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Friday, September 30, 1977, 7:00 pm, Day 612
We finished the surveying on wednesday and yesterday I drew up the map of the area. Today I picked the location for the new road and also estimated how much work would be involved. About 1200 cubic yards of earth need to be moved, which would take about 400 manhours. Half of this is at one 300 foot section, while the other half is over another 1200 feet. This new 1500 feet of road will all be at 15.0% grade. I don't know when we'll ever be able to get around to building it, though, because I'm keeping the people busy working on the water system, and I don't want to let that work stop. I'll probably work on it small small in my spare time, because it is something needed and its the type of work that I enjoy the most. I'll start by just putting in a 4 foot wide footpath at the gradeline on the route. That will let the people get a clear idea of where the new road will be, and how much work will be involved.
Then later the footpath could be widened out a little at a time, until it reaches its 16 foot width with a 4 foot wide ditch. There appears to be one 10 foot diameter boulder sitting in the way of the road which might cause some problem. We'll probably try to slide it on down the hill. Also, it has been said that a bulldozer is supposed to be coming onto the Sefadu - Kamiendor Road this next dry season, and if that is true then I have the design all ready for it to then do the work.
One of those sores on my foot had a recurrence recently. Wednesday it started hurting. I soaked it that night and again the next morning. thursday it was red and tender and it appeared that the swelling was starting to come back. I soaked it again in the evening and it opened up and drained out pretty good. This morning it looked pretty good but I soaked it and put another bandage on it just to be sure. It hasn't bothered me any today, and there is no redness or soreness to it, so I think that it is okay, finally.
It is starting to look like I don't know how to walk. Last week Thursday, when I was walking home from the market, I stubbed my toe on a stone and ripped the skin off the tip of it. Two days ago I did the same thing to the big toe on my other foot. This morning I stubbed my big toe on the first foot, ripping the scab off and bleeding all over my sandle. Then, to top it all off, this afternoon I again stubbed that same toe, and that didn't feel good at all. It still hurt from the first time that I hit it, and then I went and hit it again, and then again. I could always blame it on the bad roads and the fact that stones stick up all over. That must be it.
Monday, October 3, 1977, 3:00 pm, Day 615
Yesterday was the first day of rice cutting in the area. I didn't go, but the people make a big ceremony out of it. I was working on the hill up above the swamp, so I was at least able to hear a little of the going's on. They had the native drums out and they were keeping the beat and the people were singing along and cutting rice in time with the drums. They say that the same thing is going on today, but I am afraid to go there. I hear that they are performing a sort of black magic there, and it is something that I would rather not witness, because I am afraid that they might want me to try it too, but I don't have the kind of faith that I would need to do it. I am too much afraid for my body.
The magic that they are doing is cutting themselves, like sticking their knife in their stomach or in their arm or something. After it looks all nice and gruesome, they wander off into the bush where they then rub some magic medicine on the cut, and by the time they wander back to the rest of the people, there is no sign of there ever being a cut, the wound perfectly healed.
That's all too much for me even to attempt to believe, but the people swear it's true. I think that it was demonstrated at one of the agriculture training programs once also. Not everyone is doing it. At the swamp, I think there was just one man who had the medicine. They say he belongs to a society and to join the society you have to get your throat cut. They say three people joined yesterday. I hear that they slit the person's throat inside a house, take his body and roll it up in a mat and place it aside. Then all of the people start chanting, calling the person's name, over and over for a long time, until finally the person wanders in from someplace else, with no apparent wound at all. They say that the cost to join is 30 cents and one chicken, but I think that I will have to pass this one up.
Friday, October 7, 1977, 2:00 pm, Day 619
Yesterday has been the start of my lean days. The money that I had brought with me to Kamiendor has come to its end, just about. I don't like having to tell people that I can't help them out because the money isn't there, but that is now what I am having to do. I go through about 2 or 3 Leones a day up here, and yesterday I only had one Leone left, that I have to stretch out until Sunday. I don't like being without money on hand, because the money is there. It is not that I am broke, but it is just that my money is all locked away in the bank and I can't get to it at the moment. It makes me feel like a bad guy because I am having to tell them that I don't have any money, when they know that I do.
Subject #2 is that the communal labor didn't show up today. Without them coming I ended up sitting in my room all morning, working on some paperwork. I hate sitting in my room doing paperwork for long stretches at a time, and this was no exception. I feel that I am just wasting the day away by sitting there. I find that I need to get out and do some hard physical labor each day, to make me feel like I am accomplishing something. There is nothing better than to go out and build up a good running sweat on your body, and come back in the afternoon just a little bit short of complete exhaustion. That is what I like to do and I take pride in the fact that I do about twice as much work as anyone else. I also take pride in the fact that I can eat twice as much as anyone else. Those are on days when I am in top form. The trouble is that half the time lately, I've been plagued with illness or injury, and its kept me from working or eating at my best. I have a reputation to uphold and I don't like it when my body isn't up to par enough for me to be able to live up to my reputation. I hold the unofficial title of being the biggest eatter among the Peace Corps here in Sierra Leone. I also have the reputation of being the hardest working white man that the people have seen, and also as the white man who is able to do more work than the Africans. Enough of that. I just wanted to say that I felt couped up all day and I missed my opportunity to get out and work.
Subject #3 is that I am leaving Kamiendor this Sunday, after spending almost 3 weeks straight here. I enjoyed my stay here, and didn't miss the rest of civilization at all. I am going down this Sunday only because I have to, and I am already starting to feel the going away pains of having to leave. the worst part is that I will have to be away for a whole month. I don't like having to be away from Kamiendor for extended periods of time because I feel that Kamiendor is my home and the people are my people.
The reason that I will be away for a month is that i am part of the training program that is for the new Peace Corps volunteers, and for the 5 Sierra leoneon co-workers that we have. For the next 3 weeks I will be in the village of Royema, and then the week after that I will be in Freetown. I am yet unable to put much thought into my being in Royema, as I am still dwelling on my having to leave Kamiendor.
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