#122: Fashion faves - Hats

Lately I don't know, but I've had a fascination with hats. So in order to make my hat fantasies come true, I am going to keep my education going, so I can get a good job after graduating university and use some of my money for hats. So my want for hat will be another motivation for me to remain in school and continue my journey in becoming an engineer. I think my love for hats also comes from my (paternal) grandmother because she absolutely loves hat and has so many in her collection; she has hats with all shapes, sizes, and colors. However when I was younger, I was not very interested in it because I thought of hats as an adult and boring thing, but my thoughts on that have changed nowadays. Here are some pictures below that I took with my friend, when we visited a fashion boutique. The boutique had so many beautiful hats, but they were all VERY expensive, especially for a student's budget. I absolutely fell in love with that hat, and had a difficult time letting go.

#121: SLSC - Day 27

Day 27: Day of the African Child

In 1976, thousands of black school children took to the streets of Soweto, South Africa. In a march more than half a mile long, they protested the inferior quality of their education and demanded their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot down by security forces. In the two weeks of protest that followed, more than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand were injured. To honour the memory of those killed and the courage of all those who marched, the Day of the African Child has been celebrated on 16 June every year since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union). To know more about this day, read this.

My memories of this day in Sierra Leone as a student are so great, and I really miss those days. On this day, we would all wear Africanas (word for African outfit in krio) to school rather than our school uniforms. In addition, we bring in several African meals to share with our classmates and teachers. Several cultural performances are done also during the school day, and it's pretty much a big African cultural party. During the commemoration of this day, the national television channel at that time, Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS), always played Sarafina! at night.

The movie, Sarafina!, chronicles the life of students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools. The character Sarafina (Leleti Kumalo) feels shame at her mother's (Miriam Makeba) acceptance of her role as domestic servant in a white household in apartheid South Africa, and inspires her peers to rise up in protest, especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka (Whoopi Goldberg) is imprisoned. This is a great movie, and I highly recommend Africans and people of the world to watch it because it has a great message and also really good music.

As an African child and a Sierra Leonean woman, I am very grateful for this day because it reminds me of the struggles that my fellow African children have endured. Commemorations like this embody the strength, drive, and beauty of children, and shows that when great and powerful minds come together, regardless of age, they can achieve great things and make positive changes. When I think about this day and its meaning, it makes me more proud of my heritage and its our past, but also hope for Africa's future.

Scenes from the movie, Sarafina!

#120: Fashion Raises Awareness

Saturday, June 18, 2011 - Fashion Raising Awareness
Time: 7-10pm; show starts at 7:45pm
Location: The Shadow Room [2131 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20037]
For tickets, visit: http://dvwmt-ruby.eventbrite.com/

"FASHION RAISES AWARENESS TO THE MANY TAGS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE"  is a benefit launch event for the organization, Domestic Violence Wears Many Tags. This Fashion Show will showcase local stylists, artists and designers from the Washington DC Metro Area.

This event is co-sponsored by When You Believe Foundation. The mission of When You Believe Foundation is to do outreach, raise awareness, provide assistance, enhance the lifestyle, promote self-sufficiency, and empower girls and women in all communities.

Please come out that evening to support, raise awareness, and raise money for an important cause. Hope to see you there.

For more information about Domestic Violence Wears Many Tags, visit: http://www.dvwmt.org/
For more information about When You Believe Foundation, visit: http://www.whenyoubelievefoundation.webs.com/

#119: Importance of reading and writing

I came across this amazing video of award-winning author Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie and wanted to share it with you all. ENJOY!

#118: SLSC - Day 26

Day 26: Rujizzle reflects

The past couple of weeks have been very intense yet interesting for me. I've been working with the amazing team of Sierra Theatre Productions for the play, "Let Me Die Alone: The Life and Times of Madam Yoko," which was performed tonight. I had a blast at the show tonight and I did my best, which the entire cast did as well. I am very grateful for this opportunity to get back into theater acting, because it's been a long time since I did something like this and I had a blast. Preparing for this event was a lot of fun, and getting to work with so many wonderful people from my country, Sierra Leone.

