Today, sunday was a most interesting day. We travelled to Masabong-Pil, a community southwest of Mapaki to meet with a traditional healer. It was one of the first times people in the village had seen Aporto white people and the children didn't even run after calling that out to us. THey were very shy and uncertain about us until the end of the visit when they started pointing to their teeth and then to our skin to tell us we were white.
The healer, Pa Mali, showed us around his hospital and clinic areas. He has planted gardens for the herbs and roots he needs to do his work. We looked at some of his medicines and tried a few too. Then he took us through some of the ceremonial areas including sweat lodges to make you bullet proof, a witch doctor gun that can kill without bullets. As crazy as it all sounds there in Canada, it is widely followed here and in fact, the village was unharmed during the civil war. The soldiers tried to shoot bullets there ut their guns did not work. People who had been treated with special creams could not be cut by even the sharpest machete. It was simply fascinating.
All the while we could hear the women singing and clapping just beyond the fence of the clinic. When we stepped outside it- it is woven grass fences, no ceiling for the buildings- there they were and they danced and sang as we walked back up the path to the nursing clinic. As it turns out Pa Mali is also the chair for the medical clinic and so I presented the box of supplies, medicine and a book to the nurse through Pa Mali. He and the nurse work together so sometimes he uses western medicine in addition to his herbs to heal patients.
After the visits we sat and ate lunch with the community. Try eating with 80 people staring at you. I was a little intimidated but knew it would be rude to refuse so we started to eat our individual plates of food and then big platters were brought out for the community members to share. Pa Mali was served last and he shared his plate with a group of young men who I took to be his sons. He has 3 wives, one of whom we met. She lives in Texas parttime but happened to be in Masabong.
The road to Masabong was crazy. When Carolyn had told me the roads weren't good I thought oh I grew up in the country, I know dirt roads. I didn't know sierra Leonean roads. These are cleared tracks with ruts that are 1-2 feet deep, rocks that can not be moved in the middle of the road, flooded after rains, over bridges that are 8-12 inches higher than the road because of runoff. I will try to get a picture or 2 of them before I leave but not sure it will do it justuce. Suffice to say a 50 km trip can take a couple of hours because of road conditions. I have no idea how a vehicle survives there. And yet Pa Mali had a beautiful new Nissan SUV parked behind his house. A sure sign of wealth. He is one of the most highly sought after healers in the country.
It was a most interesting day. Tomorrow we are going to Mayagba to meet with Thomas and go over the plans for the cdpeace centre there. He wants to pick Vaughns brain about some building practicalities. We will see the cdpeace guesthouse there and finalize our plans for the next couple of weeks. I have realized we need help to travel within the country. Travel here is difficult and few vehicles can handle the roads- again I had read thois but until I experienced it didn't quite believe it was as bad as I read. So we are looking at continuing our collaboration with cdpeace, help Thomas reconnect with the communities as he returns to Sierra Leone and inturn he will helpp us with our travel arrangements.
So it looks something like this- Wednesday or Thursday we will go to Bumbuna Dam with MKK who used to work security there and now works for cdpeace. Friday to Sunday we will travel north ot Outambe Park with Clare and her husband Chris who arrives tonight. We will return to Mapaki and then our last week we will go south to Bo- both the chief and Thomas say that is a good city to visit. From Bo we will go to Tiwai Island for a night or two, return to Mapaki to pick up our stuff then head to Freetown for the 4 pm ferry to Lungi on Nov 6 to catch our flight.
We don't want to spend any more time than we have to in Freetown. It is a crazy place with noise, traffic, people calling out for money and help. The rural area is much more to our speed and tolerance. I have never travelled in India but I imagine it would resemble Freetown in 2009. Many of the former soldiers from the conflict are there because they cannot return to their villages without being harmed and that didn't surprise me on hearing it- there is just an edge that I am not comfortable with.
Saturday night in Mapaki was a football game between the young men and the older young men. This was followed by going to listen to the church choir practice. They have drums and use a bent metal stake as a triangle. It was beautiful music to listen to.
when we travel we are struck by how little stuff there is here. Kids in the village might have one soccer ball as a toy; they wander around the streets looking for something to do. This morning I did some math practice with the little ones and they loved having an activity. Older boys loiter on the porches, talking. No books to read, no cards to play with, no musical instruments, no string; children were playing with a plastic bag this morning and I looked at Nancy and said back home we wouldn't let them but here it is their only toy, no dolls, no balls, It seems that that whole idea of play is missing here, I guess as a result of the war, children are not in the habit of playing and parents don't know how to either. In fact when I divided up some medical supplies, the plastic bags and elastics were coveted items even. What do they need? Everything. There are some people who are better off but nobody has plenty to excess. There are a few radios in the village. A man came and sat and watched me knit yesterday and then he asked if he could learn. Michael is a teacher in the primary school and he sat for half an hour learning how to knit, fascinated by it.
So that is the news for now, so much more to share but next time. This is a long enough post. By the way haven't seen a snake anywhere yet, not a one- a few lizards, lots of birds but a paucity of other wildlife here, it was all eaten during the war.
Love to all, Jane
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