By Khadi Mansaray
Five weeks in Sierra Leone left me as curious and hopeful as I arrived. A lot has happened since my last visit in 2009 but there is still no straightforward answer to ‘How is the country doing?’
In 2009 I was so glad to be back on home soil after nine years, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat the minute the wheels hit the runway. This time I had more realistic expectations. In the hustle to get my luggage I didn’t notice anything remarkable about the arrivals lounge. However I noticed significant improvements at departures on my return journey.
Mount Aureol
A drive through the mountain villages neatly sums up Sierra Leone for me. Heading up Mount Aureol the ‘Solidarity Bridge’ and the waterfalls were just as they were in 2009 and hadn’t changed since I had left fourteen years ago. The view overlooking Freetown is impressive as ever but like many parts of Freetown, the landscape is now marred by structures built to provide accommodation for the increasing population.
In 2009 the University seemed reasonably maintained and I noticed a few additional buildings. This time I held a public lecture at Mary Kingsley and it was just as I had left when I graduated. In 2009 my heart sank when I got to Kortright, the surroundings were still beautiful but the houses were badly in need of facelifts. As Kortright holds the accommodation for University lecturers, the lack of maintenance does not say much for how we prioritise or value education.
What used to be a tarmac road had become a large dusty path with odd remnants of the tarmac. In 2009, the route was bumpy, dusty until Hill Station where a massive, ultra modern structure of the new American embassy stood in stark contrast. A breath-taking symbol of power, strength and security, the neighbouring homes owned by wealthy Sierra Leoneans were equally impressive. This time, the journey was quicker and I hardly noticed the American embassy as the number of impressive homes had increased. The same is true for other parts of the country where great efforts have been made to improve infrastructure. In a nutshell, after all these years some things were just the same, some had deteriorated badly and others had improved greatly.
Bumbuna electricity
In 2009, there was positive talk of Bumbuna electricity even though it was being postponed yet again as it was fourteen years ago. Today there is no more talk of Bumbuna as the solution to the problem but the challenges still remain. The Peninsula road is almost done, and throughout the country there is impressive improvement of roads but water and sanitation remain an issue. Freetown is overcrowded and with no proper planning; houses are springing up any and everywhere. Whilst some of them are architectural masterpieces some are incredibly grotesque.
A country of paradoxes
Sierra Leone is a country of paradoxes, where things do not always make sense. People have no money but there is a plethora of banks; at least seven and I’m not talking branches. Having two mobile phones is more economical than having one. In 2009, the man on the street quaked in fear at the mention of the ‘anti corruption’. Today hardly anyone worries about anti-corruption and the international community disqualified us for funding based on corruption.
There is an explosion of vocational colleges, ranging from business management to aviation studies but there is no increase in literacy or employable skills. The number of NGOs advocating for women and children (about one on every five streets in central Freetown) would suggest they are one of the most advocated-for groups in the world, yet they remain the most vulnerable in our society. Even so Sierra Leonean women are inspiring, and industrious. At the grassroots are women doing jobs like car-washing, jobs that were previously traditionally male. The middle class struggle to make ends meet but yet it is one of the fastest growing economies.
Rules and Logic
Sierra Leone has its own rules and logic doesn’t apply. Ripping off holidaymakers sits comfortably with generosity of spirit and hospitality. Extreme wealth and extreme poverty are common bedfellows. An eight-year-old will beg for food on the beaches of a luxurious resort. Labour is cheap but products very expensive so the cost of living is extremely high and service is mediocre if you’re lucky. The household helps are a very powerful section of society and can hold their bosses to ransom by not turning up for work. So are the Abacha Street traders, who leave you in no doubt as to who really runs the country. I have also never been able to understand the uncanny ability to spot a ‘JC’ as they appear.
Courage and Resilience
The courage and resilience of the people is amazing. I stopped to buy fruits from a street vendor and she deftly attached her artificial leg before cheerfully hobbling over to confidently overcharge me. She had lost her leg in the war. I forgot to haggle. Amongst the charlatans there are good people. There are the professionals who care about good standards, there are the poor who are honest, and there are rich who care. In the midst of lawlessness there are those who obey the rules and those who strive to make things better.
I headed to Freetown with the burnout and mental exhaustion you only get living in the West and I left with optimism and a feeling of gratitude you can only get from Africa. I arrived at Lungi thinking "I’m glad to be home". In Freetown, you can run through the gamut of emotions in ten minutes. No other place fills me with such hope and despair, shame and pride, anger and calm at the same time. I am still in awe of how beautiful it is. The mountains, the beaches, the sea and sky make me feel like a child who has been handed a treat. I am angered by the poverty, as there is no reason for it but with all its imperfections it is still the land of my birth and my spiritual home.
After all, the Germans have the holocaust, the French the guillotine, the Indians burned women at the pyre and America bombed Hiroshima. So I exalt what I have, Sierra Leone, the realm of the free and as I landed in Gatwick on my return I thought. ‘It’s good to be back’.
(C) Politico 04/03/14
