lovesafrica

My last days in Freetown

lovesafrica — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:47:32 +0000

To complete the new years holiday weekend Eleanor came out for a visit with baby Bethany. Eleanor being a single leg amputee has trouble carrying Bethany on her own, this makes going places rather difficult. I couldn’t imagine how one would survive in the independence driven US, however the way friends and families come together to help one another here makes it possible. On this day Eleanor’s younger sister Aminata made the journey from Waterloo with her. Jerry and Umaru also joined us. We spent the afternoon enjoying the cooler harmattan weather visiting, playing pingpong and UNO. For most of the year the weather here is about as opposite as you can get from Seattle weather. The temperature hovers around 85 degrees with 90% humidity, making it feel about 200 degrees. During harmattan though, which lasts maybe 2 weeks on a good year, a dry wind comes in and brings the humidity down to about 70% making it feel like a pleasant summer day in Seattle. Compared to the stippling weather they typically have here it feels cool, especially to the Sierra Leonians. We saw many in their winter jackets and ski hats.
For the evening my mom, Alieu and I ventured downtown to the celebration at the national stadium. We met Saffi, Amara, Umaru and Lahai to watch the football game and then hung out for a bit.
One of the first days of the new year it dawned on me that I would be leaving in the near future. I needed to start my goodbyes and gathering myself to head back home. I made my last trip to the fabric market and to the tailor to have one last skirt made to take home for my sister. We headed upcountry Wednesday for the last feeding clinics before Chelsea and Mike returned. Bo was significantly more quiet than it had been the last time we were here, but the mosquitoes were horrible. The feeding clinics went well for the most part, my mom was able to jump in a little more and got to see and understand the project better. We had to take one child to the Gondoma hospital in Bo, a doctors without boarders hospital, who was in the feeding program but still deteriorating. She was almost 2 and was so weak from malnourishment she had never learned to stand. I was very thankful that this mother was concerned and allowed us to take her and her child to the hospital. Another mother whose child was in really bad shape refused to let us help her. I begged for her to let us take her and her child to the hospital but she insisted on staying in her village.
Back in Freetown Friday night Chelsea and Mike arrived back home, it was really great for my mom to be able to meet them. They spent most of the weekend recovering from travel, but we got to visit with them for a while and catch them up on what they had missed during their month away from Freetown.
Sunday my mom and I spent the day at Laka beach with Rogers and Alieu. We swam, played football, american football and frisbee. One of the beach vendors walking around on Laka had the biggest python skin I had ever seen. He would have liked for us to buy it, but we settled on some hand made sandals instead.
I spent my last week slowly saying my goodbyes. We did some last minute shopping at big market and in the PZed area. My mom and I helped Chelsea at our last PPB feeding clinic in Kissy. And my mom got to experience public transportation with me. Saturday I invited all the GGM staff and friends to Aberdeen beach to say goodbye. It was a great way to spend my last day in Freetown. Sunday Chelsea and Mike took us to the pelican, we said our last goodbyes and we were on our way home.

catching up from Christmas to new years

lovesafrica — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:33:21 +0000

River #2 beach Alieu, Me, Patricia, Umaru, Dorcus (Patricia's daughter), and Saffi

Playing football with Alieu and Umaru at River #2 beach

Saying goodbye to my Dad and Johanna at the Pelican, with Joseph and Rogers

One of the devils from a devil parade

We said out goodbyes to my Dad and Johanna at the pelican water taxi on the afternoon of Christmas day. Their flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 8:45pm but the pelican boat for their flight was scheduled to leave at 2:00pm. Rogers met us at the dock to say goodbye and we saw them off. Rogers my Mom and I returned home and spent the afternoon preparing groundnut soup for our Christmas dinner. With out any pepper most Sierra Leonians would have said it was hardly groundnut soup but Rogers and Alieu didn’t mind the American version.

