tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734862043669173242011-10-12T01:36:15.310+01:00Life post-war in northern Sierra Leone - as experienced by Aaron & Emily Loeks KortenhovenEmilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-25777707121802942502007-03-03T20:25:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:36.981+01:00

What Most People Don’t Know About the ‘Birthing’ of the CRC in Sierra LeoneIf you are in certain circles, you may likely hear some wonderful stories regarding the ‘birth’ of the CRC in Sierra Leone. You may hear that it was a truly international event, with witnesses from Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Canada and USA. You may hear of the dedication and sacrifices made by women like Kumba, to work

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-53476314467371702512007-02-03T19:39:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:37.596+01:00

THE SUN WILL RISE; ALL ELSE IS UP FOR GRABS. Morning View from 'The Round House' in Kabala I’m a linear thinker. I don’t often really care if plans change, so long as I know what the plan is was, what has been changed, how the new plan will accommodate, and what new ‘destination’ is being targeted. I wouldn’t say that this runs contrary to the way of thinking here – it’s just totally irrelevant.

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-32794667576832664912007-02-01T12:13:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:37.986+01:00

Aaron and I have just returned from a short trip to Foria, where he made further arrangements for research on the mountain with Yegbeh, and I experienced more of the wonders of Kuranko-land, including the making of 'country cloth' and the eating of banana rice-cake bread.We arrived to find Kabala-town in uproar last night. The 'story' floating around for the past day and a half has been that a

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-2717191560075941472007-01-21T20:12:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:38.275+01:00

Sierra Leonean Land Rights in the Western Province and BeyondDowntown Freetown, January 2007 “It’s like the wild, wild west out here,” stated Judy Nelson, Director of DOVE International. DOVE is an NGO that cares for approximately 30 orphans dislocated from families during the war. This assessment was made after spending the past two years battling to retain land and water rights of property

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-89757477409191731982007-01-17T19:12:00.000+01:002007-01-17T19:16:01.803+01:00

Mobility Impaired: Electrical Fires, MCL Tears and Blown RadiatorsAs I write, Aaron and I are stranded on the roadside somewhere between MaKeni and Kabala. It’s night… and thanks to the wonders of the ever increasing cell phone range in the north, we have been able to reach Joseph Sesay to let him know of our predicament (a busted radiator), so help will arrive in a couple of hours. Meanwhile,

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-37952090041287525102006-12-10T05:41:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:38.443+01:00

Site for the New 'Kabala Christian School' Here is a letter from the newly formed school board. Finding the right candidate for the critical 'headmaster' position of the Kabala Christian School has been a matter of great hope, concern and prayer.Dear Dennis and Fraser Valley Christian High School Partners – We are writing to you with joy and thanksgiving. Our interviewing committee has a

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-58087882934592325382006-12-10T05:39:00.000+01:002006-12-10T05:40:55.100+01:00

Dear Friends & Family,I am headed home (for the time being)! Home… to the land where shampoo, lipstick and batteries are now considered terrorist ‘carry-on’ items. I haven’t yet figured out quite what (and how) it is permissible to pack while traveling through Europe to the US. It’s a strange and turbulent world we live in. Essentially, there is just not enough love, and not enough faith. Somehow

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-24332656398646035392006-12-09T21:15:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:39.209+01:00

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-54349225950501791182006-12-09T20:49:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:40.458+01:00

Near the Peak of Mt. Bintumani - The Highest Peak in West AfricaIf ‘Survivor’ plus ‘the Biggest Loser’ doesn’t mean anything to you, you can feel a moment of pride. If the combined essence of these two TV reality shows actually communicates something… don’t raise your hand… no need for confessions… no one is probably watching you anyway… but you might then have a sense of the expedition to Loma.

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-6270662725616361192006-12-09T20:10:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:41.658+01:00

Mosque in the Center of KabalaRiding Around Kabala Roadside Commerce

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-15036231924443967962006-12-09T18:24:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:43.464+01:00

Outamba Kilimi National Park was instated in the early 1980’s by a Transylvanian biologist. Stories about this gentleman have filtered through the decades. According to ‘Good Man’, our guide, Geza was afraid of nothing and protected the park with a combative passion.The term ‘bushwhacking’ took on a whole new dimension after my first experience of really attempting it with Aaron and Yegbeh. You

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-47707001200406603482006-12-09T17:04:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:43.808+01:00

If you were to get a description from Aaron of our time in Outamba-Kilimi National Park, it would likely be much more succinct: mud; bugs; muggy heat; rain; mud; bugs; illegal hunting; encroaching settlements; mud; bugs; severely deteriorated camp facilities; un-patrolled land; mud; bugs; and a tragic death of a park guide on the river. Maybe it should be left at that (and if Paul K. is reading

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-36464654962588626562006-12-09T16:42:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:44.269+01:00

Diang Chiefdom's New Paramount Chief !A significant historical event has just occurred in Foria. A vote has been taken (and passed unanimously) that will enable a person from any family to be eligible for town chief. To date, each village, section and territory has drawn it’s chiefs from one or two ruling households. Chiefs are chiefs for life; at the point of their death, members

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-86478923705915541352006-12-09T16:23:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:44.879+01:00

Pa Konkoro is an irreverent man. Having used that adjective… I’m second guessing. He’s a hunter; he taught Aaron most of what he knows about the bush; he’s deeply respectful of others in the village and he lives in the most traditional of ways as a Kuranko rice farmer in Foria. He also, as Aaron says, is completely candid and “tells the truths that everyone knows but that most will not dare to

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-44209671004105658602006-12-09T15:53:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:45.380+01:00

It’s a lean time of the year. This fact is not readily apparent to the eye, as the rainy season has set in and the landscape is lush as can be. But ‘rice’ is scarce. Harvest doesn’t typically happen until after the rains have gone, so the real abundance of food manifests itself during the dry season… beginning in November. Groundnuts (peanuts) grow in the dry season, as do potatoes and cassava.

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273486204366917324.post-79767515160890880082006-12-09T15:22:00.000+01:002008-12-13T02:27:45.682+01:00

The Spectacular Freetown CoastTonight is warm and humid & Aaron and I have been enjoying a relatively peaceful day in Kabala following the whirlwind tour of Ghana and Sierra Leone with my folks and the Carpenters. Disco music from town is pulsing its way up the hill to the little round house, competing with the crickets and frogs for dominance in the soundscape (not sure if that is a real word

Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185337543266008712noreply@blogger.com1