Jerry Davis told me that he too kept a journal while he was in Sierra Leone. He is actually teaching himself to type so he can transcribe his journal for us and for his children and grandchildren, and will send sections periodically as he gets them worked up. Below is the first installment. It’s out of chronological order, but he remembered visiting Maureen, Marvin, and me in Pujehun, and forwarded that entry.
As I did with Hap’s diary, I’ve created a special page for Jerry’s memoir. You can access it by going to the top of the right side of the blog, under “Pages,” and clicking on “Jerry’s Journal.” I’ll include a small portion here, and you can go to his page to see the conclusion. Thanks for all the work, Jerry, and for sharing your memories! - Tony
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Journey to Pujehun
Yesterday, with English friends Jill Byrant and Ron Oliver, and Najar, a Lebanese friend, Bob Rawson--my Peace Corps housemate--and I went on a journey to Pujehun. Pujehun lies about 100 miles south of Bo. We were going to visit Marvin Hanson and Tony and Maureen Russell, fellow Peace Corps volunteers from our group.
One of the unique experiences of our trip was crossing the Sewa River. There was no bridge; instead, vehicles had to cross on a hand-propelled ferry. Ropes and pulleys extended across the river. Ron Oliver drove his truck onto the flat boat, and African workers pulled the boat across the river by sliding a slotted wooden block with a long wooden handle onto the cable and then tugging against it. We arrived on the other side of the river without any problems.
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| PC Jeep crossing the Sewa River; photo by Paul Chantrey |
It was the dry season, and the road to Pujehun seemed long and dusty. The dust and thick green jungle seemed to envelop Ron’s truck. I was struck with how different the environment was from the pine and spruce trees of Maine, and I suddenly longed to see them again.
2 comments:
Paul Chantrey sent the following note with his photo: "This is the ferry crossing that Jerry mentioned in his journal entry. By angling the ferry, the ferrymen would use the river's current to take the ferry across the river. To come back, they would reverse the angle by using the cables attached to the long cable that stretched across the river."
Erick Lorenz wrote, "Angling the ferry to move it is a fairly old technology. I once rode a replica ferry that worked that way in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The premise was that this technique was used by pioneers in the 1800s.
"If my memory serves me correctly, I crossed a river in Sierra Leone where the ferryman pulled the ferry across using a hook on the cable. I may even have a picture, if and when I dig down to it."
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