Christmas in Sierra Leone is All I Know…

Ebola stole my Christmas and I want it back!

I want my Christmas back!

‘’Are you coming this year’’
‘’Of course’’
‘’When are you arriving?’’
‘’Oh the 15th of December, I can’t wait!’’
‘’Why did you leave it so late, make it a bit earlier, we have a party on the 11th and I would hate for you to miss it.’’
‘’Oh I wish I could but I can’t make earlier because of work. I’ll make up for lost time when I get there’’
‘’Okay just hurry up and get here’’


Jin jin!!

Oh the memories….

Look Ebola, i do not want any trouble. I just want to claim my Christmas back!


The above is normally the way conversation goes as soon as Christmas starts peeping. We plan long before we get there and without much ado we execute the moment my plane arrives at Lungi airport. The excitement starts building up and all my party bones that have been stiffened over the past months start to come alive.


I left Sierra Leone long ago but the truth is my heart never really left. It's like an unfinished love affair.


Sounds crazy right? Yea I know but I don’t expect everyone to understand. For you to understand you must be in my shoe, laced up like how I tie my laces and step just like I do.


However fret not, you’ll be in the know soon, maybe just maybe I’ll managed to capture an insight for you of what I mean when I say Christmas in sierra Leone is all I know.


With my people, when the Christmas season starts approaching we all get tuned into the same wavelength and frequency. Even though Sometimes we don’t talk all year through, other times, we send the odd text messages here and there but when December slams, we all know what time is it. It’s like the unspoken rule, December is just that time and you do not need to be reminded. We live for Christmas in Sierra Leone.


One our side of the pond, Some may have deposited or bought their ticket long in advance but for me the search for ticket begins because last minute.com is engraved in my DNA, even though this has done me no favours in the past (need to break that habit). Not forgetting the flimsy excuses we carefully and so craftily weave for our employers. Hey don’t judge me.  My aunt once said ‘’You got to do what you got to do’’ and I tell ya, she haven’t lied.

Shhh...

Ooh the things I’ll do and the things I’ll give for my Christmas in Sierra Leone.



In Sierra Leone however is where the real planning gets down. The list of parties, chilling, and beach outings all set up so by the time I get there…everything is sorted and I am spoilt for choice. At home I am spoilt for choice with all sorts of African food and snacks which I have so been deprived of over the past months and the pampering, I dare not go into it. Waking up to the ever smiling and happy faces of my cousins alone is enough reason for me to claim my Christmas back.


Ebola I want my Christmas back!


Freetown city is home. Freetown is where I come alive. Wind sweeping across my face and the smell of street food that is oh so familiar glazed with the whistling and screeching sound of car horns and the odd vulgar blasts from drivers and okadas, the city always welcomes me with open arms. What’s more welcoming than that.

The tantalizing smell of street food - Fry fry

The ever joyful Okada Drivers with that glorious potty mouth!

With series of sleepless nights and nonstop raving, when I say I’ll make up for lost time, believe me, I’m not kidding.  My Christmas holiday starts the day, the hour and the minute I arrive. No time to waste, I waited all year for this moment. All I need to do is drop my baggage home, ferociously squander my aunt’s freshly prepared cassava leaves with ample fresh fish on a bed of rice and I’m ready for the night.


Christmas in Sierra Leone is all i know!


Happy as a lark. Free as a bird. Without a care in this world. The motto for the holidays is fun. No matter how the night pan out, no matter what happens, we just make sure we’re having fun.

We party like its 99’

My friends all come from different countries and occupational backgrounds, we all come from different tribes and clans but When we meet it’s like we never left, it’s like we sprung from the same stem and frankly speaking we do. We have a full year’s catch up, reminisce, relish every passing minute and make some more sweet memories that will take us through the next 12 months.


When we meet we party like its 99’. We raise hell and roofs and paint the city red. We forget what sleep is and throw all rules through the window. We just party like there’s no tomorrow and we are damn good at it. We make sure we are in the know of every party and get together, every beach chilling and every street carnival. Sometimes we manage to double book ourselves just like the fable spider.


Other evenings or days are spent by the seaside, just in case you haven’t heard, Sierra Leone is home of some of the finest and most beautiful beaches you will need to put on your bucket list. Blue sea and golden sand, other places, you’ll see white sand and most beautiful view. Yea our beaches got swag like that. Imagine spending time there with friends, music, food, games, good conversation and all the essentials in the red cup. Your day is made!

....friends, music, food, games, good conversation
& all the essentials in the cup. 

There are places waiting for me to explore and experience.


....I want my Christmas back!


It’s not always about the big night outs. Some nights you will catch us in one of our friends’ houses, eating in the kitchen from their mum’s pot some solid cassava leaves with our five fingers and when that is done we move to the ‘’krawo’’. Now that is where all goodness is at and that’s a whole new party right there washed down with several bottles of the great cousin Heineken.


