Journey to Sierra Leone & Liberia
“I am what I am because of who we all are.” - Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist, whose leadership of a women's peace movement helped end Liberia's second civil war in 2003: She is describing the concept of Ubuntu.
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Click above to view a photo flipbook, highlighting a September 2013
Journey to Liberia & Sierra Leone.
In time, the experiences with the people, cultures & landscapes of Liberia & Sierra Leone
will find their way into my writing.
Click below for a few, brief clips . . . .
Entering Nagbema Community School - Kailahun District, Sierra Leone
Devil Dancers - Kailahun District
Sierra Leone Roads - Frequently Getting Out of Mud
Welcoming to Bandakoro Community School - Bombali District, Sierra Leone
Village Dancer - Bombali District, Sierra Leone
Nightly Lightning in Kabala - Koinadugu District, Sierra Leone
Village Performers - Koinadugu District, Sierra Leone
Driving from 'Up Country' to Freetown, Sierra Leone
Lumley Beach - Freetown, Sierra Leone
Wherever I went, children ran to greet our Toyota 4x4.
We spent hours on red-mud roads to reach some very remote communities.
Many had never seen, as my sponsored boy, Alie, put it, “a woman of white color.”
Crowds of children clustered around the vehicle also made it difficult to leave a village literally & emotionally.
Special thanks to: ChildFund Liberia and ChildFund Sierra Leone staff, program partners and countless village leaders & community members for hosting my visit to many ChildFund International program areas in September 2013. I especially thank Godfrey Mwelwa, Acting National Director, and Shannoh Kandoh, Acting Program Manager, with ChildFund Liberia; and Billy Abimbilla, National Director, and Yusufu Kamara, Program Manager, with ChildFund Sierra Leone. My most special gratitude goes to my Sierra Leone colleagues, Fataba Babawo, Sponsor Relations Coordinator, and Osman Kargbo, Logistics Officer, who spent many days with me on the roads and within villages ... thank you, my friends, thank you.
This is such an inspiring sharing, Kimberley. I just love the picture of your school, the little girl in the pink dress with the pink rose for you, and the girl balancing the food on her head. I hooted it out. Hopefully ChildFund will get some donors from this. I mean, wow...
ReplyDeleteAlthough I worried about your safety on this great adventure I knew in my heart that it was a place and experience that was near the top of your "Bucket list".
ReplyDeleteI am so happy now that you have been to such a place so different in so many ways than our country. Being there gives you a clear and defined perspective that few others will ever know. Thanks to you for sharing this we all now have a much greater appreciation and understanding of the hardships and needs of the Sierra Leonians.