This was an email from the coordinator in Sierra Leone in response to an event that occured while we were in Sierra Leone. Several students were "requested" to come to the police station because they had reports that white people were taking pictures of government buildings in Kenema approximately three hours earlier. We did not take pictures of government buildings (at least, not on purpose) and we were not the people reported to the police because we were not in the area when the event occurred. However, we were easy scapgoats.
There was an imprompt meeting between the students, Dr *** and I, the reason been that is the students were taking pictures of some government, building and other areas, in that process, a police intelligent officer by the name of Mr *** who was the same man who met them the last time at the Pastorial centre with the immigration officer few weeks back, while they were taken the pictures, the same policeman came in and asked them some questions from which he took then to the police station then one of the student called me, that they are in the police station and I also called Dr *** so the two of us went there immediately thinking it about the immigration process.
The first step Dr *** did was he met with the Local Unit Commander (LUC) straight off, we went to him and Dr *** briefed him about the students and explained detailed that that is not the first time the same policeman/immigration officer has met these students. After which the LUC called the Regional Immigration officer, the meeting was really in the fact that:
1. These recent problem has nothing to do with immigration papers.
2. That the immigration officer who met the student two weeks back and made interrogation in the pastorial centre and his subsequent with Dr **** on that issues which is knowledgeable to the regional immigration officer, and after which some clarifications was done from us which made the officers to be stratified with the explanations.
3. Another question that came from the meeting was that even after the student's passport has been stamped in Sierra Leone, it is the duty of any visitors/students who happens to go up countries to acquaint themselves/briefed the immigration and the police about their purpose of their visit.
4. That in future, since Kenema is a small community, the LUC advised that we should always take any student to them and introduce them so that they will not face any embarrassment from any officers, by doing so it will help them to get full security and also protect them from any unnecessary problems. As a whole thus the meeting was an imprompt one, but its help us a lot for common understanding and for future students who will be coming thereafter. So very thing went out successfully.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
More than half-way: Freetown, Bonthe, and Conferences!
A-wuah! That (phonetically speaking) is how you greet 2+ people in Mende. Bu-wuah is greeting to one person.
Since I last wrote, much has happened. I reached the half-way point of both my time here and my practicum. I had very mixed feelings about reaching the half-way point but ultimately, I was a little sad. I'm having a great time and learning so much!
A few weekends ago, I was able to attend a human rights conference training and sensitizing traditional leaders. The traditional leaders were paramount chiefs from three districts in eastern Sierra Leone (Kenema, Kailahun, and Kono). Districts are like states in the US. Paramount chiefs are technically elected officials but most of the leadership is hereditary, and they are in charge of each chiefdom (chiefdoms are like parishes or counties in the US). There are conflicting opinions about the permanence, efficacy and quality of paramount chiefs, but, regardless, they are in charge of each district and their approval is necessary and extremely helpful when visiting or working in a chiefdom. Anyway, the conference was mostly made up of men, lead by the most charismatic, capable, diplomatic woman I've ever met. She was speaking the entire time about how women and children should be given more rights and they, as the paramount chiefs, should champion these human rights. The conference was over two days and I didn't see her falter once. It was awesome!
The following Monday, I left for Freetown (the capital) for another conference. This conference was for all of the district surveillance officers (of which there are 2 for each conference) to meet and report on their quarterly findings. The surveillance officers keep records of immunization rates and actively look for specific, mainly epidemic-prone, diseases (polio/AFP, yellow fever, measles, HIV/AIDS, diarrhea and vomiting, Lassa fever, neonatal tetanus, TB, etc.). The conference highlighted many of the challenges people face in healthcare daily. For example, in the United States, we know exactly how many people have tuberculosis and, for the most part, we treat everyone (even those who have latent disease). In Sierra Leone, testing for the disease is extremely difficult. The normal test we use
in the US is a PPD test. In Sierra Leone, everyone gets the TB vaccine (BCG) so everyone tests positive with the PPD test. So the only way to tell if someone has TB is if they have clinical symptoms! And, this is just the scenario for one disease! Add in poor road conditions, weak reporting at the local level and poor access to health facilities and you'll begin to understand some of the challenges surveillance
officers and healthcare workers face.
