My First Week

My first weekend was spent catching up with family. As luck would have it, my parents were God Parents to my cousin who got wed on Saturday, so I got to combine some serious dancing and seeing family members without having to make the journey to individual homes which can easily take up the whole weekend. The wedding went well and it was lovely to see all the colourful costumes on show. As one of four God Parents, my parents had a part to play on the day, after the church service we rushed home to receive the bridal party at home for customary ‘Cold Water’ which entails giving the couple a glass of cold water at the entrance of our home accompanied by words of advice to prepare them for married life. The cold water is meant cool their hearts and serve as a reminder in the future if things get heated between the couple.

I also made my first trip to the supermarket shortly before the guests arrived to get nibbles or as my mum instructed some flavoured biscuits to serve with roast chicken and other snacks. So off I went pilling the basket with rich tea, custard cream and other biscuits only to get home to be told I bought the wrong items, luckily I had included a packet of Pringles and cheese and onion crisps which apparently are also known as flavoured biscuits. This has been one of many amusing language barriers moments. The supermarkets themselves are stocked with items that can be found in any Tesco metro only very pricey. I had to laugh when I came across a bottle of fairy’s washing up liquid that had he manufacturer’s £1 label and  the supermarket’s price of Le26,000 which is equivalent to £4, priced no doubt after including import duty and other handling fees.

We later went to the wedding reception that was held along the beach front where most of hotels and night clubs are based. The reception areas usually open up into the sea which provides the perfect backdrop and not to mention the cool breeze.

On Sunday I had one mission, which was to locate an internet cafe that was close enough to home so I could check mails during my trip and also send a message to Educaid’s Accountant Mohamed to say I had arrived and will be at work on Monday. I found one in an area called Bottom Mango which about 10mins driving time from home with adequate facilities i.e. reasonable chairs and seating arrangements with good ventilation aided by the wide front doors that opens out into the street.   I was taken aback by how slow the internet was and enquired if there was a service provider issue at that moment but was told this was the fattest shop in this area and that only one telecoms company provides internet service and hence the whole country routes through this provider which. The price is reasonable at Le 2,500 (40 pence ) per 30 minutes and the staff were friendly so I decided to make this my internet home.

My first day of work.

I arrived at Educaid School at 10 am on Monday morning and was greeted by Mohamed the Accountant and Emmanuel the Head of Curriculum. I was immediately reassured by their huge welcoming smiles and cheerful handshakes. After a short introduction I was taken round the school. The school is contained in five storey building with classes held on the first three floors. I later learned that the boarders convert the teaching areas into to sleeping units at bed times. The design of the school means that the stairs leading to each floor are part of the class room so I immediately got the feel for the intimacy of the school. Our first stop was the IT room where I met more staff and students and had a brief chat. Mohamed then showed me his office which adjourns one of the teaching floors and also doubles up as his bedroom. Some of the staff and all volunteers live on the school site. With the temperature at 30 degrees Celsius I was relived Mohamed offered the top floor as home for the duration of my visit. Here, the walls consist of pillars so there nice flow of air and a beautiful view of the surrounding hills. 

The view from the Accounts makeshift office

One of the group of classes

Two months before my trip, AFID put me in touch with Swithun Mason and Mirian Mason-Sesay, who are both  trustees of EducAid. Miraim is based in Freetown and I have come to learn that she is the backbone of this wonderful school. Swithun is based in the UK and I able to meet with him on a couple of occasions to  cover the objectives of my trip which was to provide Payroll , budgeting, tax and ad hoc training to Mohamed and indeed have some training of my own in Educaid’s payroll system.   My main concern at the time of starting the process had been whether three weeks would be sufficient to make a difference and if I had the right skills to help Mohamed. My fears were allayed by Swithun who oversees Mohamed’s accounting work from UK. By the time I left the UK, I felt comfortable with EducAid’s accounting systems and had established a good rapport with Swithun, Miriam and Mohamed as we had done a lot of communication by email as well.

So the first day seemed to go very quickly as Mohammed and I spent much of the time getting to know each other and formulating a loose plan of attack for the three weeks of my visit.

Better late than never...

Hello and welcome to my blog.

My name is Josephine Dauda, a Sierra Leonean who lives and works in the UK. I am on a three week sabbatical (From the Business Software Alliance) and have been placed by AFID to volunteer with EducAid, a UK charity that runs the only free secondary schools in Sierra Leone. AFID provides the platform for Accountants to volunteer Financial Management skills in developing countries. About a year ago, I read about AFID’s good work in a CIMA magazine and thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to combine a visit home with volunteering. Seven months later I made the call to AFID and started the process.

I arrived in Sierra Leone on Friday 5^th November, the journey here was trouble free. Well, compared to the last journey I made in December 2008 when our flight was delayed for five hours and had to return to the UK only three hours after we finally departed because the plane’s windscreen had cracked. Anyway, that was then, now it appears the standard of service has improved dramatically with the change in airlines.

I always tell friends, you get a sense of Sierra Leone from the moment you arrive at the check in desk at Heathrow, which is never hard to find as there are twice as many people as would be booked on any normal outbound flight. This is mainly because Sierra Leoneans never arrive at the airport without family/friends to see them off, my Mum tells me it’s the custom to see people off, to relay messages to families obviously when T-mobile and Co did not exist. The other reason is of course excess luggage; Indeed, I arrived with my Cousin and two empty large bags as even my hand luggage seemed to be 20kg. So I head straight for the industrial scales which are never far from the Freetown check in desk. Here, a fellow traveller kindly tells me the airline has stopped allowing hand luggage on to the flight and all luggage must be checked in. This is also where you find out any information on how lenient the staff are with excess Kilos and which queue is better to join. With my strategy of packing my hand luggage with a couple of days outfit  at serious risk I go about embarrassingly redistributing items in my three luggage and try to locate that massive handbag which must now replace my pulley hand luggage. I manage to check in all luggage without any excess fees and make it on board the flight. Sierra Leoneans are very friendly people and don’t usually need much of a reason to celebrate so there were pockets of conversations and laughter throughout the flight, culminating in clapping of hands when the plane landed in Freetown.    

The airport is on Lungi Island; my Brother and his accompanying friend met me at the airport and had organised a crossing to Freetown with the hover craft. The other methods are by ferry, which provides a scenic view of Freetown as it ebbs towards the wharf, the helicopter is more suited to those with steady nerves and the roads route through the peninsula adds a few more hours to the 7.5 hours air flight journey. The hovercraft turned out to be a pleasant experience which offered complimentary drinks which we sipped whilst watching videos of Westlife’s 90s hits. Yes, Sierra Leone has always had strong links with the UK and is evident throughout the country. As we stepped off the hovercraft, I thought there should have been signs to say ‘mind the gap’ instead a friendly hand was stretched out with a greeting of ‘welcome to civilisation’. It was then 9.30 pm in Freetown, even at this time of night the streets were full of people and traders  providing a immediate insight into the bustle that is Freetown.

Well, I have the weekend to recover before work at Educaid on Monday so will keep you posted.