And you truly and really haven’t experienced true friendship till you’ve scraped the bottom of a pot together with people who you party and have a good time with. I am grateful for people like these.


True and real Friendship…. We do not need a lot, just the right people at the right spot.
For all the simple pleasures and all those treasured nights….

I am claiming my Christmas back.



Other times we will start off the night at a nice chilled out spot and slowly and surely with the ever trusted help of Uncle Jackie and his nephew Mr Henny and the rest of the family we arrive! Soul, body and spirit. When I say we arrive, we arrive in full force and fully ready for whatever the night throws at us and where we end up sometimes I can’t even say because we do not have a set plan but when we are together, things happen, elements fall into place and life is just uber beautiful.

Christmas in Sierra Leone is all i know!

The sight of familiar places and faces, warm hugs and smiles, cheers and laughter are all the elements of Christmas for me. The nights that ends in jaw-aching laughter, the loud mornings from music blaring from the sitting room or from the CD sellers and okada (commercial motorcycles) drivers opposite my house, the afternoons spent buying all sorts of street food from smoke fish to jelly to oontoo…from the comfort of my veranda. The nights that end on the kankankan stand (Roasted meat) and the nights that are sealed with plates of fried rice and chicken…

The nights that are sealed with plates of fried rice and chicken…

The Sunday church service that is ever so blessed with carols and sermons, giving me a blast from my childhood. All dressed in the night’s gear, we do our little marathon to our local church on new year’s eve just before the clock strikes 12, thinking our little sins will be washed away for the new year…yea right!!

The Sunday Church Service...

Then the church bells and whistles and horns and chanting of ‘’Happy New Year’’ begins, sweeping little rays of happiness in the air. These are all the things that oozes Christmas for me. These are the times I live for and that is the Christmas I know.

 Give me back my Christmas! 

Christmas this year is going to be spent somewhere that is not home, somewhere that I can’t call my own, somewhere I’ll forever be a foreigner. This was not the dream. Christmas is going to be bitterly cold, possibly white and definitely not my Christmas that I am used to.

The turkey, the chicken, the holly, the lights, the white Christmas, the scarves and the gloves and the knee length boots was never my idea of Christmas. Neither was the dark, cold and gloomy weather a part of my description of Christmas.

The lights, the white Christmas, the scarves and the gloves...
not my idea of Christmas!

Ebola crippled my Christmas. I want my Christmas back!



For the longest of time, I have a description of Christmas in my head and in my mind but Ebola took that away from me.

 Ebola ripped me off my Christmas.

 Ebola stole my Christmas one-handedly.

 Ebola left me with no choice.

Sierra Leone - Sussex Beach!

When I say Christmas in Sierra Leone is all I know, please understand.

This is all i know...Lumley Beach!  -Sierra Leone

Because of the times we chose to make memories with the fun times we’ve had, the beautiful moments filled with laughter and endless joy I am able to write this article and walk down memory lane. Imagine if I didn’t have any memories to look back on, or moments of laughter to put a smile on my face or that pang of excitement to fuel my zeal for this walk….imagine.

I think I would have found it very difficult and then I would have realised something bitter and painful.


 I would have realised that Ebola have won.


While you’re here, soak up every ounce of beautiful, joy and laughter while you can. Bask in every ray of sunshine and happiness. Dance in the rain and enjoy the small moment. No matter how little and simple things and situation may seem, find time to be grateful because one day, what we took for granted, What was looked upon as nothing will become a daily prayer request.

Without memories like this...Ebola would have won! 

Soak up every ounce of beautiful!

Refuse to leave this world unhappy and unfulfilled. Refuse to drown in fear, pain and illness OR any financial constraints. Refuse to be labelled and defined by your scars. Live so well that death will know you have no interest in dying!

2015 we’re coming!

Ebola you have to find a new home. We’ve had it with you. We are claiming our Christmas back.


We are claiming our lives back, our families and our country back. We will fight you with every ounce of strength left in us. Some of us, Sierra Leone was all we had but you ruthlessly took it away from us….and left us crying.

Ebola you ripped us off our festive season, birthdays and anniversaries, businesses and livelihood. Why? You snatched our whole lives right in front of our eyes.



I want my Christmas back. 



Ebola I am claiming my Christmas back. Sierra Leoneans and all our neighbouring countries that have been deprived of the festive season and so many other things, lets hang on to the good times. Let’s remember what it once used to be. Let’s allow those memory to propel us into a better 2015.

Let’s allow these memories to propel us into a better 2015.

 ~Sierra Leone, Lumley Beach

Let’s pray hard and never lose hope. Let’s change our attitude and act like Ebola is real and out to kill. Let’s not be foolish but conscious, conscious enough to know that with God all things are possible but God helps those who helps themselves.