Yes, I am a Sierra Leonean and I do mingle with Sierra Leoneans in several ocassions. However, my interaction is quite limited due to several factors such as my location and interests. I really liked working with the cast because I sometimes felt that I took mini-trips to Sierra Leone and back in their presence. Some of the cast members even told me that I laugh a lot, but what they did not know is that my laughters were sometimes derived from hearing certain krio words or stories which I haven't heard in a long time and they brought great memories.

Indeed rehearsals were intense several times, but the environment and mood of the cast and crew made it a pleasurable experience for me. Everyone was very respectful, sweet, caring, fun, and overall we were like a family. It made me fall in love more with my country, my culture, and my Sierra Leonean people. Being part of this play tonight also brought back wonderful memories of when I used to do theater performances in Sierra Leone and Nigeria, and my passions for theater arts.

Although I write poetry and monologues, it was quite a challenge for me to memorize lines in the script. Honestly, the last time I did live theater was in 2007, when I wrote a play for my High School African Club, and it was not very intimidating to do that because I was the writer, so I already had ideas and sequences in my head from memory of what my scenes were. What was a bit nervewracking with this play today was that this performance was no longer a solo performance as I have doing over the past couple of years, but my scenes were dependent on other cast members that I interact with, so there was definitely no room for mess-ups. In addition, I needed to be on my best behavior because this play was one of the events that commemorated Sierra Leone's 50th Independence celebrations, and Mammy Yoko is one of Sierra Leone's greatest women!

Like I always say, I had BLASTY BLAST and by the grace of God I hope to work more with Sierra Theatre Productions and many more theater performances.

P.S.: Acting was my first love, but I am and will remain passionate about dance as well, so don't think I'll slow down on that. Now all I need to do is create paths for myself whereby I can incorporate theater, dance, and writing into my performances, and then I'll be golden!

Here's a picture I took backstage before tonight's event.

#117: SLSC - Day 25

Day 25: Madam Ella Koblo Gulama


Madam Ella Koblo Gulama (26 January 1921 - 10 September 2006) was a Sierra Leonean paramount chief and politician. In 1957, she became the first elected female Member of Parliament in Sierra Leone and all of sub-Saharan Africa. She was re-elected in 1962. During the government of Milton Margai, Gulama became Sierra Leone and sub-Saharan Africa's first female Cabinet Minister. Gulama was represented Sierra Leone abroad and her travels took her all over Africa, Europe, North America and the Middle East. In 1957 as a guest of the State Department, she toured the United States for 4 months during which met with Vice President Richard Nixon.

Gulama had a distinguished career in politics and was a pioneering female leader. Her life was defined by service. She was a member of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), which her father helped establish. In 1957 Gulama embarked on a political career and became a Member of the Moyamba District Council. She was the first woman to be elected to Sierra Leone's House of Representatives as Paramount Chief Member for Moyamba District. In 1962 she was re-elected and Prime Minister Milton Margai made her a Cabinet Minister. From 1960 to 1967 Gulama was President of the Federation of Women's Organisations in Sierra Leone.


One of Gulama's passions was the promotion of education for girls and the improvement of the female condition in Sierra Leone. She served at her alma mater, Harford School for Girls as a member of the Board of Governors. Gulama was also a member of the Sierra Leone government Scholarship Advisory Board and the Bursary Committee of Fourah Bay College.


She was the recipient of several awards including the MBE in 1959, the OBE in 1966 from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the Order of the Rokel Award from former President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.

#116: SLSC - Day 24

Day 24: Krio


Sierra Leone Krio is the lingua franca and the de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 97% of Sierra Leone's population and unites the different ethnic groups in the country, especially in their trade and social interaction with each other. Krio is the primary language of communication among Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad. The language is native to the Sierra Leone Creole people or Krios, (a community of about 300,000 descendants of freed slaves from the West Indies, United States and United Kingdom), but it is spoken as a second language by millions of other Sierra Leoneans belonging to the country's indigenous tribes. English is Sierra Leone's official language, while Krio, despite its common use throughout the country, has no official status.


