Pitch Black

This week, the major power generation plant, Bambuna, is under repair. Actually, its unclear if the electricity grid or the generation plant itself is under repair. What is clear is that there is no power and thus, everyone has stocked up on diesel fuel to power their generators. This ofcourse includes all government buildings. (Yes, even government doesn't have a steady supply of electricity). So last night, I had my first taste of what Freetown was like before Bambuna came online last October.

Was sitting in the Minister of Trade's office having a pretty important discussion when at around 7pm, the power went out in the building. The entire building, which includes about 15 different ministries, lost power. It was already dark outside and as a result, it was pitch black inside the office. I expected that this would essentially end the meeting, so I started to gather my belongings by feeling around on the floor for my bag and trying to determine which cell phone was sitting on the table in front of me. But, I was wrong to anticipate that the lack of lights and air conditioning could stop the conversation.

A hour and half later, our meeting continued. About half of that time was in complete darkness, until an aid of the minister turned on a little camping light which we placed on the table. Finally departed the minister's office at around 8:30pm. However, this then meant that my colleagues and I had to navigate through the corridors of this building and then walk down 7 flights of stairs using only the light from our cell phones to show the way. (Note to self: Blackberries do a much better job as acting as a flashlight than Iphone's do).

The Red Devils

I may have eluded to this before, but Sierra Leone has two national football (soccer) teams. The first national team is the Sierra Leonean national team itself which has not been competitive for years, which is probably why everyone here supports Ghana when it comes to international matches. The second national team is Manchester United, the Red Devils.

As you drive through Freetown, the most popular sight to see is not the beach, not the buildings, not the people. The most popular sight is in fact the Manchester United logo which seems to appear everywhere. Its on taxis, its on buses, its on buildings, its on the walls of the Statehouse, its on the hats of men, its on the t-shirts of children, its on the cups in the house I live in, its even on the ceiling of the bathroom next to my office.

This is not a problem though when you are in fact a Man U fan.

A good win last night for the lads. ROOONNNNEEEEYYYY!

Can't Wait to Watch Figure Skating!

Sunday here in Sierra Leone, which means its Day 3 of the Olympics. The Olympics are a big deal here in Sierra Leone. Huge! Actually, thats not entirely true. Let me rephrase. The Olympics are big deal in my house. Why? Because I'm living with two Canadians who eat, drink, sleep and shit anything involving snow and ice. One of them is actually going back to Canada next week to enjoy the final few days of this years Winter games.

But they excitement for this years winter games has been somewhat subdued, mainly because they have not been able to watch any of the events on TV. Why? Because we don't have a TV in the house, don't have a satellite, and up until two days ago, we didn't have broadband either.

But now, with broadband, one of the Canucks has a friend who set up a Slingbox back home. It took 48 hours, but as of an hour ago, we now have full coverage of the Olympics a la CTV, a Canadian TV channel. The Canadians are now planning their whole day around the figure skating events this evening. Pretty amazing to see two heterosexual dudes so keen on figure skating.

But in Sierra Leone, life is all about the little things and thus, gaining live coverage via the Internet of the Olympics is a big deal (well it is to my roomates...). These guys are even plotting a way to 'liberate' a computer projector from one of my colleagues so that they can watch the events on a large screen rather than off a computer monitor.

Otherwise, its a busy Sunday here with lots of work to do before the day is out. I may not be an investment banker for the time being, but I assure you that working for the Government of Sierra Leone is in no way a 9 to 5 job either. With a Presidential election two and half years away, every private sector investment into the country has relevance, especially when they can create thousands of jobs and provide access to state-of-the-art technology.

Boom Boom Boom

Most of the expats I've spoken to have had problems with their stomach during the course of their first few weeks in country. I've been here exactly two weeks today and thought I was going to be one of the lucky ones. But... I was wrong.

Just like the Black Eyed Peas song, my body literally went "boom boom boom", and then did so again and again. One's bowel movements is surely not the best of topics to write about, but it seems to be part of every day discussion here in Sierra Leone. In fact, I've never had so many discussions with other people, men and woman, about bowels movements in my life. And the way that people talk about them is actually quite humorous.

The Americans "drop bombs", the Canadians "take a deuce", and the Brits "need a shit". Most stories shared among the expats consist of looking for a toilet in some government building only to find that the toilet either doesn't flush or has no toilet paper or running water. Even women (traditionally more coy on the subject of fecal matter) discuss in granular detail the situation they had to go through when it comes to getting sick.

Anyway, the good part about all of this is that it is nothing to be embarrassed by and is clearly something that everyone struggles with from time to time. People often miss meetings and disappear for 24-48 hours at a time when dealing with whatever situation has come their way.