This past weekend, I went with several Tulane students (and a few Irish guys we've met here) to Bonthe Island. Bonthe Island is two districts west of Kenema and the island was once the headquarters of the British anti-slavery post in West Africa. We took a bush taxi to a town called Mattru Jong and then a four-hour boat ride down the Jong River to Bonthe. If any of you have read "Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier," Mattru Jong is where he waited for his family after his village was attacked. Mattru Jong, however, is a beautiful place and we met the paramount chief's eldest daughter, who took care of us while we were there. We had a bit of an adventure getting to Mattru Jong (there are random police checks, only some of which are faithful to their honorable jobs). Although I got a bit sick while there, the
island is beautiful. It looks completely different from the rest of the country. Instead of red dirt, they have white and black sand. The town is a mix of run-down British-style buildings and small typical Sierra Leonean houses. The food is also quite different – they definitely don't use as much pepper and there's more seafood. All in all, it was a quick, but memorable, adventure. We arrived back late
Monday night and Tuesday got back to work.
I think that's about all for my update. Three weeks from today I'll be back on US soil! :) :(
Katie
Since I last wrote, much has happened. I reached the half-way point of both my time here and my practicum. I had very mixed feelings about reaching the half-way point but ultimately, I was a little sad. I'm having a great time and learning so much!
A few weekends ago, I was able to attend a human rights conference training and sensitizing traditional leaders. The traditional leaders were paramount chiefs from three districts in eastern Sierra Leone (Kenema, Kailahun, and Kono). Districts are like states in the US. Paramount chiefs are technically elected officials but most of the leadership is hereditary, and they are in charge of each chiefdom (chiefdoms are like parishes or counties in the US). There are conflicting opinions about the permanence, efficacy and quality of paramount chiefs, but, regardless, they are in charge of each district and their approval is necessary and extremely helpful when visiting or working in a chiefdom. Anyway, the conference was mostly made up of men, lead by the most charismatic, capable, diplomatic woman I've ever met. She was speaking the entire time about how women and children should be given more rights and they, as the paramount chiefs, should champion these human rights. The conference was over two days and I didn't see her falter once. It was awesome!
The following Monday, I left for Freetown (the capital) for another conference. This conference was for all of the district surveillance officers (of which there are 2 for each conference) to meet and report on their quarterly findings. The surveillance officers keep records of immunization rates and actively look for specific, mainly epidemic-prone, diseases (polio/AFP, yellow fever, measles, HIV/AIDS, diarrhea and vomiting, Lassa fever, neonatal tetanus, TB, etc.). The conference highlighted many of the challenges people face in healthcare daily. For example, in the United States, we know exactly how many people have tuberculosis and, for the most part, we treat everyone (even those who have latent disease). In Sierra Leone, testing for the disease is extremely difficult. The normal test we use
in the US is a PPD test. In Sierra Leone, everyone gets the TB vaccine (BCG) so everyone tests positive with the PPD test. So the only way to tell if someone has TB is if they have clinical symptoms! And, this is just the scenario for one disease! Add in poor road conditions, weak reporting at the local level and poor access to health facilities and you'll begin to understand some of the challenges surveillance
officers and healthcare workers face.
This past weekend, I went with several Tulane students (and a few Irish guys we've met here) to Bonthe Island. Bonthe Island is two districts west of Kenema and the island was once the headquarters of the British anti-slavery post in West Africa. We took a bush taxi to a town called Mattru Jong and then a four-hour boat ride down the Jong River to Bonthe. If any of you have read "Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier," Mattru Jong is where he waited for his family after his village was attacked. Mattru Jong, however, is a beautiful place and we met the paramount chief's eldest daughter, who took care of us while we were there. We had a bit of an adventure getting to Mattru Jong (there are random police checks, only some of which are faithful to their honorable jobs). Although I got a bit sick while there, the
island is beautiful. It looks completely different from the rest of the country. Instead of red dirt, they have white and black sand. The town is a mix of run-down British-style buildings and small typical Sierra Leonean houses. The food is also quite different – they definitely don't use as much pepper and there's more seafood. All in all, it was a quick, but memorable, adventure. We arrived back late
Monday night and Tuesday got back to work.
