To Sierra Leone...

As my time in West Africa is quickly progressing, I have decided to take a short trip outside of Ghana.  West of Ghana, past the troubled countries of Cote D’Ivoire and Liberia, lies the tiny country of Sierra Leone.  When one thinks of Sierra Leone, the typical points come to mind: diamonds, the catch phrase ‘conflict diamonds’, the film ‘Blood Diamond’, and perhaps to a lesser extent child soldiers.  Not the most warm, cuddly, and inspiring thoughts.  Yet, it’s perfectly understandable why these are the ideas that come to mind.  Sierra Leone, ravaged by war throughout the 1990’s, regularly pinpointed as the prototype of what a failed state looks like, has hardly made headlines for anything but its problems.  In this sense, Sierra Leone reminds me a lot of Rwanda.  Just as conversations about Sierra Leone invariably revolve around the issue of diamonds, so are discussions of Rwanda habitually shadowed by the word genocide.  Such is the thing about history, it is impossible to change, and very difficult to escape the lingering impressions that it creates.

 A few years ago I crossed the Tanzania-Rwanda border on foot and spent about a week touring Kigali’s genocide museum and a few of the memorials that dot the countryside.  As I was squeezing anecdotes from anybody willing to talk, I was surprised at just how quickly Rwandans had rebuilt their country, as well as the bonds of trust between the people.  It seems that as many of us outsiders were busy bemoaning the history of this troubled country, Rwandans had taken it upon themselves to try to create a better future.  And so I hope is the case with Sierra Leone.  Yet, while there have been significant improvements in the political and security situations over the past few years, Sierra Leone is currently ranked by UNDP as the second poorest country in the world (Niger is the poorest).  And so, at least for the present, it seems impossible to discuss contemporary Sierra Leone without discussing the details of its very problematic past.  However, it is my sincere hope that, like Rwanda, after meeting some of its people and traveling through some its countryside, I’ll be able to leave Sierra Leone with impressions other than those of its infamous past.