Artistic Explosions

Sunday in Freetown is perhaps the only quiet morning of the week - at least until the boisterous church services start at 11.  Although I was planning on going to church with Jokella (one of my students) and her family, her aunt was sick so she postponed until next week. After a light brunch of bread, jam, butter, and tea at the Y, Amanda, Sara and I tried to go the supermarket to find some more food, but they weren't open on Sunday, so we ended up taking a taxi to Aberdeen Junction and stopping by an internet cafe where we met up with Amanda's friend Bami.

Bami used to work at iEARN as the music director, but has since moved on to work solo - his songs were all the rage at Paddy's last summer and can often be heard on the radio. Last year he worked with the cafesociety.org team from Hull - Freetown's sister city in the UK - and became such good friends with them that he will be flying to the UK in the next few days to spend two months recording and learning. He was supposed to leave on Saturday, but the British Embassy denied his visa application, so he'll be leaving as soon as it gets sorted out. The music industry is thriving in Freetown - there are multiple recording studios and the market is expanding, fueled by five years of peace.

Of note, one group from Sierra Leone - The Refugee All Stars - are currently on tour in the United Sates and are the subject of the film "Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars." It will air on PBS on next Tuesday, June 26 at 10PM on PBS. The PBS website has more info at PBS Point of View: Sierra Leone. The filmmakers' website is refugeeallstars.org and the band's site is over at Refugee All Stars. Special thanks to a reader from St. Louis for the heads up about the film. I have embedded the trailer below.

Ishmael Beah, a former child combatant who wrote the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, commented in a recent interview on this post-war artistic explosion: 

"People don't have clean drinking water, no electricity, no employment, the youth are hanging about feeling worthless because they can't afford to go to school. The devastation continues unnoticed to this day... Through literature, arts and music, the youth of Sierra Leone can expose what continues to unfold in their country. I believe that this is the only medium that is left."

We went out to get a poda to Aberdeen, but before we found one, two guys offered us a ride. They were just driving around "looking for things to do and getting the party started," although it was only 2pm. People seem to party here all day. We went for lunch at Family Kingdom before venturing down the beach, which was packed with hundreds of people playing football and relaxing. We managed to make it to a covered market just as a downpour cleared the beaches. The dimly lit market had about twenty stalls, each with a seller who pesters you with "This is nice" or "excuse me" or "you like this?" The initial prices are rediculous, but ususally if you offer half of what they say, it isn't too bad. Sara and Amanda bought some jewelry and cloth. I tried to get a hammock for Le 60,000, but Bami and I couldn't find a suitably large one.

We then dashed over to a covered porch near the road to try to hail a taxi, but instead Bami called the man who drove us over to Aberdeen earlier - he had offered to drive us around wherever we needed to go. While we waited for him to arrive, we met a "Gucci Blinger" (as Sara described him) man standing guard on the porch with this little light brown cat. He was covered in gold and diamond everything - belt, belt buckle, earrings, teeth, shoes, hat, shoes. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera, but I might go back just to get a picture of him. Anyways, our friend showed up and drove us back to the center, although this time we had to pay him Le10,000.

We relaxed for a bit at the YMCA before going out in search of food again. Mohammed, who works at the Y and knows just about everything and everyone in Freetown, couldn't find anywhere nearby that was open on Sunday evening, so we headed back to Aberdeen to the Indochine Restuarant which serves "Vietnamese, Chinese, and Thailandese Foods." It was absolutely amazing - I had "Grilled Lamb with Thailandese Sauce served on Steamed Rice." We were supposed to meet Bami at one the beach bars, but instead decided to just go back to Y and sleep.

On the taxi ride home, we were blocked by four men pushing an out-of-gas Land Cruiser.

Amanda (joking): Bad decision. This is going to be slow. Why don't you go up and give them a push with your car?
Our Driver (absolutely horrified): No. They will die.

He said that with incredible seriousness and mortification - as if we had no idea of that the force of his car would crush the men in between the two cars. We all immediately burst out laughing which only increased his horror at our apparent utter disregard for human life. I think we scared him very badly - he didn't say another word the rest of the way home, shocked by our lack of concern for his fellow countrymen. The English here is somewhat archaic, which often results in situations like this. For example, I've learned not to use the phrase "How's it going?" since that only garners a response of "Nowhere. I'm staying here."

After returning the YMCA, I talked with fellow YMCA resident and war photographer Wolf Böwig about photojournalism while on the balcony overlooking the city. He is returning home to Germany on Monday for a few weeks before going back to work - the war zones across Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. While most modern work in such areas tends to be sensationalist, his photographs retain a powerful and intimate respect for the individual. His work will be on tour throughout Europe and the US this fall and will also be published in a book this October. I seriously encourage you to take a look at his work over at kurosafrica. I have not been able to find details of his US tour or book, but if someone can find them, send me an email.