Waterloo, Sierra Leone
Waterloo, Sierra Leone Location in Sierra Leone
Coordinates: 8°20′N 13°04′W / 8.333°N 13.067°W / 8.333; -13.067
Country	Sierra Leone
Region	Western Area
District	Western Area Rural District
Government
- Mayor	Alhassan Cole (APC) [1]
Population (2006)
- Total	19,750 [2]
Time zone	GMT (UTC-5)

Waterloo is the second largest city in the Western Area of Sierra Leone and a suburb of Freetown. The population of Waterloo was estimated at 19,750 [3] in 2006. Waterloo lies just 18 miles east of Freetown [4]

Socio-historical perspectives

Waterloo was founded in 1819 as a settlement for liberated Africans. Incorporated into the parish system under the tutelage of the Church Missionary Society (CMS), Waterloo was settled by soldiers from the second and fourth West India Regiment from Jamaica and Barbados. Four years earlier in 1815, that regiment had fought in the Seventh Coalition of the Anglo-Allied army in the Battle of Waterloo. The ex-military men settled in "Soja Town" bordering King Street, an artery leading to King Yard which housed the police station, courthouse, and jailhouse. The settlers were later joined by several groups of Recaptives, whose integration into the village community was facilitated by Governor MacCarthy's insistence on education and religion via schools, personages and churches. Several Christian denominations, primarily of Anglican, Countess of Huntingdon, and Wesleyan persuasions established churches and schools throughout the fast growing populace. Following the establishment of the Mixed Commissions in Freetown in 1819 (primarily to set recaptured slaves free), the number of Recaptives in Freetown grew astronomically. This growth resulted in a corresponding increase in the Recaptives population in Waterloo. Unlike the original settlers from Jamaica and Barbados, the Recaptives had made minimal sustained contact with Western languages and cultures. In efforts to restore some lifestyle stability in their new environment, the Recaptives settled in ethnic or tribal lines. Thus, the Yoruba settled in Aku Town, the Ibo in Ibo Town, the ex-military Recaptives in Soja Town, etc. The emergent community established social welfare institutions and secret societies such as Osusu, Ojeh, Hunting, Geledeh, Akanja, etc. as measures to perpetuate their culture, provide a framework for social stability, and increase their independence. With the inculcation of Christian values and Western education, and under the supervision of the village headman (who enforced the rule of law), Waterloo evolved as a stable economic, cultural, and socio-political center. In less than half a century from its inception, Waterloo emerged as an important economic hub buffering Sierra Leone’s provincial capitals and the nation’s capital. Throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries, the city continued to serve as a gateway to and from the hinterland and blossomed as a trading center into which goods and services from Freetown and the Sierra Leone Peninsula converged. Its economic prosperity coupled with its proximity to the city brought together diverse people from different parts of the nation. The resultant community was not only ethnically diverse but also culturally rich.

Intermarriages between the newly arrived ex-servicemen from Barbados and Jamaica and the Africans liberated from slavery generously enriched elements of culture in the region. The language that resulted from the fusion of these cultures evolved as krio, which retained its English base while absorbing other linguistic abstractions from a variety of African and European languages and dialects such as boku, encore (French); otutu, alakpa, joko (Yuroba); sabi, pekin (Portuguese); kapu (Mende), etc. Other elements of culture reflected a blend of Christian values, Western education, and were buttressed by a profound respect for law and order. The descendants of these repatriated soldiers and the liberated Africans formed a nucleus of the Krio society in Waterloo. Their embrace of Christian principles, Western values and education furnished the community with key ingredients for its growth and development. In addition, the skills, knowledge and attitudes that the new settlers acquired facilitated their integration into the new settlement and provided the foundation for cultural adaptation and socio-economic reconstruction. Over the years, men and women adept in the natural sciences, the lore, education, religion, and politics have hailed from Waterloo and its environs. Illustrious sons and daughters of Waterloo have excelled in varied fields and gained national as well as international acclaim and prominence in their sundry avocations: Justice C.O. E. Cole (the first president of the Republic of Sierra Leone), Bishop S. T. Johnson, (religion), Rev. Dr. David A. Shodeke (religion), Edward P. Nicol (education, organ music & religion), S.B. Nicol-Cole (banking/civil service), Christiana Thorpe (religion & civil service), S.D. King (organ music), Edward Taylor (civil service & organ music), Marcus Grant (Trade Union), C.R.A. Cole (education & civil service), J.C.O Crowther (business), Latelewa Doherty (civil service), Rev. Dr. Moses & Rev. Sensi & Rev. Eustace Renner (religion & civil service), Rev. Nathaniel Pabs-Garnon (civil service & religion), Abu Kargbo (politics), Claudius Taylor (medical), Mani Garber (business), J. Akparah-Williams (civil service & business), Tabitha Williams (business), Rev. Thomas A. Nicol (religion), Pastor Jonathan Leigh (religion), Norman/Pastor Joseph R. Terry (religion), Dunstance Yayomi Alongo-Coker (civil service), Samuel Balogun-Palmer (Social activist), Taiwo M’Carthy (religion & organ music), Johnny Sawyerr (civil service), Mary Renner (religion), Marcus Gurvey (business & education), Dowu Kamara (trade union), Ashekpa Kainde MacCarthy (herbal medicine), Abayomi Cole (medical), Oguntayo Young (education, civil service), Emmanuel Taiwo Cole (business), Edward Coker (education & organ music), Sarah Farmer (Civil Service), Manfred Onike Cole (civil service), Agba Sulay Kamara (herbal medicine), Koni Davies (civil service), Alhaji O. Jalloh (business).

