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.