We've arrived
on M&S Diary (Sierra Leone), 17/Aug/2006 10:58, 34 days ago
Well, we're finally here! A late ferry Monday night brough us over the peninsula in the dark, and our first sighting of Freetown was deceptive...Without electricity, the few lights spread out over the hills in the pitch dark made it seem more like a gaggle of small villages than the capital. But when we pulled off the boat with Joseph, VSO's office assistant, and Prince, the HR manager at NEC (where I'm working), we drove through the most densely packed streets I think I've ever seen. The poverty was immediate - guess we'd anticipated encountering it would be more gradual. But suddenly: thousands of people stood in the dark streets, most were homeless I guess, some curled up in makeshift hovels at the sides of the roads. And all that revealed them in the shadows were the dozens of candles lighting tiny, endless stalls selling mostly bread and cigarettes - at least, that's all I recognised! It was like a sprawling chapel, its colourful icons - the fishermen, the prostitutes, the orphans, came in and out of the light almost like a never-ending dream.Finally we rumbled down a broken track to drop David, another YfD working with me at NEC, at his accomodation - a VSO flat. Then Maro and I were dropped at our accomodation, and left to find our way. It's a flat (off Wilkinson Road) rented by NEC for staff coming in to Freetown now and then from the regional offices - and us. Edwin, a student at Forah Bay college, about 22, looks after the place, sleeping outside in the shed with his 2 brothers Tommy and Francis. He showed us in, and has since been looking out for us.The flat is pretty bare, and there's a noisy generator in the house next door which kept us awake the first 2 nights. But all things considered, we're very lucky, and I'm sure we'll make a home of it. We haven't used the kitchen or living room yet, as we've been running in and out, and eaten out the last 2 days. I'll post photos of the flat in the next few days.On Tuesday, Alice, VSO's programme for HIV/governance picked us up with Lynda, the receptionist. We were introduced to staff, given our first month's money, and talked through the programme and health and safety issues.Maro and I then went back to try and fix up a mosquito net, and had a terrible night's sleep with the generator and some horrible burning skin reaction to - we hope - our mosquito spray and NOt our anti-malarials.Day 2 and we went to visit our partner organisations. Maro's boss seems nice at SWASL (society for wome against AIDS in Africa). My boss wasn't there! But I briefly met a couple of people who work in the NEC building and one of my colleagues, Isaac, who seemed a bit confused as to why I was there, or not sure what to do with me, but it was just a flying visit, so hopefully we'll get a bit further today when I go in again. Ok, gonna sign off now, as I've go to go open a bank account. Internet access should improve in the next few days, and hopefully I'll get time to do some more audio-visual blogging at the weekend.Hope you're all well. Email us when you get the chance and we'll do our best to reply. We really appreciate hearing from our friends and family, especially in these early days when everything is so new and a bit overwhelming.For now, all our love,Simon and Maro