The present town of Waterloo, Sierra Leone is located less than 18 miles from the city limits of Freetown at 8.33833 degree latitude, -13.0719 degree longitude at an elevation/altitude of 40 meters. With a population currently estimated at approximately 20,000, Waterloo is a suburb of the capital of Freetown. It is the second largest city in the Western Area and an important confluence of road network annexing the provincial capitals and the Sierra Leone Peninsula to the nation’s capital. The prosperity which reigned in Waterloo throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries was shattered by the outbreak of a civil war in the 1990s, during which Rebel warriors pillaged and ravaged homes, schools, churches, offices, and government buildings. As the inhabitants fled the deadly pursuits of these rebel warriors, Waterloo's prosperity ebbed, and a once thriving community was reduced to an enclave of poverty and under-development, reflecting only a figment of its once glorious past.

As grateful beneficiaries of this fertile and stimulating cultural and socio-economic context, descendants of this once thriving socio-economic bastion of prosperity and enlightenment are increasingly demonstrating a commitment to restoring some of Waterloo’s past glory. Altruistic Waterlooneans, determined to build on Waterloo’s glorious past are engaged in a variety of efforts to generate much needed resources to recapture some of Waterloo’s enviable past and address the present challenges of the town. London-based groups as well as USA-based descendants of Waterloo are striving to positively impact the direction of socio-economic growth and development in Waterloo. Prominent among these groups is the Waterloo Descendants Association (WADA) USA. Members of WADA USA have been deliberate in their quest to give back of their talents, time and resources to the community to which they owe their infant nurture and humble beginnings. Their motivation and inspiration have been fueled by their love for their ancestral homeland. They seek to translate their emotional attachment to their nativity into a commitment to raise funds to improve the village of Waterloo and the lifestyle of its residents. Certainly, their efforts would serve as an inspiration to other Sierra Leoneans to aspire toward rebuilding their various communities as a measure to enable and uplift their fellow Waterlooneans in particular and Sierra Leoneans in general.

Links with Liverpool

A British charity, the Waterloo Partnership, fundraises in Waterloo and Crosby areas of Liverpool for its Sierra Leone namesake.

1. ^ The Waterloo Partnership. Two Waterloos, One Hope

• Ali, J.A. D. (1990) A New History of Sierra Leone, London, U.K. Macmillan Education.
• Boahen, A; Ajayi, A; and Tidy, M. ( 1969) Topics in West African History, England, Longmans
• Nicol, E.P. (1970) A Brief History of St. Mark’s Church (Countess of Huntingdon Connexion), *Waterloo, Sierra Leone, University of Aberdeen (Dept. of Church History), Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Sumner, D.L (1963) Education in Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone Government Printer
• Wyse, Akintola (1989) The Krio of Sierra Leone: An Interpretive History, London, Hurst

Coordinates: 8°20′N 13°04′W / 8.333°N 13.067°W / 8.333; -13.067