The first three days

Day one (Thursday 3rd December 2009)…early morning start, woken up by school music and singing of the national anthem. The YMCA hostel is next to a primary school and rehabilitation centre for psychiatric patients (some still traumatised by the war) and part of their routine is sing-alongs, mainly patriotic songs and Christian songs…some I am familiar with e.g. ‘Lord I lift you name on high’. Got ready for my first engagement of the day - I have been invited to the launch of the Sierra Leone Union of Disabled – the day of the disabled...at Victoria Park, in attendance, were the minister (equivalent of secretary of state) of social welfare, world vision, UN representatives, and the largest gathering of disabled people. I know a lot of them and it gave me the opportunity to publicise the Dorothy Springer Trust sponsorship programme.

Day two (Friday 4th December 2009)…The search for job and rented accommodation started but hampered by lack of access to the internet…the one at the hostel was incredibly slow and the laptop I had bought with a built-in 3G modem did not work with the Sierra Leone ISPs (Internet Service Providers), so I tried different solutions…some options expensive and cost cutting is the key to this trip, especially with no income going into my personal account at the moment. In that spirit of cost reduction, I ditched the hired car to help me get around as it was depleting my limited resources and I have also decided to stay in the hostel for the remaining 27 days until I find a part-time job and rented accommodation, so the real work of the DST can begin in earnest. In fact, already started as I went to fix an appointment with the anti-corruption commissioner to inform him of DST’s activities…this is very important for us, as DST’s core values are High Standards, accountability, Transparency, Keeping You Informed.

In the evening, I was invited to a dinner of the Love One Another Campaign, say No to Exploitation…a local charity started by Dr. Bell who studied in Germany but came back to Sierra Leone....similar story. I hear you ask, what is the connection? A German friend of mine had put me in contact with her friends who are currently visiting Sierra Leone to support the Love One another Campaign and they wanted to meet with me. In the dinner I was introduced to an eminent Poet, a professor at the university of SL. He took my details and agreed to speak to the dean of engineering…a possibly part-time lecturing post maybe?

Day three (Saturday 5th December)…Finally got round to trying the hostel network again. This time much better….I had commented about the speed and the frustration encountered by the user and the need for some improvements and apparently it was fixed yesterday. So here I am blitzing nearly 70 emails of support, encouragement and offer of prayers. Thank so much to everyone. The work I am here to do has started, still on schedule, it’s just taken two days to settle down (as was expected) especially with the problems of the internet…which is crucial for the job search as all my key contact details are online. In any case, staying in the hostel reminds me of my travelling days, inter-railing around Europe and staying in hostels….

More to come...

Thanks for reading
Abs