Development Abound in Salone

Those of you that know the Copper Pot team personally know that we are made up of former athletes. Ok, athletes might be a stretch—let’s call us gym class heroes. Today, we merged our athletic prowess with our love of cinema. The result? An epic shoot in Sierra Leone’s national stadium amidst a downpour.

Let’s back it up for a minute. Last time we were in Salone, it was April, which, apparently, is the best time to visit. We can get down with that. The weather was gorgeous; albeit a bit hot and sticky, but beautiful blue skies met gently breaking waves that lapped against the shore in front of our hotel. Soccer matches were strewn about the beach. Countless beach bars serving Star beer, chicken, fish and rice dotted the white sand. When the tide came in, it washed over our feet as we sat in plastic chairs. It was, simply put, quite delightful.

Flashfoward to the Salone return of the Brownstones crew. We had longed for a return since we left in 2008 and once the final brick of the school was put in place, it was only a matter of time before our return. When it turned out that the day the new school opened for business fell only two days after an African Cup of Nations qualifier between Sierra Leone and Egypt, we figured we had to be there, rainy season be damned. Plus, we had heard we’d be here at the tail end of the monsoons—that might not be the correct meteorological term, but that sure is what it felt like.

It was a simple start to the day. After sleeping til well after noon like a bunch of college kids, Clay, Chad and Dave opted to go for a run along the beach road to jolt themselves back to life. Naturally, it was at this instant Salone chose to show us how vicious her rainy season could be. Torrents of rain poured down upon us, giant puddles covered the road, sand was ripped out to sea. It was a hell of a start.

Soon thereafter, we met with Abu, our guide and driver for the trip. Abu had come recommended to us by Schools for Salone, an organization that you know all about if you know anything about Copper Pot or BROWNSTONES TO RED DIRT. If you happened to find your way here as a new reader, suffice it to say that SFS is the amazing US-based organization that made our dream of building a school here in Salone a reality. We love them. You should too.

The first task we needed Abu’s expertise with was exchanging money. Not hard, you say? Well, last time, when we exchanged money, we did it on what was commonly referred to as the “black market.” This process consisted of parking in a shady part of town and having our then-guide haggle over exchange rates with men who certainly didn’t spend their days as bank tellers. Better rates were given for newer bills and higher denominations. It was a baffling process that seemed to take forever.

Today, Abu told us it wouldn’t take “any time at all”—good news, considering we lingered a bit long at lunch and thought we were running about a half hour late to meet Kei Kamara at the national stadium.

Knowing that what seems like a “short while” in West Africa can seem agonizingly long to an American, we hopped in the car, doubt coursing through the SUV that would serve as our transport for the week. We were in for a shock.

Not only did the drive take less than 10 minutes, but the route that we took followed the same we drove every day to the Children in Crisis Primary School. We were blown away by the changes. In three short years, developments had sprung up all along the road. Yes, there is still unimaginable poverty—that hadn’t changed. But there were signs everywhere of foreign and local investment: developments like condo complexes, shopping centers and gas stations. It was simply amazing.

When Abu pulled into a supermarket where we were to change money, we all pooled our cash, expecting the black market back alleys we knew from last time. We started to hand it to him, knowing he’d get a better rate, but he told us the four of us should change our own money. Admittedly skeptical, we walked in to be greeted by a friendly staff and an exchange rate better than advertised than what we saw in the US. We poked around the store and were surprised to see that the store offered many of the comforts of home—from Snickers bars to Jack Daniels and Gilette razors. These brands may be thought to be international and readily available, but last time we were here, we have no such memory.

Of course, there’s a lot that can be written by a lot smarter people about development in a third world country than the chuckleheads here at Copper Pot. And, of course, as of this point in the trip, our shooting schedule hasn’t brought us much past the reaches of the tourist section of Freetown, so we have yet to see how far the development extends, but it was encouraging to see the growth. In our film, Balla, one of the children from Sierra Leone, says that Sierra Leone is a good place and “everyone should come to Salone.” In the last three years, it seems like that message has gotten out to the people. It seems like people are starting to believe in Salone again—from what we saw three years ago, there’s no reason not to.

Much love,

The Brownstones Crew