Drumming Out the Year

Walking on the edge of Kroo Town, the dense area of Freetown where merchants sell produce and fish, we were attracted by the sound of rhythmic music and clapping down the street from Diaspora, a bookstore-cafe. It wasn't long before we came across Pikin Wit Den Culture, a group of traditional dancers. Jumping and shaking to the beat of a drum, they were entertaining a rapidly growing number of kids and onlookers outside a small bar.





The dancers are part of a school where up to a hundred young students train and perfect their acrobatic moves. We exchanged numbers and, one day, I hope to invite them to perform at a party on the beach...

Christmas at Lakka Beach

Happy Holidays to All!
We are having a lovely time at Lakka Beach, south of Freetown.



No turkey and stuffing this year. We dined on deliciously fresh crab, lobster, and bonita fish...



All caught a few hours before we sat down to eat...





On Boxing Day, the quiet beach came alive with music, dancing, football, and lots of kids running around and playing in the waves. It is an annual ritual: Families and friends congregate on the beach for a charmingly festive afternoon of fun fueled by home-cooked food and a few drinks.

We made some friends...





They would like some books and pens. Alpha, a 5-yr old basket seller (in the red top), said he could really use a pencil sharpener. Unable to grant him his wish, we bought 3 baskets and shared our fruit cake. On our next visit, we'll stuff a stocking with school supplies.

Telecom Acoming

Exact numbers are difficult to come by, but SL likely has several times more cell phones than library books. Or toilets.

Everywhere you look, people are either texting or talking on their mobile. Very often they are shouting. While I was getting my hair cut, the hairdresser was on the phone. When commuting on the back of a motorbike, I regularly answer calls or text replies.

The main telecom companies, Africell, Celtel-Zain, Comium, and Tigo, offer similar pay-as-you-go phone rates on scratch cards. Since the country has virtually no land lines, the Internet is accessed via wireless slot cards or plug-in modems. But few can afford to buy a laptop or pay the monthly packages.

Earlier this year, Hirondelle Foundation, a Swiss organization that supports independent media in conflict zones, conducted a survey of media use in all of SL's 14 districts. A representative sample of 2,000 individuals aged 15 and older were interviewed. The results are telling:

* 75% own a battery-operated radio

* 40% own a cell phone

* 7% own a television

* 0.7% own a computer

* 0.3% access the Internet

Undeterred, the telecoms go to great lengths to raise their profile and attract new customers. In Freetown, they are responsible for what seems like the only fresh paint. In fact, the houses and fences bearing their respective logos look immensely cleaner and more inviting than the city's other commercial buildings and shabby government facilities.









They also pay small shack owners to plaster their colours on the outside and sell scratch cards.



Calls between subscribers of the same provider are cheaper, so many people carry two or three phones to save on units. Some devices are designed to hold two SIM cards, which reduces the fumbling when a call comes in, especially for women who tend to keep their phones in large handbags.

I am with Celtel, the company started in 1998 by Sudanese billionaire and philanthropist Mohamed Ibrahim. Celtel is now part of Zain, a multinational based in Kuwait. Zain operates in the Middle East and in 15 African countries. It has more than 50 million customers, but, just like its rivals, it is actively recruiting new ones. In addition to the ubiquitous publicity on billboards, spots on the radio, and full-page ads in the papers, the telecoms vie for attention through sponsorship deals and promotional events. The national stadium in Freetown is the site of more than sporting competitions: The outside is covered in Africell's colours and logo while the seats inside spell out Comium.

A few Sunday nights ago, as I was heading home from the beach, I came upon a lively stage show with music, comedians, and a t-shirt giveaway. I tried to resist but the enchanting siren call of free stuff reeled me in...

Tombo Town

About 50 km around the western peninsula lies a busy and colourful fishing village called Tombo Town. I reached it after a bumpy one-hour ride on the back of my friend Demba's motorcycle. The road, a mix of tarmac stretches and rutted dirt, goes through the Krio village of Regent, where one of Sierra Leone's smallest and oldest churches still stands. From there, we passed a string of hamlets bearing grand colonial names such as Hastings and Waterloo.

Tombo, which means "land registry" in Portuguese, is off the power grid. At night, its 30,000 inhabitants seemingly disappear under the cover of hundreds of corrugated metal roofs. When morning breaks, they set out in their wooden boats to compete with an increasing number of foreign vessels trawling inside territorial waters. Some estimates put SL's annual losses to illegal fishing at $26 million.




