Blog's Big Comeback

I don't know if anyone still reads this blog after its months of dormancy, but in case I have any die-hard fans out there (and Sarah says I might), here's something:

I'm in Dakar at the moment, spending a week here en route to Kenya for phase 2 of this African extravaganza. I'm not really sure how to recap Sierra Leone. I love the country and miss it now that I'm gone. The country has some serious challenges to face, and during my time there I started questioning if what we (outsiders) are doing there to try to help is actually having a positive effect. In the case of Sierra Leone, I'm leaning heavily towards "no".

After being in Sierra Leone, which is an extreme case of underdevelopment, poverty, and foreign aid and development assistance, I think I've seen one side of the spectrum. Senegal is comepletely different - there is running water and electricity and highways - it feels like a weird European city. There is much less international aid presence here, and, at least in the capital of Dakar, people look at me like a tourist rather than an alien. I'm not sure which is better (or worse).

I've attached some pictures below. I unfortunately don't have so many pictures because a lot of the time it's very awkward to break out a $100 piece of equipment around people who live on less than a dollar per day. But here's a couple (click to make them bigger I think):

Soccer Game in Freetown


Eating "Pap" (grits) with Some Dudes at King Harmon Rd

The Guys who I Lived with in Freetown

Picture, from a hill, of the town of Kabala, in the North of SL near Guinea

Picture of the Backyard of the House I stayed at in the town of Bo (SL)

Freetown

Leaving Sierra Leone, from the Plane Window

Evening over a Soccer Field in Dakar, Senegal

Mosque on the Beach in Dakar

First Real Highway I'd seen in a while (in Dakar)

Beach in Dakar

As you can see, Dakar is much more sandy, and much less green, than Sierra Leone. Everyone speaks French, it's much more Arab-ish, and as I mentioned it's much more developed. Taking a shower with running water was a little bit of a shock.

I don't know what to expect in Kenya, but you can all rest assured that I'll be continuing my frequent and illuminating blog updates to keep everyone posted...

Till next time
Sam