Tom Vernon is a reporter with Global TV in Regina. In the winter of 2013, he reported from Sierra Leone and served as an expert trainer with Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) in Sierra Leone as part of the Shaw Africa Project.
For anyone who has read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, there are two facts that will immediately come to mind. First, the answer to life, the universe, everything, is 42. Second, if you are embarking on any sort of voyage, the most important item you can pack is a towel. Rookie mistake number one, I did not pack a towel.
This happened to me once before. In 2009, my buddy Paul and I went on a 10 day trip in Europe to see U2 perform in Zagreb, Croatia. We planned on staying in hostels, which do not have towels available. When I showered, I was stuck using this tiny Canadian flag facecloth as a towel. It was not even mildly sufficient, soaking all the way through after only drying my face. Paul, of course, found this hilarious.
I am staying at a house in Freetown, with a bathroom attached to my room. There is no running water. To flush the toilet there is a gerry can filled with water to pour into the bowl, which should move things along. There is a bucket of water in the tub for me to use to wash up (at least that’s what I hope it’s for!) This would all be okay if I had a nice towel to dry myself off with. There is a dish towel in my room. Using it is more like using a squeegy, it doesn’t have any absorption properties whatsoever. One of my tee-shirts is now filling the towel spot. (UPDATE: I now have a toilet that flushes some of the time, and one of the bathroom sink taps has a little bit of water coming out of it. Still no functional shower)
Rookie mistake number two, unfamiliarity with the local currency. I did not travel to Sierra Leone with Leones (the SL currency) I came here with American dollars. The exchange rate is a touch ridiculous. I converted 100 dollars to 440,000 Leones, given to me entirely in 5000 Leone bills. That’s 88 bills in total. While training for the trip in Toronto we were warned to be on the lookout for pickpockets. Try comfortably walking through the streets of Freetown with that much currency jammed into your pockets. Every time I went to buy something I would have to pull out a wad matched only in size in a 50 Cent video.
Get breaking National news
Rookie mistake number three, what will I use to carry my items each day? The laptop, notebook, the binder JHR gave me, my retainer case. I did not think of this before I left. I’m using a Global News provided laptop which came over in a pelican briefcase. I don’t want to exaggerate here by saying it weighs a ton. It’s probably closer to a metric tonne. My first day was spent hauling this case through the crowded (and I mean CROWDED) streets and squeezing it into share-taxis. There was never enough room between my knees and the seat in front of me, so it would be upright on my lap bouncing off my face every time we hit a bump. Sitting nicely at home in Regina holding my gym gear is a backpack. It would have come in handy. Instead I had to buy a second backpack. It has made life much simpler. (and it has a nice hidden pocket to tuck extra cash into)
These are just three of what I am sure will be the many lessons I learn during my three-and-a-half weeks in Freetown. Today I toured the station I will be working at, tomorrow I will start working with the students. I think I know what I can teach them, I look forward to seeing what they teach me!
Comments