A potpourri of happenings [July 29-August 3)

Preparations for the students exhibition this Sunday August 5 have taken most of my time the last few days, so I haven't been able to post much at all. In an attempt to catch up, here's a flurry of highlights from the last few days:

Sunday, July 29
-had dinner at the Country Lodge, a posh restuarant and hotel overlooking the entire city from Hill Station, with a Professor from GA Tech who is here doing research on the TRC and also observing the elections. In short, the SL TRC had $5 million of funding, while the Special Court's trial of Charles Taylor will cost $200 million.

Monday, July 30
-Tamara left for the UK :(
-went to iEARN and began finalizing the student's work with them
-stopped by Timap for Justice and printed invitations for the exhibtion
-spent way too much money (really just $10, but Le 30,000 seems huge) at Choitrams buying western food - I can't wait to come home!

Tuesday, July 31
-Went to iEARN
-Went shopping with Marian and purchased some cloth; one seller tried to offer me "culture," which is the generic name for any necklace / jewelery items. I told him I already had "boku culture" (too much culture).
-met Arwin and Oliver, two filmmakers funded by CIDA who just arrived to make a film about youth here in SL

Wednesday, August 1
-Ran intervals with Osman. I fell way behind, but this random guy on the street starting yelling at me to go faster and ran along with me for a few meters, shouting. It was great.
-Delivered invitations and press releases for the exhibition with Mamadu to various organizations around the city - the postal service is really just in name only, so anytime you need to send things, it's you have to hand deliver them. Eventually I just gave the remaining press releases to Mamadu and Sahr to take around, as I had to get back to teaching with the other students.
-the exhibition is titled "Salon insai wi yei" or Sierra Leone through our eyes
-went to the "Launching of the Youth Enterprise Development Project." The UNDP and Ministry of Youth & Sport have sponsored a plethora of projects around the country encouraging youth employment and education, and at this event the organizers thanked all the various individuals involved. The vice president was supposed to attend, but he was too busy campaigning.
-bought a Newsweek at Choitrams. In my humble opinion, the international version of Newsweek is so much better than the American version.
-typed my students writings about their pictures. Took almost six hours and I didn't even finish - their handwriting can be a bit challenging to read at times


Thursday, August 2
-after an early morning rain, the sun appeared for the first time in a week. so nice. finally dried my clothes out.
-witnessed a "no election violence" parade organized by a Liberia/Sierra Leone coalition of women. Everyone was dressed in white and peacefully marching down the street - a wonderful change from a summer of political events.
-election observers and international officials are here in full force; there's been UN motorcades flying about the city for the last few days full of men dressed in suits from Europe, the US and Asia - all looking quite out of place in SL.
-Went to iEARN, worked for the morning & afternoon.
-Jess (iEARN intern) has spent the last six weeks translating Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with the students into Krio and they have begun rehearsals. Sometime next week they will be producing the play - I can't wait.
-Went to Charles, the tailor, with Jyoti. I'm getting three shirts made for Le15000 each. I can't wait.
-Osman brought me an entire grocery bag worth of raw groundnuts. I'm not exactly sure what do to with all of them.

Friday, August 3
-ran with Osman. One guy shouted out "white boy go fo jog. I like dat!" It's going to be so boring running back in the USA - no one will shout out or yell or scream. No dogs, taxis, podas, lorries, or people with car batteries on their heads to avoid.
-"dey don lok di taps" - the water taps all over the city have been shut off for the second day in a row. No one knows why, but there's no water. rumblings of politically motivations abound.
-I’ve been trying to find a way to photograph the elections…so after getting approval from Emmanuel, the director at SDI, the NGO where Rachel (from the UK works), I had four passport pictures made and rushed across town to the NEC (national electoral commission)…I’m now an official international election observer working with the “Independent Election Monitoring Group” …. should be interesting.

I apologize for not posting any pictures recently - maybe next week I'll have time...The press release for the photography exhibition is below:

Salon insai wi yei:
An exhibition of photographs and text by the youth of Freetown
iEARN Sierra Leone, a non-governmental organization based in Freetown which works to directly rehabilitate Sierra Leonean youths through education in “creative writing, music, drama, computer skills and literacy, filmmaking, and fine arts” has been working this year to enable the youth of Sierra Leone for creative self-expression by establishing an educational program focusing on photography and literacy. This program was developed by several university students and professors of The University of the South in the United States in cooperation with iEARN Sierra Leone, National iEARN director Andrew Benson Greene stated the photography project has enabled youth to enter a previously foreign “creative world of digital media that will ultimately make a real difference throughout their life.”

The program has been based at the iEARN Freetown office and has worked with almost fifty students, ranging in age from 13 to 29, from throughout the surrounding urban areas. Using the physical facilities of iEARN and equipment secured from a variety of private donors in the United Sates, the youth have explored their world through the camera lens. Students have both documented their own lives and turned the camera outwards to their society. During these important times of national transition, the youth have photographically discovered their changing society, beginning at the familial level – where the socioeconomic changes of modernization impact most fundamentally. Then, using their photographs as a foundation, they have discussed their experiences and expectations as they mature into citizens fully participating in the development and governance of Sierra Leone. This discussion has been encouraged by personal reflection and writing stemming from their photographs.

The youth’s work will be displayed from 3-6 PM on Sunday, 5 August 2007 at the West Africa Methodist Collegiate School Hall, Wilkinson Road, Freetown. Representatives from youth and civil society-serving organizations in Freetown, educators, the media, community members and the general public are all invited to view this exhibition entitled “Salon insai wi yei.” The exhibition is free of charge and all are encouraged to attend, even if only for a few minutes.

For more information, please contact iEARN National Director Andrew Benson Greene at 33.531.251, iEARN Photography Co-ordinator Paul Dixon at 33.796.623 or iEARN Photography Student Co-ordinator Mamadu Bah at 30.415.085.