[kokoroko]

le wi ep wisef fet ibola o le wi wok tugeda fet ibola o le wi tek tem fo no geht ibola.

[Rosie.]

Ah, right, I assumed the above phrases were in Krio - are they not? If not do you know what they are?
I was after an English translation

Also thank you for the reply.

[kokoroko]

Rosie,

The phrases are in Krio. Na mi go don ebola ( I will stop ebola or I will end ebola), wi go was ebola- (we will get rid of ebola), ebola! e du so -(ebola, it's enough). Where did you see these phrases?

[Rosie.]

Fantastic thank you so much.

I went to Sierra Leone at the beginning of this year to help in efforts against Ebola. The phrases were painted and repeated on fences/walls all along a main road on the way into Freetown (may have been Kerry Town).

[kokoroko]

I was thinking it was difficult to travel to Sierra leone due to air travel was restricted to this part of West Africa. How long was your stay? Was it a problem getting around due to the virus? You wasn't able to learn any krio? I hope I'm not asking you too many questions.

[Rosie.]

I worked for the charity GOAL who organised all the travel; flights were from London Heathrow > Brussels > Dakar > Conakry > Freetown (so yes, definitely didn't make it easy for us!). My stay was 5 weeks. I didn't really have any problem getting around due to the virus, I stayed in Port Loko for the majority of my stay where we were free to leave the compound during the day (in groups of 2+) and the high streets were usually pretty busy. There was plenty of guidance/advise in terms of where not to go/what not to do. When we did head into Freetown/Kerry Town our only 'obstacles' were a few temperature checkpoints on the roads, although we only visited these places on organised visits. The people who were staying in Kerry Town were not allowed to leave the hotel unless for an organised trip.

Unfortunately I didn't get to learn any Krio! We were given sheets with some basic phrases on before we left but didn't use them much. I also remember a gentlemen in a shop trying to teach me how to praise God in Krio, don't think I managed it! I suppose we were pretty busy though, but it would have been nice to learn. I'd definitely like to go back as their tourism has obviously been hit massively by the outbreak - and there are some beautiful areas of the country and great people to meet!

Oh no, I'm happy to answer questions. (within reason!)

[kokoroko]

It's good to know you enjoyed your stay in Sierra Leone. There has been many stories about the Ebola virus & people who lost there lives. It's good to know the positive aspect of going to visit Sierra Leone. It would be different going to Sierra Leone aloone vesus having a guide or tour would definetly make a difference. From what i read previously, about Sierra Leone things are getting better so i hope you are able to visit in due time. It seem like there are towns and parts of Sierra Leone that maybe safer than others. The news has mentioned Freetown in particular about ebola. I wonder when the outbreak started where the citizens able to travel abroad for their safety or restricted?


I was told you can pick up krio by listening to what people say. It has been in recent years that sierra leonians in education have fing written means to standarize the language. Well, since english is official you can still communicate to the citizens of sierra Leone. What about the food? Did you eat any local dishes? The people were kind to you?

[Rosie.]

Yes although my visit was due to tragic circumstances I was overwhelmed by how people were coming together to positively combat the situation. I worked in the Ebola Treatment Center in Port Loko and despite the horrors, there were some good days. Taking part in a release celebration for a lady that had recovered was a highlight - singing, dancing, workers playing instruments. I believe travel was still possible, although difficult - I worked with a man who was half Sierra Leonean (half English), he was able to send his wife and children to another country to live whilst he stayed in SL as an aid worker.

At the airport when we left it was pretty much the same as when we arrived; questionnaire about your health/background/recent activities (e.g. have you been to a funeral in the last month/had a family member become sick etc.), numerous temperature checks - so I suppose they would make decisions on a case by case basis. But most of the citizens we saw were living in poverty so I guess travel abroad was not an option for them.