Africa shall rise again. West Africa shall thrive again. Our lives and losses shall be restored in thousand folds because Our God is not dead.

Let’s just use this time to thank God for our lives and praise Him for what he is yet to do. In all situation be grateful.

Christmas in Sierra Leone is all I know and now I am claiming my Christmas back!












We are done feeling sorry for ourselves, 
we are done crying.
It's time to wipe our tears 
and take action!

Plausible action to claim and restore our Christmas back!

Merry christmas & 

a Prosperous New Year

Till then



Xoxo

My definition of Paradise

Allow me to introduce my Paradise...its name is

S I E R R A    L E O N E

Beautiful Beaches, golden sand, accommodating people with a heart of gold. Blessed with natural resources beyond measures...diamond, bauxite, iron ore and gold. It's always a sight to behold, whether it's a stroll along the beach or just watching the sunset. Trees dancing to the rhythm of the wind and sunshine to add that extra humph to your day. Oh the memories!

Let Me Explain......

Sierra Leone...Yes! That is my definition of paradise. I am sure your curious minds are now running a riot thinking why would anyone called Sierra Leone a PARADISE?

Well calm your minds because I’m about to explain just why a country not widely known or a country so small can be defined as paradise. It is not impossible; in fact it’s the only paradise I know.

Living in England for the past years, I can comfortably say I know what comfort and luxury is and I have grown to appreciate it all but nothing comes close to when December draws near and it’s that time of the month again to board my flight to Freetown, Sierra Leone. Do you know the kind of joy that overcomes my soul? No, you wouldn’t know but maybe by the time I finish my explanation you will get the gist.  Leggoo

I hate parting with my hard earned cash but I spare no expense in buying my not-so-cheap ticket to The Lion Mountain, Sierra Leone...because what I get back in return is priceless compared to the price of the ticket. My friend you cannot put a price on Paradise but true say, tickets need to be cheaper so I can be going as often as I wish. Hmmm......why don’t I pack my bags and go for good, now that would be a lasting solution isn't? Soon…..Very soon. :)

Landing in Sierra Leone, everyone on board the flight sings local chants, depending on the time of the season. Most of the time the flight is 99% Sierra Leoneans and the rest doesn't normally have much choice but to join in any way they can, even if its just by smiling. You know what they say…if you can’t beat em, join em. Now how many flights do you go on that passengers sing on their arrival? None, except if you're going on a school trip or maybe a part of a football team or something of the sort. Well, what can i say, sierra Leoneans are pretty amazing people so expect nothing short of amazement. This is a priceless moment and it goes to show generally how happy people are just returning back home, even if it's for a short time.

However, if you are still half asleep as you step out of the plane, the slap across your face from the hot air is bound to wake you up. If that doesn’t then I don’t know what will. Crazily, that moment of suffocation is one I always look forward to. (I am perfectly OK, all my screws are in place ...don’t worry).

Getting your luggage: Oh the struggle!!  This part is not for the faint hearted. Picture this...it's hot and sticky. Noisy and chaotic. Packed and not well ventilated...My friend it's the World War 2 all over again! My stress level rises to an immeasurable height and for a brief moment I asked myself, what am I doing here?! Nonetheless, this is quickly forgotten. My time spent in Sierra Leone erases the above chaotic moments from my memory...well till the next time of course.

After all the rush of getting my luggage, I am then greeted at the airport by my ever smiling cousins or sometimes my friends. After that luggage mayhem, the smiles and excitement on their faces is an antidote. That moment again is priceless. By the time I board my speed boat to go across from Lungi Airport to Freetown I am just filled with excitement for a fun-filled holiday.

As the Taxi pulls up, my relatives will start a shout of joy ….e don kam, e don kam, e don kam which in my local means she is here! That is also their own way of saying thanks to God for your safe arrival, although prayers never go amiss. No matter how hungry you are…that prayer is going to take place. Sorry eh, that hunger just have to wait!

Living in England you don't really eat your local as much as you would like neither do you get the same authentic taste you'll get from all the fresh vegetables and ingredients used to prepare a serious local...in my case Cassava leaves which is my all-time favourite. My dearest aunt knows the deal and I was pleasantly greeted by a 5 man portion rice and cassava leaves, no meat or chicken....just fish! Oh yea…..just what the doctor prescribed. After the destruction of that dish, it was bed time seen that my plans of going clubbing was sadly thrashed when my flight got delayed...and I was knackered!



An authentic plate of Cassava Leaves on a bed  of Rice!

