A lesson from the man himself

Bob Geldof, a well-known rock-and-roll artist, was in Sierra Leone last Monday night. My editor, Mr. Kelvin Lewis, and I attended a press conference that night featuring Mr. Geldof, who is internationally recognized for his acts of philanthropy in Africa. I wrote a story about the press conference which was the lead story in the Awoko paper the following morning. That story is actually available online (to read the story, click here).

<Also of note, my editor and colleagues decided to name my column, Through the Eyes of ‘U.’ At first it was going to be Through the Eyes of a Foreigner, but I wanted to have a little more kick than that, so they came up with just using the letter ‘U.’ Anyway, my most recent column is about my first time riding in a poda-poda, also known as a share taxi. It was an extremely interesting experience for me and for those of you who would like to read that column, click here.>

Anyway, the interesting about this particular night was that it was my first time going on an assignment with my editor. And I was very fortunate to be with him this night, because he ended up showing me a very bright, and extremely wise, side of him that I had not yet seen.

One thing that Mike Carter, the previous Sierra Leone intern, warned me about is that nothing ever starts on time when it comes to press conferences and events in Sierra Leone. Bob Geldof’s press conference was certainly no exception.

The press conference was held at a very nice hotel/restaurant, which used to be owned by the man who was formerly the richest man in Sierra Leone. A spectacular mansion, more than anything else, the view overseeing Freetown and the ocean was amazing.

We arrived there promptly at 5 p.m., when the press conference was “scheduled” to start. And, as I should have expected, we started about two hours later.

“This is another thing you’re going to have to learn,” Mr. Lewis said. “Nothing ever starts on time.”

This isn’t the ever-important “lesson” that Mr. Lewis taught me tonight, though. As we waited in the lobby for  the delayed press conference to start, Mr. Lewis introduced me to another reporter, named Katrina. She appeared to be an old friend of Mr. Lewis and they were talking about the travel guidebook on which she was currently working.

During their conversation, Katrina mentioned a story she was also looking into: One about a team of doctors who had developed a new way to provide anti-malarial medication via a spray rather than a pill. This sounded really interesting to me, but when Katrina asked Mr. Lewis what he thought about it, to my surprise, he just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as if to say, “I don’t care.”

Little did I know that this was all part of his plan. Immediately following the Bob Geldof press conference, Mr. Lewis was actually able to flag down one of the doctors that came with Mr. Geldof to introduce the newly developed malaria medicine to the country and he got an exclusive interview.

I asked Mr. Lewis about that afterward and he just smiled at me sheepishly.

“In this business, sometimes you have to act like the dumb one,” he said, laughing. “If you act dumb, people will open up to you more and give you the good stuff.”

A sly maneuver by the wily veteran and this morning, Mr. Lewis’ malaria story was the lead story in our paper.

Slick; so very slick.