I think that's about all for my update. Three weeks from today I'll be back on US soil! :) :(
Katie
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
DGH Update 3
Here's another update from the DGH group.
Last week, Emily and I went to the national quarterly surveillance meeting with all of the surveillance officers from around the country. James was very helpful, and we met and heard from all of the DSOs concerning their successes and challenges when doing surveillance in the country. While we were in Freetown, Katie Robinette followed up on several referrals and appointments we had (Katie R wasn't able to go to Freetown because she wasn't feeling well before leaving. But she's better now). We're also still trying to organize, arrange and brainstorm questions to follow-up on, people to talk with, and possible recommendations. Our timeline is to continue organizing and brainstorming as we go and begin interviewing specific people and organizations, with hopes of solidifying some recommendations to present to possible partners before leaving (the recommendations would still be pretty vague, but we're hoping to get some approval/suggestions about what we're thinking).
Last week, Emily and I went to the national quarterly surveillance meeting with all of the surveillance officers from around the country. James was very helpful, and we met and heard from all of the DSOs concerning their successes and challenges when doing surveillance in the country. While we were in Freetown, Katie Robinette followed up on several referrals and appointments we had (Katie R wasn't able to go to Freetown because she wasn't feeling well before leaving. But she's better now). We're also still trying to organize, arrange and brainstorm questions to follow-up on, people to talk with, and possible recommendations. Our timeline is to continue organizing and brainstorming as we go and begin interviewing specific people and organizations, with hopes of solidifying some recommendations to present to possible partners before leaving (the recommendations would still be pretty vague, but we're hoping to get some approval/suggestions about what we're thinking).
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Update from DGH group 2
Katie, Emily and I have continued to do interviews since we last spoke. Among others, we've met with GOAL, Defense for Children International, Red Cross, Humanist Watch, a community health officer and others. I don't have our schedule in front of us. We have conducted over 20 interviews. We have also compiled information for all of these interviews and spent the end of this past week reviewing them all and making a comprehensive list of gaps and problem areas that we identified.
Just this Friday and Saturday, Emily and I were able to attend a conference for the Eastern Region Paramount Chiefs led by the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL). It was held at the Pastoral Center and we really enjoyed it.
Through James, the new M&E officer for Lassa, we are going to be able to attend the Ministry of Health's Public Health Conference in Freetown this Tuesday and Wednesday. Emily, Katie R., Katherine, and I (and probably Andrea and Chelsea) will be attending. We just made the arrangements today, so I apologize for the last-minute notice.
Another thing I should bring to your attention is that we had an immigration officer from the Eastern Region come to the Pastoral Center Saturday morning at 8am and demand to see all of our passports (just us Tulane students). He proceeded to take down our names, passport numbers, visa numbers. We really didn't know how to handle the situation and will are hoping to contact the SL Embassy and US Embassy to make sure that this was an appropriate request. Dr. Goba fortunately showed up at that time (to randomly ask if anyone wanted to go to Liberia) and so he was there to talk to the immigration officer, but he showed up after we had been discussing things for quite sometime. The men at the Pastoral Center said they had never seen that happen before?!
Just this Friday and Saturday, Emily and I were able to attend a conference for the Eastern Region Paramount Chiefs led by the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL). It was held at the Pastoral Center and we really enjoyed it.
Through James, the new M&E officer for Lassa, we are going to be able to attend the Ministry of Health's Public Health Conference in Freetown this Tuesday and Wednesday. Emily, Katie R., Katherine, and I (and probably Andrea and Chelsea) will be attending. We just made the arrangements today, so I apologize for the last-minute notice.
