Lunsar

What a treat to revisit Lunsar!  I had traveled to Lunsar during my first trip to Sierra Leone in 2009, so what a pleasant surprise to learn that PPB was going to some sites there for a new research project.  Of course I tagged along for the ride.  I only had 15 min, so I decided to revisit our extremely pleasant hosts who were these Sisters at a Convent at St. Peter's Church.  It was so nice to see Sister Bernadette and Sister Eliza who were there when we stayed there 4 years ago.  Sister Bernadette was this cute little Japanese woman who has the sweetest demeanor and Sister Eliza was a tough cookie but also super hospitable.  Unfortunately Sister Bernadette no longer remembered me, but Sister Eliza actually remembered the D-Lab group from MIT!  It's amazing that Sister Bernadette had been in Lunsar for 25 years!  She said she had to go back during the Civil War and for an illness, but she is no longer used to Japan and missed the people in SL.  It's no wonder - people here are so friendly and loving.

During our trip up to Lunsar, I also got to hear the story of a fellow PPB worker, SC. SC initially started in Mali to build a new factory, but right before a new mixer was going to arrive, the country had a coup.  I've been so behind in current news, so she had to update me on what happened in Mali.  Here's a summary:

Mali has been a democratic country for 20 some years with two major groups of people: the dark skinned francophones and the lighter-skinned English-speaking Tureg (sp?).  There were also small pockets of terrorists and Islamic extremists, but none that enforced their laws and traditions.  The Tureg had always felt like they were a separate people, and had been trying to obtain independence.  Recently they had obtained armory from Columbus and tried to obtain independence.  The Mali military were unprepared, and unrest developed. The current president's 2 terms were up and the election for a new president was in a month, but a low ranking (and no foresight) military official was dissatisfied with the way the government was handling the Tureg situation and, thus, initiated the coup.  The president was forced out of office (even though he only had 1 month left) and during the power vacuum, terrorists of various sectors including a branch of Al Qada took over 2/3 of the country.  The Tureg initially allied with the terrorist extremists, but due to differing views, they were kicked out of the alliance with nothing - no independence and their land taken over by terrorists. Fortunately SC and her husband were out of the country when the coup happened, but unfortunately, that meant any hope for a new PPB factory and feeding malnourished children in the country with the lowest child mortality (other than Somalie) was destroyed.