Yes most people spoke very good English. Food was prepared by locals at our compound, most of the time it was great! We got a new chef a couple of weeks after arriving who even started baking cakes/desserts (along with some English dishes). I don't remember any particularly local dishes, although I had plantains for the first time which was yummy! The food was usually some sort of meat with sauce and rice (sometimes very spicy!).

The majority of people were very kind, ofcourse there were one or two that were not so happy to see us. We did find that you may get unwanted attention if you went out in just a group of females (nothing sinister, just kissing noises). The children would shout 'apoto! apoto! apoto!' everywhere, which was fine they just seemed so excited/bored from not being in school. The children were brilliant actually, always wanted us to take a photo and then show them. We sat with a group by a river where people were doing laundry/car washing, and played skipping stones/pictionary with them by using stones to scratch into the rocks to draw -one kid drew a helicoptor!. They also seemed to create a game of 'who can touch the white person' - obviously there was no touching guidelines.

Can I ask how you know the language? Are you from/do you currently live in West Africa?

[kokoroko]

I learned krio from this forum here a few yrs ago. I consider my self a student of the language still. I live in the states and yourself? Do you have interest in learning Krio or you were just seeking information on the translation of the phrases only? You have a good evening.

[kokoroko]

a op kompin dem geht fayn wikend wit fambul en fren dem o.

[Huguette]

Na uda bin aks bot aw foh lan Krio? Una no sey Krio don ton Kringlish, pas una go fen am na den peninsyula fakay. Jembefola sef bin tok bot 'evribodi' wey i bin foh sey 'olman'!
Huguette

[bubudi]

kaboh ma, a wan wehlkohm yu na dis forum ya. na krio os yu mehn? a gri se dehn vilej krio dehn sabi tohk dip krio we noh watawata. yu kohrehkt we yu se 'ehvribohdi' nohto prohpa krio, 'ohlman', na in kohrehkt. tehnki we yu kohrehkt wi naya so. api krismehs o.

[kokoroko]

ebo bubu! aw di bohdi? yu bin bizi bad enti? na yu brin kompin fo tok krio pan forom yaso. huguette yu bin se vileg krio na korehkt tok dem? bubu a op se yu en pikin enjoi olide o.

[bubudi]

padi kusheh o. a tehl di masta tehnki. op se yusehf de du wehl. yu bin tehl mi se yu pikin dehm dohn du wehl na skul. dehn stil de du wehl? a go lehk foh no wetin yu ehn yu wehf bin de du foh korej yu pikin ohl dehn iya we dehm bin de go skul. mi yon pikin sehf noh de du bad. i tu mehlt pan pipul ehn dat kin kohz prohblehm we i noh wan foh tek pat pan sohntin we dehn de du na klas, oh in maynd kin de ohda say. a de tray foh mek i ehnjohy mats, foh mek i du wehl boht i at foh mek i fokohs pan am.

a se, yu dohn yehri se WHO se ibola dohn dohn na wehs afrika? wan pohsin dohn kech am nehks de, boht i luk lehk se di awtbrek dohn dohn.

[kokoroko]

padi adu o, wi fayn yaso. mi gyal pikin chenj skul en go kolej na tohn. i pas klas boht kin op grad if mek taym stodi. trade gyal pikin geht jab en bai fon klos mekop en sus dem. a bin tehl i sev moni fo fyucha. boi pikin wan mek fren dem en plai futbal pas fokohs skul. a tihnk se skul boku wok foseka somtim tek boku taym finis. a tihnk se omwok i du lek kolej. i wan joyn navi. mi yon gyal pikin du wehl na skul. a sabi mats no izi boht mek mats mana fo am enjoi nade bambai i go du wehl. yu pikin yon so i go lan. Pikin dem korej bai wehf granma en anti foseka dem mek edyukasyun prioriti. a tihnk papa gohd pikin dem no ron stret du drohg o mek wahala o.


naso a bin rid boht Ebola don don pan salon nyus pehpa en salon komyuniti kam tugehda fo selebrat.