Another thing I should bring to your attention is that we had an immigration officer from the Eastern Region come to the Pastoral Center Saturday morning at 8am and demand to see all of our passports (just us Tulane students). He proceeded to take down our names, passport numbers, visa numbers. We really didn't know how to handle the situation and will are hoping to contact the SL Embassy and US Embassy to make sure that this was an appropriate request. Dr. Goba fortunately showed up at that time (to randomly ask if anyone wanted to go to Liberia) and so he was there to talk to the immigration officer, but he showed up after we had been discussing things for quite sometime. The men at the Pastoral Center said they had never seen that happen before?!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Notes from Sierra Leone
Sierra Leonean food is spicy!!! They use a ton of pepper!!! But, it's really good - lots of cassava, and leaves and groundnut (peanut) soup. I especially like street food though and I've been lucky not to get sick yet ;)
The setting is very tropical - not savannah. Kenema town is very dusty and not too pretty but the outskirts are beautiful. Lots of forests and trees and swamps - very much like New Orleans.
Sierra Leone was a British colony (I think they actually called it a protectorate for a while) and after the American Revolution, the Brits let those slaves that were loyal move to Freetown. One of the national languages here is actually Krio, a mix of English, French, and African languages (similar to Creole).
The setting is very tropical - not savannah. Kenema town is very dusty and not too pretty but the outskirts are beautiful. Lots of forests and trees and swamps - very much like New Orleans.
Sierra Leone was a British colony (I think they actually called it a protectorate for a while) and after the American Revolution, the Brits let those slaves that were loyal move to Freetown. One of the national languages here is actually Krio, a mix of English, French, and African languages (similar to Creole).
Monday, July 7, 2008
Liberia, Elections, Fourth of July in Sierra Leone, and Reaching the One Month Mark
Hello All!
Thank you so much for the updates, emails, forwarded messages, e-cards and world news! It's really nice getting all of your emails – please keep them coming, although I'm terrible at responding. I'm trying to keep up but thus far no luck!
Life in Kenema is almost becoming normal. There's a routine to my day now and everything doesn't seem so strange and uncomfortable. I was sitting in church today and realized I'd been here over a month, yet it doesn't feel that long at all. While there are some things I miss (hot showers, boneless chicken, milk), I am really enjoying my time here. Even the "annoyances" become fun. The other day, another Tulane student (who's not staying at the Pastoral Center) came over to visit and marveled at our everyday life. She lives at the Tulane Research House, which is gated and walled (as many houses are here). She was surprised by the people we knew around the Pastoral Center and by the children who greeted us as we walked up. Many kids know us now – we have bubbles, paper and pencils, and in general, treat them kindly (some other people don't necessarily). They're really funny because they know most of our names but are confused with the name 'Katie.' There are three Katies here right now – and we all introduce ourselves by saying "my name's Katie." So, now we're known as "skatie." It took us a very long time to figure that out!
These past few weeks have been very interesting! Last week, I was able to take a ride to Liberia. For those of you who are interested, a disease called Lassa fever is endemic in parts of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea (making up the Mano River Union) and Nigeria (don't ask me how that happened). Lassa is a viral hemorrhagic fever and, while the mortality rate is not too high, the morbidity rate is and the disease can have some serious complications (hearing loss just when you're getting better). But don't worry – it's transmitted through a rodent's urine which I won't be coming in contact with. Anyhow, there is only one facility in the Mano River Union that has Lassa diagnostic capabilities and guess where it is – KENEMA!!! So every few weeks, the Lassa car drives to the Sierra Leone – Liberia border to pick up samples from the Monrovia clinic (10 points if you can tell me who Monrovia is named after). So I (and a couple other students) went along for the ride. It was pretty cool to see more of the country (including rubber trees, who knew?) and to get a glimpse of Liberia. The security around the border was a little crazy – first SL customs, then SL guards, then the bridge, then UNMIL (UN Mission in Liberia) checkpoint (with Pakistani soldiers), then Liberian guards, then Liberian customs. Ei!
Also that weekend, I was also able to take a day trip to Bo and Pujehun (two districts bordering Kenema). We saw some diamond mines, which are actually just holes in the ground and people sifting through mounds of dirt. But, the experience made me never want to buy a diamond… I'll tell you more when I'm back in the states. Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience.
