I think what happens for some when they travel to places like Sierra Leone and have experiences like mine is that when you leave you end up thinking more about the place rather than less! I guess the fact that my Thesis work is a continuation of my work there makes this unavoidable. I have been doing much exciting reading and looked at many case studies working in similar situations. We have a lot to learn, but have also been privileged in the way the construction and the rest of the project has come about. I am beginning some design work by studying many of the building types and settlment patterns that I was aware of but never drew while in Sierra Leone. Having a knowledge of the available materials and trades will be extremely important to the development of a design for the thesis that fits well with the building we have already built. The images are drawings first of the neighbourhood I lived in in Kabala - Bankolia. This is compared to Tengbeh Town, right in the centre of Freetown where the corrugated homes go right down to the edge of the stream.
My visa is in the mail. I have three week left of school. Then three weeks to prepare at home before I go to Kabala for two weeks. I am excited to return there, but also to take that and turn it into a real useful design for the future over the next few months here at Dalhousie.
