The Celebration of Eid al Adha for Muslims and Christians.

The Celebration of Eid al Adha for Muslims and Christians.
The Jamat Congo Town Mosque is situated between our house and the centre of Congo Town which lies on the estuary of the Sierra Leone River. When liberated African slaves in Freetown arrived in the early part of the 19th Century, they occupied various locations and the place names chosen or given sometimes reflected the origins of the inhabitants, in this case the Congo. As our house is located up a steep hill, a few hundred feet above the mosque, the first call to prayer of the day is heard with clarity and volume as we lie in bed, under a mosquito net, designed to keep the mozzies out but for sound to filter through.
On visiting the mosque for the first time, we were welcomed and shown around the building by the resident caretaker who explained how a former chapel became a mosque in 1958 under the direction of Ulthman Cole, a convert to Islam. Today the well maintained premises would accommodate two to three hundred men and women, within a building where 40-50 people regularly attend the first prayer of the day at 6.30am.
Eid al Adha, or as it is sometimes known Eid Mubarak ( a feast of thanksgiving and sacrifice) involves the story of Abraham and Isaac that is to be found in both the Bible and the Quran, and is therefore of particular relevance to the Christian and Muslim traditions , as an act of trust, reliance and patience, shared by both faiths. (Genesis 22 and the Quran Surah 37 102). This year it fell on November 27th making that day a national holiday in Salone. So with the encouragement of Mr Jullah a practising Muslim who mans the gate of the compound for our house, we made our way to the National Stadium for Islamic prayer.
We were arriving with hundreds of others, all of them Africans and dressed in a variety of clothing styles. Weaving our way through a throng of people with serious infirmities and many of them amputees and all seeking monetary support, I was conscious not just of the collective excitement (that usually accompanies a crowd arriving for a football match but not a usually prayer meeting) but also the mass identity of being a Muslim on this one of the highest days in the Islamic calendar.
Our entry was from the west, so that the several thousand people spread across the football pitch ringed by the eight lane running track were facing away from us and towards Mecca. The stadium’s seating was empty, there were no spectators, so as the final announcements were made with, “go home and make thanksgiving with a goat if you have one or if not a chicken and make a feast to the glory of Allah”, the congregation began to rise. Some of them to have their photographs taken with friends, others unperturbed by the humidity of the languid air and thick lush grass, remained in conversation as though sitting in the goalmouth of a stadium for 36,000 spectators, was a common occurrence.
Janice made the comment that all the church services we have attended so far have usually lasted a minimum of two hours, whilst the prayers in the stadium were completed in less than 20 minutes and yet people are more than willing to make the effort to travel for such a short period. As we walked around the running track among the throng, being within it but not belonging, it was impossible not to reflect on the inter religious relationships between Christian and Muslim within Salone, They are publicly acknowledged as being exceptionally good when compared with its west African neighbours and that they contribute to community and national unity. Quite recently the Methodist Minister for Salem Aberdeen Methodist Church commented that the demographic makeup of the local community, with has a very high percentage of Muslim vis-a-vis Christians, is reflected in church celebrations. This is because so many members of the same extended family are Christians and Muslims. We therefore look forward to attending a delayed Advent service on December 8th , when an attendance by both Muslims and Christians is anticipated, to discover if this affects the shape and liturgy of the service or its duration.