Then this weekend was the Fourth of July. We made "hot dogs" and gumbo and invited our friends to come celebrate America's Independence Day. The party guests were an interesting mix: MPH students (us); undergrad scholarship students; Mormon missionaries (one from the US, one from Liberia); one Irishman; three ex-pat NGO people (one American, two Brits); and several Sierra Leoneans. Trying to explain Independence Day was fun, although fireworks don't translate well.
I think that's about all the updates I have. I'm still looking for postcards here - there isn't much of a tourist economy, but I'll keep looking. Thanks again for the messages and well-wishes! And for reading this long email!
Katie
Thank you so much for the updates, emails, forwarded messages, e-cards and world news! It's really nice getting all of your emails – please keep them coming, although I'm terrible at responding. I'm trying to keep up but thus far no luck!
Life in Kenema is almost becoming normal. There's a routine to my day now and everything doesn't seem so strange and uncomfortable. I was sitting in church today and realized I'd been here over a month, yet it doesn't feel that long at all. While there are some things I miss (hot showers, boneless chicken, milk), I am really enjoying my time here. Even the "annoyances" become fun. The other day, another Tulane student (who's not staying at the Pastoral Center) came over to visit and marveled at our everyday life. She lives at the Tulane Research House, which is gated and walled (as many houses are here). She was surprised by the people we knew around the Pastoral Center and by the children who greeted us as we walked up. Many kids know us now – we have bubbles, paper and pencils, and in general, treat them kindly (some other people don't necessarily). They're really funny because they know most of our names but are confused with the name 'Katie.' There are three Katies here right now – and we all introduce ourselves by saying "my name's Katie." So, now we're known as "skatie." It took us a very long time to figure that out!
These past few weeks have been very interesting! Last week, I was able to take a ride to Liberia. For those of you who are interested, a disease called Lassa fever is endemic in parts of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea (making up the Mano River Union) and Nigeria (don't ask me how that happened). Lassa is a viral hemorrhagic fever and, while the mortality rate is not too high, the morbidity rate is and the disease can have some serious complications (hearing loss just when you're getting better). But don't worry – it's transmitted through a rodent's urine which I won't be coming in contact with. Anyhow, there is only one facility in the Mano River Union that has Lassa diagnostic capabilities and guess where it is – KENEMA!!! So every few weeks, the Lassa car drives to the Sierra Leone – Liberia border to pick up samples from the Monrovia clinic (10 points if you can tell me who Monrovia is named after). So I (and a couple other students) went along for the ride. It was pretty cool to see more of the country (including rubber trees, who knew?) and to get a glimpse of Liberia. The security around the border was a little crazy – first SL customs, then SL guards, then the bridge, then UNMIL (UN Mission in Liberia) checkpoint (with Pakistani soldiers), then Liberian guards, then Liberian customs. Ei!
Also that weekend, I was also able to take a day trip to Bo and Pujehun (two districts bordering Kenema). We saw some diamond mines, which are actually just holes in the ground and people sifting through mounds of dirt. But, the experience made me never want to buy a diamond… I'll tell you more when I'm back in the states. Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience.
Then this weekend was the Fourth of July. We made "hot dogs" and gumbo and invited our friends to come celebrate America's Independence Day. The party guests were an interesting mix: MPH students (us); undergrad scholarship students; Mormon missionaries (one from the US, one from Liberia); one Irishman; three ex-pat NGO people (one American, two Brits); and several Sierra Leoneans. Trying to explain Independence Day was fun, although fireworks don't translate well.
I think that's about all the updates I have. I'm still looking for postcards here - there isn't much of a tourist economy, but I'll keep looking. Thanks again for the messages and well-wishes! And for reading this long email!
Katie
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Update from DGH group
Here's an update of what we've been up to this past week. We've met with several NGOs and individuals (Dr. Bah and Michael, Planned Parenthood, Africare, CRS, Concilliation Resources, Caritas) and have plans this week to meet with several more. We're hoping by the end of this week to analyze our interviews thus far to determine what the common themes are and come up with more specific questions for the more local, community-based organizations. Everyone has been very helpful in providing us contacts and we really couldn't get along without Michael as a guide, translator, and all around go to guy.
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