Our town

This blog is about our town in southern Sierra Leone.  The population is uncertain, and the surrounding villages rather obscure, but it is where we live and we think introductions are in order! Mattru Jong is on the Jong River, and is a town that is featured prominently in the book, A Long Way Home, a story written about the war of 1991-2002 from the perspective of a local participant, Ishmael Beah.  
  The main road is Bo Road, which traverses the 45 miles to Bo, the 2nd largest city in Sierra Leone.  The road is paved for about 1/2 mile. It is in very poor repair, and if you want to be sane, you will take about 4 hours to get to Bo in a vehicle.  Other than Bo road, the roads of Mattru are unpaved, and treacherous in the rainy season. There are all kinds of little shops and enterprises that line the road.  Everyone has some kind of enterprise to make a bit more money.  There are tailors, carpenters, money changers, hardware stores, even a tiny restaurant with one table--which by the way, makes very delicious food and serves it in a dainty way.  However, those wanting non-Sierra Leonean food here need not apply...There is a market, government offices, several mosques, a Catholic church, and a few small churches.  

    We often take walks through the town, usually on the less traveled paths and lanes.  If you do that, you need to be ready for the children to incessantly call out "Hello" or "Pumoi", which means white person.  Answering the Hello with any kind of greeting does not stop the Hellos, or for that matter the Pumois.  The average child says Hello 12-15 times before the urge to greet is gone and there are on average 10 children at a household area, so go figure. We have been able to teach a few children to say Bye-bye, and that seems to stop it 😊 In between the houses, we enjoy looking at all the nice gardens, loaded with similar things--potato leaf (white sweet potatoes), peanuts, corn, okra, egg plant, and hot peppers. 

   Thursday is the big market day. There are multiple stalls going all the way down to the river where people sell their wares.  Heleen is always remarking how everyone sells exactly the same things, and that is true.  It seems like that each one would find a niche, but that is not necessary, apparently...You can buy fish, sometimes oysters, and crabs, since we are in a coastal area.  There are some things that you need the bigger city for, but we have been surprised how much we have been able to purchase locally....But let's stop talking, and take you on a tour!

This is one of the main intersections in town, close to the hospital. 

The DHMT building, which stands for District Health Management Team.  They provide statistic gathering, and support for the medical work done in the community, and is a governmental agency. The building also houses the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, where Heleen sometimes attends meetings.

Mattru Jong is the distict capital and therefore houses the District Council.

Here is the local cabinet shop, with two employees hard at work.  Although it looks primitive, they turn out surprisingly nice furniture, anything from sofas, to stuffed chairs or tables,
or whatever you order. We are the recipients of some nice furniture from this shop.

Our cabinet shop is not too far from our tailor.  Tailors in Sierra Leone are almost always men, and mostly use the old Singer sewing machines with the pedals for power.  However, at the drop of a hat, and with only a few measurements, they can turn out fine clothes, curtains, pillow cases, etc.

Here is the Fleming United Brethren in Christ Church, where we attend most Sundays.  The pastor there is Reverend Gbando, who is also our hospital administrator.  This church is situated on the hospital compound, so is within walking distance for us (as are most places in town).

Market Day in Mattru is on a street which leads down to the River.  Here people congregate in great numbers on Thursday, but also every day of the week except Sunday for selling their wares. 

Perhaps you are in the market to buy fish or chicken feet. Usually you will be in luck.  

These children sell only onions in different sizes. 
Each little heap represents about 20 cents (US money).

This market area still shows the partially destroyed police station in the background.  It was destroyed during the war, but now functions somewhat as a warehouse and storage...

The one bank in town, and where we have occasionally gotten wired money.  This is not a task for the person with limited time, as it usually requires a long (up to three hours) wait.  

(Not unusual for Sierra Leone)

The one gas station in town fuels a lot more okadas (motorcycles) than cars, but it would be the only one for many miles.

A larger store where we can get milk powder, toilet paper, soap, etc.

One of the roads we walk on in the evenings...

Everywhere are gardens.... The laundry, sometimes spread on the ground, sometimes hanging on lines or bamboo sticks, takes many days to dry in the rainy season.

We have several contacts with Fula people in town. They are usually devout Muslims and often traders. At this store we often buy bread. These children are just coming back from fetching water.

We are very proud of these children living by the store, who no longer call us "Pumoi",
but Aunty Helen and Docta Jon! 

Thanks for coming with us on a little tour! Next time we will tell you more about what has kept us busy over the past few weeks!