Out of Africa: Sierra Leone, 2017
Albert, Chris, James and Sam our respective Karma Cola Foundation Chairman, Co-Founder and heads of sales for New Zealand and the United Kingdom all got the chance to meet the people in the villages in the Tiwai Communities in Sierra Leone who grow our cola and benefit from the work of the Foundation. See what they saw and read about their experience in their travelblog.
Everywhere we went we were welcomed with amazing generosity.
Guided by Albert and Thomas Armit, who originally created the Tiwia Heritage Trail Eco Tour we travelled along, we were able to see the way the Karma Cola Foundation works with these communities and the things we’ve achieved.
The way we’re able to provide seed capital for a more sustainable future felt like a genuinely equal partnership.
The future is looking positive for the people of the Tiwai Communities. Each of the 10 villages has a representative on a committee. Here’s they are meeting to go over each of their proposals on how the Karma Cola Foundation can work with them in 2018. It was amazing to see the process and how the communities are defining their futures.
These are the canoes that Karma built. Well actually we did nothing. The canoes were carved from entire trees. They’re the tradition way to get across the Moa River that surrounds Tiwai and connects the villages all supported by the Karma Cola Foundation.
It was a real honour to watch the traditional Mende welcomes with dances and devils. It only seemed right to share a little bit of our culture. This was a Hongi between the chief of Mapuma and Sam.
There’s a new campsite in each of the villages along the trail. Whenever we arrived at one a few people would sit around, watch us eat and change and share a few selfies.
Chris unwinding at the beach in his styling new shirt. A gift from the locals.
James at the Niahun Barri with the community leader. The Barri was built with the help of Karma Cola and there's a seed bank we also helped with in the back room.
James with kids in Boma. One of them’s rocking a Karma Cola t-shirt that he would have got the first time we visited back in 2014.
Chris speaking. Sam figuring out what to say next.
The Karma Cola Foundation funded rice huller in Jene Village and concrete drying pad.
Chris taking a bush yoga lesson. Medewa and Thomas our guides getting into it. Sam mastering the lunge.