The Krio language is an offshoot of the language brought by the Nova Scotian Settlers from North America, Maroons from Jamaica, and the numerous liberated African slaves who settled in Sierra Leone.
The vocabulary of Krio is derived primarily from English, while its sound system, grammar and sentence structure are heavily influenced by at least 12 African languages, including aspects of the Yoruba language of Nigeria. Krio's standard greeting, kushe, for instance, is derived from the Yoruba greeting è kú işé ("greetings on your work"); the krio word "pan", meaning (on top of/doing something), descends directly from the Jamaican patois word "pon", meaning the same thing; the krio expression "chaka-chaka", meaning (messy/untidy), also descends from Jamaican patois. This is because some of the freed slaves were from the West Indies, and in particular Jamaica (Jamaican Maroons).


All freed slaves—the Jamaican Maroons, African Americans, Nova Scotian Settlers, Sierra Leone Liberated Africans—influenced Krio, but the Jamaican Maroons, Nova Scotian Settlers, and Yoruba Liberated Africans were the most influential. The basic English structure of Krio is an offshoot of the English spoken by the Nova Scotians, while some of the African words in Krio come from the Yoruba language spoken by liberated Yorubas.


Krio is distinct from Pidgin English as it is an English-based creole language but more of a language in its own right, with fixed grammatical structures and rules. Krio also draws extensively from other European languages, namely Portuguese and French, e.g. the krio word "gentri/gentree", which means wealth or to acquire wealth is derived from the Old French word "gentry".


P.S.: The information provided above was derived from Wikipedia.

#115: SLSC - Day 23

Day 23: Freetown


Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in west Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country and with a population of 1.2 million. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of Sierra Leone. Most of the country's largest corporations as well as the majority of international companies have located their headquarters' home offices in Freetown. The city's economy revolves largely around its harbor - occupying a part of the estuary of the Sierra Leone River in one the world's largest natural deep water harbours. Queen Elizabeth II Quay is capable of receiving oceangoing vessels and handles Sierra Leone's main exports.


Freetown is home to one of the country's two main universities, the Fourah Bay College, the oldest university in West Africa, founded in 1827. The university not only played a key role in Sierra Leone’s colonial history, but also a key role in the history of the English-speaking West-African nations. Freetown is home to dozens of national newspapers and the country's national television and radio stations, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Services (SLBS), is based in Freetown, although it also has regional headquarters in the cities of Bo, Kenema and Makeni.


Freetown is home to significant numbers of all of the country's ethnic groups, although it is the primary home of the Sierra Leone Creole people (descendant of freed Liberated Africans, African-Americans and West Indians). Currently the Temne people form the largest ethnic group in the city, though the Krio people are still the most dominant ethnic group in the city politically. Many of the Freetown local city council city are held by ethnic Creoles, including the mayor of Freetown, a position mainly held by Creoles or Europeans since the city was founded. As in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language (a native language of the Creole people who only make up 5% of country's population) is by far the most widely spoken language in the city. The Krio language is spoken as a lingua franca by the entire population in the city of Freetown.


The city of Freetown was founded by Lieutenant John Clarkson and freed American slaves, called the Nova Scotian Settlers, who were transported to Sierra Leone by the Sierra Leone Company in 1792. Freetown is the oldest capital to be founded by freed American slaves, having been founded thirty years before Monrovia, Liberia. The oldest part of Freetown is Settler Town which was established by the Nova Scotians in 1792, after their namesake 'The Settlers'. The Maroons founded Maroon Town in 1800, thereby establishing another historical area in Freetown. The suburbs of Freetown were founded by the Liberated Africans between 1809–1827, and presently they are the most affluent areas of the Freetown peninsula.


Lungi International Airport serves Freetown and the rest of Sierra Leone. It is located in the city of Lungi, Port Loko District, across the river from Freetown. Lungi International Airport serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to and from Sierra Leone.

#114: The R-word

#113: SLSC - Day 22

Day 22: The Cotton Tree


The Cotton Tree is an historic symbol of Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. According to legend, the "Cotton Tree" gained importance in 1792 when a group of former African American slaves, who had gained their freedom by fighting for the British during the American War of Independence, settled the site of modern Freetown. These Black Loyalist settlers, called "Nova Scotians" or "Navitians" in Sierra Leone, founded Freetown on March 11th 1792. According to tradition, they landed on the shoreline and walked up to a giant tree just above the bay and held a thanksgiving service there, gathering around the tree in a large group and praying and singing hymns to thank God for their deliverance to a free land. Its exact age is unknown, but it is known to have existed in 1787.


