Last day of FGDs

We left Makeni to do two last focus groups before making our way back to Freetown.  I was asking these two groups about a new, locally made supplemental feeding product.  The two groups were in the same chiefdom but separate communities and their answers were surprisingly different.  And I'm not sure why.  Interesting moments of the day: going through a mid-sized town that is called Mile 91, having to try to speak over the sound of a downpour on a tin roof (fortunately the rain let up) and having my last group of ladies sing and dance for me.  I caught 30 secs on video but can't seem to figure out how to get it off my phone onto my computer.

In the path of greatness

I am staying at a hotel which is apparently one of the best in town and has the honor of having housed one David Beckham.  I find it hard to believe but maybe this hotel has known better days or maybe there is a really nice room on a different floor.  He certainly did not stay in my room - which is comfortable and functional but would fall in the budget category.  They are riding this wave for as long as they can.  They also have a 3 story banner out front featuring Nelson Mandela and I guess his preference for this hotel. (Also note more evidence of religious tolerance.)

Focusing Focus Groups

Now that I am on my own for three days, the work has begun.  Wednesday, I was scheduled to conduct four focus groups of 10 women each.  I was handed off to our sub-grantee (US based org) and partly due to my inexperience and their inexperience our focus groups were chaotic. They took place at the health centers, outside and they'd asked more to come than we needed, thinking some wouldn't show.  Instead they had more than we needed and women were turned away.  They lingered, others came and each woman had a baby on her lap.  It was loud with many distractions.  In the ended I think some good information was obtained.  Thursday we traveled farther, and I had a local colleague with me who was already well-versed in focus groups.  We put a number 1-10 on the women so it was easier to call on them and we moved the groups away from busy public areas.  A few babies were handed off to others and it was a much calmer setting.

Field visits

We drove up north a bit to conduct focus groups in a village in Tokolili.  I was observing today in preparation for a full day of conducting my own groups tomorrow.  There were two groups - one of women who received cash transfers during the Ebola crisis and the other group was their children.  They answered questions mostly about how they prioritized how they would spend the money they received.  Food and school fees were the top two followed by medical expenses and house rehabilitation.  Although they look very somber in the photos, both groups were very friendly and did smile on occasion.  The children were 14-18 yrs old and the mothers/grandmothers were 20-71.

Learning about Freetown

When I arrived the driver gave me a teeny tiny phone for local use and a packet of welcome information.  It included everything a new expat would need to know.  I skipped over how to get an apartment and find a cleaner but read up on the history of the town.  60,000 freed slaves were sent here from the US, Canada and UK.  Eventually they blended with the native population and apparently at one time over 200 languages were spoken here.  Krio means Creole and is a mixture of multiple languages that merged.  Another very interesting point about Sierra Leone is it probably the most religiously tolerant country on the planet.  Muslims, Christians and native religions peacefully co-exist - a fact in which the people have great pride.  Examples of the above - today after spending the day at the office, we stopped at St. Mary's grocery store to buy water for tomorrow's trip up north and so I could exchange currency.  The currency changer was a 70 year old Lebanese woman.  Their family has lived here for generations it seems and Lebanese and Indians own many businesses here.  Our driver also told about how he was raised Muslim, but when he became an adult, he changed to Christianity, met his wife at church and they are raising their children as Christians.  The rest of his family is still Muslim and they get together and celebrate all the holidays.  No one minds.

And now for some photos from the office balcony:

Sunday Stands for Sun

A colleague staying at the same hotel who has been here all week said he hasn't seen sun since last Sunday.  But today we were treated to sunshine which made the views even more spectacular.  Today was spent visiting with said colleague over breakfast and lunch, catching up with the country director who stopped by and dinner with another colleague who I will be going to the field with this week.  The hotel, despite its prestige and location is rather dilapidated. Apparently it's in the process of being revamped but you can't really tell if it's coming or going.  Still, with the plethora of expats in the restaurant it is a popular venue.  It also had a decent pool, but I only saw one person in it all day.  The reason?  It is currently considered "winter".

Day 1 in Sierra Leone

My flights may have been uneventful, but I was sitting so far back on the flight to Paris, that I could hear dog(s) barking in the cargo hold.  When I arrived in Freetown, it was raining and I fear that will be the theme for most of this trip.  The quickest way to get to the main part of the city, is by boat.  Due to the rain, the water was very choppy.  We walked to end of a very long pier and were helped by about five guys to cross over to the bobbing boat.  Place in the hold with luggage and life vests, I feared for my stomach but being a speed boat with crashed through the white capped waves and thus sea-sickness was avoided.   Arriving after dark, I didn't see much as the driver and I drove up to the hotel but once off the main drag, the road quickly deteriorated into a muddy, potholed, bumpy mess.  And I'm under the impression that wealthier people live up here considering one of the President's residencies is on the same hill.