Sierra Leone Adventures: part I

[zhulik881]

Sierra Leone. My post-college, London-based private equity employers asked me to assist a portfolio CEO with various aspects of managing a gold exploration company into which they had invested GBP6 million. I had spent a summer internship working for these same shareholders on an iron ore project in the Republic of the Congo—a summer during which I cultivated an appreciation for the opportunity to travel to and experience life in a country most people where I’m from see only on the National Geographic channel. I remembered the thrill I felt in Congo and felt excitement while I strapped on my work boots, packed my bags and headed for the airport.

The flight to Freetown was an appetizer to life in Africa: the plane hit strong turbulence—it swerved radically right, it felt like we were in a free fall, regained control, then fell again—this time to the left: in this fashion the plane fell right, stabilized, fell left—two, three times—the lady next to me, dressed head to toe in local garb, screaming.

I observed that, as compared to people from Western countries, Sierra Leoneans were much more expressive vocally and emotionally. We have a repression in the West that doesn’t exist in Sierra Leone—to them, the concept of insecurity is foreign; they don’t feel the need to hide their feelings around others the way we bottle our thoughts and feelings inside, hiding from others that an unpleasant experience. Our cage of sophistication doesn’t imprison the living experience of the Sierra Leonian.

The Freetown airport is separated from the city by water—when you land, to get to town you hope for good weather because you’re taking a boat. The bad weather scenario becomes dangerous quickly because a storm’s waves and lightning are much more powerful than the flimsy boat you take to get to shore and the risk of capsize is substantial.

Off the boat I was greeted by a few guys in Toyota Land Cruisers and we made our way to the compound. Exploration and mining companies are typically set up such that the companies are run out of a central compound in the capital city and the operations are managed on-site, the location of which is governed by where mineral deposits are located.

Freetown is a city built in a tropical environment—it’s hot and humid. Visually, the city is a mix of buildings and huts, the huts look like little square brick structures with a wavy one-pieced tin roof that serves either as a living quarter or as a shop. Some of the roads are paved, some dirt and by far the favorite local way to travel is by moped.

The compound was completely walled off to the outside and protected by armed guards. The inside consisted of a kitchen, rooms for sleeping and an office.

So began my first full-time employment experience out of university.

 

[JustAnotherHuman1]

Cool story thanks for sharing. Definitely an unique opportunity, perhaps on par with any volunteering gig in the third world that employers are so keen on seeing. But also.. maybe I watched too many movies but a gold exploration project in Congo doesn’t exactly sound like a life insurance policy. Although it’s like 2023 so surely the security was pretty tight and locked down. Would you agree the risk of something going wrong was rather considerable on your trip? Also, what are the takeaways you gained from this experience?

 

[magellan1]

Amazing story! What motivated you to work on this project? Was it just because your employer requested that from you or had some personal reasons? There is a stereotype that people in Africa have a lower IQ and are dishonest. Did you meet some smart people or you felt intellectually superior to most of the people that you encountered there? Did the locals treat you well or they considered you "a rich person" and tried to trick you? Would you proactively seek more projects in Africa in the future or you would rather avoid that?

 

[zhulik881]

Cool story thanks for sharing. Definitely an unique opportunity, perhaps on par with any volunteering gig in the third world that employers are so keen on seeing. But also.. maybe I watched too many movies but a gold exploration project in Congo doesn’t exactly sound like a life insurance policy. Although it’s like 2023 so surely the security was pretty tight and locked down. Would you agree the risk of something going wrong was rather considerable on your trip? Also, what are the takeaways you gained from this experience?

When I was there it was around 2013. The risks were substantial. For example, I once asked my boss on-site what to do if I get bitten by one of the poisonous snakes I saw in our campsite. He told me if that happens to just sit down and wait for death. The issue was that the nearest hospital was an 8 hour drive from the campsite and even if we were able to get there in time the doctors would need to know the exact species of snake that bit me to deliver the correct antivenom. Incorrect antivenom delivery would likewise result in death. These were just the risks associated with snakebite. The risk of war, of being hit by lightning during one of the intense lightning storms that passed through our camp were some of the other substantial risks to which we were exposed. This being said, I wonder to what extent the ideas of safety about which we're brought up in our Western educational systems are really aligned with the truth and the extent to which they exist only to create an illusory sense of safety. What do you think?

