Jakobo.net

I’m back, back again…
It feels good! Great to see my friends here, although a little sad to leave the ones in Denmark and then the newer ones in Sierra Leone. I guess every time I (and others) go somewhere, they leave somewhere else… Could be cool if you could go somewhere and also stay where you were. Hmm…

Am listening to Mr. Bush state of the union right now. Can’t believe the end of this mofo is actually starting to appear somewhat near. Yeeha!

Ok, rise and shine. I’m still in bed taking care of the daily mailing session (1 of 25

The posts will probably be less frequent and les exciting the next months as my activity will be somewhat restrained to the area around 119th. Hope you will keep tuning in, though- perhaps something interesting could come up.

I spent a long weekend (doesn’t that sound extravagant?) in the most eastern region of Sierra Leone. The program moved to Kailahun, where the war started in 1991. In most of Freetown, any signs of the war has been removed, but in Kailahun, and the surrounding villages, the war is still very much present. Burned down houses are scattered throughout the terrain and every village has horror stories of its own to tell. All this is in stark contrast to the humor of the locals. Everywhere I went, I was greeted with a “Pumui” (”white man”… Wouldn’t go down so well in the states, would it?) and big grins. Yesterday I was even invited for some food (yes, cassava) with a family living next to our guest house. It’s really just the story repeating itself: everywhere I have visited in this country, and that’s not so few, actually, I’ve been greeted with happy faces and warm embraces (sometimes literally, sometimes not). It’s just amazing!

The road to Kailahun was probably one of the worst I’ve ever been on. It makes the dirt road to Hoejgaard look like a golf green. Our car broke down on the way there, which gave us a couple of hours to venture around the area and have some freshly tapped palm wine with the locals.

On the prior trip (Kenema) we spent a night at a catholic convent (or something like that). Incredibly tranquil and with an atmosphere that could almost (I said almost!) make you believe in some sort of supernatural being. I wandered around the huge compound with my iPod listening to the Band of Horses, thinking about sad things in life (at a more personal level than war, amputations, rapes, etc). It really does clean your ’soul’ to delve into it head on at times…

Ok, no more sentimentalities! Leaving Sierra Leone tomorrow (wow), I can now say that I like:
-Cassava (believe it or not)
-Sierra Leonean people
-To be challenged in my believes about the universality of human rights and the application of them (that sounds a little geeky, I realize)
-Mac
-The sound of the generator switching on to let you know that power has arrived and you can charge your essential electronic stuff
-To play football anywhere in the world (Beckham drove by as we were playing on the beach the other morning)
-People who engage in other people lives without having to. Isn’t that what proves that humans are essentially good, although we’re capable of horrible, horrible things?)
-To experience how justice some places in the world doesn’t mean to punish someone for what they’ve done, but to ‘heal’ those who have been injured and start a process making sure the crime wont happen again. (Actually, this should be on the top of the list! It really is just so, so amazing to experience this. It challenges any definition we have of justic in our part of the world!)

All for now. Next time you’ll here from me, it’ll be from the city that never sleeps but definitely does freeeeeeze!

Tamba (my African name

Ok, I have had request for more stuff on how it is to be in Sierra Leone, food, music, etc.

Here goes:

Almost all food has one or more of the following components: rise, chili (always). casava leaves (dont even know how to spell that) potato leaves, groundnuts (peanuts), small fish, meat.
Albert, my room mate, and his friend told me the other day that cat is considered a delicacy. I’m still not sure if they tried to pull my leg, but they described the detail of how you catch, boil, skin and prepare a cat. Yet eating dog is seen as absolutely savage.

I havent heard too much music. No, actually that’s a lie. We’ve listened to a lot on the long trips on the bumby roads around the country, but it has almost been the same rnb stuff the whole time. They like that, and produce it quite well, here.

I’ve become a regular in Sierra Leonean tv and radio. the organization (remember to check the link here) is quite the media darling, and the press is here all the time– they even went to the regions with us.

Here in Freetown, there is not too much work for me right now, so I’m writing on articles for Danish magazines/papers (hoping that they will give me some dinero)

It really is cheap here, I must say. I eat lunch for between 1-2000 Leones (the convergence rate to $ is 1:3000). Sweet juice oranges are typically 100 and mangos are around 500-1000. I like! Of course, down by the beach where the pumui (am not sure how it is spelled) (the white men) hang out, prices sky-rock…

Am still trying to figure the dating scene and the rules out. Just as a anthropological study, naturally! I am still trying to learn the game in NYC and here it makes even less sense to me. My research so far tells me that feminists such as Clea, Katrine and myself would be rather enraged by the basic structures of how it works. Had a longer discussion with Albert, a friend and his girlfriend the other day, but for the sake of peace in the country, I will leave it at that.

Taught one of the boys, Abdulai, from my house to use (and create) emailing today. Internet is not very wide spread and I feel blessed o have easy access at the office. I truly am an addict! Is there anything sweeter than observing someone being robbed of their electronic mail-virginity and thereby their entire life?

Ok, think that must be it. I have a very challenging conversation with a victim of the war later today. Depending on the outcome and the boy’s wishes, I will use the talk in an article, and if that’s the case I will share some of it in here too. Phew, some of the stories from the war are just unbelievable.

The night will be spend strolling on the beach… That;s how life’s supposed to be. Tell me why do people choose to settle in places like Copenhagen and NYC??

Take it EZ

Over the weekend, we went out to the rural communities further to the south and east in Sierra Leone.

