Things They Carry

One of the many differences between Sierra Leone and the U.S. is the way things are transported. From a cucumber to a cow, Sierra Leoneans have interesting ways to move things from here to there.

Why use your hand to carry a small package when your head works just as well?
 

These folks are on their way to the market to sell their goods. They might walk for miles this way.

Young children are often enlisted to carry heavy items for their parents.  This wood is destined for cooking fires.  Their faces often show the strain of the load they are carrying, but they never give up on the task.

Heads are often mobile shops.  This woman has the equivalent of the health and beauty aids section of a store on her head.

Here's the towel and sheet store walking through town hoping to make a sale.

Need a bag or a backpack?  This man also had several purses around his neck and hanging in front of him.

Omolankes are hired to transport loads too heavy for a head.  This man had a long hill to climb ahead of him on his way to deliver mayonnaise and soft drinks to our college.

This little sister (about 8 years old) is in charge of her brother.  All babies are carried this way, and it is very common for young girls to be given the responsibility of tending to their younger siblings.

There are baby strollers in Sierra Leone, but they are never used for carrying babies.  The cooler being pushed around the streets probably contains cold water bags, bottles of soda or juice or frozen yogurt for sale.

Okadas are the main form of motorized transport.  They carry everything from passengers to mattresses to pigs to furniture.

Probably this passenger had been to a village and purchased the wood for cooking fires and is bringing it back to Kenema.

The driver had just pulled up and is letting off his passengers.  Just think what a law enforcement official in the U.S. would do if he/she saw four people riding on one motorcycle.

There is almost no such thing as a car that isn't overloaded.  This taxi is heading out of town and in addition to the goods packed in the trunk, there are six passengers inside with the driver.