Today, a huge Cotton Tree stands in the oldest part of Freetown near the Supreme Court building, music club building and the National Museum. Sierra Leonians believe that this is very tree was where the "Nova Scotian settlers prayed more than two hundreds years ago, and they regard it as the symbol of their capital city. Sierra Leonians still pray and make offerings to the ancestors for peace and prosperity beneath the great ancestry Cotton Tree. This was especially true during the Sierra Leone civil war (1991-2002).

#112: SLSC - Day 21

Day 21: Coat of arms


The coat of arms of Sierra Leone (along with the flag), were developed by the College of Arms and granted in 1960. The shield on the arms depicts a lion beneath a zigzag border, representing the Lion Mountains, after which the country was named. It also shows three torches which are meant to symbolize peace and dignity. At the base are wavy bars depicting the sea. The supporters of the shield are lions, similar to those on the colonial badge. The three main colours from the shield - green, white and blue - were used to form the flag. The green represents agricultural and natural resources, the blue represents the Harbour of Freetown and the white represents unity and justice. At the bottom of the shield, the national motto can be seen.

#111: Healthy Lifestyle For Her

"Healthy Lifestyle For Her" is sponsored by my philanthropy, When You Believe Foundation. It is a FREE and OPEN event.

#110: SLSC - Day 20

Day 15: Sierra Theatre Productions

Sierra Theatre Productions is the first Sierra Leonean performing arts troupe in the United States of America which was started by Mr. David Buarkei Vandy. For more information about Sierra Theatre Productions, visit their website (http://www.stproduction.net/). STP comprises of David B. Vandy; gospel singer, Giileh; Antonia Akpan; Foday Kargbo; Ibrahim Conteh; and many more amazing actors and actresses.

Their upcoming production is called "Let Me Die Alone: The Life and Times of Madam Yoko;" which is written by Kolossa John Kargbo, and directed by David B. Vandy. In addition, I am proud to say that I am part of this play, and I am very excited to be doing theater performances again just as I used to when I was attending school in Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

#109: SLSC - Day 19

Day 19: Bai Bureh


Bai Bureh (February 15, 1840 – August 24, 1908) was a Sierra Leonean ruler and military strategist who led the Temne and Loko uprising against British rule in 1898 in Northern Sierra Leone. Bai Bureh was born in Kasseh, a village near Port Loko in Northern Sierra Leone. His first name, Bai, means Chief in the Temne language. Bureh's father was an important Loko war-chief and his mother was a Temne trader from Makeni. When Bureh was a young man his father sent him to the small village of Gbendembu in northern Sierra Leone, where he was trained to become a warrior.


As a ruler, Bureh never wanted to cooperate with the British who were living in the capital city of Freetown. Bai Bureh refused to recognise a peace treaty the British had negotiated with the Limba without his participation; and on one occasion, his warrior fighters raided the British troops across the border into French Guinea. On January 1, 1893, the British colonials instituted a "Hut Tax" in Sierra Leone. This tax was issued throughout British-controlled Africa. The tax could be paid in either money, grain, stock or labor. Many Africans had to work as laborers to pay the tax. The Hut Tax enabled the British to build roads, towns, railways and other infrastructure amenities in British-controlled Sierra Leone.


Bai Bureh refused to recognise the hut tax that the British had imposed. He did not believe the Sierra Leonean people had a duty to pay taxes to foreigners and he wanted all British to return to Britain and let the Sierra Leoneans solve their own problems. After refusing to pay his taxes on several occasions, the British issued a warrant to arrest Bureh. When the British Governor to Sierra Leone, Sir Frederic Cardew, offered the princely sum of one hundred pounds as a reward for his capture, Bai Bureh reciprocated by offering the even more staggering sum of five hundred pounds for the capture of the governor. In 1896, Bureh declared war on British in Sierra Leone. The war later became known as the Hut Tax War of 1898.