On Progress

The last 24 hours has been absolutely exhausting. Yesterday I headed out to a town called Makena in the Presidential motorcade. Now again, remember this is not the US and as such, the Presidential motorcade includes about 20-30 cars, only a few of which are marked as govt vehicles, none of which are bulletproof and none of which are new or new-ish. We're basically talking about 20-30 Toyotas, Land Rovers, Izzuzus and other random vehicles which are 5-15 years old. Having said that, it was pretty enjoyable to buzz through the traffic of Freetown which is insane and to head up-country where things are less developed.

The only issue is that about 45 minutes into the convoy up to Makena, our car got a flat. We pulled over and ofcourse the spare tire was also flat. Luckily, or coincidently, the flat occurred outside of a few small houses, one of which contained an air pump. Again I say, coincidence?? Anyway, after filling up the tire, we headed for Makena, sans convoy. By this time it was pitch black outside and for those of you who have spent time in West Africa, there are absolutely no lights on any of the roads. In fact, you're lucky if the roads are paved and even luckier if they don't have massive potholes, police roadblocks, fake police roadblocks or random goats, chickens and dogs standing in the centre of your lane.

But our driver still put on the hazard lights and drove like an absolute maniac - thinking that because he was driving in the convoy earlier, he was still 'technically' part of it even though there were no other cars in sight. We stopped several times as clearly the tire was not on properly or filled up enough and the car continued to pull to the right. Nevertheless, we did finally make it to Makena.

In Makena, there is a 'luxury' hotel which is owned by a long-time friend of the President. By luxury, I mean that the room has a tv an air-conditioner. The oddest part about the room however, is that it overlooked, or rather is overlooked by the swimming pool area. The windows were actually beneath the pool level and thus, anyone sitting around the pool could look into the room. So I figured I'd just close the blinds and that would give me the privacy that I wanted. But nope. I walked into the bathroom, where there is also a window, except this one has no curtain. And it sits right next to the toilet and the shower. This morning I waved at people sitting at the table outside the bathroom window while I peed. And I'm pretty sure I caught an old woman checking me out while I showered.

Anyway, the real reason we were all in Makena had nothing to do with vacation or a 'luxury' hotel. Today, the Govt signed a $400m USD sugar processing/ethanol deal with a big European biofuel company. This deal has been in the making for over a year and now represents the largest single investment into Sierra Leone of all time. As such, there was a big ceremony and signing event. There was a full military display, band and about 250 guests including most of the cabinet ministers, the President, the various paramount chiefs (who's land will house the 30,000 ha sugar operation) and other diplomats and guests. Each speaker, and there were about 10 or so, gave a 2-3 minute preamble just welcoming everyone of importance by name. The amount of protocol followed is amazing. By the time the 4th person spoke, I had memorized the beginning of everyone's speech. Pretty amazing event and I was blown away when even I was named as contributor to making this deal happen. The deal will significantly increase GDP, create 4,000 jobs and potentially bring leading sugar technology to a country that is only using 11% of its arable land.

Back in Freetown now after the 3 hour drive back. To make things extra fun, we drove the last 20 miles on a dirt road along a mountainside on the outskirts of Freetown to avoid the city traffic. Decided to clean up when I got home and just as I slipped into the shower, boom, the power went out. So I continued my shower in complete darkness. This was easy though as I had practiced this this morning at the 'luxury' hotel in Makena where there is no power in the hotel during the day. I managed to use my cell phone this morning as a lamp so that I would not cut myself shaving. The Iphone clearly has many wonderful applications. But using it as a lamp has proved to be its most useful for me in Sierra Leone.

Laters...

"Are you in the military?"

Before I continue, I should mention that I've changed the names of everyone in this blog.

Camouflage clothing is popular all over the world. Snowboarders where camo-coloured pants and jackets, teenagers where long baggy cargo pants in different camo-colour schemes. I've even seen camo-coloured outfits for babies. I myself in fact have two pairs of shorts, pants and surfing trunks that are in variable camouflage colours. Now, this is only relevant because apparently here in Sierra Leone, wearing camouflage is illegal unless you are in the military.

On the way to the beach this morning with my friend Craig, we got stopped by a cop who is apparently famous for stopping people on the way to the beach. Very nice and friendly fellow. He checked Craig's drivers license, and then asked me if I was in the military? I was a bit shocked by the question as it seem pretty out of the blue. I said no, at which point he told me that wearing camouflage is illegal. (I was wearing Billabong surfing trunks in a green camouflage colour). After a short negotiation which resulted in no bribe, we departed and hit the beach. Met up with some friends there and had a fantastic afternoon.

