Thursday 11th December
Freetown is very busy, very buzzy and very friendly with everyone wanting to shake hands and say hello. After a few minutes of being “English” and pretending to look the other way we soon adjusted to the new culture (as we had the new climate) and started getting in first with the greetings!
On our first full day we met David Sandi who had travelled from Koidu, Kono district to meet us. It was appropriate to meet David and Yatta at a café in Wilberforce Street, reminding us of Lord Wilberforce’s work here and elsewhere as a slave trade abolitionist over 200 years ago.
Despite the fact that Freetown has a large population of around 2.5 million Yatta seems to know so many people. He asked us to join him to visit Herbert Williams, the newly elected Mayor of Freetown. We had a good discussion which began with football – it’s funny how football is such a universal language for finding common ground (and common “enemies”) the world over. It seems everyone in Africa wants to beat Nigeria, over in Britain – well everyone wants to see England get beat (except the English)!
We asked him what his single most important issue is to him as Mayor. In a single word he said “SANITATION”. Richard’s jaw dropped, as being a civil engineer that was an extremely uncomfortable answer to the question.
We moved the conversation back to lighter matters and then the Mayor offered us a lift back to the guest house in his car. He asked the driver to take a detour through the slums, the worst scenes we could not photograph but it left a lasting image of deprivation and poor sanitation, in our memories.
More importantly the Mayor of Freetown has asked us to help him find agencies and organisations that could help with the sanitation problem. He will provide a car and driver for anyone coming to Freedom with a genuine interest to help solve the problem (we don’t think that the Mayor of London has ever made such an offer).
Richard and Joni
Friday 12th December
It’s funny how football is such a universal language for finding common ground the world over. Freetown is soccer mad – but why is sport so important in a city with infant mortality at 12%, an average life expectancy of 42 and GDP of just $250 per person (we think that in the world league tables Sierra Leone is in the “relegation zone”, if not in last place). Maybe sport provides an outlet or an outreach for the community – at home most of us play soccer for fun (even if it seems more serious at times).
In Freetown it seems that participating in soccer brings huge camaraderie and helps develop the community (despite the adversity of the situation). Joni took part in a training session with the Republican team which plays in the top division in Sierra Leone. These were talented players some of whom one suspects the top European clubs might be looking to sign. Dad felt proud as Joni kept the flag flying for Britain and held his own in such good company (its all down to the training at the Summertown club in Oxford – well done Andy, Martin, Jim and all the other youth team coaches).
At the end of the session the team has a short prayer with their coach Issah, who is one of Yatta’s sports pastors. They can give thanks that there are no injuries, which is a serious risk given the deep rutted nature of the pitch. After the training session we go back to the guest house and shower. We are fortunate that we can wash the sewage splashes from the cess pit next to the goal from our skins. The other players are not so lucky and suddenly we understand more about the Mayor’s request for help with sanitation. It puts the problem of dog’s mess on UK park pitches into perspective!
Meanwhile the players and supporters chat about the prospects of the upcoming weekend’s English Premiership fixtures. It is almost like being at home but actually everyone here is even more knowledgeable and enthusiastic about English soccer than we are in England!
Richard and Joni
