Upstairs, downstairs
on M&S Diary (Sierra Leone), 28/Aug/2006 08:36, 34 days ago
Some volunteers start euphoric. Others, like us, test the waters. This is appropriate for Sierra Leone this time of year, because it rains - all day sometimes. So we're taking things slowly. This helps, since Maro and I have felt quite out of control this first week in Freetown. Before I recount something we've been struggling with, though, I want to focus on one of our blessings.The people in Freetown are genuinely friendly. It is taking a little time to get used to the distance some people keep, but no doubt this is an effect of foreigners coming in in very official capacities in the last few years. The benefit of this is that, unlike developing countries far better off, where we've been hassled at every step for charity, Sierra Leoneans seem to have very much a live and let live way of being. Children and adults greet us simply in the street. Some shout“Oporto, oporto” (Portugese; white), but most greet us simply, smile warmly and let us pass without fuss. Occasionally we worry this will stop us from really getting to know anybody. But on the whole I think it is promising: things, I hope, will emerge naturally.That's not been true of every relationship though, and this brings me to one thing that hasn't been so easy: the unnerviing situation with Edwin.Until Sunday, we thought Edwin was being employed by NEC (National Electoral Commission) to look after the house. We thought he was hankering for a bit of extra cash, making himself available for most tasks, even insisting that it is“intolerable” for us to do our own washing up, etc. He also mans the gate which opens only from the insid. In this, of course, he is essential to us.But on Sunday, we discovered that Edwin is not being paid by NEC to be here. NEC's chairman, Christiana Thorpe, had in fact suggested he come here (this we finally ascertained by many hours of roundabout conversation) apparently on the pretext that the white volunteers might be good benefactors. The actual caretaker of the property, it turns out, is on annual leave (a very strange time, given that we are the first people to move into the house, although likewise, both Maro and my line managers are out of the country - in spite of us being told by VSO that they were desperate to have us there on 14 August).Edwin tells us that he thinks the caretaker is not coming back; when we tallk to NEC (likewise in quite roundabout terms; directness towards whites doesn't seem to be in fashion here) they confirm she has overstayed her holiday. So Edwin implies he wants her contract, and that we could suggest this to NEC. But in the meantime, until this can be resolved, the pressure remains with us to reward him.Was he owed a full week's wages? We hadn't employed him to do these things, but he'd done them nonetheless. The problem for us was not to set a negative precedent.In the end we decide to call another volunteer who's been here a while and ask her advice. She says a gatekeeper earns about 150-200,000 Leone a month, and suggests giving him, say, 40,000 for now and asking him to do some washing as well. Let's put this in context: that's about£8 for a week's work - and yet for us it isn't sustainable; VSO is pays a local salary (unlike other NGOs), which is effectively maintenance. It must cover fuel for the generator, transport, food, kerosine for the stove, and so on. The money is just enough to get by.Our fear is realised when we give Edwin the 40,000 Leone. He is very happy - though we explain it is only until the situation with the caretaker is resolved. But the next day, 2 of Edwin's friends are in the compound, promising to come every Sunday,“to sweep the floors and do many things”.I'm sure you can imagine the various emotions we have been feeling: guilt, frustration, irritation at not knowing how to handle a situation which would be well within our control at home.Today, I finaly catch up with our housemate, Mr Mattea, who is staying here for a few months with his wife Aminatta because their house burnt down. (When we show you pictures of Sierra Leonean architecture, you'll understand why). I ask Mattea how he is dealing with Edwin. He explains that they buy him enough food to cook for himself and them - and every now and then they give him 2 or 3,000 Leone for chores around the house.I don't tell Mattea that I've just opened the floodgates to Edwin's hopes. I don't even want to admit it to myself: that we have done the one thing we didn't want to: set a bad precedent.I won't go on much longer - but a little more context…Edwin is 28. He is studying Peace and Democracy at Fourah Bay University which starts term in October, and of course charges fees. He is Ghanean; he came to Sierra Leone when he was 10 with his father, a magistrate, and got his first job aged 18 as gatekeeper in a local NGO - pretending he was unschooled to get in on the bottom rung and work his way up. So Edwin is industrious. And right now, for reasons not yet wholly clear to us, we are his industry.£8 a week. It seems like nothing, and of course in relative terms that is so. And yet it's the implications we are struiggling with. We have not come here to be benefactors; we can scarcely afford to be. We have come to be facilitators. For too long the British have wielded power over Sierra Leoneans, and our money - added to the development capital which holds this nation captive - would only continue to support that tradition.If what we see in Freetown - people going about their own business, trying to make a living for themselves - is to truly grow and flourish, then not only the international community but also local expats like us need to work hard to elimate the perception that we can dig Sierra Leone out of a hole.This isn't an indictment of charity. VSO is a charity, and good charities like it are about empowerment. Of course this is only one side of a very complex story. But I'll leave it there. We will have to think it through lots more. But also, we want your comments and advice. Remember? This is a 2-way adventure, in which your involvement is key. Please add your musings, experiences, etc to the comments at the bottom of this entry. (Just click comments). If that isn't working for any reason, email us.Right. I've got the runs. And it's your turn to speak.