Sierra Leone

Here is a pic today of my new outfit bespoke tailored from the gara cloth I received from the Deputy Mayor of Bo. Thanks Joe

I’ve been hearing about the snow in London on the BBC and about winter that seems to have arrived in Toronto. It is difficult to imagine since it is really heating up here. Today sunny 41C and at night about 25C. What really worries me is that the night watchman we hired still wears a woolly hat and Wellington boots ‘cause he is cold. He says that it gets hot in March when the sun is overhead here at 8 degrees north. In addition it’s the dry season until May and our well has just dried up. I’m dreaming of snow!

Maria one of the Dutch volunteers doing a study here has just gone home and she wanted a film clip of Makeni streets. So we took a couple of bikes and I filmed. The clip was fun to do and she has downloaded it to

At work I have been doing my now ususal publicity at the radio. I have also recommended a total revision to the tax assessment system and I needed a grant of money to do it. One of the NGO’s of whom as a group I complained recently has agreed to do the funding, thank you. I will meet them in Freetown on Monday. I will also see the UN who will assist with GPS identification and the central government who will help with information management. Things seem to be coming together. Now I just have to present this to Council on Thursday. A World Bank official (Senior Officer, Fragile States Group!) came today to do an operations review – that prompted some fuel for the generator. A really interesting lady from Jordan. She will help by pushing the Council to complete this important revenue generating program.

It must be an election year. The central government have arranged for the main road here to be paved. Also Makeni received a couple of heavy vehicles, a garbage truck and a large pick up. Both donated by Colonel Gaddafi in Libya. Now I know where the petrol in Sierra Lone comes from. The only problem is that the vehicles are totally unsuited to the small potholed streets here (see the video clip) and they soak up a huge amount of fuel in order to run. Other than that the instruction manuals are all in French. Most people throw their rubbish in the open sewers and set light to it. The City are trying to discourage this and could do with the vehicles to get the garbage off the streets but …..

Sacha a VSO volunteer from Montreal is traveling to Makeni this weekend and is bringing some strawberry jam and some water. He said he would drive a water tanker up but somehow I think not. His blog is at http://www.resanova.com/blog/category/english/

I'll take Sacha to the Saturday night bash at the Action Faim compound

Bye for now

Thanks for all the e-mails. I really enjoy hearing from people and I'm sorry if the replies are a bit late.

# posted by Fishing @ 5:02 PM