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Since Childhood, travel has played a significant role in my life. My parents went to great lengths to make sure the family ventured on one or two excursions a year. It became tradition. By the age of 16, I had travelled throughout most of the continental United States and no matter our destination or mode of travel, it was always an exciting and educational journey. Thus, my curiosity for travel outside the U.S. boundaries was strong. I wanted to venture out and see amazing and wonderful things. One could say it was destined for me to travel and volunteer in a continent such as Africa.

I am the eldest son of two born and raised in the moderately sized city of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. My brother, Ryan, lives and works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and my parents, Gary and Cathy, reside in Rapids where my father is a ninth grade English teacher and my mother is a Nurse Practitioner. In December of 2001, at the age of 23, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree majoring in General Management and minoring in Political Science. I realized late in my college career that International Relations and Foreign Policy were my real passions, however, I decided to continue my business degree and incorporate politics through other activities.

Throughout my four and one-half years at Whitewater, I succeeded at keeping extremely active. On top of my studies, which did take place regardless of rumors, I participated extensively in the school’s outdoors club, social and academic organizations (no fraternities) and pursued my activism interest with the school’s chapter of Amnesty International. Three things aside from my scholastics, could best summarize my experience at Whitewater. First my social affairs, without which, college would not be college. The friends and relationships I made during those years meant a great deal to me. Not only did I meet some of my closest friends and my current girlfriend of nearly two and one-half years, but I also became much closer with my family. These relationships were pivotal in my plans for African sojourn. Without their support and guidance, the trip surely would not have been possible.

The second factor that profoundly shaped my college experience was my work at the Irvin L. Young Auditorium. Under the guidance and friendship of my boss and mentor Michael Morrissey, I was able to gain the confidence and expertise necessary to pursue future ambitions. Starting out as a volunteer usher, moving on to become a House Manager and eventually becoming an Audience Services Coordinator Intern not only bolstered my academic and career motives, but helped serve as a preliminary self-actualisation period.

The third aspect of my college experience contributed directly to my decision to volunteer in the conflict-plagued country of Sierra Leone. Activism, mainly with Amnesty International, helped articulate my political and humanitarian ambitions. I first became politically active during my senior year of high school while taking part in a Political Philosophy project called SmartVote in which we discussed and publicly debated issues surrounding the 1996 Presidential election. But it wasn’t until my junior year in college when I was introduced to international issues that I became completely enthralled with world issues and politics. During a class on International Relations, conducted by Dr. Ann Hamilton, I truly became interested and concerned with world affairs, specifically how the U.S. forms and conducts its foreign policies. It was this class I first became aware of the Rwandan Genocide and the conflict raging on in Sierra Leone. The following semester, I took these curiosities and concerns and put them to work with other activist by joining the newly formed Whitewater chapter of Amnesty International. We debated issues, conducted programs, wrote letters and partook in protest. During this time, I researched and became increasingly concerned with the situation in Sierra Leone. That year, in the fall of 2000, I became certain that after graduation I wanted to volunteer my time and expertise to help with the development and revitalization of Sierra Leone.

What led me in January of 2002 to leave my family, friends, girlfriend and comfort of American life and traveled 7,000 miles to volunteer in a direly impoverished, violence-prone country? Over the past two years, three critical elements influenced my decision to volunteer in Sierra Leone.

The first element was the strong desire to see and experience Africa. I wanted to see first hand the beautiful and breathtaking landscape I have only gazed at through pictures and media. I longed to meet the natives and try exotic foods. In short, I wanted to live the African life.

In the summer of 1999, while working at Bull’s Eye Credit Union, a co-worker of mine traveled to Central Africa on a month-long safari. Upon her return, she put together a massive binder full of pictures, newspaper clippings and journal entries, capturing her extraordinary journey. As I gawked at the many diverse and exotic things she had seen, I subconsciously decided I must go to Africa. Before we parted ways in January of 2000, she gave me a picture and a card. The picture was of a brilliant elephant roaming through the savannah. The card told me to use this picture as a guide for my dream. Over the next two years, I looked at that picture nearly every day working towards that dream.

