Hello, My name is Mario Patiño and I am a fourth year International Studies major at the The City College of New York. In two days time, I will fly to London, Gatwick, and then I’m off to Freetown Sierra Leone. It’s been a few months since my last visit, and clearly I couldn’t stay away. Last summer I interned with the Center for Coordination of Youth Activities in Freetown, where we organized around the upcoming elections, and worked towards ensuring a successful and nonviolent outcome. From July-August 07, CCYA held voter education programs, focus groups and a National Youth Dialogue Conference to promote nonviolence during the electoral process. The elections were a remarkable success, and my experiences in this amazing country were incredibly fulfilling.
Over the spring I will be interning with Forum of Conscience, a grassroots organization that is implementing a local reconciliation initiative called “Fambul Tok”, krio for family talk. I will be based in Makeni, but most of the work will be conducted in rural areas across various districts. This blog is to document my experiences in Salone. I will mainly speak to the research and work I will be undertaking, but also expect to be peppered with a few anecdotes.
More to come soon.
January 24, 2008 at 2:44 am
How about an update man? I know internet access is limited but let us know whats going on!!
April 17, 2008 at 9:19 pm
My wife pointed out your website. I was a Peace Corps volunteer from 1968 to 1970 in Sierra Leone. Your wonderful descriptions bring back many fond memories. What the War did to this proud (and wonderful) country hopefully can be reversed by the work your are now involved in. Keep up the good work.