There’s is only one word that can define my bed in Africa….. Magic! Massive, fresh linings combined with a full stomach of authentic cassava leaves. The tiredness from such a long flight aid a good night's sleep as well. Ha my friend it doesn't get better.....and it was good night. Zzzzzz

First day I am awoken by the glare of the sunlight glistening through my window. Oh the joy! That’s not all, the cock crowing, my cousins shouting my name from down the corridor who can't contain their excitement, the sound of my neighbours' music blaring through our local radio, and the mixed but all so familiar flavours of different local dishes from my neighbours and my auntie’s kitchen. This and many more are my wake up calls. Who needs an alarm?

Breakfast is just the best. Freshly baked bread from the corner shop hits the spot each time.  As I attack the bread with vengeance I worry about my gums sometimes.  This is washed down by an ice cold bottle of Vimto on my veranda as I watch the people go by. You wouldn’t understand! The feeling is heavenly!

Believe me when I say, the Simplest things bring the greatest joy and contentment. If my clothes needed ironing i don't need to wait around for electricity and don’t you worry there is always a backup plan. The good ole gose... (makeshift Iron) to the rescue!!! This is a traditional metal piece used to iron clothes. It can be heated by charcoal or sometimes we just put over the stove for emergency service. This is a trusted device my friend, don’t fret. It does an awesome job. The availability of electricity is never an issue, as long as my Nokia 1100 is fully charged I am covered for at least two days.

The good ole goos (Makeshift iron)
The simple things!

What time is it? It’s that time to hit the streets of Freetown and the lovely beaches. By now my friends would have heard about my arrival and they know the deal...we hit the beaches by day and night clubs by night. In short, we paint the town red. Moreover, I am bound to see familiar faces and lots of catching up to do which I always look forward to. Nearest to my house is Lumley Beach which I can comfortably walk to in less than 15 minutes. Now tell me how blessed I am.

Sunset at Sussex Beach- Sierra Lone

My favourite beach however has to be Number 2 beach where the sand is silver and the sea is blue. I am not playing, this is utter paradise.  It's a trek from my house, even in a car but I always look forward to my time at Number 2 Beach. Too bad I can’t swim...even if my life depended on it! The seafood you get there spells delicious. Fresh from the boats, well-seasoned and tasty too... I am talking about real authentic flavours. The taste is absolutely glorious. Oh lawd...all i can say is ''Take Me Back''  What do you know about my paradise?? Ha!

Authentic Flavours From Sierra Leone - Fried rice and selection of Fishes.

The night life is very much alive...the beach bars, clubs and restaurants serve cold beer and our local Star beer never fails to satisfy and you won’t forget it in a hurry. The music, the atmosphere and the night vibes are to die for. You think New York is the city that never sleeps...you my friends haven’t been to Sierra Leone. We don’t sleep; we party day and night, dusk till dawn, seven days a week!

Basking in the sun at Lumley Beach with our local Star Beer at hand!

Let me quickly add that the sun doesn't play. I am dark already but it never fails to give me that extra added shine making me look like a fine charcoal. For this reason that ice-cold, thirst-quenching water always comes in handy. The way i suck the life out of that packet of water ...

The parties, the beach outings, the chilling...need I say more? We party hard. How can I forget the day we arrived home 7:30 am after one of the best nights. It was a party to remember, good company just added that extra laughs and fun, alcohol overflow kept the mood on form, good music kept me on the dance floor all night, the vibes was simply awesome.....what more can I ask for. My Paradise…

Oh I haven’t told you how accommodating Sierra Leoneans are. With our charming gents and beautiful ladies.... you will never feel like a stranger. Sierra Leone is HOME to all. For every time I visit, I make new friends. The vibe is always refreshing.

In Sierra Leone the daily flex is called Hakuna Matata - No worries!  Nothing…. Absolutely nothing bothers my soul! I don’t go on social networks and yet I don’t feel bored, I don’t have the luxury I have in England and yet I am filled with contentment, I don’t wear makeup but my skin is flawless (the sun does wonders, even my pimple makes a run for the hills), I don’t have electricity nor efficient water supply and yet I don’t feel deprived. Need I say I always put on extra pounds by the time I hit Heathrow airport?  I think you would have guessed that anyway.

On a more serious note, the simple things fill me with utmost joy. I dread the goodbyes, leaving my loved ones behind and not knowing when next I’ll see them. Despite all the means of communication these days, Whatsaap, Skype, text, phone calls etc. None of them come close to the feeling you get when you actually hug them in your arms. For that reason, I always try to fill my holidays with beautiful, lasting memories that i will hold close to my heart till next time.

Remember life is not about the big happenings, it is about the little simple moments that you look back on and realise just how blessed you are. You don’t need a lot to be happy, just enough to be content because a lot is not equivalent to happiness.

My friend, Happiness is everything , everything else is overrated.

Sierra Leone is my paradise, my solace and a place filled with all my childhood memories so going back is always a pleasure for me. Ti's true what they say.......No Place Like Home!

Do you have a solace, a place where you call paradise? Lets hear about it.

Till next time...

xoxo