First Visit to Nearby Villages

Sorry it has been too long since I have posted a blog. Please give me suggestions on what you would like to read about.

This week I visited 5 nearby villages for the first time. It was quite a scene. In every village everyone came to see me. They all gave me chickens, rice, cocoa yams, and poyo (palm wine). They sang and did traditional dances. I rode there on a motorcycle, the main means of transport around. It is actually better than a car since the roads are very, very bad, you can maneuver around better. I went on Thursday, slept over in a village called Kanga, and then returned to Kenema on Friday.

These villages were hurt terribly by the war. Most were completely burnt down and most of their leadership was killed in the street. They still have no schools or health facilities. Their houses were made of mud and thatch which gets destroyed during each rainy season, however they can afford anything else. The women all wanted to show me their ‘maternity wards,’ which where nothing more than a much house with an old bed. They are in terrible shape and need assistance.

They showed me some of their agricultural processes. It is very difficult for them to transport their produce to the town of Kenema from these villages on the terrible roads. They make very little money by the time they sell it in the town. They produce palm oil for cooking, rice, potato, cassava, yams, etc.

The following are 3 pictures I took. I wish I could post more, but the internet is slow. The first is a picture of one of the steps in the process of making palm oil. It was taken a ways into the bush. The second is picture of me in one village called Konia. Notice my shirt, it is locally made. They call the material ‘country cloth.’ My brother gave it to me a couple weeks ago. Fridays in SL is African Dress Day, so I usually wear it then. Notice how I am still representing the D thoughJ. The third is a picture of me with the dancer who portrays the devil in a traditional dance. Hope you like them.