Blog 14. Freetown- part 1

My first visit to the capital of Sierra Leone was a terrific one, but to be honest it was more like I was back in the UK for a few days. I was very fortunate to get a lift with Nick for the three-hour journey to Freetown and then when I arrived I stayed at the British High Commission.

Running water, constant electricity, air-conditioning, Wi-Fi, Xbox and western food. Just what I needed.

Nick’s and his girlfriend Heather were fantastic hosts for the few days, cooking pancakes, Nachos and Lasagne whilst making me feel welcome in their home.

This was all really nice, but this was not really Freetown, whereas the HASH was.

Hash Freetown House Harriers are ‘the drinking club, with a running problem. A group with over 50 members made up of locals and ex-pats. Quite simply they go for a crazy run all around the HILLS of Freetown, dipping through people’s houses, dodging the sewer drains and chasing the kids up paths/steps.

If this is not mad enough for you, then read on. The route is decided before all of the runners meet up, then they nominate two ‘hares’ to lead the way without giving them directions or their destination. The hares must navigate the course following shredded pieces of paper which the race master has placed before the fun begins.

Sometimes, the race master will try to trick you and give you a few options of paper to follow, most leading to a dead-end. So you must choose wisely and listen out for the call of “on-on” before forcing yourself up the steep hills.

Bar the Great North Run, it was one of the best I have ever been involved in. Though it did not stop there, when we were all finished and back at the meeting point all of the runners formed a circle and the beers were dished out J

This wasn’t just a casual one or two, the bottles were flying out quick and certain people had to neck drinks either for penalties, or in my case as I was a HASH virgin!

A bit of chop was also provided, rice and chicken, good stuff. The people were all really friendly, just like the rest of the SaLoneans, I completed a bit of exercise and honestly cannot think of a better way of seeing Freetown. An incredible experience.

Blog 13. Clubhouse Birthday Party

Saturday 19^th May 2012, the Clubhouse Makeni celebrated its one-year anniversary in some style.

The Clubhouse is the main business venture for the charity ‘Street Child of Sierra Leone’ where all of its profits go directly towards helping children sleeping rough all around SL.

Even a horrific thunderstorm on the morning of the party, which flooded the courtyard could not dampen our spirits, as the staff of Sierra Leone’s number one bar worked hard to make it the hottest place in town.

I attended the party on official KSLMarathon business, hosting some of our local supporters and partners for a few drinks and an incredible buffet.

At first for me it was all about making small talk and keeping some people sweet, (we may need favours from them in the future). So the Star beer went down quite slowly, I held back on the vodka and pineapple punch and only caught bits of the Champions League final!!!!

However, by 10pm the majority of them had left or were mingling with other guests, so I was able to relax and chill out with other Collective volunteers and friends.

The Star went down quicker and the craic flowed, except when Nick Piggott demonstrated his Dutch accent and I could not stop laughing.

The food was really good, including onion rings, spring rolls, pasta, salad and Barracuda, plus there was birthday cake. Not quite Mr Kipling but decent for Salone.

After a bit of dancing, singing with a Rastafarian and a few photos we called it a night. And what a great one it was. Happy Birthday Clubhouse Makeni.

Blog 12 Marathon Madness

Just under FOUR weeks now until the first ever KILN Sierra Leone Marathon.

Not long at all, it means I have been here for 4 weeks already and though much has been done there is still plenty to crack on with.

For anybody reading this blog who is running in one of the events, you really are quite lucky.

Not only do you have the opportunity to raise money and awareness for the amazing charity ‘Street Child of Sierra Leone’, you also get to run around what is an incredible course with some of the most incredible and friendliest people I have ever met.

I hope you are all as excited as the locals and myself are. With banners being displayed around Makeni and the marathon jingle playing out in Krio and English on the radio stations, everyone in SaLone is talking about the 9^th of June.

More and more people are getting involved, whether it is to run, to help out as race volunteers or simply to cheer you along the course, the locals cannot wait.

I have been out running a few times in Makeni (thinking about calling ourselves the New London Harriers), a small morning jog is greeted with such enthusiasm, especially when the children heading to school chase you, it’s brilliant.

A few tips:

·      Sweatbands are a must, even early morning you will be soaked.

·      Be prepared to wave at lots of people

·      Maybe write your name on your vest or number so people can cheer you on around the course.

·      Wear bright colours, you will fit in with the locals better.

·      Most importantly, smile and you will enjoy it more.

Blog 11 Rogbonko Village

With the arrival of the new Collective volunteer Adam, we all decided to go away for the night to Rogbonko village, an hour and a half’s drive away to a cashew nut and sugar plantation.

