Ampoto’s Adventures
By David Krueger
I like Northern Sierra Leone. I like Freetown a lot as well, but life really is quite different in the provinces.
My last 24 hours in Kambia were amazing. The highlight was taking a motorbike ride to the Sierra Leone-Guinea border. After some talking, smiling and hand shaking, the guards from Salone and Guinea permitted me to head across the border for a quick picture.
Then I got to stand over the rope that separates the two countries. Hovering directly over the border, the right half of my body was in Guinea, while my left side remained in Sierra Leone. I thought that was pretty cool.
After waiting out a downpour in the immigration office, we headed back to town so that we could get some work done. I finally got to sit down and officially interview Mr. Ibrahim Njai, for a future column. That was a spectacular experience. He’s done so much, and is so smart. You’ll see what I mean in a couple of days.
I really loved Kambia. My trip there was eventful and enlightening. The people were very friendly, and the weather was really nice. On top of that, I discovered that I had a new name: ampoto.
My coworkers told me that in the North, this means “the white man.” Everywhere (and I mean absolutely, everywhere) I went, whether by foot or (preferably) by motorbike, I heard screams of “ampoto! Ampoto!”
While driving through Kambia waving at people yelling “ampoto,” I almost felt like I was in a parade. Children literally stopped what they were doing to wave and come up and shake my hand.
I quickly gave up on blending in with the crowd while staying in Kambia. It became apparent early on that it wasn’t going to work. So, instead I used my differences to help me out. I did what I think is the best thing I could have done: I talked to everybody.
Anytime I heard “ampoto” I immediately walked over to the speaker to shake their hand. Whether they were five or 50. It seemed like people were really excited to meet me, but I assure you, I was just as excited, if not more so, to meet them.
Fortunately, when we got to Port Loko the “ampotos” continued, so I felt like I never left Kambia. One thing I couldn’t help but see from the beginning of my time in Port Loko until the night before I left: it rains a lot there.
I know it’s the rainy season but wow! It comes down hard. Thankfully I remembered my umbrella.
I’m not complaining about the rain. I actually really enjoyed it for two reasons. First, I love falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof. It’s just so calming and peaceful, and drowns out the noises around me, like the guy in the next room that was snoring.
Second, my face was very, very red. I got a ferocious sunburn by the end of my first day in Kambia, so I was excited for a little time away from the sun. My face needed some time to heal, and I don’t think anybody has ever gotten rainburned.
Most of my time in Port Loko was spent in one of four places: the hospital where we were interviewing people about the free healthcare, the Cantina where we ate and listened to some African music after the hospital, the guesthouse where we slept after the Cantina and walking in between those three places.
The hospital in Port Loko was a lot like the one in Kambia. It was understaffed and overcrowded as it faces challenges dealing with the effects of the new healthcare program. But officials there still approve of the program as a whole and think it’s a step in the right direction. I agree.
I think the Cantina, a restaurant where we headed to at night, is why I really enjoyed Port Loko. The food was delicious, but it was the African music that played loudly and late into the night that made me fall in love with the place. I didn’t know any of the songs, so I couldn’t sing along, but fortunately I have two more months to learn.
After all the rain, I did finally see the sun in Port Loko, as I walked to get on a Puda Puda to head home.
The van was just as full as it was on the ride north, but for some reason I was much more comfortable while heading south back to Freetown. Maybe it was because I spent most of the trip falling asleep, waking up for 47 seconds, and then falling asleep again.
Not far from Freetown I awoke as we pulled over. My coworker had told me that I needed to get some palm wine on the way home. So I watched as they filled a liter bottle full of a cloudy white liquid. I didn’t try it until later that night, but I wish I had tried it immediately.
My coworker had promised the best palm wine in Sierra Leone, and he delivered. Granted, it’s the only palm wine I’ve had in Sierra Leone, but it is darned good.
Once I returned to Freetown I sat down (for seemingly the first time in a week) and thought about what all I had done. I couldn’t believe where I had been, what I had seen and who I had met.
It was the trip of a lifetime, within another trip of a lifetime.
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