A second aspect that played pivotal in my decision to volunteer was the longing and the curiosity associated with being completely submersed in a diverse culture. I didn’t want to just be "bobbed" in and only get a small taste of African life, rather I wanted to be fully engulfed in it and rely on the natives for support and encouragement. Admittedly, I was curious as to the prevalence of racism. Not the hate-monger, rage driven bigotry we see so often in the media, but more the overt racism persistent in day-to-day life. In a sense, I wanted to test my own racist tendencies. I have always considered myself an open-minded, equitable person, but this voyage was geared to see how true that trait really was.

Third and foremost, I yearned to assist in the development and growth of people plagued by life’s misfortunes. True, I could have done this in the States, even right in my home state of Wisconsin, but my gut feeling told me to help those whom are often forgotten or overlooked by the Western World. Obviously, my activism, primarily with Amnesty, gave me the proper guidance necessary to chose an area in which I felt could best use my assistance. And it was through Amnesty that I became painstakingly attached to the situation in Sierra Leone. (Primarily the human rights abuses.) Not only were thousands of lives adversely affected but, the correlation between the situation in Sierra Leone and the U. S. interest was dramatic. (As I begun my volunteerism, I saw even more how greatly intertwined these two countries were and are.) I wanted to help these people and that was primarily why I chose Sierra Leone to partake in volunteer work.

The Center for Alternative Development Strategies (CADS) Sierra Leone, was my first and foremost choice for an organization to facilitate my volunteerism. Although they may have lacked the resources and capabilities that International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGO’s) attained, such as World Vision and Action Aid, I whole-heartedly agreed with their concepts and vision.

Chad Simmons, the American volunteer, pouring libation after the meeting with the Songo community in February, 2002.

CADS is a local initiative founded in 1989 and begun operating as a registered NGO in 1991. The primary objectives of CADS are to research the needs of the people, particularly the rural citizens and then subsequently devise strategic plans for action. The aspect of the organization that really captured my enthusiasm was it’s strong emphasis on self-reliance and sustainability. It was my opinion that these issues were paramount if an organization were to successfully assist in meaningful, long-term development. This opinion became much more substantial as my volunteer experience transpired. Yet another trait of CADS that greatly affected my choice of NGO’s was it’s neutrality. It prided itself on keeping the pressures of politics, religion and other biases at bay.

The research and planning involved with making this journey was cumbersome, time consuming and frustrating. Aside from following the ever-changing situation in Sierra Leone, I began my volunteer preparations in June of 2001, seven months prior to my anticipated departure. Initially, I had wanted to spend the months of June, July and August to research, plan and coordinate the details of this trip. I had hoped to make final preparations (get confirmation on accommodations and solidify the activity itinerary) and finalize travel plans (purchase air tickets, receive visa and begin getting immunizations) by the beginning of September. This goal never came close to being realized. In fact, I only began constant correspondence with CADS representatives in October.

Despite all the roadblocks to the planning process for my volunteer excursion, CADS proved to be an exceptional, motivated and determined NGO to work with. My experiences during these three months were frustrating, challenging and greatly rewarding. Upon my arrival in Sierra Leone on January 16^th, I quickly became aware of the great many sacrifices and challenges the staff of CADS undertook to make this experience beneficial for them, myself and most importantly, the citizens in need. The staff (as well as almost every person I came in contact with) were extremely hospitable, motivated and concerned. They went to great pains to make the adjustment period for my first voyage out of the states manageable. In fact, for nearly two months, the staff never left my side and made every effort possible to assure my safety and health.

This sense of security made it very accommodating to concentrate on work. A majority of our time was spent in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. While at the office, the staff and I discussed and plotted out projects, prepared proposals for funding, phoned prospective donors and coordinated future objectives and goals of CADS. Also while at the office, I prepared an analysis of a survey conducted in December of 2001 concerning our Communal Farming Systems (CFS) approach. This analysis was prepared in order to gage the needs of the rural farmers in the Gbonkolenken chiefdom and to make recommendations for action. During our time in Freetown, we also met with key government officials, prospective funding agents and other NGO’s to discuss our work and courses of action.

Aside from the day-to-day hustle in Freetown, we conducted several meetings in surrounding villages (Masoko, Songo and Makambie) to discuss, educate and articulate our objectives with rural community members. These meetings were extremely exhilarating for me because they were my first encounters with the rural African culture. They also introduced me to the native languages, primarily Temne and Mende. The meetings in the villages had multifaceted objectives. First and most importantly, they were done in order to engage the community and inform them of our self-sustaining programs. Secondly, they served as an opportunity for villagers to voice concerns and ask questions. Finally, the CADS staff sought to fully immerse me in Sierra Leonean culture.

