Sandra on BBC Woman's Hour...

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by the BBC to see if I would be willing to record a reading from my blog. Their program ‘Woman’s Hour’ is preparing a series of short radio items featuring women bloggers; of which I am one! BBC’s ‘Woman's Hour’ is one of the most widely listened to programs on BBC domestic radio. They have an extremely wide audience with 3 million listeners. After a few emails back and forth I agreed to contribute.

So, Wednesday morning a Sierra Leonean BBC correspondent (who has written a number of articles for the BBC concerning the Sierra Leone elections) came to the center to help me with a clean phone line with the BBC office in the UK. We put the satellite dish on the roof of the kitchen, spent some time moving it around, and finally received a good signal. We connected the satellite phone and made the call. It was a good connection and after briefly talking to the BBC representative on the other side of the line, we started recording. The first time I read it too quickly of course. But I quickly got the hang of it and it was actually quite fun recording an excerpt from my blog. It should be on the air sometime in September.

For those interested: the program goes out every weekday between 10.00-11.00 UK time and there is a special Weekend 'Woman's Hour' edition on Saturday. The women blogger readings will be aired over the next six weeks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/

http://sandralako.blogspot.com/2007/04/last-weeks-highlight.html

Sierra Leone Election Results to be announced soon…

93% of the of polling stations have reported their results

APC (All People’s Congress) is ahead at 44%, SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) follows close behind at 38%. This is not a huge surprise I guess; everyone expected these two parties to get the most votes. However, what these results do mean is that there will most likely be a run off. If neither party has a 55% lead, a run-off is inevitable. From what I have understood so far this would mean another 2 weeks of campaigning for both parties followed by another voting day in the beginning of September. I’m not so sure what to think of this yet…

More to follow...

Unfortunate Friday evening...

I was pretty excited about the upcoming weekend, however, it didn’t start out very well. Late afternoon on Friday (it was still light!) 4 of us (all women) decided to walk home, which we often do. However, on this particular day we were unlucky. One of my friends had a purse on her side and unfortunately a young guy that was running past must have spotted it, because he turned around and later snuck up behind us. Before we knew what was going on he grabbed the purse, ripped it off of her shoulder and attempted to get away. As my friend grabbed his arm, the purse fell to the ground. We thought he was unsuccessful. Unfortunately, however, we soon realized that all that remained in the purse was Le 10,000 (=$3); the phone had been stolen. My friend and I dashed across the street after him but to no avail. I have to be honest and say I was cautious in going after him because I was afraid he might have a knife. He quickly jumped over the wall at the golf course and we never saw him again. We shouted “thief” but the road was pretty deserted, other than a girl with a basket of goods on her head.

A group of people outside one of the beach bars only 5 minutes down the road heard the commotion and had actually seen the guy earlier on, before he ran past us. Some guys offered to go and look for the thief; “a guy in a purple jersey”. Which they did, but I’m sure he was long gone. And I’d never be able to recognize him if he wasn’t wearing the same purple shirt. We thought of going to the police station to file a report but figured that would probably take 3 hours, maybe a bribe, us providing paper and pen and in the end it wouldn’t bring the phone back. So we didn’t bother.

I felt really bad for my friend. It wasn’t an expensive phone, but had a lot of important contact information. Also, it’s just plain frustrating to have someone steal something from you, especially when you’re in another country, trying to help others. Sorry friend! Anyway, yes, this happened to us here at Lumley beach, in an area that is known for events as such. But to be honest, this happens to people in Freetown all the town. And for that matter probably in a number of big cities all over the world. We were just unlucky.

PS: the rest of the weekend was very nice!

34.3% and counting...

The latest election update (from yesterday) is that 2119 of 6171 (34.3%) of the polling stations have reported their results. So far there has been a lot of fluctuation in the outcome. A couple days ago APC had over 70% of the votes, but the following day it was SLPP that was ahead. The presidential winner must take more than 55 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off. Here are the latest results:

Candidate Votes Percentage

Ernest Bai Koroma (All Peoples Congress) 46.17%
Andrew Turay (Convention Peoples Party) 1.4%
Alhaji Amadu Jalloh (National Democratic Alliance) 1.02%
Kandeh Baba Conteh (Peace and Liberation Party) 0.56%
Charles F. Margai (People's Movement for Democratic Change) 15.17%
Solomon E. Berewa (Sierra Leone People's Party) 35.32%
Prof. Abdul Kady Karim (United National People's Party) 0.37%

A Long Way Gone...