Transforming Public Health, Family Wellbeing and National Security

Transforming Public Health, Family Wellbeing and National Security
Health: When we arrived at Lungi Airport, Freetown just over three weeks ago, Peter was stopped by health authority officials who asked for his yellow fever certificate. On producing a wad of travel health papers we were quickly waved through and assumed it was an example of over -zealous officialdom. However this week the World Health Organisation has just announced the start of a programme to address the world’s highest incidences of yellow fever which are found in the West African states of Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Yellow fever , which is incurable but preventable, is carried by mosquitoes and produces symptoms of jaundice, fever and lethargy . With previous mass vaccinations having been conducted almost forty years ago, there is an urgent desire to address the needs of 12 million people who are spread across the three countries beginning with infants and young children. We have already seen evidence of the vaccination programme conducted by a team of health workers operating alongside a mini-market of informal traders at the road at a busy intersection in the city. We look forward to hearing the results of global initiative which has the potential to prevent illness and premature death.
Wellbeing: When friends and acquaintances heard we were coming to Sierra Leone, several of them gave us an assortment of details, letters, money and medication to deliver to persons who had clearly been significant in their own lives in recent decades, in the hope that we might be able to extend those relationships. Progress has so far been slow but one example is more than worthy of sharing.
In the late 1970s when was Salone was the recipient of a large number of inter-continental tourists, a “beach boy” (his words) Sam, a married man, was working for a seaside hotel resort and made a huge impact on a holidaying couple from the UK, in two consecutive years. This led to Sam Conteh being invited to study for two years at Stoneleigh Agricultural College in England and also spending time working on the same couple’s farm. This established a relationship which has been maintained despite the turbulent decade long war and resulted in Sam’s three children being given names as an expression of his gratitude. Finding Sam’s house where he lives with his wife, Koto, and children was proving problematic despite their address being on the same road. Old Railway Line Road is narrow, runs for over two miles, climbing to around two hundred feet and the house numbering is not sequential. It was therefore a delight and a relief to make contact with the Conteh family and learn of how the continuing relationship with a UK family has shaped the life of the family in such a meaningful way. Sam is employed as the head gardener in a British military training camp, IMATT which is located on a hill close to the embassy of United States of America which we have referred to in earlier letters.
Military. As avid listeners of the BBC World Service for Africa, we have heard of the start of the long awaited inquiry into the war in Iraq and are aware that it is not likely to change the British public’s opinion of it being a highly inappropriate military action taken by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair. In Salone you will not hear a negative comment on the same leader’s decision to send British troops into a war that after a decade of barbarity had resisted the peace initiative combined force from West African nations, and would not be resolved by any others means. The highly successful military intervention then led to the formation of IMATT, (International Military Advisory and Training Team) . From a strength of several thousand initially, there are but 40 officers who will oversee the completion of the programme following the next national elections in 2012. On a visit to the camp organised by Sam and conducted by a Scottish sergeant, we learned that members of Royal Sierra Leone Armed Forces are being trained for service in the Darfur region of Sudan. This will involve serving alongside others forces within the African Union.
Each of these three snapshots in their own way demonstrate the impact of intervention, be it small or large. Thankfully, all three accounts are transformative. Sadly this is not always the case.

Aw di bodi?

Aw di bodi? Freetown, 18 November 2009
Today the United Nation’s Population Fund has announced that there are now one billion people living on the continent of Africa. Here in Sierra Leone, one of the smallest of Africa’s 62 nations, it is common to hear two people greeting one another in Krio with the words Aw di bodi? In English, “how are you?” and with the reply being, Di bodi na bad, how usef? (I’m fine how are you?) Such a familiar social interaction struck me as having resonance with the Methodist Church’s poster “The Body of Christ has AIDS” and to prepare us to re visit one the Methodist Church’s projects in Wellington, to the East of Freetown.
Our previous visit had been a year ago in the company of two very close friends. It was easy to recall the location of the centre, on the ground floor of a church manse, in a dynamic but economically challenged small town, where artisans and informal commercial trading are all part of the social fabric of delapidated homes and new construction sites. The roads, largely of earth with remnants of tar macadam, are pot- holed and declined into being just tracks for those on motorbikes or foot. Wellington is a very impoverished community that is nevertheless, home to an invaluable HIV/AIDS initiative for people who are HIV positive.
It had been agreed that aspects of both Janice’s and my own job description would include work relates to the church’s commitment of HIV/AIDS; for Janice, with special reference to the centre and for myself, the teaching of studies on HIV/AIDS at the theological college. It was therefore valuable to initiate both of our contributions, with an understanding of how preventive education, testing and counselling function in Sierra Leone society today. Part of this included discovering if our own bodies were HIV positive or not and undergoing the testing programme at the centre, which included pre–test and post – test counselling.
Idrisa Songo is the Director of the PLHA (People living with AIDS) project which is but one of four Methodist Church HIV/AIDS initiatives. It is the largest in the country for PLHAs, with some 400 clients across greater Freetown. Idrisa explained that whilst the modest centre is a focal point for nurses, social workers and volunteers, the work of home based care happens elsewhere. Nevertheless the number of PLHA who visit the centre and access its services are clearly closely attached to its supportive environment and the empathy and solidarity offered in making a regular visit.

