Wednesday, March 8, 2006

How can I even begin to do justice to this day? Trying to capture its richness is futile. From 7:00 a.m. until now, 11:00 p.m., non-stop activity. And a small village called Koromasilaya and the people who know themselves as Koromasilayans have won me over.

The whole village gathered to dance under the moonlight.

I have just returned from dancing under the moonlight on the drying platform built by the entire village with CARE's help. Women and men, teenagers, elders, even babies came to dance, many of whom wore colorful traditional local dress, which for women is a colorful patterned skirt with a matching head tie. Others wore foreign tee shirts; one little boy wore a shirt that read "kiss me, I'm 40 and over the hill." A drummer led the group, the women sang in unison, song after song. Wow, these women have rhythm- their feet moved faster than my camera could focus, their heads perfectly still and controlled all the while, their arms out to their sides like wings guiding them in flight. Even the babies danced along. It was one of the more astounding things I have seen. Villagers dropped contributions into the drummers' bowl to support his profession and ensure that the music continued. Jurist, Amelia, Clare, and I were inducted into the community one by one through dance. I entered the circle and received clapping from everyone- prompted especially by the beautiful woman who I befriended right after lunch- the one in the giraffe print dress with the pearl necklace and blue head wrap. When I had told her that I loved the way the headscarves looked, she promptly untied her blue wrap and put it around my head. Touched by this spontaneous gesture, I gave my CARE baseball hat in exchange.

Momo, a CARE Kabala staff member, participates in a welcome dance.

The ability to interact with villagers on several occasions throughout today has given me new perspectives on CARE's work and on what rural life is actually like in Sierra Leone. Gathered at the community center at the entrance to the village throughout the late morning and afternoon, our Yale contingent heard from three village groups regarding the progress of their projects with CARE. This basic thatched roof shelter is where women, men, and children alike had originally greeted with a welcoming dance. This dance, the same that had been practiced at the cultural program, featured clapping and stamping feet. After lunch, some women gave us their names and the "Mammy" of the village, a woman dressed in yellow, approved our incorporation. I became "Nyale," Jurist "Fatmata," Amelia "Sara," and Clare "Ifama."

The first of our question and answer sessions with the community was with the Voluntary Development Committee (VDC), the main group of volunteers who disseminate information from CARE to the rest of the village and oversee CARE-sponsored projects. The meetings also incorporated a community health group and a microfinance and business council. After a lunch of plantains, groundnut chicken stew, fried rice balls, and fried fish, we also met with the male elders and the village counselor as well as other village men who had taken the day off of working in the fields to meet with us. We had the opportunity to ask them about opinions on the government, their day to day life experiences, as well as their opinion on CARE's projects, and they in turn asked us about our lifestyle habits; how we care for the elderly, who farms, the size of America, what our family relationships are like, etc.

One of the village elders introduced us into the community and gave us his blessing for our visit.

In the health session, I learned that a series of small lifestyle changes are making the biggest visible differences among CARE's multiple projects; cleaning containers for water transport, drying clothes on lines rather than on the ground, digging deep ventilated latrines, drying dishes on tables, washing hands after use of the toilet. Changes in child care have also been huge- piggy-backing on the rights-based approach- such as the idea that children deserve food as much as adults do, and that youth must be involved in decision making as much, if not more than some elders. I was particularly happy to see the school in the afternoon where the kids prepared for a sports field day (chalk lines marked a track with newly built grass served as spectator booths.) There, I learned that school from age 6-16 is taught in English, meaning that almost all of the kids following us around spoke at least a bit, even though they may have been too embarrassed to practice. The generation that is probably the least literate and unable to speak English at all draws from the youth who were school-age during the 11 years of the civil war. There was no school in the bush or even in the towns- only terror.

Jurist gathered quite a following as she walked around the village and asked people about their daily lives.

Adjacent to the school is the community well that CARE helped the community plan and dig. This one pump means that women no longer have to walk two miles to fetch water, and they consequently have more time for other activities including basic education. I can't imagine carrying buckets of water (or pineapples, bundles of sticks, or canteens of palm oil for that matter) is good for the vertebrate either. While CARE provided counseling on where to build a well and how, as well as various materials unavailable to the local farmers, community members were expected to contribute their labor and materials in mud and wood for the well's construction. The water from this well has decreased water-born illnesses in the village.

In terms of other health practices, members of the volunteer committee told us that CARE has been counseling them and other workshop attendees on proper dietary measures. Farmer field school practices have contributed to this diet, as well as to the business programs, maximizing the motivation of Koromasilayan farmers. The cabbage farm that we saw, a good 3/4 mile from town down a winding foot path, impressed me greatly. Beautiful big and healthy, all-organic heads of cabbage lined the rows of rich soil. Momo, a CARE staff member who spends most of his time in this and other nearby communities, explained to us how CARE has brought the seeds to the villagers, taught various good farming techniques, and supplied tools. The men, later in the afternoon after our return from the cabbage patch visit, asked if our families farm and if we helped to harvest or sell our produce. We tried telling them that only 2% of our population is now in agriculture, that we spend nearly six hours on the computer a day, and that technology has replaced most of the manual labor in the form of heavy machinery and irrigation systems. They found these lifestyle differences hard to fathom.

Members of the community's health committee spoke of how CARE's work is helping to address local medical problems.

When we asked about the government, people recurrently talked about the corruption, and lack of representation even well after the war. They have been lobbying for months, for example, for a health center to be installed closer than the current closest which is over seven miles away in Kabala. The two big rallying points throughout our community center meetings were in fact the health center and the purchase of a truck for shipment of their produce to Makeni and Freetown. On our walk to the cabbage patch, Alfred, the main CARE staff member working with this village, told me that a round trip fare from Koromasilaya to Freetown costs an estimated $600. At this rate, farmers are making only pennies in the profit of their heavily labored produce and even though natural fruits and vegetables are in abundance when in season, the villages will sell most of the food that could contribute to a balanced diet in hopes of making as much money as possible for their families. Since CARE has started talking about proper nutrition and diet, however, the knowledge of balancing food groups as I heard, has increased. I went into one home as a woman beckoned me in after I inquired what she was making for dinner and she showed me a sack full of shelled beans, small and white, that were typically boiled and mashed with flavoring. About five people who had assembled proudly reported that they added meat for protein, cabbage and tomatoes for vegetables (vitamin D) as well as fresh pepper and onions. Despite the abundance of fresh vegetables this community produces, some children walk around with distended bellies, an unfortunate sign of malnutrition. I am hopeful that if Koromasilaya works together with CARE and continuously gains from their workshops and newly-formed support groups, they will be able to address these problems as a united community. Indeed, the strength of the community and collective support is great in Koromasilaya- I have faith that their goals are achievable.

The support of CARE staff in this educational process seems absolutely critical. Momo, Daniel, Josephine, Alfred, George, and all other CARE staff directly involved in the Kabala office make up a stronger, more devoted team than I think I have ever seen in most organizations or companies. This is what makes CARE thrive- the fact that the dynamism of the people they bring on board can help to transform a village by strengthening a sense of responsibility and mobilization within a civil society. They are helping villagers make great strides in improving basic health and hygiene measures while strengthening a lifestyle of safety and well-being for their families. My day in Koromasilaya has given me faith that no matter what I encounter elsewhere in CARE's project, I know for sure that their work is making visible differences.