Sad news to report today.
A large and iconic tree which stood in Freetown, the national capital of Sierra Leone, fell after torrential rains.
That cotton tree had stood for hundreds of years, and was considered a symbol of freedom for the western African nation.
Below is a snippet of a recent article covering this story by Umaru Fofana published by Reuters, which helps to put this into a bit of perspective:
President Julius Maada Bio called the toppling of the famed tree "a great loss to the nation" as crowds gathered to look at the wrecked trunk.
The "Cotton Tree" was the most important landmark in the West African country which was founded by freed American slaves.
According to local history, the freed slaves used to pray below this tree after arriving in the country by boat, before going on to live their new lives in freedom. It thus became part of local legend, and was featured on the nation's banknotes, as well as being celebrated in other ways.
"It was regarded as a symbol of liberty and freedom by early settlers," the president wrote on Twitter.
Below is the link to the article which I used in writing this particular blog entry, and from which I borrowed the quotes and much of the information used above:
Storm fells Sierra Leone's historic cotton tree, a symbol of freedom By Umaru Fofana May 25, 2023
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/sierra-leone-loses-historic-tree-symbol-freedom-rainstorm-2023-05-25/
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