Lillian’s View

As I was led around Fourah Bay College of the University of Sierra Leone an alumnus proudly pointed out the different buildings. “This is named for your former President, John Kennedy,” he boasted. “Here is the Math Department.” We wondered around campus, strolling through the Peace Garden and trudged up to the girls’ hostels only to turn around and make our way to the Communications Building. Inside class was in session while other students were hard at work in the radio studio. We meandered past the Wilson Theatre and ate cassava leaves in the cafeteria.
What a place to be proud of. Founded in 1827 it was the first and only European-style University in this region, earning Freetown the nickname “Athens of West Africa.” Many of Sierra Leone’s most influential have studied there, including President Koroma and Milton Margai. Clearly the university is a crucial step toward a bright future. Unfortunately Sierra Leone is one of the last countries in the world to cross the finish line when it comes to educating its population. The adult literacy rate here is 35.1 percent. Even worse is the statistic among the female population. Only 18 percent of the women in this country over the age of 18 can read English. It is more important than ever to get an education and those lucky few who make it to a university should be filled with pride and appreciation.
So why then does the male hostel, Block C, at Fourah Bay lay in ruins? Broken glass and graffiti-stained walls accompany chalk boards that still hold the markings of one math student’s attempt to study. The boy’s hostel here was devastated by its own students. Its own students! These are the same students that should cherish their campus as they are privileged enough to live there and receive one of the best gifts on earth education. According to the former student who guided me through the broken halls of the hostel a riot broke out in 2008 following the student election. The night that the results were declared chaos broke out. The White camp had won and would soon take the power away from the Black camp, which had been in control of the political arena. Unwilling to accept defeat intense fighting broke out. The night turned into a game of an eye-for-an-eye with members from both groups targeting individuals from the other. It is unclear who did the actual damage to the hostel. In the confusion students quickly grabbed their things from their rooms and fled. All that was left behind was looted. Two years later Block C still stands as monument of the craziness, frozen in time. Efforts to renovate appear to be nonexistent. What happened to the Athens of West Africa?
Walking through the destruction I was flabbergasted to learn that it all stemmed from a student election. When I attended the University of Washington this type of passion for student government was non-existent. It was campaign time two months ago on the campus in Seattle. Colorful signs with clever slogans decorated the lawns and the tiny group of involved students wore T-shirts promoting their candidate and set up booths that blared music in order to attract voters. Election Day came and went; the only sign of its existence was a story in the student newspaper.
Obviously students in Salone view take their university’s elections much different than we do in the States. I admire your passion. My guide book to your country reads “Sierra Leone lives by its politics.” Society is not passive but awake and watching closely. This is a good thing. But it is a shame when a fever for politics crosses the line and jeopardizes one of the institutions that this country should be most proud of. Don’t lose your passion but match it with passive resistance, not violence and destruction. Education is a very powerful tool. Already, in the short six days that I have been here I have met some very intelligent and driven individuals who are using their degree to help lift up their struggling country. The future of Sierra Leone is in the hands of its people. The work of NGOs and international aid will only go so far. If anyone is going to improve the conditions here it is going to be those who
By Lillian Tucker