Being in Sierra Leone for the first time in twenty three years has made me see the world in a new perspective. I have previously heard stories from my parents and various family members about the beauty of Sierra Leone. My family describes it as a place that “you will never want to return.”
As an American born and raised in Maryland, I was a total stranger to the country the minute I landed at Lungi International Airport. I have to say that I saw a lot of differences between America and Sierra Leone. For example, I noticed that they charged for every little thing that could be considered free in America. I even noticed that the customs officers would ask the tourists and visitors if they have any money to give them, when the passengers didn’t have the proper monetary unit, the officers would point to them where to change money, like they say “when there is a will, there is a way.”
My mother and I were received by my aunt and cousins. As we drove along the road, I noticed how bad the infrastructure was around the area. There were no streetlights, no sidewalks for the pedestrians to walk on, so when night came, that’s when it got dangerous. That night, we were supposed to board the ferry but that too, it had problems so we trekked for three hours until we reached a town called Rokupa, located in the east. My aunt resided there. We went in the compound and I noticed that in her home, she had no lights or running water, the only guide she had as light was flashlights that she kept on hand. The next day, I went out to the compound and met some of the residents in the adjacent compound. While they were friendly and welcoming, unfortunately, Rokupa wasn’t. For one thing, the town was severely littered with trash, the lights came on every other day, and the sewage system was very poor. To sum it up, Rokupa lacked the infrastructure that people needed on a daily basis.
As the weeks went by, I found myself covered in mosquito bites and I constantly woke up drenched in sweat each day. This was the reality that people lived on a day to day basis. It wasn’t like America, it wasn’t like the stories that I heard growing up. It was humid, people were suffering day to day, the town was overpopulated. I spent my days hanging out with my cousins and some of the resident children that lived nearby or spent my time in the house reading downloaded books from my phone.
A few weeks later, we moved to Aberdeen, located in the west. Aberdeen was much easier than Rokupa. It still had struggles but it’s not as severe as Rokupa. Within the weeks I’ve been here, I’ve learned how to do things manually such as flush a toilet, understand a lot of differences between Sierra Leone and other countries. For my first time being in Sierra Leone, I have to say it was an eye opening experience and a dose of reality.
Fatina is an intern with Awoko for a few weeks
By Fatina M. Bangura
Friday July 22, 2016