In February of 2008 I boarded a plane to Sierra Leone, West Africa. I was to be the Managing Director, and later CEO, for a company called Taakor Tropical Hardwood who had secured a concession to harvest and export timber and processed timber. The project was to be a boon for the people of Sierra Leone, especially in the Tama-Tonkilili Concession area, and the Country's timber resources. A twenty year plan was in place that would accomplish fulfilling Taakor's number one goal, "Growing the Future." For reasons that can only be understood by someone who has attempted business in Sierra Leone, and West Africa in general, that did not happen.