The significance of Bai Bureh's war against the British is not a matter of whether he won or lost the war but that a man who had none of what could be called formal military training was able to show that for a significant number of months he was able to take on the British who were very proud of their great military successes across the globe. The British troops were led by officers trained at the finest military academies where war is studied in the same way that one studies a subject at university. The fact that Bai Bureh was not executed after his capture has led some historians to claim that this was in admiration for his prowess as an adversary to the British.


The tactics employed by Bai Bureh in his fight against the British are very much the forerunner of tactics employed by guerilla armies worldwide. At the time these tactics were very revolutionary and he "succeeded" for the good reason he had expert knowledge of the terrain across which the war took place. Bai Bureh had pursued the war not just with sound military brain but also a sense of humour. When Governor Cardew had offered the princely sum of 100 pounds as a reward for his capture, Bai Bureh had reciprocated by offering the even more staggering sum of five hundred pounds for the capture of the Governor.
Many Sierra Leoneans view Bai Bureh today as the greatest man to ever come out of the country. There is a very large Statue of Bai Bureh in central Freetown. He pictured on several Sierra Leonean paper bill. A Sierra Leonean professional football club called the Bai Bureh Warriors from Port Loko is named after him.

#108: SLSC - Day 18

Day 18: Mammy Yoko


Mammy Yoko or Madam Yoko (ca. 1849–1906) was a leader of the Mende people in Sierra Leone. Combining advantageous lineage, shrewd marriage choices and the power afforded her from the secret Sande society, Yoko became a leader of considerable influence. She expanded the Mende Kingdom and at the time of her death, she was the ruler of the vast Kpa Mende Confederacy.


Madam Yoko, originally called Soma, was born around 1849 in the Gbo Chiefdom. She changed her name to Yoko at her Sande initiation ceremony, during which time she became known for her graceful dancing. Yoko's first marriage, which was unsuccessful, was to a man named Gongoima. After leaving Gongoima, Yoko's second husband was Gbenjei, Chief of Taiama. Although Yoko remained childless, Gbenjei made her his head wife, giving her economic power within her household.


Following Gbenjei's death, Yoko married Gbanya Lango. In 1875, Gbanya was detained by British colonial officials in Taiamawaro. Yoko went directly to Governor Rowe to appeal for her husband's release. Rowe was impressed with Yoko's appeal and Gbanya was flogged, and then released. Following this incident, Gbanya made Yoko his head wife and began sending her on diplomatic missions. With the Sande, Yoko was able to wield significant power, not only amongst women, but Mende society as a whole. As a leader in this secret women's society, she made political alliances and took younger initiates as "wards" — later marrying them into other lineages. In 1878, following her third husband's death, Yoko became the chief of Senehun. By 1884 she was officially recognised as "Queen of Senehun". This recognition came not only from her own people, but also from the British. She died in 1906, rumoured to have committed suicide. Having no descendants of her own, she was succeeded by her brother Lamboi.

#107: SLSC - Day 17

Day 17: Fourah Bay College


Fourah Bay College (founded in 1827 as the first western-style university in West Africa) is the oldest university college in West Africa. It is located atop Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It is a constituent college of the University of Sierra Leone (from 1966 to 2005) and was formerly affiliated with Durham University (from 1876-1967).


Established in 1827 as an Anglican missionary school (by the Church Missionary Society), Fourah Bay College soon became a magnet for Creoles and other Africans seeking higher education under the British Empire, especially in the fields of theology and education. It was the first western-style university in West Africa. Under colonialism, Freetown was known as the "Athens of Africa" as an homage to the college.
The first black principal of the university was an African American missionary, Reverend Edward Jones from South Carolina in the United States. Lamina Sankoh was a prominent early academic; Francis Heiser was principal from 1920 to 1922.Abioseh Nicol was the first Sierra Leonean born administrator in 1966.


