Last week was a time of celebration starting with Easter and ending with the Royal Wedding. In between this (on Wednesday), Sierra Leone just so happened to be celebrating 50 years of independence from the British (!). Independence is celebrated in some way every year but because this year marks the 50th anniversary, the city has been in a cleaning and painting frenzy for several weeks now. The day was marked with a huge gathering of thousands in the national stadium where a parade and speeches (including the president) was held. This week has pretty much been an ongoing celebration, culminating last night in a lantern parade with floats through the centre of town.
I think for many this milestone brings on a reflective mood. Is it really worth the huge celebrations in a country that is still so slow to progress, to stamp out the corruption that prevents the people benefiting from the huge wealth to be had from their natural resources? This country like so many others in Africa has so much to offer, so much potential. I pray that one day it will move forward in a way that benefits the people, not just those getting rich through greed and corruption.
As I mentioned, the whole town and surrounding area has been festooned for several weeks in the national colours (green, white and blue). Everything from trees to rocks have been painted and bunting strung from building to building. Below are some of the photos that I took when out and about, and the official 50th emblem.
Every available space has been painted!
Below is the centre of Freetown (with bunting). The large tree is called the Cotton Tree. The tree is known to have existed since 1787 and is believed to be where some of the first re settled slaves gathered to hold a thanksgiving service for their freedom. It is regarded as a symbol of the city and is very big!
Even without 'official' bunting, people in the more remote areas of Freetown still mark the occasion. (This is part way up the side of a valley on the way back from visiting a patient!)
The second celebration was, of course, the Royal Wedding. Being a multi national ship does not mean that there was no hype. On the contrary people of all nationalities were keen to watch. Unfortunately I had to be off ship seeing patients during the actual ceremony but many people did get to watch (handily the main part of the service was during morning break so a lot of people managed to sneak away from work for a few minutes!). Most of the viewing happened in our lounge area in 'mid ships' (the middle of the ship):
Later on in the evening, a tea party was held. Some of the British crew had made cup cakes and a re run of the wedding was shown on TV. Somehow I managed to miss most of the re run as I was manning our Starbucks cafe for the evening. This is a voluntary job which I quite enjoy - I've always wanted to learn to be a barrista! To get in the patriotic mood I wore a tea towel that we just so happen to have in our room. Not surprisingly, I got many comments.
The patriotic cupcakes!
Despite the fact that my British cynicism often comes out when it comes to all things patriotic, it did make me proud, just for a moment, to see so many people at home celebrating. But now I think I will return back to being cynical. It is, after all, what we British do best.
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