Skip to main content
Voices of ACES Blog

First Week at Njala!

Students in boats on a river

On the second week of January, three students from the University of Illinois started their journey for a semester at Njala University in Sierra Leone. Cortney, Nicki and Annie joined the on going winter break course in country.

Tuesday January 14, 2014

picture of the poyo man giving Lisa and the rest of us a taste.

Tuesday we walked to a nearby village to see how they tap “poyo” or “palm wine” from palm trees. A steak is tapped into the tree, and as the tree drips, they are collected. It’s a sweet/bitter/sour tasting drink. This is a picture of the poyo man giving Lisa and the rest of us a taste.

Wed- Thurs January 15-16, 2014

The group then drove to the beach to spend a couple days there before the sent the winter study group left for the airport on Friday. The beach was gorgeous, they enjoyed fresh seafood and a boat ride to a waterfall.

Wed January 16, 2014

On the way to Freetown, they stopped at the Cultural Village to see the National Dance Troupe. They put on a wonderful show full of tribal dance, devils, and acrobatics. At the end they pulled everyone up to dance with them! Everyone really enoyed the whole performance.

National Dance Troupe in Cultural Village

Cortney and kids

Foggy morning in Njala