I have arrived!

Here I am in Sierra Leone. I arrived in Freetown last Friday evening after an ok flight and I had been quite worried about not being met and all those things. However, it was all fine; the driver was there and I was on the first helicopter out over the estuary. It seems the airport is on the other side of the water from the city because that is where the British airbase was and they used that infrastructure.

What can I tell you about the helicopter ride? I hadn't been on one of those things before and it was quite an unnerving experience. It was old, probably ex-military and not a little scary. We sat 10 each side on benches with the luggage on the floor in front of us, covered by a mesh. You just knew the mesh could not possibly hold those suitcases in place if tested by adverse conditions. Fortunately it was not tested and we landed without mishap after much shuddering and juddering. Then the ride over the pot holes in the road was interesting; the driver was testing me on my Krio and was very impressed that I know 'how de body?' and 'I tell got tenki' mean 'how are you?' and 'I'm fine'.

So I am living for the moment with Henning and his wife Fiona. We live in a fairly large apartment on the first floor at the west end of the city, which is the poshest bit. This is a relative term: it is not what you would consider swanky at all. The photo is a view from the balcony. The night I arrived the mains water failed; that was 3 nights ago and we suspect and hope it may be back on now. We don't want to get too excited about it as it may go again. We buy drinking water in plastic bags and get water for other things from a stand pipe down the lane. This may sound picturesque but the lane is a pot-hole riddled little street full of litter and stones and it involved climbing over a narrow step and walking alongside an open sewer to get the water. Now I know what water shortages would mean for us in the developed world; it makes life really difficult and you devote a lot of each day worrying about it. I so remember soaking in deep, bubbly baths in the UK. Well, I actually wouldn't want to as it is so hot I am sweating all the time anyway so a cold shower might be the thing. Dream on.

We did a tour around Freetown on Saturday (not very much to see, really) and ended up at the beach. Sunday also saw us ending up at the beach. Today I went to the office with another new volunteer and we did some of the induction I missed as I was delayed in coming over. I am hopeful I may get to Makeni on Friday.

I am happy here; everything has been fine and the big worry is water but I know that so many of the rest of the world have that problem every day. Things are relatively cheap but as there are 6000 Leones to the pound, they always sound expensive. The taxi rides are 800 L and that is the main way of getting around, apart from the poda-podas (mini buses) which cost the same but take you further. My impressions are of lots of noise all the time; music is only played at one volume and that is LOUD. We have had some amazing thunderstorms. It is the end of the rainy season and our verandah looks out towards the bay; tonight we had a show that was something like I imagine the Northern lights to be, with 3 or 4 patches of lightening cracking though dancing clouds of rain mist. The legacy of the war is still apparent, with amputees in the streets and it seems the people hoped that things would improve rather quicker than they have done since they regained democracy. There are so many NGOs here; someone told me 20% of all vehicles in Freetown are NGO ones. We all wonder how that looks to the people in the slums.

Ok, so I will sign off now and hope to add some photos and things later. At the moment I have mains electricity but won't in Makeni, so I will have to see how it goes.

Anne