We embark on another tour of the Koidu area initially on foot which gives us a chance to hear Christmas carols to a reggae setting from various ghetto blasters and to see large cardboard Santas and snowy scenery as we walk past some of the market stalls. It is also possible to buy small Christmas trees and sets of lights here, which seems totally incongruous with the sun blazing down and us wearing shorts. However the fun and joy coming from carols set to a reggae beat seems entirely appropriate as Christmas day draws nearer.
David Sandi joins us and we discuss his work in some detail as we revisit the Ahkom building. Here we see a mix of vocational and academic training which seems to work very well. On the ground floor of the building there are training rooms for a variety of skills including sewing, hairdressing and Information Technology. Whenever it is practical the students are encouraged to involve friends and family. In the case of the hairdressing classes the models are charged are a reduced fee for a haircut which is then split between the student and Ahkom centre. Likewise sewing and embroidery have a similar approach encouraging personal accountability and self reliance. We asked David about the students, he recalls that a new student recently pulled up her tee shirt to exhibit a 10 inch scar across her body, he said that he arranged counselling for her as soon as this happened. He mentions that most of the students are either orphans or war victims of some sort or another. He classes former child soldiers as “victims” because most were either forced at pain of amputation or death to kill others or they were heavily drugged. Fortunately most of the students coming to Ahkom have been through a rehabilitation programme of one sort or another before they join their classes.
The first floor of the Ahkom building is essentially an academic centre with 6 classrooms teaching traditional secondary subjects for 11 – 18 year olds. The centre has become so successful that it needs to expand. At present there are 22 classes sharing the 6 rooms and working on a 2 shift pattern. For anyone interested there is the opportunity for a short term assignment spending a couple of weeks or so working with the Head teacher to develop the curriculum and helping to develop the teaching skills of the staff. Dr Diana Snape undertook such a role back in 2007.
Yesterday we visited the new Ahkom centre currently under construction to help alleviate the current space problems. Construction progress is purely a function of the speed of donations. The current construction budget is not far shy of £100k with donations to date of around £15k (the recent fall in the pound has not helped). However David reports that an immediate target of just another £5k is needed to get the first rooms open, he hopes will happen some time early in 2009. Once the new centre is open he hopes the successful model in action will prompt further interest.
Yesterday we also visited Bungalow school and met Margaret, the inspirational Head teacher. Bungalow school was set up by a Non Government Organisation (NGO) shortly after the end of the civil war. However we have learned that some NGO’s provide support for a surprisingly short period – often just a year or two. In this case Bungalow junior school has been successfully started up under Margaret and now has 35 nursery school children (under 5) and 261 children in the 5 – 12 age range. There are 8 teachers who teach the near 300 pupils. Apparently the NGO stopped supporting the school almost 2 years ago and since then the Christian Community Church has stepped in to keep the school going. The more logical position would be for the Government to take on the responsibility of the Buildings and salaries but at present there is a “gap” which is being caught by the church.
Margaret shows great commitment to Bungalow school often not taking a salary if the funds are not available. At present the Government pay for qualified teachers starts at 200,000 Leones per month. This sounds a lot until you do the maths with one pound equalling 4200 Leones that equates to a basic salary of just under £50 month (a figure which to me shows just how far our donations can go). The basic pay bill for the school which is currently funded by the church is therefore approximately £400 month for the 8 teachers. Bungalow school also has need of some desks and benches to cope with all the children now attending as well as a need for improved WC’s. However until the Sierra Leone Government take on the school it continues to need outside help from the church or wherever.
Our tour of Koidu includes a visit to the part constructed new Central church which when completed will provide the central Koidu church with a permanent home for the first time. We then go to see the team at Koaquima church which likewise currently rents space but has first option on some development land on which to build a permanent home. We go to the land set aside for the church and pass several streams and small ponds in the sandy soil. In the first pond there are women and children bathing and washing their clothes. In the second pond we see 3 men excavating the bottom of the pond and “panning” for diamonds. This practice has now been outlawed but there are still pockets of activity away from the central areas of town as is the case here.
To finish the tour of Koidu David takes us to “hill farm”, this was the suburb of Koidu that suffered the most carnage during the war. As we drive around we see that between every one or two houses there is still a burnt out shell of a house. David provides some chilling statistics: over 190,000 houses (i.e. 94%) were burnt or otherwise destroyed by the rebel army. David refers to the story that at one time there was a competition amongst the rebel army as to who could destroy the most houses in a day! Words fail us at that point. In 2002 a drive along these roads would have found every house burnt out and so it is a positive sign that there is so much repair and resettlement going on. David puts this down to the spirit of the people to forgive and to go forward in such a short space of time – he makes the point that many current neighbours were on opposite sides of the war and have lost mothers, sons, fathers and daughters, yet still they can now live side by side. We find the whole story quite remarkable.
As it is Saturday there are wall to wall live soccer matches from Europe going on all afternoon and evening. It seems somewhat trite but after this gruesome tour David suggests we watch some football before dinner, we decide to accept the invitation of our host. On the way to watching West Ham loose to Villa we discuss this apparent paradox of former enemies now living side by side. David sees it as a “God given” gift to the nation that so many have the capacity to forgive in such a way. It is certainly amazing to see the reality of former enemies now living alongside each other.
Richard
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