That’s
right this is the first message one may see once one alights from an airplane
at Lungi International Airport in Sierra
Leone. The
airport, which is located in the coastal
town of Lungi, is separated from Freetown (the capital city of Sierra Leone) by
Tagrin bay. A half an hour road journey from the airport to the
Tagrin Ferry Terminal; followed by an hour’s, hair-raising journey by ferry from
the ferry terminal would ship you to Freetown. Passengers also have the choice of: using a helicopter (private but season specific service); or water taxis (requires pre booking); or going by road (long route) to mainland Freetown from the airport.
After
winding up work from Ethiopia, I came back home for few days before flying out
to Freetown for three days. This was my first ever trip to Sierra Leone and I
came back with a lot of excitement! Throughout my stay, I was based at
Freetown.
Before
heading off to Freetown, I was aware that a lot of development work is going on
in the country. In-fact I managed to catch hold of few expatriates and some
tourists (albeit I was travelling during the rainy season) on my way to Freetown
from the airport.
The
first thing that caught my eye on the highly congested roads of Freetown was an
okada taxi - a passenger motorbike to be hired
privately. It is assumed to provide the quickest way to get from point A to B. Not sure how
safe or reliable it was but I saw people
from all walks of life (passengers/businessmen/tourists) using it a lot.
A successful okada ride follows three steps. Firstly, an eye contact is established
between the driver and the potential customer. This is followed by a face gesture
by the driver asking the customer whether or not he/she would be interested for
a ride. In the end the deal is struck between the two and the whole process
generally takes a maximum of a minute.
The
other thing that caught my eye in the Freetown market was boxes of breakfast
cereals, which one would expect to see here in the British superstores. I was
keen to ask the street vendors how did they manage to get hold of them? I
didn’t because I was told that these boxes could potentially be part of an
illegal trade – not fair!
Food and
stay in Freetown was expensive. A couple of eating joints were really good. For
those people who like drinking beer are advised to taste the local beer- good
taste plus value for money!
Moving on, the population of
Sierra Leone is estimated at around 6 million people. The official currency of the country is the ‘Leone’ (LE). The rate of
exchange is approximately 1 GBP = circa 7,000 Leones
(July 2012). The American Dollar, the Euro and British Pound are widely
accepted; and can be easily exchanged in the capital. Albeit, I didn’t see any local
coins but the bank notes were in denominations of 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000
leones.
Development Challenges:
A quick look at the World Bank’s
Country Brief would show that Sierra Leone was one
of the world’s poorest countries when the civil war began in 1991; and in spite
of its remarkable strides and reforms since the war, which ended in 2002,
problems of poor infrastructure -- including roads and energy -- low capacity,
youth unemployment, high maternal and infant mortality, widespread rural
impoverishment, impact of the global economic downturns, and lapses in public
financial management and governance still persist. There is also the daunting
challenge of enhancing transparency in managing the country’s vast natural
resources (including diamonds and other minerals).
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Human Development Index (2009) ranked Sierra Leone a poorly 180 out of 182
countries based on 2007 data. There were few other issues that shocked me but I
will not deliberate on those as I try to see brighter side of things!
The Land of Big Smiles:
Within a couple of days of my
stay I could realise that the liveliness, sense of humour and the big smiles of
Sierra Leoneans come from their hope for the bright future of their country. I
saw many of the them dancing, singing or even shouting and screaming at each
other probably for no rhyme or reason on the streets but was amazed by the fact
that even after the obnoxious atrocities of the past, they still have a can-do
attitude!