The only issue to speak of was the fact that it took 1 hour and 44 minutes to even order food at the restaurant at the beach (the only one there) and another 1 hour to get the food. Now most of you would laugh at this and tell me this is insane, but this is Sierra Leone and this is the nature of some of the best restaurants in the country. TIA.

TIA - This Is Africa

No coffee from Starbucks, no Big Macs from McDonalds, no sandwiches from Subway. But even more relevant, no traffic lights, no stop signs, and often no running water or electricity!

What Sierra Leone (or 'Salone' as it is also known) does have is beautiful untouched / unspoiled beaches and lots of fruit bats which fly around Freetown in such a way that you think they are going to attack you like the birds in the movie 'Birds'. The country also has some of the most beautiful jungles and forests and is home to people who have been through 'a lot', and understatement like no other.

Although the civil war, which officially ended in 2001/2002, did not result in the death of a million people like the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, the infrastructure, roads, cities, business, government and every day life was largely destroyed. This is not quite like Haiti, but in many ways, this is a country which is just beginning to regain its lustre which has largely been lost over the last decade.

After a week and half in-country, I've found this to be a fascinating place to live. Although some modern touches exist, there is little about the country that is convenient, efficient and easy. This is not to say that things are bad, but rather to say that everything requires a bit of patience and optimism in order to see even the simplest of tasks through. As is the case for much of West Africa, the economy, the government and the people are going through a period of transition as they try to move the country forward and lay the right groundwork for development, expansion and humanitary improvements.

Re Work

The above picture is of the Statehouse, the powerbase and centre of government where the President and many other ministers work. What the picture does not show or properly reflect is the fun and truly stylish characteristics which making working here so pleasurable. For example, the building has no running water. This means that toilets do not flush and that there is no water to wash your hands with. There is this easy-to-use bucket of water system which if not managed properly results in you covering yourself in fairly disgusting stagnate water. The end result is that you 1) hold it all day, 2) use lots of hand sanitizer and avoid eating heaving lunches.

Another special characteristic about the building is the number of people which sit around on chairs and benches outside of offices sleeping or listening to the radio all day. When asking someone about this, you get a response like "This is how the civil service works".

Yet another special characteristic of the building is the number of chickens, goats and other animals which seem to roam the hallways of power so aimlessly. Perhaps this reflects the high level of security that the building has (meaning none) or that food is never hard to find because if you get hungry enough, you can always just 'kill a chicken'.

But more importantly than any of these details, is the work at hand. For those of you that know me, its pretty hard to imagine that the same kid who pantsed his 9th grade biology teacher and told a college professor that he had family in Kosovo to garner emotional support for a higher final grade is now advising a democratically President and his advisors on how to improve their country.

Essentially the focus of my work is on attracting foreign direct investment to Sierra Leone and helping to push through investment reforms through cabinet that will make doing business in Sierra Leone easier. There are massive investment opportunities in this country in agriculture, in mining, in renewable energy, etc - but its important for the government to put in place the proper people, systems, reforms, laws and controls to ensure that investment takes place in a free and transparent way.

Re Fun

I've already managed to taste a fair amount of the nightlife and beautiful beaches. Freetown is bustling and energetic city. The streets are chaos and the nightclubs and bars are the ultimate meat markets. Imagine going to a place called Aces where you can drink, dance til 7am, play ping-ping, shoot pool or relax outside under the stars. Or you can go to a place called The Atlantic, which is literally on the beach and run into a girl a year younger than you that also went to Great Neck North High School. Even in Freetown, Sierra Leone, I cannot escape Long Island!!!

This past weekend I also made it to Franco's and to #2 which are two of the best beaches within an hour's drive of Freetown. Franco's has both a restaurant (which might be the best in the country) and small motel/hotel which is sat inside a little bay that you wade across (like Moses) to get to the proper beach on the other side. Franco himself is an Italian dude who came here 40 years ago. He allegedly filled his boat up with supplies and spent a few weeks anchored off the coast as the rebels swept through Freetown during the civil war. He believed that the rebels would not come out to sea to attack him. Just down from Franco's I went to #2 which probably got its name from a bunch of British Soldiers who clearly had no creative genes whatsoever. But #2 is #1 in my book. The beach and surrounding mtns are so picturesque you would think you were in Hawaii or Bali or some other tropical paradise. In many ways Sierra Leone really is a tropical paradise, although there are few than 10,000 tourists per year.

All in all - its been fun, exciting and interesting so far. Every day brings new challenges, like showering with bottled water when your water supply is cut off or shaving in darkness when the electricity is on the blink. But its all worked out just fine and I'm truly happy to be here.