The faculties of this university are:

• Faculty of Arts
• Faculty of Engineering
• Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences
• Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

The insititutes of this university are:

• Institute of Adult Education and Extra-Mural Studies
• Institute of African Studies
• Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography
• Institute of Population Studies
• Institute of Library and Archive Studies and Mass Communications

Some notable alumni of this university are:

• His Excellency President Ernest Bai Koroma
• Zainab Bangura
• Alexander Babatunde Akinyele
• Madam Ella Koblo Gulama
• Sir Milton Margai
• Dr. Kadi Sesay
• Kojo Botsio
• Henry Rawlingson Carr
• Samuel Ajayi Crowther
• John Karefa-Smart

#106: SLSC - Day 16

Day 16: Wildlife

The wildlife of Sierra Leone is very diverse due to the variety of different habitats within the country. Sierra Leone is home to approximately 2090 known higher plant species, 147 known species of mammals, 172 known breeding bird species, 67 known reptile species, 35 known amphibian species and 99 known species of fish. Sierra Leone has around 750 species of butterflies. Including one of the largest butterflies the Giant African swallowtail whose wingspan can be up to 25 cm.

Sierra Leone has 15 identified species of primates that include bushbaby, monkeys and a great ape, the Common Chimpanzee which is Sierra Leone's largest primate. Chimpanzees are found across the country with the 2010 chimpanzee census estimated a wild population in excess of 5500 more then double the number previously thought to live in the country. This is the second largest population of the endangered subspecies of Western chimpanzee, after Guinea, with the largest density in the Loma area, 2.69 individuals per km2, and the Outamba, with 1.21 individuals per km2. There are several species of whales and the African Manatee in the waters of Sierra Leone. The Manatee is an endangered species and lives in the rivers and estuaries of Sierra Leone especially around Bonthe. Mammals found in Sierra Leone include hippotamus, African Bush Elephant, and Bongo Elephant.

Sierra Leone has over 630 known species of bird ten of which are considered endangered including Rufous Fishing-owl and Gola Malimbe. On the coastal area there are several important sites for migratory ducks and wading birds from the palearctic area. Some of these birds are African Harrier Hawk, Black-collared Lovebird, Blue-headed Wood-dove, Iris Glossy-starling, White-breasted Guineafowl, and White-necked Rockfowl.

There are 67 known species of reptiles, three of which are endangered, in Sierra Leone including several large reptiles. There are three species of Crocodiles, the Nile Crocodile, the Slender-snouted Crocodile which lives in forest streams, Dwarf crocodile found in mangrove swamps. All the species of sea turtles live in the waters of Sierra Leone with the Green Turtle and Leatherback Turtle laying eggs on the shores including on Sherbro Island and Turtle Island. Common species of lizard include the large Nile monitor, the Agama seen around settlements, the Brook's House Gecko often lives inside houses, and Chamaeleos.

Wild flora vegetation types include the lowland moist and semi-deciduous forests, part of the Western Guinean lowland forests, inland valley swamps, wooded savannah, bolilands and mangrove swamps. There are about 2,000 know species of plants with 74 species only occurring only in Sierra Leone. Primary rainforest used to cover around 70% of Sierra Leone in the mid 2000s this had reduced to around 6%. Common species include:

• Red Mangrove which grows in swamp areas along the western coast.
• Oil Palm used for palm oil and palm wine.
• Cotton Tree one of which is a historical symbol of Freetown.
• Red ironwood tree.

P.S.: This information was derived from Wikipedia.

#105: SLSC - Day 15

Day 15: Geography and climate

Sierra Leone is located on the west coast of Africa, lying mostly between latitudes 7° and 10°N (a small area is south of 7°), and longitudes 10° and 14°W. The country is bordered by Guinea to the north and northeast, Liberia to the south and southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

Sierra Leone has a total area of 71,740 km² (27,699 sq mi), divided into a land area of 71,620 km² (27,653 sq mi) and water of 120 km² (46 sq mi). The country has four distinct geographical regions. In eastern Sierra Leone the plateau is interspersed with high mountains, where Mount Bintumani reaches 1,948 m (6,391 ft), the highest point in the country. The upper part of the drainage basin of the Moa River is located in the south of this region.

The center of the country is a region of lowland plains, containing forests, bush and farmland, that occupies about 43% of Sierra Leone's land area. The northern section of this has been categorised by the World Wildlife Fund as part of the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic ecoregion, while the south is rain-forested plains and farmland. In the west Sierra Leone has some 400 km (249 mi) of Atlantic coastline, giving it both bountiful marine resources and attractive tourist potential. The coast has areas of low-lying Guinean mangroves swamp. The national capital Freetown sits on a coastal peninsula, situated next to the Sierra Leone Harbour, the world's third largest natural harbour.

