LEWISTON – Kaileigh Tara has a lot to consider when choosing clothes for her new job.

There’s the oppressive heat. There’s the cultural differences.

And then there’s her mode of transportation.

“I’ll be climbing in and out of helicopters a lot,” she said.

Lewiston’s former mayor has taken a job in the small, war-torn African country of Sierra Leone.

Tara, 39, will serve as a gender-based violence coordinator for the International Rescue Committee, a 70-year-old humanitarian organization that helps refugees who are fleeing persecution, war and violence.

In Sierra Leone, Tara will oversee 60 staff members working with young sexual assault victims at five sites.

“They said ‘We’ve never had a mayor apply for a job like this. Why would you want to do this?'” Tara recalled with a smile. “I said, you know, ‘I’m not your typical mayor.'”

Elected mayor in 1997, the spirited political newcomer defeated 12-year council veteran Normand Poulin in a runoff election. Four years later, she left the city and began a bid for the U.S. House of Representatives.

That run ended when Tara didn’t turn in the signatures she needed to get her name on the ballot. At the time, the single mother of two said she was burnt out and concerned about supporting her family if she ran for Congress.

For the past year, Tara has worked as a substitute teacher and municipal consultant as she looked for more permanent work.

With her daughter planning to go to college in the fall, Tara said, “It was just me and my son. I was kind of open to anything at that point.”

She applied for work in California, New York, Washington, D.C., and Maine. She wanted, she said, something she could throw herself into.

Oprah Winfrey ultimately provided the answer.

The famous talk show host profiled Sierra Leone and the International Rescue Committee on her show. Tara was intrigued.

When she wandered onto the group’s Web site a while later, she checked out their job openings.

One was in Sierra Leone, an extremely beautiful but extremely poor country on the south western edge of Africa. Since her fiancé had lived there as a boy, Tara knew a little bit about it. The job sounded perfect, a way she could put her experiences in social work, sexual assault cases, child advocacy and government to work.

“I freaked out,” Tara said.

After three months, four interviews and a lot of conversations with family members concerned about her safety, she accepted the job.

Tara, her 11-year-old son and fiancé leave next week.

“I’m excited and terrified,” she said as she took a break from packing Thursday. “Things are a blur.”

////Adventure///////

To get ready, Tara is taking a series of shots to protect her from rabies, meningitis, yellow fever and other diseases. She rented her house to a friend who will care for the family’s cat and big, black Labrador retriever. She stocked up on toiletries, first aid items, batteries and other items likely to be scarce or non-existent in Sierra Leone.

“I’m trying to think camping mode,” Tara said.

With the three travelers allowed to take just over 200 pounds of luggage each, the feisty former mayor has also spent the last week weeding luxuries from necessities.

Making the cut: light clothing, comfortable shoes, books and some “survival foods” to comfort them in the middle of a foreign country.

“We’ve packed two boxes filled with macaroni and cheese for my son and I’ve got chocolate for my moments,” she said.

The family’s TV and computer will be shipped later on. But because electricity in Sierra Leone is undependable, the electronics may not always work.

There is one luxury that Tara plans to buy there: an air conditioner. A Maine native, she hates the heat and humidity.

With Sierra Leone’s high crime rate, recently-ended civil war and the struggles in neighboring Liberia, family members have expressed concern for the safety of Tara and her son. Their concerns weren’t eased when the United Nations announced this week that Sierra Leone ranked as the most poorly developed country in the world. The average baby born there isn’t likely to see a 35th birthday.

If she finds that the country is too dangerous, Tara said she will send her boy back to the United States to live with his grandparents. But she has committed to working there a year.

It’s a fact that makes Tara sad. Except for a year spent in Boston, Maine has been the only home she has ever known.

But the excitement of a new job in a new country usually overrides that uneasiness. So, too, do her plans.

Tara hopes to connect groups in Maine with groups in Sierra Leone. Plans for student exchanges, school connections and city-to-city relationships fill her head as she packs.

It’s just over a week until Tara boards a plane for the 24-hour trip to Africa.

She said she’s ready to go.

Said Tara, “It’s a great adventure.”

ltice@sunjournal.com

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