to land, women and viable mechanisms of redress. In the city even qualified youths could not find employment due to their lack of social contacts. Most of these conditions persist today, and the strategy has been to involve the youth in the political process in order to ensure full participation and representation. Despite all of these difficulties and setbacks, CCYA seems determined to contribute to the reconstruction of the country, and the livelihoods of Sierra Leoneans.

- D is an economist who works at CCYA as an assistant program coordinator, and in the last two days we have had great conversations. He spoke about employability and the informal system of social contacts that inhibits the youth from successfully participating in the labor market. He highlighted the lack of access to credit and the draconian interest rates as the main deterrents to homegrown private sector development. He expressed the fallacy of economic growth, which is clearly not pro-poor and the lack of support from the public sector for SME’s.

Saturday was our beach day and we drove east through Kissy Rd, past Waterloo to Kent Beach. The Sierra Leonean People’s Party held their rally today, which brought traffic to a standstill. This was our first lesson on how politics are conducted in West Africa. Countless motorcades full of cheering supporters dressed in bright green (the SLPP’s Color), dancers, mimes, vendors and scores of onlookers filled the streets. Our poda-poda navigated the endless crowds at a snails pace, and we watched in awe the sheer energy and voyeurism, which is in abundance.