Fourth week

Monday 9th:
A somewhat eventless day. I like it. This must be the dream of any graduate student: days without any particular goal as of 4-5 pm. Ended the night wondering whether I’m falling sick again as I was watching the Netherlands beat the hair grease out of Italy. Fell asleep yet again not having electricity sorely missing the buzzing sound of my fan as sweat continued to soak my pillow. A crazy rainstorm with thunder and lighting kept me awake in the night and the neighbor’s chicken woke me up at 7. I like Salone!

Tuesday 10th:
Change of plans. Again. It seems I won’t be leaving for the provinces until the weekend. This is a very unpredictable country! I’ve grown to like Freetown more than I had ever thought. The atmosphere is just nice and the whole town is filled with so many nice people (not least my lovely Fambul). Have a meeting today with a quite prominent footballer from Britain who is having similar ideas as me about football in Sierra Leone. Should be interesting. Hope to have more to report on that at some point..!

Wednesday 11th:
What do you know? New change of plans: we’re leaving for Kailahun tomorrow. I will bring footballs enough to give one to each of the small communities in the area. That will give Play31 a new twist and spreading the focus out to also encompass a reconciliatory element in that the communities will play together as one team including both former combatants as well as victims, witnesses, old and young ones, etc. Trés exciting!
On another important note, I met with a representative from the Craig Bellamy Foundation. Mr. Bellamy himself, a famous and quite controversial Welsh footballer, is launching his project here in Salone this weekend. He is basically donating a sh*t-load of money to develop football leagues in the country. They really like the concept behind Play31 and we agreed to stay in contact to see how we can cooperate in the future. Pretty cool! Check the Foundation out here: www.craigbellamyfoundation.org


Thursday 12th:
Ok, am leaving today. Will be going to the very east of the country, visiting some of the small communities there. I will be doing research in one little community where the war ended. They want a monument and I will assist in fleshing out the different ideas they have as well as establishing what exactly happened in the very last attack of the war. Furthermore, I will be taking Play31’s brilliant footballs out to the small communities where they will be used in the ongoing reconciliation efforts. Exciting!
On a aide-note: a recently published study shows that Salone is the worst country in the world when it comes to child labor. Supposedly around 50% of children between 5-14 are working. I would estimate the number to be much higher, but regardless it’s certain that so many kids here are deprived of several of the rights stipulated in the convention on the rights of the child. So much more obvious is the need for Play31.
Don’t know when I’ll be back. Don’t suspect to have internet access in Kailahun, but who knows… Until next time.

Friday 13th:
With a date like this it shouldn’t have surprised us that we would be some four hours late due to a broken pump at the gas station. We made it to Kailahun through the bumpy road and I am now sitting in my small bed that I’m sharing with Robert, enjoying the sound of the generator that generates energy for my little Maci. Tomorrow we’re going to Madopolaihun. That is the small community where the war ended; we will talk to them about how they can mark that special history in a way that will strengthen the ongoing reconciliation process.
Went to a local place to se Holland beat the cheese out of France. They look like they could go all the way. As usual, the locals were very excited and knowledgeable about everything pertaining to the match. Kailahun may be a place without a gas station or a supermarket or international newspapers or internet. But that certainly doesn’t mean they’re not tuned into the global footie scene.

Saturday 14th:
We left our Catholic Convent at six am to go to Madopulaihun. After having crossed various unmountable hills and a small river in the Honda 4x4, we were finally stopped by a hole tree fallen onto the road. We therefore had to walk the last three miles before we could finally meet with the whole town (minus the ones that were out harvesting). We had a good talk and people came forward with suggestions for what kind of monument they want in the village. A tower was one suggestion. Another was a communal toilet (yet another example of how this program would’ve been entirely impossible for any western NGO to implement. Who would’ve known Madapolaihun wanted a toilet as their reconciliation monument? On the way home we dozed off to Bob Marley telling us that until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned (..) and until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regards to race, there’s war. Right on Bob!
Ended the evening watching my brother-country Sweden loosing in the last minute to España and a somewhat more entertaining at Kailahun’s main square: traditional dance added some local political propaganda for APC. Sweet Salone. It’s good to be back in the field and tomorrow, Play31’s balls are rollin’ again!

Sunday 15th:
Left again at six; this time for the XX-community. On the way we passed numerous villages and followed the moderate pace of people waking up and starting the day’s work as the 6 became 7 and 7:30. All three communities we visited today missed people because the young men had to go to the farms (plots of land typically located a few miles from the village) and harvest. However, we delivered the messages from Fambul Tok and more importantly for this site: delivered more of Play31’s attractive footballs. We made an extra effort today of incorporating the girls in the little delivery-ceremony and underlines that the football is for the whole community t play with – particularly the young boys and girls.
The day’s diet, like that of the last couple of day, consisted of bread, sardines, and fruit (unless avocado is a vegetable?). Beat Robert in chess a couple of times before we went to see the surprising outcome of Portugal-Switzerland. Congrats on the first victory in history to all Swiss friends!
Have started reading ‘the Lucifer Effect’ by Philip Zimbardo (the dude behind the Stanford Prison Experiment) about how ordinary people can end up doing really bad stuff. Very recommendable. Although I’m not sure it’s recommended reading when you’re trying to fall asleep in a house that just a few years ago was in the midst of a pretty nasty war and probably housed numerous prominent rebels. Hmm… Hope to be elaborating on that tomorrow.