Of the scores of photos I’ve taken in Africa, there is one that stays with me. It is a photo of the labour and delivery bed in the clinic in Sumbuya, Sierra Leone. The leather itself seems anguished–worn in places–torn in others. If you look closely enough you can almost hear the voices of the […]
travel
To my friends in Sierra Leone
In March of this year I was in an airport lounge in Brussels, getting caught up on world news after my most recent trip to Sierra Leone, when I first read that ebola had entered the country through neighbouring Guinea. I’ve logged many calls with my Sierra Leonean friends since then. I am fully aware […]
Salone 2014: on returning to Sierra Leone
The novel is out, the reviews are wonderful and I’m moving on to other projects, writing and otherwise. I’ve been meaning to write about the notes I’ve been receiving from readers of My Heart is Not My Own. And I will–next time. The comments, from book club participants and readers from across the country, are […]
Taking the back way through Sierra Leone
I hadn’t counted on National Cleanup Day. A country with no garbage pickup—no recycling. On windy days plastic bags swirl like leaves. But not on National Cleanup Day. The only vehicles on the roads belong to police, or the military or politicians. Everyone else is ordered to remain at home, sweeping one’s compound of trash. […]
Passion Play in the Serengeti
Two million animals in search of the tall grasses. An endless circle, with no beginning And no end. Languid walks along the plains, The sweet grasses disappearing within days of their coming, The relentless movement of wildebeest The life-force of the Serengeti. A passion play of hunters and hunted, Repeating through the millennia. At the […]
Through the North
Back. On this trip I’ll first go to Kabala in the north. Kenawa has been hard to contact and I learned that he’s been seriously ill. With regrets, we promise to meet up on my return through Freetown. I arrange a jeep and driver through a Lebanese friend—not Kenawa, but I’m ready to be a […]