Beautiful Sierra Leone
Ranked #100 in Volunteering, #16,963 overall | Donates to KIVA, A Day of Hope
Kusheh ow di bohdi? The Calling Card of Beautiful Sierra Leone
Kusheh ow di bohdi? Literally translated to: Hello how's your body?
This lens is about Beautiful Sierra Leone. Chock a block full of beautiful pictures and engaging videos. Her people are the kindest individuals I've ever met. Time and time again people who've travelled the world and back tell me how kind people from Sierra Leone are. I imagine it has much to do with their history and how is it possible to be so kind after so much hardship?
Who knows. It's a lovely country, like much of Africa. This lens is also about three organizations that are helping people in Sierra Leone. I like and believe in these organizations: Kiva, a microfinance company that you've might have heard about on Oprah or read about in Bill Clinton's book "Giving"; First Step, a grass roots orphange in Bo that friends of mine started; Friends of Sierra Leone, an organization of Peace Corps Volunteers and those they knew and touched along the way from their time in Sierra Leone.
Any item you buy from this lens helps someone in Sierra Leone or it helps Kiva directly.
Photo by Lindsay Stark
What the Heart sees, the Camera captures of Beautiful Sierra Leone
Photos by Lindsay Stark
Here's a quick way to keep Sierra Leone beautiful!
Microfinance is the coolest way to help people help themselves.
It really is the gift that keeps on giving!
Beautiful Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
A slideshow of the beautiful people of Sierra Leone February 2007
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KIVA: Sierra Leone
When I 1st read about Kiva I signed up and loaned $ to a couple entrepreneurs in Sierra Leone.
Amazing what $25, the cost of a large pizza with the works, can do and all it took was a Click here.
What's really, really, really cool though about microfinance? After the loan is paid back you can lend it out again. Your $25 could end up helping 2 people a year around the world. In ten years that could be 20 people. A cost of $25 to you and the buying power of $500. Now THAT'S cool.
A hand-up, as opposed to a hand-out. Cool? Indeed!
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byWhat is microfinance?
Banks to the poor
Perhaps this lens on microfinace will help to see if it's something that makes sense to you. It makes so much sense to me personally that this year I gave 21 gift certificates to Kiva.-
Microfinance - Empowering the world's poorest people
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Microfinance is often considered one of the most effective, flexible, and sustainable strategies in the fight against global poverty. Microfinance consists of making small loans, usually less than $200, to individuals, usually women, to establish or e...
Micro-Enterprise
Hope Micro provides loans for individuals in Sierra Leone with great success.
Runtime: 8:57
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"Is it for me?"
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Charity Fraud
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What could be worse than a hurricane or house fire? Charity fraud. Every day thousands of charitable organziations across the world struggle with their own demons to keep donations in the right hands and keep needy people using them for t...
Cool Website! by Glenn Elert
- The English Alphabet
- This is a recitation that a primary student taught me. One student plays the part of a learned professor who is then challenged by another student to recite a proverb ("parable" in Krio) for each letter of the alphabet. Those familiar with public transports in West Africa will recognize many of these sayings...
- Salone Scrapbook
- Pre-war images of Sierra Leone taken between 1987 and 1990. See what the country looked like when I lived there. Categories include snapshots, panoramas, currency, and product labels.
- Sounds of Salone
- Traditional musical selections from the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Gbondokali ceremonies (Limba) and Tegbe performances (Temne).
WHERE IS SIERRA LEONE
A variety of map links will digitally transport you to Sierra Leone. Met a friend from Bo? Have to take a trip to Freetown? Read an article about First-Step? Saw a picture of the Turtle Island?
A click and you're there. Viola!
- Merriam-Webster: Map of Sierra Leone
Under British colonial control Sierre Leone was founded as a home for freed slaves. With independence on April 27, 1961, the flag was hoisted. Its stripes stand for agriculture and the mountains (green); unity and justice (white); and the aspiration to contribute to world peace, especially through the use of the natural harbor at Freetown (blue).
- LonelyPlanet: Map of Sierra Leone
Map of Sierra Leone and travel information about Sierra Leone brought to you by Lonely Planet.
- worldatlas: Map of Sierra Leone
Basic Map
- utexas:Map of Sierra Leone
Topography map
- infoplease: Map of Sierra Leon
Map of Sierra Leone & articles on flags, geography, history, statistics, disasters current events, and international relations.
- Sierra Leone Airports
Sierra Leone Airport Map, Sierra Leone Map, Sierra Leone in World Map...
- National Tourist Board
Not only where it is, but what to expect with the weather, the dress, the clubs, the historical sites, the embassies and much, much more...
FISHING
Another Great Catch - Sierra Leone
Another Great Catch - Lumley Beach, Sierra Leone
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Fashion! Culture! Arts! Fishing!
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Sierra Leone Video Showcase
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Kusheh ow di bodi? Hello and how are you? Life is good and welcome to videos about and/or made in Sierra Leone. Salone is a beautiful country. Much maligned for her blood diamond history which is relatively small compared to the scale of humankind. T...
Sierra Leone - Jimmy B - Beautiful
Time to share Beautiful Sierra Leone!
AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byCURRENCY IN SIERRA LEONE
- Leones and Cents
- CURRENCY CONVERTER
The legal currency in Sierra Leone is LEONES & CENTS
100 CENTS = 1 LEONE - Lonely Planet Destination Guide
- * cost of average meal * cost of average motel room
- Sierra Leone - bank notes - image gallery
- What does SL money look like? This link will show you.
"Feed a mind!"
Organizations like Books For Africa have been sending needed books to Africa and you can help simply by Clicking Here or by visiting BetterWorld.
Grab a cup of tea...
If you loved Sierra Leone (Cultures of the World), you might also enjoy:
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
<i><i>My new friends h more...1 point
Sierra Leone at the End of the Twentieth Century: History, Politics, and Society by Earl Conteh-Morgan, Mac Dixon-Fyle
Sierra Leone's current predicament can best be und more...0 points
Black Man's Grave: Letters From Sierra Leone by Stewart
The memoir and the movie have only scratched the s more...0 points
Living Like a Refugee
This is a group of musicians who lived for years a more...0 points
FIRST STEP CHILDREN'S FUND
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Sweet Children of Sierra Leone
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Many organizations and individual people are doing what they can to ease the hunger of flesh, spirit, and mind of the orphaned children in Sierra Leone. Read (Hear) the stories! Look (See) the children! Engage (Act) your heart to the sweet, sweet chi...
Sierra Leone Through Lindsay Stark's Eyes
- Sierra Leone - a photoset on Flickr
- Lindsay Stark has an amazing eye. See for yourself!
"baby formula" bib
This is so cute! They've got other designs and I think they're all adorable.
FRIENDS OF SIERRA LEONE (FoSL)
It started with a conversation. I have a friend who was born in Sierra Leone and now calls Canada his home. He was talking about all the Peace Corps Volunteers he had grown up with in Sierra Leone.
It amazed me that he remembered them all as if it was yesterday. He spoke of them like family...Big Jim, Little Jim, Peggy, Michael, etc. He remembered full names, what they liked, how they helped him, who they married, how many children they had, and in some cases where they were today.
His brother had told him that there was a group called Friends of Sierra Leone, but he had never found them on the internet. When I got a minute I did a search and found a variety of links. It wasn't until I opened Friends Of Sierra Leone that I thought this might be the website. I recognized many of the names that he had told me in his wonderful stories of growing up. I sent him the link. It WAS the site and now he's able to keep in touch with just a click of a mouse. The internet is amazing!
A WOMAN & A MAN

What? I laugh as he repeats. "Coo-shay at a body (that what it sounds like to me). Next time you see him, tell him that. He'll love it." I continue to laugh as I'm not sure what he's saying or if it's something I should repeat. Let alone to a man I like.
Again I repeat, "What does it mean?"
Apparently, in Sierra Leone this is a typical greeting. Like when we say "Hello. How are you?" kusheh ow di bodhi is Krio, which is a creole language derived from English. It literally means, "Hello. How's your body?"
Well, it sounds okay. Although I'm still laughing. I mean is this really something I want to say to man I like? I mean, okay, IT is something I'd like to say to a man I like...just don't want to say it if it means the wrong thing. You know?
A quick internet search leads me to the correct spelling. I practice and practice. Then, a week later, the day arrives. A knock on my door and there's my handsome friend. "Kusheh ow di bohdi?" springs forth from my lips and is met with the biggest smile ever along with a laugh and a murmur..."heh-heh-heh. kusheh ow di bohdi. heh-heh-heh. Where did you learn that?" as he hugs me tight.
The internet is great. As are people we meet along the way that just happen to have friends from Sierra Leone. A friend was able to tell me what to say. The internet helped me to spell it. Nice. Very nice.
KRIO SOUNDS LIKE
The joys of adult literacy in Sierra Leone
An adult learner, speaking in Krio, shares her excitement about learning to read.
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LINKS YOU MIGHT ENJOY
- Creole - English Dictionary
CREOLE - ENGLISH GLOSSARY
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Learn Krio
In this section, you can first look at the writing of Krio
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Sierra Leone Web
Get in touch with other friends and family from Sierra Leone or that you met when you were in Sierra Leone. This link is one of the most comprehensive.
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The Special Court of Sierra Leone
Official web-site of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
- Africa Report: African Countries
Sierra Leone QUICK FACTS
Resourceful
VIP Toilets in Sierra Leone
How a Ventilation Improved Pit (VIP) toilet works, and the trials and tribulations of hanging doors.
Runtime: 6:24
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CReaTiviTY AbOUNds...
This is about artists.
ARTistic
It Fit When I Was a Kid (Sierra Leone video)
The destruction of African culture is seen through the eyes of late 1800's slave footage, a documentary on the Sierra Leone diamond crisis, home video footage, and "Africa Speaks," a documentary from 1930 with music from The Liars.
Runtime: 4:26
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MUSIC & RADIO OF AFRICA
- SLMTV Music Videos
- Sierra Leone Music Television
- Club Slmtv
- DJ mixes - Start the PARTY!!!
