Miracles [Tuesday, June 19]
After one of the ladies brought up to our room the standard breakfast of tea, bread and jam, I ventured over to Soldier Street and walked it from end to end, simply observing everyone going about their business. Soldier street is a primarily residential side street and I might do some photography work along it. While walking I met Frederick, who lives with his family somewhere along the street. He's quite proud of his five girlfriends; two live with him and the other three live in various homes along the street. Like most Sierra Leoneans, he was quite willing to share everything with perfect strangers, and girlfriends were no exception.
I decided that now would be an excellent time to invent having very strict girlfriend back in the US. I informed him that this new girlfriend back home is quite attached and doesn't like sharing me. Unfazed, he asked if I was Christian and offered to take me to church on Sunday instead. I declined that one as well. He finally just asked if I could be his padi (friend), which I finally accepted.
I then took a taxi over to Sykes street and the Stadium; not much was happening at the center, so I met Sara, who had left a bit earlier, at the internet cafe above the NP station off of Main Motor Road a few blocks from the Stadium. Sara left a few minutes before I did, and in those few minutes the skies opened up and unleashed a downpour that lasted most of the afternoon. I didn't have a rain jacket with me and didn't feel like risking getting my electronics wet, so I just did what everyone else does when it rains - wait. I went over to the Pride Restaurant across the hall from the internet cafe and just chilled, waiting for the rain to move on (The gas station and convenience store are downstairs with an internet cafe and restaurant upstairs). As I had nothing better to do, I enjoyed a Fanta and played around with my camera, which resulted in this rather non-exciting video:
When the rain finally let up, I went back to the center where I found Sara and Jess, the new intern from the Canada. She graduated from Princeton this spring and will be working at iEARN as well. Sara taught another identity session and afterwards we went with Dabo to lunch. Andrew came in a bit later as he had a meeting with one of the donor NGOs this morning; he and Dabo introduced Jess to the students and briefed her on the details of iEARN Sierra Leone.
I did yet another self-portrait class for those who missed it last week. Students filter in and out - sometimes they won't show up at all one week and then be there everyday the next week. The general lesson plan is to write about some topic (yourself, family, community, dreams etc...) and look at some sample images; then the students can come back and check out a camera for an hour or so to actually take the photographs. This second step has been incredibly difficult to put into practice, as the students might not show up again for a few days or if they do actually take the self portrait, it is often little more than a candid snap shot. Today I had students ranging in age from 14 to 29 in the same class, which makes for very interesting dynamics, especially as the boys have a tendency to drown out the already timid girls.
After spending the afternoon at iEARN, Sara and I helped Jess get situated at the YMCA. She'll be staying here at the YMCA with us, increasing the expat population here to an impressive five. After a candlelit dinner at our favorite place down the street, we came back and spent the evening hanging out on the porch and in the room. Amanda and Harry were interviewed on UN radio tonight about the community center so Nick and I listened in with a few of the YMCA staffers. Amanda is the Project Coordinator for the Miracle Corners of the World community center and is directing the construction of Sierra Leone's first self-sustaining community center in Kissy; Harry is her Sierra Leonean counterpart. More details about her project can be found at miraclecorners.org.
One of the callers on the show was somewhat confused by the name of organization and asked what kind of miracles would be performed at the community center and who would be performing them. However, most of the callers on the show offered plots of land for Amanda to come build more community centers; there is certainly an enthusiasm for development.
I decided that now would be an excellent time to invent having very strict girlfriend back in the US. I informed him that this new girlfriend back home is quite attached and doesn't like sharing me. Unfazed, he asked if I was Christian and offered to take me to church on Sunday instead. I declined that one as well. He finally just asked if I could be his padi (friend), which I finally accepted.
I then took a taxi over to Sykes street and the Stadium; not much was happening at the center, so I met Sara, who had left a bit earlier, at the internet cafe above the NP station off of Main Motor Road a few blocks from the Stadium. Sara left a few minutes before I did, and in those few minutes the skies opened up and unleashed a downpour that lasted most of the afternoon. I didn't have a rain jacket with me and didn't feel like risking getting my electronics wet, so I just did what everyone else does when it rains - wait. I went over to the Pride Restaurant across the hall from the internet cafe and just chilled, waiting for the rain to move on (The gas station and convenience store are downstairs with an internet cafe and restaurant upstairs). As I had nothing better to do, I enjoyed a Fanta and played around with my camera, which resulted in this rather non-exciting video:
When the rain finally let up, I went back to the center where I found Sara and Jess, the new intern from the Canada. She graduated from Princeton this spring and will be working at iEARN as well. Sara taught another identity session and afterwards we went with Dabo to lunch. Andrew came in a bit later as he had a meeting with one of the donor NGOs this morning; he and Dabo introduced Jess to the students and briefed her on the details of iEARN Sierra Leone.
I did yet another self-portrait class for those who missed it last week. Students filter in and out - sometimes they won't show up at all one week and then be there everyday the next week. The general lesson plan is to write about some topic (yourself, family, community, dreams etc...) and look at some sample images; then the students can come back and check out a camera for an hour or so to actually take the photographs. This second step has been incredibly difficult to put into practice, as the students might not show up again for a few days or if they do actually take the self portrait, it is often little more than a candid snap shot. Today I had students ranging in age from 14 to 29 in the same class, which makes for very interesting dynamics, especially as the boys have a tendency to drown out the already timid girls.
After spending the afternoon at iEARN, Sara and I helped Jess get situated at the YMCA. She'll be staying here at the YMCA with us, increasing the expat population here to an impressive five. After a candlelit dinner at our favorite place down the street, we came back and spent the evening hanging out on the porch and in the room. Amanda and Harry were interviewed on UN radio tonight about the community center so Nick and I listened in with a few of the YMCA staffers. Amanda is the Project Coordinator for the Miracle Corners of the World community center and is directing the construction of Sierra Leone's first self-sustaining community center in Kissy; Harry is her Sierra Leonean counterpart. More details about her project can be found at miraclecorners.org.
One of the callers on the show was somewhat confused by the name of organization and asked what kind of miracles would be performed at the community center and who would be performing them. However, most of the callers on the show offered plots of land for Amanda to come build more community centers; there is certainly an enthusiasm for development.
posted by Paul at
1:43 PM
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