ATM part 2 & 3

Before getting on with the rest of the week, I didn't want to leave the reader with an atm cliff-hanger.  Monday, back at the office, I explained my cash predicament and found out that obtaining cash over the weekend was a problem for the entire city.  One of the drivers took me to a bank with an ATM that was trust-worthy.  It was working as evidenced by the five people ahead of me in line and a line of 30 people inside.  The atm ran out of money but was soon reloaded.  Assuming because of demand, I was only allowed to take out a certain amount which was enough to pay for the driver from the weekend but would not cover the rest of the week. The largest bill is 10,000 Le which is about $1.50.  To pay a $30 driver bill, you end up with a stack of cash.

Fast forward to Wednesday (today).  A day before checking out, I attempted to pay my food bill at the hotel but the card machine wouldn't connect.  So not wanting to revisit my departure from Arusha, I had the driver take me to the same atm.  The plus side of these outings was I got mini tours of Freetown including a drive past the dilapidated government run university.  Freetown is a fascinating city with its mix of shanty, rundown wooden houses reminiscent of colonial days, stone buildings and new construction.  We drove by the prison which is smack-dab in the middle of town.  The driver said they've been discussing moving it for decades but nothing has happened despite inmates occasionally escaping.

I am paid up and ready to leave tomorrow!  

Kids kids, kids

Tuesday I accompanied a colleague out to the field to observe a supplemental food distribution.  Women whose children had been identified as or at risk for being malnourished were eligible for receiving a locally produced food supplement - a porridge mix made out of ground sesame, pigeon pea, sorghum and rice.  They receive a 3 month supply and have to come to the health center each month to get their allotment so that their child can have their mid-upper arm circumference measured. Happy to report that all these kids are getting pudgier and their measurements are moving from yellow to green.  While I was watching all this, I took some photos of the kids hanging around.  I swear they laughed and smiled as soon as I took a photo but for whatever reason, they were all business when the camera was pointed at them.  The photo below was after I charaded to them that they should smile.

The Long Weekend

Back in Freetown, while this is a nice hotel with stunning views, it is very isolated on its hilltop.  I tried to break free by having the hotel arrange a hired car to visit the chimpanzee sanctuary in the national forest on the edge of town.  The sanctuary was started in the late 80's after a couple bought a sick baby chimpanzee at a rural market and realized that killing mother chimps and selling their babies as pets was a thing.  It is illegal to own a chimp and the sanctuary rescues any chimps they find out about.  Or the chimp grows up and the owner no longer wants to keep them.  And angry adult chimp has about 5x the strength of a human.  There are about 75 chimps in captivity in several family groups.  They can't be returned to the wild because the spent their lives with humans - some spoiled by sleeping in beds, eating human food and watching movies.  There are several stages to introducing a chimp to a clan.  They are quarantined for disease, have to be taught how to climb and be a chimp in a group.  Based on their personality the handlers determine which family group they should join.  And they are the animal most genetically a like to humans.  There was once a break-out where 31 escaped.  27 returned on their own or were caught.  It would be humorous except a taxi driver on the premises was killed by a group of them.

The epilogue to this outing is apparently I was supposed to pay the hotel or driver only in cash.  Reminiscent of my departure from Arusha, long story short, after attempts at 4 different atms, I told the hotel/driver I would get them the cash on Monday when both my office and the banks would be open to sort it out.  

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.