Community Venture

One of the beaches Mercy Shippers frequent in Sierra Leone is River #2 Beach.  Despite the fact that it's difficult to get to (b/c the roads are so bad) and that there are entrance, chair/umbrella/hut fees, its beauty draws tourists every weekend.

Before this weekend, I didn't see the point in going there over other free and easy-to-get-to beaches.  However, last weekend we met George, who lives and works on the beach.  George told us how the community has come together to make their beautiful resource beneficial to the nearby village as well as giving tourists a comfortable respite.

The community decided to charge the various fees that I listed above and use the money to benefit everyone.  They first used the money to provide electricity to everyone in the village and the resort area.  Then they built 3 wells so everyone could have clean water and functional showers.  At some point they bought solar panels!  It's quite amazing.  The other guest houses I've stayed at only allow electricity for ~two hours at night, but we had it the whole weekend!  

George said the community meets every Monday to divide the money from the previous week.  They decide the amounts that go to each of the families in the village (someone from every family has a job on the beach/at the guest house/at the restaurant), what needs to be saved for X investment, and talk about general management issues.  The next things they want to build are a primary school and a community center.  They also vote on a management council every three years.

George went on to tell us about the war.  He said they dug a big hole in the beach and buried all their cutlery, plates, their generator, anything of value, so that the rebels wouldn't have anything to steal.  They also put their women and children on boats and sent them to Banana Island (where I went a few weeks ago) because the rebels didn't have boats and thus couldn't harm them.

It was amazing to talk to George, hear his stories, and see a beautiful and amazing community venture running at full steam to provide a better future for all of them.