Sierra Leone is hot in the news at the moment due to the elections that were held this past Saturday. While we are still awaiting the results I thought I would tell you about a book I am reading. It's a gripping book so far, and at times hits close to the heart; reading about Sierra Leone - the country I now call home.

In A LONG WAY GONE: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a powerfully gripping story: At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At sixteen, he was removed from fighting by UNICEF, and through the help of the staff at his rehabilitation center, he learned how to forgive himself, to regain his humanity, and, finally, to heal.

This is an extraordinary and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty. For more information go to: http://www.alongwaygone.com/index.html

Monday's news from Salone...

Today was a good day.
Clinic was unusually quiet for a Monday.
Only 37 patients.
No “crazy Monday” today.
I guess that’s mainly due to the elections.
Last year August was the 2nd to busiest month!

Since there are 3 doctors this week I decided to work on the clinic’s proposal.
Exciting I know.
Actually I didn’t mind it at all.
I’ll continue tomorrow.

Later I witnessed one of our cleaners squashing a mouse.
Not so pleasant.
Our clinic cat just had kittens, so she’s not really playing ‘cat & mouse’ right now.

At the end of the day 3 of us decided to walk home from work.
This usually takes about 1h20min.
A lot of it along Lumley beach; lovely.
Nice breeze, sand & the sound of waves crashing.
We saw blowfish, another big fish and some barnacle like things.
And of course syringes, needles & shoes were scattered here & there.

The walk between Atlantic & Lumley Roundabout was strange.
A 10 minute stretch.
Usually the street is noisy, with people walking around, taxis honking their horns.
Not today.
It was nearing 6 pm.
Literally everyone was listening to a radio.
Groups of people, singles, men, women.
Really everyone was listening.
You could tell because no one yelled out “white man”
We felt like we were the noisiest people on the earth, talking in our hushed voices.
When we got home we found out everyone was listening to a press conference held by the National Electoral Committee.
People are anxious for the results.

Dinner was great. Quiche.
It truly was delicious. Thanks Abdul!

After dinner it was time for some internet.
Surprise surprise today was my busiest blog day.
124 hits! Must be the elections.
A little more emailing and then time for tea.
And before you know it, it’s 1030.
Time for bed.

Post-election day 1...

Sunday, August 12.

Freetown remained quiet overnight which means that we no longer have a curfew. So this morning I went to church with a couple of others. I love the church I go to now- it feels like home. Amazing pastor, friendly people, beautiful surroundings. It’s great.

The elections are still very much a hot topic; everyone is talking about them. Actually, church is held in a community center, which was used as one of the polling stations yesterday. When we arrived today they were just getting ready to transport the ballot boxes to the NEC (National Electoral Committee). I was surprised to see that the results were already hanging up in the church. Almost everyone that came, had a quick look at the results before finding a seat in the church. Later, while walking home, I saw many people with their radios out and could hear radio announcers reading out the results one polling station at a time.

I’m not surprised it’s such a hot topic. For the people of Sierra Leone there has been a lot of tension leading up to the elections. And most people have been waiting for years to see positive change in their country. These elections bring a little bit of uncertainty but most importantly they bring a lot of hope.

People are starting to dream of a brighter future.

Facts about the elections...

• More than half of the voters are under 35 years old.
• There are 7 presediential contenders.
• There are 566 parliamentary candidates for 112 parliamentary seats.
• Ballots have been transported by trucks, canoes and porters to some 6,176 polling stations in savannah, jungles and mountains.
• Results will be released progressively with final tallies within 12 days of voting, according to the national electoral commission.
• The presidential winner must take more than 55 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off.
• About 2.6 million of the nation's 5 million people are registered to vote.