Third week:

Monday June 2nd:
Was recovering from sickness and trying to build a little energy. Sickness delayed Play31 trip to Moyamba. Annoying! Went for dinner with some local expats and discussed living in Freetown as a foreigner. Went by my family and chatted about all and nothing and went home to read and rest and fall asleep.

Tuesday 3rd :
Really thought I was over that sickness. But not quite. Much better, though. Now Nike has sickness in her family, though, so am not sure when next even will take place. Went to the beach and played volleyball at night and ended with the Guns, the Germs and the Steel. Am starting to think I may be in Freetown on Sunday, which would mean I’d get a chance to see Sierra Leone play Nigeria…

Wednesday 4th:
The rain hit Freetown. All those miserable dogs out there must be soaking wet right now! Left work earlyish and went to hang out with Trina at a café, drinking mango smoothies, and applying a post-modern, feminist discourse to gossip magazines from January 2007. A rat came running into the café and we knew it was time to leave. Still waiting to know more about when we will have more Play31 action. Fell asleep to Bonnie Price Billy: so good. Soooo good!


Thursday 5th:
Had loooong discussions about first English football and everything that pertains to it and then university reform and everything pertaining to that. The office can be a fun place at times. The fight between the whites and the black is still raging at the Fourah Bay College. Apparently the police have gotten involved.
Went to the beach for yet a game of volleyball, watching a quite spectacular sunset. Stayed the night at the House on the Hill.

Friday 6th:
Ok. New plans. We’re leaving for the provinces Wednesday next week. Which means I will (hopefully) be able to go and see Sierra Leone-Nigeria this weekend at the national stadium! And it also means that there will be more ball-deliveries as of next week. I know that the kids in the south (where we’re going first) are particularly politically and economically disenfranchised, so am looking much forward to this trip. Am also hoping to reserve some balls for the small communities in Kailahun! More to come soon – we’re (soon) rolling again!

Saturday 7th:
Was picked up at my house by my friend Thomas. He took care of finding tickets for me and some of friends and we went to the National Stadium to see the big game: Sierra Leone-Nigeria. Great atmosphere – people were so excited! Our seats were right next to the Nigerian fans and they kept a steady pace of trumpeting and drumming throughout the whole game. Salone Stars had two shots on the posts and the chances to score at least three goals. Nigeria looked disappointingly weak. Every corner kick was celebrated like a goal. In the end, of course, Nigeria ended up scoring a bloody goal one minute before the ref’s last whistle blow. So undeserved. But as we say in Denmark: the ball is round and everything can happen…
Play31’s balls are also round and they will be rolling out to more kids soon.


Sunday 8th:
Spent the whole day at the beach, reading in the shade and playing football in the heat. (scored the two first goals and assisted the third, in case anyone cares) Can’t remember the last time I did not care for, or was aware of, time for that long. Terrific!
On such an eventless day, I think I will take a moment to describe what it is Forum of Conscience is doing—and what I’ll be working with as of next week. F.o.C is a local human rights organization. They have different projects; one being the school clubs through which Play31’s footballs have been distributed. Another project is the famous Fambul Tok. It is a program aiming at bringing together people and villages that were torn apart during the war (1991-2002). They call it community reconciliation and it is indeed at the very local level we’re working: in the small communities in rural Sierra Leone. The program has started in the very east of the country, in Kailahun district, where the war both started and ended. The communities in this area, as in most others, are in so many ways still affected by the war. Many people still live away from their communities and can’t return because of (fear of) reprisals or because they wont be allowed back in. Fambul Tok has facilitated meetings between former combatants and victims of the war and has helped organizing ceremonies that have healed some of the wounds the war caused. It’s a long and winding process but I am quite confident that the program is immensely helping reconcile the people of Sierra Leone. It’s pretty exciting, to say the least!