We started the ‘consultations’ in the communities and made very valuable experiences in terms of what the population sees as necessary for the country to really move on after the war. I don’t want to go too much into the details of the program, but let me just say that it was so, so interesting and heartwarming to experience people who have all been affected by the war; some miss their limbs; most miss some family members or friends, sit down and talk together about how to move on. No talk of revenge. No talk of prison or death penalty. But a lot of talk about traditional methods of healing and resolution. If only western countries could embrace such a thorough and holistic approach to justice..!

Besides from that, there was a lot of Sierra Leonean food: cassava leaves, rice, fish (pronounced Feesh), meat. Pretty much it. Still have to fully adapt to the Sierra Leonean cuisine, I must say. A lot of rice. A lot of chilly. I will probably have to frequent Burger King and Emir’s Falafel when I reach New York!
We stayed one night at a Catholic convent-thing. Time for self-indulgence. Very nice! Walked around the palm-groves with sentimental music on my beloved iPod and thought out life and its simple meaning.

In conclusion, I had a great weekend. Too many bumpy roads. That’s really the only downside of traveling in this country.

I will return with more soon. Hope, for one thing, to just be outside in the sun before too long. Perhaps even getting a little color… We’ll see.

Stay tuned and remember to read more about Fambul Tok

So, I’m sure there’s at least one person out there who would like to know a little about my life and living situation here in Freetown (thanks for caring, mom). So here goes:

-I live with relatives of my Bossman. Am sharing room with Albert, a great guy who works in a bank here in Freetown. The other inhabitants in the house are one mother, one daughter, one son, one additional boy, and one additional girl (the African way, they tell me. Very inclusive!)

-The mother (not quite unlike my ‘real’ one in Denmark) cooks me nice breakfast in the mornings and make sure I’m alright all the time. This morning it was plantains.

-Yesterday I had a conversation on religion with the family. Most people here are very religious, although in a manner rarely seen other places, I’d argue. The biggest denominations are Christianity and Islam. The beautiful thing is the degree of coexistence and lack of animosity between the groups. They go to church/Mosque with each other and know a lot about each others beliefs. The ex-president was muslim but had a christian wife, I’ve been told. I like it.
Anywho, I had a conversation with one of the girls in the house about religion. She asked what church I go to in my country. I tried, cunningly, to get put of the conversation without revealing my heathen upbringing, but it was inevitable. I had to tell her that I simply don’t really believe in anything that you have to go to church for… She was shocked. And concerned. he told me that it one of the biggest sins; not believing. We agreed that G-D is probably rather upset with me, and I asked if she could perhaps throw in a a word for me next time she talks with him. I keep my fingers crossed. I have furthermore promised a colleague at the office to read the ‘Rhapsody of realities’, so let’s see what kind of Jakob makes it back to NYC… Watch out American friends, you may have a proselytizer amongst you..!

-The office where I am is very nice- the people more so than the buildings, though. It’s a rather young and very nice team they have here, and I think I learn, especially about Sierra Leonean culture, a lot just by hanging out around them

-The other day I went with Albert to the cinema to see the Arsenal-Hotspurs game. Bendtner didn’t score, but we had a great time. A couple of hundred people were in this big, big hall to see the game, everyone cheering loudly. They’re almost as crazed as the Brits with football, British football in particular.

Ok, that’s all folks… Now I’m off to the provinces to start the Fambul Tok program with its first talks in the small communities. Very excited!

I was invited to come with my Bossman from the office, John Caulker, to talk about reconciliation on the university radio here in Freetown (found out it was broadcasted on several channels nationwide). We discussed (I mainly learned from what was said, to be honest) how reconciliation can come about in a variety of ways; how justice can/must play part in reaching genuine peace and many other interesting issues.

The trial against Charles Taylor, a really bad boy who allegedly screwed up most of West Africa in his personal pursuit of wealth and power (see post below for more on wealth stemming from diamonds). Reading this short article on the trial and some of the horrible things that took place, I struck me how incredible it is that Sierra Leone is such an open, warm and welcoming country in so many ways. The fact that the streets of Freetown, full of people who played big parts and did unmentionable things in the war, are safe and filled with a lot of happy faces, in my opinion is a huge tribute to mankind! Hooray for the good in man (and woman)

Was writing a post on life in Freetown yesterday, but apparently the internet cut off…
So, here’s just a little something to wonder about:
Estimates of the diamond trade’s influx on the civil war in Sierra Leone vary. However, it is certain that the gems have caused deadly problems most of the places they’ve been found. At the same time, other places in the world, other people make quite good money on buying and selling these stones. See this article from today’s Haaretz. It brings up the good ol’ socialist in me. Is it really fair that so many people here in Freetown (who, btw, are way, way better off financially than people in the provinces of Sierra Leone) live in utter poverty, while other people have gold tiles in their swimming pool? Even if we for a moment forget that these two groups of people’s lives are directly linked, I find it highly perverse that someone feels the need to have gold tiles in their pool…

Hmm, that was just today’s outburst from West Africa. think now it’s time to explore this place a little more. Am going out to the provinces with the weekend for the Fambul Tok project I’m here to work on: Fambul Tok

Pics will hopefully come at some point.

Allllrighty folks,

Im off to Sierra Leone tomorrow morning. Am so excited!

I will definitely blog about it when I get back to NYC.

In the meantime, check out this link to see more about the work I will be doing and the organization Im going with.