While volunteering in Sierra Leone, CADS had two primary projects. The first was a seed-multiplication scheme revolving around the CFS approach and conducted in the Gbonkolenken chiefdom. Therefore, we made two journeys to the main village of this chiefdom, Yele, to begin our work. During these two trips, we met with village elders including the Paramount Chief, visited and conducted informative meetings in the four villages where the seed multiplications were to take place, briefly worked with farmers to clear the bush for farmland and visited several schools to promote local education. These excursions to Yele proved very beneficial and impactful and truly began a system of self-reliance in these communities. I was very much impressed with the work ethic and drive of the community members.

The second largest project we focused on was the proposed Conference on Personal Values, Integrity, Honesty and Patriotism. This idea was devised by the Chief Development Strategist of CADS, Kenday Kamara, in December of 2001. The purpose of the conference was to educate, promote and instil these core values within all the citizens. CADS felt strongly (as did I) that these issues were at the root of Sierra Leone’s deplorable state. The conference was therefore devised to instil these values within all Sierra Leoneans in hopes to reverse the prevalence of unethical behavior. Although we only had three months to coordinate and construct this conference (which was extremely ambitious in my eyes) we embarked on the mission with both feet. We prepared letters and documents to prospective presenters and contributors. We pieced together a detailed budget and submitted the proposals to funding agents. Along with these tasks, we made the proper contacts to facilitate the publicity and logistics for an event of this magnitude. On of the most challenging yet exciting aspects of this project was having the opportunity to present our proposal to numerous institutions and organizations. Over the course of a few weeks we met with delegates and representatives from the U.S. Embassy (USAID), The European Union (EU), the United Nations Assistance Mission in SIerra Leone (UNAMSIL), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), The World Bank along with several other INGO’s. Unfortunately because of time constraints, we were unable to raise enough funds to properly facilitate the conference by the proposed date of April 4^th. However, we are currently re-vamping the project and are planning to conduct the conference later on in the year. We all felt these issues were too important to just disregard.

Despite logistical constraints that are paramount, my experience volunteering for CADS was challenging, educational and exceptionally rewarding. CADS facilitated a life altering and in-valuable endeavor for me. While working alongside this organization, I was able to successfully realize my three objectives (to visit and enjoy Africa, to be submersed in a diverse culture and to help assist the poverty-plagued people of Sierra Leone.) I am greatly pleased with the outcomes of my volunteer experience with CADS and I aim to continue working with them while back in the States.

So what personally can I take away from this experience in volunteerism? Admittedly, I don’t believe that these pages can fully grasp the impact of my endeavors. Nor do I believe the complete magnitude of this journey will be realized instantly. Perhaps several years may pass before that will occur. However, as I sit back and reflect on the events that have transpired over the past three months, I can articulate several noteworthy personal enlightenments that behoved me.

The work and actions I did as a volunteer here in Sierra Leone gave me a strong sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. I came to this country and acted on the many beliefs and optimisms I had formulated over the years. Of course, my altruistic visions of "saving the world" or helping masses upon masses of people did not occur, but I did touch the lives of many needy Sierra Leoneans and that felt spectacular. Throughout my three months I helped a group of boys in Yele attend school, I articulated the importance of community to hundreds of rural people, I brushed the land with farmers to make room for this year’s crops and I discussed the importance of education with hundreds of school children in the Gbonkolenken chiefdom. My volunteer accomplishments in Sierra Leone gave me a strong sense of pride and made me want to continue these types of activities for a lifetime.

As I had mentioned previously, my years spent at the Irvin L. Young Auditorium served as a preliminarily self-actualisation period. Because of my activities, state of mind and extreme abundance of time to contemplate and reflect my actions while in Sierra Leone, this period was extended and greatly heightened. Over these past three months I was able to formulate long-term, life-long goals I had not done while in college. Mentally, I was able to sift through years of goals, desires and needs and prioritise their importance in my life. I also became firmly aware of my personal limitations, weaknesses and strengths. For instance, it became quite evident early on during my time in Sierra Leone that I had an issue with patience. The importance placed upon timeliness in the states is drastically different from that in Sierra Leone. It took a better part of two months to make the adjustment and even after that, it was still a work in progress. At times my lack of patience caused many frustrating moments. On the other hand, I also realized my capability to be quick on my feet and deal with unexpected circumstances. Many times when a decisive moment arose, I felt comfortable at making the necessary decisions. This comfort level will assist me in the future challenges I will face in my career. Overall, this self-actualisation period allowed me to grow both mentally and emotionally.