Fishermen used to load their catch directly onto a train of container wagons departing for Freetown. But today, the lonely rails rust in the lapping sea.



Sweaty human heads have replaced steely piston heads as the main motor force for fish transportation.



A strong smell of drying nets and smoked fish fills the still air along the winding alleys packed with children and chickens. The tender white fish and the traveling white girl are on their way to the city.

60th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights

Today, we celebrate 60 years of efforts promoting and defending human rights around the globe. That is, some of us are cheering and feeling good about our modest cumulative impact while many more, especially women and girls, continue to suffer all manner of violence and indignities.

Canadian Louise Arbour, whose term as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ended in June, spent years trying to broker agreements and extract concessions from leaders of societies where women are second-class citizens. As she left the post, she reflected on her achievements. Grand proclamations and stern admonishments are not where progress is made, she admitted. Instances where negotiations kept a single person or small group out of harm's way are, she said, the small victories that kept her going.

Arbour's successor, South African Navanethem Pillay, deserves our best wishes and will need our active support.

Experts agree that patriarchal societies, where men often take up more than one wife and hold titles to land and dwelling, have a detrimental effect on women's ability to advocate for gender equality.

Soyata Maïga, special rapporteur for women’s rights at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, is familiar with the obstacles many women face when they are victims of abuse. In certain African countries, doctors won’t give a medical note if a woman comes in with injuries caused by her husband, she says.

Maïga contends that efforts to help women and girls must move beyond the ratification of agreements and declarations. She points to article 4 of the 1995 African Charter of Rights, which calls on member states to deal with violence against women, as an example of good intentions that lack enforcement powers. In 2007, she says, of the 53 signatory countries, only Algeria, Tunisia, and Rwanda filed the Charter’s required human rights reports.

This is Nene, a little girl I met on the beach in Lungi, north of Freetown. Will she grow up to be a small victory or an anonymous victim?



Respect for human rights is fundamentally incompatible with endemic poverty and the malnutrition, disease, illiteracy, unemployment, homelessness, and violent conflicts that flow from it. Until rich countries deliver on their promise to allocate 0.7% of Gross National Product (GNP) to Official Development Assistance (ODA), neglect and oppression will thrive.

In 2007, Canada only managed to commit 0.28%, its contribution ranking a lowly 16th out the OECD's 22 donor countries. Incredibly enough, the last name of Canada's International Cooperation Minister is... ODA. It is under her watch that Canada's International Development Agency (CIDA) has stopped releasing official statistics on how and where foreign aid money is being spent.

They might like to know. Their human rights could depend on it.

Field Trip to ABC TV

When I began teaching in October, I promised my students I would take them to a real newsroom so they can get a glimpse of the production process. Since ABJ, our multi-talented intern, also works at ABC TV, I asked him if he could give us a tour. He graciously agreed. I was very pleased to see that all 18 students showed up for the extra-curricular activity this Wednesday.

ABJ began with an overview of ABC TV, currently the only privately owned station in Sierra Leone. He then spent more than an hour explaining the nature of interviewing for television, and discussing the challenges of working with minimal equipment and often poorly trained reporters. He patiently answered the students' many questions.

The tour of the main studio, control room, and editing suite was a hit.



A quick lesson on the use of the teleprompter.



They seemed impressed by all the monitors and technical equipment.



ABJ mentioned that ABC TV was exploring the possibility of accepting interns who would help with the daily newscast. Half the group wants to apply.

Today, one of them sent me an email to thank me for the visit. "You demonstrated a love that you have for us to fully participate in journalism," his message read. Next visit: the UN radio station in Freetown.

My New Home

Following much deliberation, and after having visited half a dozen apartments and houses, on Monday, Dec 1st, I moved to the Posseh Hotel.



Here, I have running water, electricity from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., a clean room with a fridge, small balcony, and television with 3 channels: a British one showing Premiership football matches, CNN’s international feed, and SLBS, the national broadcaster that transmits conferences and workshops from a single camera angle. It is aiming to be like the CBC, but watching it is more of a CPAC experience.

I also have access to a large patio with a distant view of the ocean. Just opposite the road is a primary school, which means lots of adorable kids around when I leave in the morning, and peace and quiet when I return in the evening.

I will not miss the six barking dogs inside the compound at the previous place. Instead, I now listen to the enchanting voice of Madame Posseh chatting with the staff in Krio. She sounds eerily like Nina Simone. A strong yet kind presence, she makes the house a safe, comfortable, and friendly haven. Feeling Good indeed!