Hi all, I know it's been a while since I last wrote. My latest trip was again to Kenema and then Kailahun to disburse the 2nd half of the grants that I helped distribute back in December. The trip out was relatively uneventful. I found that almost no progress has been made on the reconstruction of the main road out. It was still dusty and a long drive, 5 hours or so. Our security guy and country rep didn't want us keeping large amounts of cash on us this time, so it was decided that we would have to return all the way back to Kenema every day. This added an extra hour in the morning and evening. Unfortunately we had no choice in the matter and to be fair carrying millions of leones around is probably not the best idea.

Anyway, after meeting up with Salim, our agricultural guy, we figured out a process for getting the money every morning from the safe. By this time it was time to go to guest house and hopefully get some rest. But it was not to be. The power in Kenema used to be excellent (back in October), but now it isn't strong enough to run an air conditioner. So this left me in an extremely hot and noisy room (people talking and the generator blaring when the power went out altogether) with only a bit of air movement from the fan. I did manage to get a little sleep but around 5 am the call to prayer started (Of course I had forgotten my earplugs, lesson learned). Unlike most other mosques, this one broadcast the entire 45 minute service. By the time it ended, the "snorer" started up. It was unbelievably loud, and I pretty much gave up at this point and got up.

We got the money and headed out in our big Land Cruiser for the trek around 8 am. When we got to Segbwema to pick up the field agents though, we found out that the camera we needed to bring with us was with another staffer. So we waited around for about 1 1/2 hours before we managed to liberate it. The rest of the day was actually pretty uneventful. We got to a village, the field agents would go out and get the clients (usually 5-6). We would look over their ledgers and try to make suggestions on how to improve them and then we distributed the funds. We skipped one group from the last time because the mid-term interviews had shown that their businesses were no longer functioning or they weren't keeping up with their ledgers. I say ledgers in the broadest sense of the word since about 95% of the clients are illiterate. They typically have no idea what the ledgers are for nor can they read them to find out anything useful. But they do try.

Anyway, after a full day of this, we headed back to Kenema. I think we got back around 6 or so. When I got to the guest house I asked if I could switch rooms. Luckily they had space and moved me to a room that had a lot more air flow and was marginally quieter. Unfortunately the electricity was still pretty weak and the mosque didn't stop broadcasting at 5 am every morning. On the plus side I didn't have to worry about oversleeping.

The next morning the process repeated, but this time something went wrong with the Land Cruiser's gear box just outside of Segbwema. The driver could only use 1st, 2nd and 5th gears. 3rd and 4th had apparently broken. So, yet again we waited in Segbwema until about 10 before we could set off. This time in a different vehicle. Our disbursements went well, though when we got back to Kenema the driver told us he had to take the vehicle in to the shop as something was wrong with it. You may start to notice a pattern here with vehicles. I should also remind you that the roads are pretty bad - more like dirt tracks filled with rocks and bumps, etc.

So day three of disbursements, we wake up extra early because we are going to Penguia (the village was only a couple of kilometers from Guinea)- the most remote chiefdom in Kailahun and hence one of the more remote spots in Sierra Leone. Salim guessed it would take 4 hours or so to get out there on some of the worst roads in the country. I had no idea how bad. That said, we actually got off to a pretty good start, even though we were in our 3rd vehicle in as many days. We drove along without problem until we hit a town called Manowa. As we were passing through town another NGO driver flagged us down to warn us that the road ahead was blocked by a large tree. We stopped and discussions ensued. It became clear that we wouldn't be able to get by the tree in our vehicle so there were only really 2 options. One pay some guy to cut the tree or try a different route. Paying someone was out of the question, so the alternate route had to be tried. Unfortunately this meant we had to take even worse roads than the normally awful roads to Penguia.

Having now been on those roads, i'm not sure how to describe them, though roads would probably not be the first word that came to mind. It actually looked more like a dry streambed than a road, rocks and all and very hilly. Car companies could use the area as a proving ground. We did finally make it to the village, around 12:30. So including the detour it took us 6 1/2 hours. I should mention that the we were sitting on benches in the back of the Land Cruiser, not in regular seats.

Our disbursements went fine, we actually had 3 different groups in the one village
so it took us a couple of hours. On the positive side they fed us rice and cassava with "bush meat". After we finished up, we headed back. I figured we would get back about an hour or so faster since there wouldn't be a detour this time. Unfortunately it turned out I was wrong about the time. We were in Peje Bongre chiefdom when the left main leaf spring snapped (this is what holds the vehicle off the tire and acts as a shock absorber).

This is apparently not that uncommon of an occurrence here so several of the folks I was traveling with knew what to do. In short, you jack up the car, take off the wheel, cut a thick branch with the machete you always keep in the car, force the spring down with a separate long branch and put the small cut piece in between the spring and the bar that holds the spring. But wait there's more, you then have to tie the springs and branch together with, what else, seatbelts that you cut from the vehicle. I finally used the leatherman i've been carrying around everywhere for just this purpose. Not at all what I would have imagined. This fix was good enough to get us to Kenema. But one more thing had to happen, about 5 minutes outside of Kenema, the right main leaf spring broke. We didn't try to fix this one but instead drove really slowly back to the office. All told, it took us about 13 1/2 hours.

So the final tally - 3 vehicles used, 3 vehicles damaged. Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to mention, the dust and fires We're in the dry season right now, so it hasn't rained since the end of October. Combine the dryness with dirt roads and you've got a recipe for huge quantities of dust. We got covered in it and I presume also breathed in significant amounts as well. On the fires, there were lots of burned and burning areas all over Kailahun. In some of the cases, farmers burn the chopped down forest in preparation for planting. In other cases, the fires are started inadvertently but the end result is a lot of destroyed forest.

Next week I may rant a bit about the ledgers I mentioned.