Of course, a journey such as this would not be complete without a wide array of stories. The numerous encounters with the wonderful people, the absolutely breathtaking sights and landscape, the unique Sierra Leonean foods and the many journeys and outings taken during my stay here will prove to be some of the most memorable moments of my life. These stories I can pass along to friends and family for many years to come. I especially am fond of the people I had the privilege to meet during my stay. Such as the eight boys from Yele who blew me away by describing their painstaking desire to attend school. (Therefore, the next day I went to their respective schools to assist with their education barring they continue to excel scholastically.) I also had the opportunity to meet and have in-depth discussions with the Paramount Chief of the Gbonkolenken Chiefdom, PC Sunthaba III. My numerous encounters with people on the beach, especially the ex-combatants I met, will also prove memorable. For these dialogues showed me how truly kind and friendly these people are. Of course, who can negate all the work and fun I had with the staff of CADS. The numerous conversations regarding politics, gender and family roles, entertainment and relationships were by far some of the most lively interactions I had the entire trip.

I had a small concept of what Sierra Leone would look like before I arrived, but as the ferry steered into the harbor of Freetown en route from the airport and I saw for the first time the majestic and infamous mountains of this land, I was completely taken aback. The following trips to the villages and trekking through this astonishing and lush landscape furthered my awe of the physical features of this county. At times I felt as if I were in a adventure novel hiking down forbidden trails to unknown civilizations. This was especially true when we walked from Yele to Yele-Morrie en route to a school meeting. As we walked down the footpath in the midst of an immensely lush, tropical forest, I nearly lost my footing. From my uncontrollable gawking. At one point, we had to cross a river via a hollowed out log used as a boat. These images will forever be etched in my mind and will always keep me longing for a return visit to this spectacular country.

All of these sights, activities and encounters lead to my most daunting and eye-opening revelation: a redefined state of perception. This has been the most cherished attribute I can take away from this journey. It all goes back to one of the first lecture done by Dr. Hamilton during her course. It revolved around the "perspective lenses" we use to view the world and its transpiring events. She stressed that we look at the world based on gender, culture, ethnicity, class as well as other attributes. I remember asking several questions trying to fully grasp this concept. Now, I can say I have a more complete understanding of this lecture. My many encounters and experiences gave me the proper "real world" relevance of perspective. Now that this epiphany, if you will, has transpired, I see the true interconnectedness of the human race. I better see how one’s actions or perceptions in one part of the world can drastically affect those in another. The ramifications of those opinions, actions and perceptions transcend culture, gender, ethnicity and status and can even manipulate one’s day-to-day actions. For example, I was floored to see how high on a pedestal Americans and American values were placed in Sierra Leone. The strong desire to "be" or "act" American has a firm hold in this culture, even amongst the rural citizens. Images from American media and personal encounters U.S. citizens molded the perspective of American life. In fact, up until the time I wrote this paper, I was vainly attempting to convince my many acquaintances that all Americans are not rich! The success of these attempts were minimal, but in retrospect, predictable seeing that the U.S. is one of the wealthiest counties and Sierra Leone is the poorest.

I feel truly blessed and lucky to have made such a venture. The outcome of which I will not fully realize for years to come. I have my family, my girlfriend, my friends, CADS and all the people I encountered during my stay to thank for this truly eye-opening and life-altering experience. I aim to use my newly established sense of perspective to continue my work as a humanist. Maybe I will just be affecting those in Wisconsin or maybe those across the globe, but no matter who or where, my volunteer experience in Sierra Leone will forever have an impact on my actions.

For further information about Mr. Simmons' experiences in Sierra Leone, please contact: Mr. Chad B. Simmons, 291 N. Fraternity Ln. Apt 220, Whitewater, WI 53190 Telephone: 262-472-9769 Email: cbtossin@yahoo.com

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