It may not sound like much, not quite a trip to Alton Towers or a major city break, but this is just what we needed. A calm and quiet break from the intensity of Makeni.

The drive up to Rogbonko was really nice, passing through loads of small villages where the kids would chase the car and scream with delight at welcoming visitors. Plus getting to see more of this amazing country.

It seemed like the whole of Rogbonko greeted us on our way in, they were keen to show us to our rooms, very decent, four stars if you ask me (SaLone standard).

After a little bit exploring we went in search of the river, desperate for a swim and to cool off a bit. The first pool was like a little swamp with only a few people in. Looked good to me, but the others wanted to see what our guide called the ‘best river’.

Fair enough it was slightly bigger and less trees around but how exactly it was the best I am not sure. Anyway in for a splash and from there we chilled out all night, reading books, sharing stories and star gazing at an incredible sky.

The food was the highlight of the trip, fresh pineapple as a snack, then groundnut soup with chicken and mushy rice for dinner. Breakfast was more pineapple, fried potato, scrambled eggs and a cup of tea. Lovely

Before we left, off we went for another dip in the ‘best river’ when I became Steve Irwin, across the path I found a little green snake darting towards a frog. I kept watching and even wanted to commentate as the snake kept attacking its prey and dragged it into the bushes. Exciting.

Back into Charlie’s car, sat in the boot looking out back over the vast plantation and enjoying the ride.

Blog 10. Language

You may have already guessed this, but the locals are struggling to understand me with such an accent. As is the problem back home (especially in Stork) and with some of the other volunteers.

Although the primary language in Sierra Leone is English, it is still sometimes difficult to translate. Then there are the different languages that people use depending upon where they were born and their tribe.

The main two I have encountered are Krio and Temne and to further complicate matters, you never really know which one to adopt depending upon whom you are talking to.

Here are a few words to get you started in Krio and Temne:

Hello                                        Kushe-oh                              Seke

How are you?                         Aw di body?                          To pe mu-a?

I’m fine, how are you?          Di bodi fine, aw uself?        Min yenki

What’s your name?               We yu nem?                          Nges uhmu-a?

My name is                            Ah nem                                  Mine yi

I’m from                                 Ah komot                              I wur

Pleased to meet you             Ah gladi foh meet yu           I bone mi taka bap mu

Thank You                             Tenki ya                                Muhmo

Good Bye                                By By                                      Owa-o

The use of language is very diverse over here as well. As I’ve said before, the people in SaLone are really nice, the friendliest I have ever met. But they are more direct in their approach and though extremely polite, they do not use Please and Thank You much, strange compared to how I was brought up.

They also enjoy a conversation just for the simple reason of talking to someone, not for any particular point. In one sense this is incredible and makes them the magnificent people they are, but then you think to yourself do you want something, what was that talk about and they repeat this a lot.

Body language is also something strange to get used to, people will stare at you, but as soon as you smile or say hello their face will light up as if you have made their day.

A lot of handshakes go on, whether you have just met, said something funny or that they like, even just because it has been five minutes since the last handshake!

One thing I do find annoying though is the sort of raspberry blowing kissing noise many young people make. It is only to get you attention (without shouting aporto) but to me it sounds so cheeky, but I will get over it.

Many people cannot understand and use the name Mark, so instead I am either called Bark, Aporto, White boy, my football name is O’Shea and my African name is Abu.

Blog 9 Nosdo FC

Those who know me, know I love playing football, I play a few times a week back home and so I was keen to do so over in SaLone.

I was desperate to get a game at Wusuum Field, Makeni’s stadium, which is home to the Wusuum Stars and is the only pitch in SL that is artificial. Though it is used sparingly as they like to keep it in good condition.

Instead I found a team called Nosdo FC (the name comes from a local sponsor) because of our housekeeper Alusine, a 22-year-old left winger who lists Ryan Giggs as his favourite player and is a huge Manchester United fan (Daza Robins will be happy) has played for them for quite a few years.

Alusine took me along to a training session and introduced me to his teammates and their coach Cisse, a really canny, young lad who is very softly spoken but heavy on discipline and religion.

They were all fantastic lads; they let me join in and shared a few jokes with me, typical white man banter.

The warm-up itself was brutal, although most of it was just jogging and stretching, in this heat it took a lot of energy and I had to work hard to keep up.

We played a game of 2-touch possession, it was tough! Every single player seemed to have so much pace, like I was playing against a million Walcott’s and with my touch not being the greatest I ended up doing what I do best and kicking people.

It did not help that the ground we were playing on had huge rocks everywhere and was really dusty, so to change direction took about 10 minutes. Plus the ball was like a bloody stone. These lads were used to it, even if some of them were wearing jelly shoes to play in.

