Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Posting!

I've had problems accessing this site from Sierra Leone, so please see my postings at www.povertyhealth.org in the lower right hand corner in the community blog box!
Thanks!
Anne

Monday, March 17, 2008

Let There Be Light, Please

Even as I watched from the plane during our descent into Freetown, I took notice of the darkness below. Dim lights lit the runway as we landed, and the roar of a generator took over the roar of the plane when we disembarked and stepped off the tarmac into the airport. As we made our way from the airport, we passed houses with single kerosene lamps marking their doorways. Drinks stands and food vendors used small generators and candles to do business.We arrived in the early hours of the morning to the home of Doctor Barrie, our Sierra Leonean host for the next few months. We hauled our suitcases up a dark stairwell and lit candles once inside. Dr. Barrie's wife brought us some rice and we ate a late supper in the darkness. From my room, I could see the outline of the mountains out the window, and I watched pedestrians loiter in the dark streets below. The roar of a few generators persisted throughout the night. Sometime in the early morning, I noticed the light bulb in my room was illuminated. The electricity was on for two hours before going off again. Last night, when we arrived home, and the electricity was on yet again. I thought I'd take a quick shower while the lights were on, but the minute I sprung to get my towel, the lights went off again. It was shower by candlelight for me. The generators create their own problems. They burn on gasoline, which costs just under five dollars a gallon here. One gallon will burn in a small generator suitable for a house for five to six hours. The generators do not burn cleanly or efficiently, and produce palpable heat in an already-balmy environment. The lack of power dictates every aspect of life here. Factories cannot be built, stifling local economic production and growth. Food is not easily refrigerated in stores or in the homes of local people. Streets are not lit at night. Conducting communication and business are difficult.I'm told that the electricity situation has actually improved in the last few months. A few changes might be responsible. Most noticeably, a new government came to power in November. However, probably more importantly, the World Bank and International Monetary Funds recently cancelled some of the country's debts incurred during the civil war. Before, the government was spending two thirds of the GDP each year to pay off the debt. Now, the funds are free to spend on development, and one result is that Freetown buildings have electricity for at least a few hours on most days.Today there was no electricity, though, so Dr. Barrie turned on the generator for the evening. One reason was so we could get some work done, including financial planning for the next year and the creation of a baseline health survey for 196 households of war amputees in Kono. A second occasion for light was that his mother just arrived home from a pilgrimage to Mecca, and many family members congregated in his apartment.In the evening, it's an odd state here in Freetown. Sounds of generators, car horns, and loud music compete in the street, and people hang out in the darkness. The hiking headlamp I threw into my backpack at the last minute might just turn out to be the most useful item I packed.