- SLMTV RADIO
- SLMTV RADIO: Where Salone Artists Are Guaranteed To Be Heard!
- African Internet Radio - the best mix of music from Africa and beyond
- Send a dedication now - Song selector - Programme schedule - Latest African news - Latest African sports
- Sierra Leone : Music
- The Portal of African and Caribbean Cultures : news, music, arts and culture, society, travel
- Sierra Leonean Music : Sierra Leone Radio : CafePress.com
- Sierra Leonean Music - The latest music, the hottest hits from the biggest artists in Sierra Leone.
- AfricanHipHopRadio.com - monthly African hip hop radio shows
- Looking for HIP HOP? Then check out this link!
Can you feel the beat?
MUSIC
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Baka Beyond Video Showcase
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Photo by Izzyexile Have you ever heard of Baka Beyond? They're a band made up from 6 countries in Africa Europe. I've only heard of them in vague whispers. Never have seen them in person or been to a concert. Baka Beyond on YouTube blows me away. If...
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DRY YAI Video Showcase
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Photo by twi-ny
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Chosan Video Showcase
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Photo by Ado Mu
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Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars Video Showcase
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Have you ever been to a Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars concert? Have you ever heard a song by Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars? Do you know anything at all about Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars? The Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars personal story...
MUSIC
Check out what's new on calabash music!
BLOGS YOU MIGHT ENJOY
- live from freetown
live from freetown...audio, video, and words from freetown, sierra leone
- Sierra Leone Blog
Sierra Leone Blog... Travel Articles, feedback from trips and general articles...
Thursday, September 06, 2007...- The Beautiful Feet
The Beautiful Feet... After 2 1/2 years of red tape and bureaucracy, this is the story of our move to Sierra Leone to reunite our daughter Elisha with her only biological brother, Joseph.
- Sandra's Latest
Sandra's Latest...a spot for my updates, thoughts, photos and whatever else I would like to share...
- Sweet Sierra Leone
Sweet Sierra Leone...07 September, 2007
Sussex...Florence Restore & Franco's Diving Center- Nine Million Children Refugees
Nine Million Children Refugees
- Mel on a Mission
act justly ~ love mercy ~ walk humbly
- Jill and Dan in Sierra Leone
Jill and Dan in Sierra Leone...Monday, August 13, 2007... National Presidential Elections were held throughout the country last Saturday. We haven't mentioned it because there was so much uncertainty about how things would go... and lots of warnings to be prepared for the worst.
- Sierra Leone
I have accepted a placement in Sierra Leone, a third world developing country located in western Africa.
- Sacha Nandlall (English)
As all good things come to an end...Thursday, July 26th, 2007
- Dreams Of Africa
Dreams of Africa Archives
- Sierra Connection - Sierra Leone, Africa
SierraConnection.com is a one-stop community for a wide range of activities and interests of Sierra Leoneans the world over. It endeavors to showcase the achievements of Sierra Leoneans, preserve historic values, and foster trade.
- Gillian Caldwell / WITNESS in Sierra Leone
Gillian and Angelina Jolie in Sierra Leone to urge implementations of TRC's recommendations by the government...
- Sierra Leone - Blog Toplist
Articles about Sierra Leone by blogs
- War don done
I travelled to Freetown overland from Guinea where I am serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. A group of us went for one week for New Years. Freetown is a very cool West African city.
- Channel 4 - 1 2 1
121 is centred on international dialogues (using 'blog' technology) between paired individuals with similar concerns from the UK and other countries.
WELL? WOULD YOU?
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Would You Trade Your Daughter for a Cow?
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The very idea seems absurd, but for desperate families in parts of rural Africa, it's an all too common answer to a present-day economic problem. Thus, when a family runs out of food and sees no other solution, they will strike a deal with a neighbor...
ALL THAT'S FIT TO PRINT & THEN SOME
SANDE SOCIETY MASK
- Mende helmet mask - RAND AFRICAN ART
- ***excellent link for pictures of a variey of masks and more links***
Mende helmet mask "Bundu" or "Sowei" mask
Sande societySierra Leone and LiberiaIn sub-Saharan Africa only men are normally permitted on ritual occasions to wear wooden masks. This black helmet mask is worn exclusively by women. - Yale Peabody Museum: Treasures & Explorations: The African Roots of the Amistad Rebellion
- The African Roots of the Amistad Rebellion:
Masks of the Sacred Bush - artsmia > Education
- * Fun & Fast site *
5 Facts About Masks - Behind the Glass: Compare/Contrast Art: Jimi Jones Sketches
- * interesting *
These are photos of sketches drawn by Jimi Jones, an accomplished Cincinnati artist. - Mende drawing page
- * drawings are neat *
Mende Concepts of Beauty A series of representational drawings of various Mende masks.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE BEAUTY?
KUSHEH ME BACK
EVERY DAY CAN BE A DAY FOR CHANGE
IOW: Just A Pun
- ineffable: Dictionary.com Word of the Day
- ineffable: incapable of being expressed.
by Reggie_Marigold

Kusheh (Hi)! I'm Reggie. My owner, and the silly cat are around somewhere. Until they get here, I like walks to the park, running off-le...
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