Anyway after a few sessions and few games, Cisse said the lads were impressed and happy for me to come along to train and share my thoughts on football. That keeps me happy.

To keep Nosdo FC happy I gave them a gift….. a new strip. 12 red and white Sunderland shirts (thanks again to everyone who donated them). They all loved the tops and are so far unbeaten when playing in them. Ha’way the Lads, Ha’way the Nosdo.

Blog 8 Banana Island

All work and no play makes Mark a dull boy, so we (The Collective volunteers, Ben, Greg, Jemma, Josh and myself) all went off for a short break away from Makeni. Our destination, the beautiful Banana Island.

We set off on our travels by getting a 3-hour taxi ride to Waterloo, where we then changed vehicles and headed towards Kent (few other places over here named after British locations e.g. York and Aberdeen) only to be stopped at a police block due to our driver not holding a legal driving licence, in fact he looked about 14 years old. But we soon got to the coast ready for our next voyage.

The boat ride over was fantastic, the sea was calm and the view was spectacular (look out for photo’s on my Facebook page). Upon arrival we were escorted through the small village on the island up to our guesthouse. It was incredible, our own private beach, a pool table, balcony and even a proper shower in our rooms!

We wasted no time in exploring the island further with our new friend Liam from Canada joining us. Only a 10-minute walk away from our accommodation was another beach with fewer rocks making it easier to swim in. Brilliant.

It was very chilled out on Banana Island, just what I needed and the food was unbelievably good, the pasta with tomato and garlic sauce was the nicest meal I have had in a while, plus the fish caught fresh that day was delicious.

Getting to know our new ‘fwend’ Liam (who was travelling all around Africa on his own) over a few drinks was good craic. I was adventurous enough to buy a small packet of whiskey and sip away. (Hoping that the chunder dragon would not repeat its antics!)

Next morning for me was just about lazing around, so after breakfast I only moved between my hammock and the beach to read my book and enjoy the sunshine, whilst Ben and Josh were off trekking through the jungle.

A delayed departure meant things were a bit rushed as we got to Kent, but a film crew who were delighted to see us greeted us at the port. The director explained that they were making a movie about slave traders in Africa and that he needed white people to play the parts. So lights, camera, action.

Basically as a group of slaves went past we had to push them along into the boat and pay some money, OK fairly simple stuff, though one slave did turn to me and ask if I was a professional. Ha. (If anyone wants to look it up in the future the film was called ‘Good Mother Africa’)

Now was the tricky part, how to get back to Makeni? We tried haggling with two taxi drivers to start our return journey and the one we chose took forever to go and get his car. He wanted to drive us to Makeni, but with a fuel shortage over here that proved difficult, so he dropped us off as Waterloo where we squeezed into a ‘poda poda’ (a small van that acts as a taxi for a LOT of people).

I was lucky, I took the front seat so it was padded and the window was down allowing me to get some decent videos of the trip. The others however were all packed in alongside about 20 other people who all had luggage as well.

It was a nice ride, taking in the scenery, listening to some local tapes. Then disaster as the engine failed and we were in the middle of nowhere, in the dark with a few wound up locals.

We didn’t hang around, as a white person you sort of get preferential treatment in Sierra Leone and this was used to our advantage when a car pulled up and said all five of us could hitch a lift. (This was made possible by the three men who were originally in the car, getting out and sitting on the roof, thanks lads.)

Makeni, seven hours later we were back and just in good time, we walked through New London before the heavens opened and the place was lit up with flashes of lightning. What a great trip.

Blog 7 Entertainment

As I have said in a previous blog post, life over here is extremely hard for most people with poor hygiene, disease, lack of food and aching work all major factors. Though one other notable contribution is the little variety in entertainment.

Perhaps I have noticed it more because I have come from a fun and outgoing background, where I can go out with friends, play sports, watch television or even read a book in clear light, when the locals are not used to that so they do not miss it.

Instead they find other things to do, mostly work, but they do try and enjoy a good social life. Everywhere you look kids are kicking something around, whether it is a ball, tin or shoe to try and emulate their favourite footballing stars.

They know about the World’s best like Rooney, Messi and Ronaldo through lots of small cinemas that show the majority of football games throughout the week for a minor entry fee. Each shack can host around 100 people and create a fantastic atmosphere. So football over here is a huge part of life!

The locals also like to keep themselves amused either by singing and dancing with each other or playing games and racing each other around the streets and fields. Even chasing and shouting ‘Apotto’ (White people) is a favourite pastime for many young children.

But mainly life in SaLone is focused upon work, the need to make enough money to feed their families and look after one another. It is a simple/difficult way of life, though one which is enjoyed at every opportunity, I know this because of the amount of people who smile in Sierra Leone.