 

[zhulik881]

Amazing story! What motivated you to work on this project? Was it just because your employer requested that from you or had some personal reasons? There is a stereotype that people in Africa have a lower IQ and are dishonest. Did you meet some smart people or you felt intellectually superior to most of the people that you encountered there? Did the locals treat you well or they considered you "a rich person" and tried to trick you? Would you proactively seek more projects in Africa in the future or you would rather avoid that?

My motivations were related to the fact that my father got me this job out of university and I thought he was cool at the time so I took it and, admittedly, I too thought it was cool to go to a place like Sierra Leone. I didn't measure the IQ of the local people with whom I worked, but I got the distinct impression that the locals were very clever and very attuned politically. For example, when my team learned that our shareholders were coming to town, they organised a strike against management in order to extract higher salaries. I view the idea of intellectual superiority as problematic and symptomatic of racism, therefore, were I to catch myself experiencing it, I would do work to remind myself that we are all people sharing space on earth and that we should treat all people equally, regardless of skin colour, nationality, ethnicity, or geographic location. I am from the US originally and growing up in the US I felt a racism between white and black people (this racism went both ways), while, to my surprise, in Africa I felt that that racism didn't exist. The locals treated me well and with respect and I did the same to them. I would definitely go back to Africa if I had the opportunity - while there, I felt alive, I appreciated the natural beauty of Sierra Leone and the energy of the people.

 

[JustAnotherHuman1]

When I was there it was around 2013. The risks were substantial. For example, I once asked my boss on-site what to do if I get bitten by one of the poisonous snakes I saw in our campsite. He told me if that happens to just sit down and wait for death. The issue was that the nearest hospital was an 8 hour drive from the campsite and even if we were able to get there in time the doctors would need to know the exact species of snake that bit me to deliver the correct antivenom. Incorrect antivenom delivery would likewise result in death. These were just the risks associated with snakebite. The risk of war, of being hit by lightning during one of the intense lightning storms that passed through our camp were some of the other substantial risks to which we were exposed. This being said, I wonder to what extent the ideas of safety about which we're brought up in our Western educational systems are really aligned with the truth and the extent to which they exist only to create an illusory sense of safety. What do you think?

That sounds scary, didn't you have any protective clothing or something? Well, I had never been to Africa, so you tell me, but from what I read in the news and based on your experiences, the West is a pretty safe place in comparison. Extreme example, but walking around in South Sudan vs London surely is very different.

 

[zhulik881]

That sounds scary, didn't you have any protective clothing or something? Well, I had never been to Africa, so you tell me, but from what I read in the news and based on your experiences, the West is a pretty safe place in comparison. Extreme example, but walking around in South Sudan vs London surely is very different.

Yes we wore steel-toed boots on the drill site, but walking around the camp, we usually wore normal clothes.

 

[JFH1]

Hi, I enjoyed your post and would love to know a bit more about what your job actually entailed once you were there. As the representative of the PE investor and without - I assume - any specific mining experience, what was your day to day role and how easy was it to achieve your objectives? How long did you/will you stay?

 

[zhulik881]

Hi, I enjoyed your post and would love to know a bit more about what your job actually entailed once you were there. As the representative of the PE investor and without - I assume - any specific mining experience, what was your day to day role and how easy was it to achieve your objectives? How long did you/will you stay?

Hi @JFH , thanks for your questions. My job entailed being a jack of all trades. Specifically, I was responsible for the drilling program, which meant that I led a team of 50 workers who would break the rig apart and carry it from position to position in the jungle. I also wrote some reports that were delivered to shareholders in London. It was tough for me to manage a team of local guys because they were doing extremely hard manual labour under the hot Sierra Leone sun and I was a blue-eyed young guy straight out of college. This was an amazing experience in honing my managerial skills, as I was forced to figure out how to motivate these guys and win their respect so they would work hard for me. I stayed a year, but we worked in a 5 weeks on 2 weeks off shift.