The climate is tropical, with two seasons determining the agricultural cycle: the rainy season from May to November, and a dry season from December to May, which includes harmattan, when cool, dry winds blow in off the Sahara Desert and the night-time temperature can be as low as 16 °C (60.8 °F). The average temperature is 26 °C (78.8 °F) and varies from around 26 °C (78.8 °F) to 36 °C (96.8 °F) during the year.

#104: SLSC - Day 14

Day 14: Early colonies

In 1787 a settlement was founded by in Sierra Leone in what was called the "Province of Freedom". A number of "Black Poor" arrived off the coast of Sierra Leone on 15 May 1787, accompanied by some English tradesmen. Many of the "black poor" were African Americans, who had been given their freedom after seeking refuge with the British Army during the American Revolution, but also included other West Indian, African and Asian inhabitants of London. After establishing Granville Town, disease and hostility from the indigenous people eliminated the first group of colonists and destroyed their settlement. A second Granville Town was established by 64 remaining colonists.

Through the impetus of Thomas Peters, the Sierra Leone Company was established to relocate 1,196 Black Americans, most of whom had escaped enslavement in the United States by seeking protection with the British Army during the American Revolution. They had been given land in Nova Scotia and a few had died from the harsh winters there. These colonists built the second (and only permanent) Colony of Sierra Leone and the settlement of Freetown on March 11, 1792. In Sierra Leone they were called the Nova Scotian Settlers or 'Nova Scotians' but were commonly known as the Settlers. The Settlers built Freetown and introduced architectural styles from the American South as well as Western fashion and American courtesy. In the 1790s, the Settlers voted for the first time in elections, as did women. The Sierra Leone Company refused to allow the settlers to take freehold of the land. Some of the Settlers revolted in 1799. The revolt was only put down by the arrival of over 500 Jamaican Maroons, who also arrived via Nova Scotia. In 1800, Jamaican Maroons from Trelawny Town, Jamaica were settled via Nova Scotia.

After sixteen years of the running the Colony, the Sierra Leone Company was formed into the African Institution. The Institution met in 1807 to achieve more success by focusing on bettering the local economy, but it was constantly split between those British who meant to inspire local entrepreneurs and those with interest in the Macauley & Babington Company which held the (English) monopoly on Sierra Leone trade.

Beginning in 1808 (following the abolition of the slave trade in 1807), thousands of formerly enslaved Africans were liberated in Freetown. Most of these Liberated Africans or 'Recaptives' chose to remain in Sierra Leone. Cut off from their homes and traditions, the Liberated Africans assimilated the Western styles of Settlers and Maroons and built a flourishing trade of flowers and beads on the West African coast. These returned Africans were from many areas of Africa, but principally the west coast. During the 19th century many black Americans, Americo Liberian 'refugees', and particularly West Indians immigrated and settled in Freetown creating a new ethnicity called the Krio.

P.S.: The information given above was derived from Wikipedia.

Born Sierra Leonean - JayArr

#103: SLSC - Day 13

Day 13: Leone

The Leone is the currency of Sierra Leone. It is subdivided into 100 cents. The ISO 4217 code is SLL and the Leone is abbreviated as Le placed before the amount. The leone was introduced in 1964. It replaced the British West African pound at a rate of 1 pound = 2 leones (i.e., 1 leone = 10 shillings).

In 1964, the Bank of Sierra Leone introduced notes in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 leones. 50 cents notes were added in 1979, followed by 10 leones in 1980 and 20 leones in 1982. 100 leones notes were introduced in 1988, followed by 500 leones in 1991, 1000 and 5000 leones in 1993, 2000 leones in the year 2000 and 10,000 Leone in 2004.

Prior to June 2010, bank notes in circulation were 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 leones. 10,000 leones notes were in circulation for less than ten years and were infrequently encountered. This meant that most transactions took place in bundles of 5000 leones notes.

In June 2010, the Bank of Sierra Leone issued new notes which were slightly smaller in size than the earlier series and intended to be more secure and durable. The new bank notes are: Le10,000, Le5,000, Le2,000 and Le1,000. Coins are still used, but because of their low value are less common.
Because of inflation, a 20,000 leone banknote has been suggested.