The project funding comes largely from Christian Aid and the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, but I was more than surprised that the budget for staff salaries, including the director, three nurses/counsellors, two social workers, two administrative officers and the stipends for twenty volunteers and the delivery of extensive home based care programme is a mere £62,000 per annum. It is therefore not surprising that in discussion with a group which included staff, volunteers and clients , it was possible to identify several areas where the project was struggling to reach the goals and desired standards of care that many hoped would be integral to the project. One such example was to ensure that social workers and volunteers would be provided with basic medication, hygiene and nutrition kit, that would prevent opportunistic infections and assist food security for those who are clinically affected and confined to their homes.

As World Aids Day approaches, I trust that the concerns of the 40 million bodies that are infected with HIV and the countless millions more who are affected will feature in your prayers.

Letter Two from Freetown

Despite having just arrived, we were invited to be part of the ministers’ retreat in Salone’s second city, Bo, taking place from 9 - 13 November. Tropical ‘volume’ rain could be heard on the heavy rain zinc-iron roof during the night, and it was still raining when we awoke at 5.30am. So clad in our kagools we went up to the President’s house to await our lift. Our house is at the bottom of a stone laden slope, which fortunately drains well.
We travelled with Arnold Temple, the Secretary of the Methodist Conference, and President elect. His driver collected us soon after 7am, then went to pick up Arnold, and then on to the Church office, where we waited over an hour, to make sure that the bus, taking other ministers from the Freetown area, did not leave anyone behind.
We had been to Bo, on our visit last year, and so were greatly appreciative that all but 5 miles of the 180 mile journey is now good tar-sealed roadways.
The retreat took place at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Bo, where some people endured somewhat basic accommodation, but which provided all of us with one or other of Salone’s staples, rice or cassava (tapioca), with a soup made up of local greens, peanuts, onions, a piece of fish and chillies, twice a day. The retreat was led by a team of facilitators from the Methodist Church in Britain who had been missionaries in Sierra Leone in the 1960s-70s. Not only did they lead the retreat, but through informal conversations provided us with many stories of their time in Salone. They and we were accommodated in nearby hotel, where we were delighted to meet up with two Christian Aid workers and a team of animators, who were doing some filming for the second animated DVD, for the Methodist Youth Resource Centre, on HIV/AIDS. On one of the evenings we were given a presentation by the young people of the music and dance they use to educate rural and urban communications about the virus.
A mini bus had been provided to transport us between hotel and centre, and like many other forms of transport it had biblical texts painted on it. Others have made up slogans, or references to Allah, usually with words of encouragement. We needed them on a bus with bald tyres, lack of suspension, dodgy steering, and a make shift overhead locker, supported by a pole and wooden slats. The UK car scrappage scheme could do well here! Fortunately it got us safely back to Freetown, and we only needed to get out once, when we hit a boulder on what is referred to as the by pass, a mountainous road which passes through places where internally displaced families are still living in UNHCR tents. We passed through small towns including Gloucester and Regent, locations where anglophile Christian Krios, returning as freed slaves in the early 1800’s , settled among the hills. From there we travelled to Leicester Peak, studded with radio antennae, houses for the very affluent, the British-led International Military and Training Team (IMATT), and the imposing recently constructed American Embassy, evidently it is but a smaller version of what built in other countries. The retreat facilitators were to be housed for their last two nights in Salone at a Catholic Retreat Centre which has a 270o view of Freetown.
It was great to return to “our home” having spent only 5 nights there before going away. Fortunately beginning feeling at home is not a long process for us.

