Hi Pitt! Let me catch you up to speed on what has been happened during our incredible journey through rural Sierra Leone. As a quick recap, Luke Charlesworth and I have been in the northern town of Kabala working on a pilot project in collaboration with the organization World Possible Sierra Leone (WPSL) and one of the primary schools in Kabala. Using solar-powered remote-learning technology, we aim to bridge the existing educational gap and give students the tools to succeed in their future.
Alrighty, let’s address the elephant in the room: the humidity. Sierra Leone has welcomed us with open arms and a whole lot of moisture in the air. Living in the Northeast my entire life made adjusting to the humidity without any AC an intense character-strengthening exercise. Every now and then I would even catch myself doing a little prayer for a downpour to cool things off. However, with the humidity aside, my time here has been amazing. I was able to spend a few days in the capital city of Freetown before heading up north to Kabala. The people here couldn’t be more welcoming, and the views are something I could get mesmerized by for hours.
When we first arrived at Kabala’s primary school, I realized that connecting with the students and school personnel was going to require some “linguistic gymnastics.” Our English pronunciation and intonations differed significantly from the Krio that they were accustomed to. Fortunately, we were able to learn a few Krio phrases and took our time speaking to boost our communications. We also had our secret weapons: Samuel and Peter, our friends and WPSL collaborators, who helped connect any extreme communication gaps we encountered.
During our first week in the northern town, we began the installation of the solar system. As expected, we encountered several unforeseen obstacles along the way. However, the most significant challenge arose when we had to figure out how to connect the solar panel cabling from the roof to the classroom. The cables needed to be threaded down through a small hole, approximately an inch wide. The real struggle was finding a way to puncture the classroom roof and align it with the hole. As we debated various approaches, I noticed one of the students climbing up onto a broken part of the building roof, right outside the classroom. Before I could utter a word, the student disappeared into the roof, crawling towards the cabling. In a mere five minutes, all of the cables were successfully threaded. And to my astonishment, within another five minutes, the same student was standing right beside us again.
My journey so far in Sierra Leone has been an incredible mix of challenges, victories, and heartwarming moments. From acclimating to the humidity to overcoming the rooftop installation of solar panels, I’ve come to realize that there’s no obstacle I can’t face… well, except for the fiery chilies here, but that’s a whole different story!
