Sierra Leone in mind: It is nice to have two homelands (Wasef Awada)

Sierra Leone in mind: It is nice to have two homelands (Wasef Awada)

  Wassef Awada – Freetown – Sierra Leone

I have been absent from Sierra Leone for six continuous years. My last visit was in 2016, and I used to visit there before, perhaps annually, since 1986, and write about it, its history, events, people and the Lebanese expatriates there.

I loved this country located in the west of the African continent, and I have relatives, relatives and friends who spent three quarters of their lives in that distant land, and some of them were born and lived there and still are. I will be one of its citizens, as it has granted me Sierra Leonean citizenship, and I have a second homeland with the honor of belonging to its good people.

Since then, Sierra Leone has gone through difficult conditions and fierce wars, just as my first homeland is Lebanon. Not much has changed for me. I tried to resort to it and my family more than once, but my hometown was pulling me back, as the pollution of the press and media was robbing me of the profession of trouble.

Today I return to Sierra Leone after six years on a 25-hour flight through Istanbul, only because the head of Middle East Airlines did not “get in the mood” to allocate even a weekly flight between the two capitals, despite the many reviews and promises made. The direct flight between Beirut and Freetown does not take more than seven hours, and the Lebanese expatriates in Sierra Leone, whose number exceeds 15,000, must bear this hardship in their dissolution and their travels back home.

In any case, the Lebanese expatriates in Africa absorb the problems of their mother country. They came to “the ignorant of Africa” in the past in search of livelihood after the country deprived them of the most basic rights of a decent life. But Africa is no longer “ignorant” thanks to their efforts, fatigue, contributions and solidarity with their African brothers. Their homeland, which stole their toil, was “ignorant” in all fields: in politics, in services, in the economy, in medical treatment and hospitalization, in guarantees…to the end of the day.

Everything today in Sierra Leone, which I have lived through for nearly four decades, reminds you with regret of the reality of Lebanon: Electricity is here 24 on 24 in the main cities and towns, and work is actively underway to bring current to all remote villages, the internet is fast to meet all your needs, food and medical supplies are remarkably available, the main roads It is comfortably spacious, water flows abundantly into the houses, agriculture is active again after a long stagnation. This does not mean that everything is fine, you are in a country rich in natural resources that major countries struggle to exploit, but the official here is keen on his country and trying as much as possible push it forward.

During the past five years, President Maada Bio has worked to fight corruption and the corrupt, and recover a lot of the looted money, and he who carried out a military coup in 1996, and organized presidential elections for which he did not run (a rare phenomenon in the history of military coups), and left the country in search of knowledge and knowledge, and returned after For two decades, as soon as he developed his country and improved the conditions of his people, he was able to once again assume the leadership of the country democratically and by election.

Yes, democracy in most of the “jungles of Africa” has become a reality, and is no longer as fragile as it is in Lebanon and some of our Arab countries. The system in Sierra Leone is centralized, where elections are held every five years, and power is transferred naturally. Most of the 54 African countries called for military coups, after the African Union took a decision not to recognize any authority through a military coup. Africans are eagerly awaiting the elections.

Between Sierra Leone and Lebanon, a long-lived story of the age of the Lebanese diaspora.. At the end of the nineteenth century, the first Lebanese came to Sierra Leone from the town of “Rahba” in Akkar. Immigrations continued to this country, most of them from Akkar and the south, so the Lebanese community increased from thirty thousand at times. “(One of the small Sierra Leonean tribes). They woven intimate relations with the country’s leaders and people, and many of them were naturalized, and became part of the Sierra Leonean social fabric, but they, like the expatriates of Africa, remained closely linked to the motherland. More cruel and bitter.

The people of the community respect with a lot of loyalty the favor of Sierra Leone over them. The Sierra Leoneans are grateful for the role of the Lebanese in the renaissance of the country and the development of its people. President Mada Bio loves Lebanon, and he visited it more than once, and the last visit lasted about a month. He is preparing these days to run for elections and renew his mandate for another five years, as the presidential elections will be held next June. All indicators point to his renewal, as a result of the achievements he made to Sierra Leone over the past years.

 By the way, Sierra Leone is located on the southwestern coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea to the northeast. It has a tropical climate with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforest, with a total area of ​​71,740 square kilometers, and a population of about 8 million. Its capital and largest city is Freetown. The country is divided into five administrative regions divided into sixteen regions. It is a constitutional republic with a unicameral parliament, and a directly elected president.

Sierra Leone gained its independence from the United Kingdom on April 27, 1961. Its beach extends for 360 kilometers and is characterized by its breathtaking beauty and calmnesshis waves along the Atlantic Ocean. Rich in natural resources, including diamonds, which is the finest in the world. It is completely covered with forests, and there are many rivers. and mountains.

Since 1986 I have visited Sierra Leone a lot, and each time I have loved it more. It is always in my mind.. It is nice to have two homelands!!

Freetown – November 2022