Letter One from Freetown

I am sitting on a small verandah of our home facing east over the centre of Freetown. We are living on a Methodist Compound on Old Railway Line Road, which is also the place where Francis Nabieu, the President of the Conference lives.

Our travel to Sierra Leone went very well, leaving Queens Foundation at 4.30am on Tues 3 Nov and arriving at the house, around 10pm. On arrival at the airport we soon spotted someone holding a piece of paper with our names on, which was most reassuring. Bakary recalled doing exactly the same a year earlier. A quick changing of money, the purchase of tickets for the Pelican water taxi, fairly newly introduced, and then the wait on the shore to go on board. Once across the bay, Ali, the President’s driver was there to meet us. He had taken us around last year, so it was good to meet up with him.

We were taken straight to our house. The church people had worked very hard to make it ready for us. It has not been lived in for a number of years, and so needed some renovation work done on it. It is a comfortable house, that is now our home, with two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, and a large dining/living area. The super-king sized sheets we had brought out with us are ideal for the two family size beds in both bedrooms . A five piece suite fills the lounge area, and a large dining table provides seating for six people. All our boxes we had sent in June were waiting for us, and except for the boxes of books the rest has been unpacked and in place.

Electricity is spasmodic. It was necessary for us to lend to church the money to buy a fridge but it has probably been off more than it is on. Cooking is done by gas, and water is brought into the house, each day, from another source. There is the hope that the compound will have water delivered to fill the new tank that has been installed, which would mean a shower, rather than the bucket and cup method we are use at present. We knew that this was probably going to be the case, and so adjustments are quickly made. Time begins to change in significance for so many simple domestic activities.

The house is surrounded with a variety of trees, including frangipani, which brings back memories of our time in PNG. A number of goats wander around, and need to be chased off the verandah at times. The family who are living with Francis have chickens and a clutch of chicks.

We have been out and about doing essential shopping for setting up home, and learning where to go to buy things is slowly taking place. There are supermarkets, which have British prices but are inflated into Leones so the muesli is stretched out by extra oats!

A visit to the bank took place on our first day, and an account has been open. We now await a cheque book so we can draw money out. As for setting up a broadband connection that is on hold, as we are to go away to Bo, the second city next week, for a conference, and so we will try to deal with that when we get back.

On the first evening, leaders of the City Mission Circuit which we are to be connected with came round to welcome us. Fourteen people all together, there was no power when they came or when they left an hour laters, so with limited lamps it was not always easy to tell who was speaking.

We have been to the Theological College and were given the subject areas to be taught next term. Peter was quick to relieve me of the Evangelism course !!!, and so I am left with English, Education Methods, and Principles of Worship. Peter has Evangelism, Pastoral Theology, Principles of Discipline and Christian Leadership at a variety of levels. So that should keep us going for a while. Olivia Wesley was pleased to see us, and we plan to return when we get back from Bo.

The second day we went out for a walk in the locality, and discovered a couple of excellent art galleries, which we will be more than happy to introduce to you all, when you come. There is an internet café within walking distance which we hope to send this letter from an also a mini market for basic essentials. Fresh fruit and vegetables can be bought from sellers on the side of the road, or walking the streets.

This morning, Saturday, has been spent trying out the new iron, which does not need an anti surge, unlike the fridge, putting up some wall hangings we brought with us, and the material map of the world, is being used as I write to discuss with Bernard, one of the many young people on the compound, which direction the wind comes from. This is to help decide where to dig a rubbish hole, for household rubbish, that is burnable. The goats are fed with anything that looks like food.

There is a breeze, as I write, there has been little rain, but heat and humidity are high. These two will continue to be true for the rest of our stay!!

The battery is almost flat, so I will bring this letter to a close. The blog will have to wait for a while, but hopefully this brings you up to date with where we are.

After waiting for a long time to be where we are now, we are delighted with physical surrounding and look forward to what lies ahead.

Love and Blessings

Janice and Peter