The month surrounding Christmas and newyears is absolutely insane in Freetown. Many Sierra Leonians who are living abroad flood back into the city, probably doubling the population. There are parties and “carnivals” everyday all across town, making traffic even more horrendous than usual. The week between Christmas and New years Rogers traveled upcountry to visit family in the village he grew up in, so my Mother and I get to spend a lot of time with Alieu. Alieu had been visiting family in Guinea earlier this month but had returned early because the mosquitoes had been so bad in the place he was staying. By Tuesday, exactly 10 days from his departure from Guinea, Alieu began having cycling fevers. We took a trip to the clinic and he got to take a look at what his blood cells look like with malaria. We spent the next couple of days avoiding town and the unavoidable headache that it was bound to produce. With the masses of people, all the events going on and devil parades (a local favorite to celebrate the holiday) it was really nice to be staying a bit out of town. The devil parades will be put on by any group of people, sometimes by a group who live in a particular area, or a secret society, a business or tribe. They get a “devil” costume which is nothing like what you would imagine if you are used to american culture like me. The devils have some sort of animal head, (we saw tiger, bears, moose, antelope, and who knows what else) with lots of spikes and beads that drape down over the person who is wearing the costume. Massive mobs of people walking, dancing, and hanging off vehicles follow these devils around town like a parade. The parade has no set route and there will often be several going on throughout the day and all night, adding nicely to the traffic.

Umaru joined us one of the days for a hike in the area where we had been staying. We hiked down what they call the mountain road and explored a river that runs along it, and eventually over Charlotte falls. On our hike I unfortunately became acquainted with one of the less than friendly local plants. Its has a long grass like blade that is sticky like a venous flytrap, when you bump into it it latches on to your skin and when removed leaves a burning welt. Alieu was the only one who made it back home without any encounters with this plant.

To celebrate new years I arranged for a day at river number 2 beach. Everyone loves the beach, but it is rare to find a Sierra Leonian who will even think about going in the water. I was ecstatic to have Alieu who loves to swim and Umaru who loves the water..and is working on the swimming part. We spent the day swimming, playing football, and playing cards.

A few of my favorites :)

lovesafrica — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:46:25 +0000

My family in Salone

lovesafrica — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:49:43 +0000

My parents and sister have arrived! The day their flight came in Lahai and I went to the airport to collect them. Flying into Sierra Leone is rather difficult since the airport is in a small city, Lungi, across the water from Freetown. There is no bridge so the only options are to drive around (which could take all day), by boat, or by helicopter. We took the the government ferry which is fairly new and has been relatively reliable. We drove the PPB Jeep onto the ferry so that we could load all the luggage right into the vehicle and not worry about transport between the airport and the ferry terminal. Their flight was to land at 6pm which meant Lahai and I began our journey at noon. We made it to the airport with plenty of time and I anxiously awaited their arrival. They made it safe and sound with all of their luggage. The trek back to Freetown was a great first Salone experience for them. We finally made it back home around 1am.
Their first day we made the rounds through Freetown, to the clinic, the office, the PPB factory and supermarket. They met most of the GGM and PPB staff and got to see a little of what I have been doing these past 3 months.
Tuesday I took them to the fabric market. My mom, Johanna and I each got several pieces of fabric and then I took them to a local tailor. They both picked out something to have made with the fabric they had got and the tailor took their measurements. We walked around town a bit, I showed them the cotton tree and where the produce market was. Then out to Lumley to see the beautiful beach and to check out Jerry’s place.
Wednesday we went back by the clinic to deliver a stump sock to Nathaniel for a small boy with a prothestic leg. I had met this boy with Anna, from Mercyships, several weeks ago. He had just been fitted for his prosthesis but had developed a horrible rash from chaffing and couldn’t use it. My dad ordered a specialized sock with silicone lining and brought it over for him so that he could use his prosthetic. Nathaniel showed us around the National Rehabilitation Center workshop, and told us about all the things they could make there to help the amputees. In the afternoon we went to the Tacugama Chimpanzee sanctuary with Rogers, the PPB house manager. At Tacugama they have over 90 Chimps that they protect. We got a tour through the grounds and got to see a bit of the forest that surrounds Freetown. We spent the evening getting things gathered for the PPB clinic on the east end of town that we had first thing in the morning and then our journey out to John Obey for a few nights on the beach.

The week before my family arrived

lovesafrica — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:31:20 +0000

This blog covers the week before my parents arrived. I had several days that were incredibly difficult. Friday Jerry and I returned to Connaugh to check in on Mohamed and Salumatu. We met up with Abraham, the lab tech who has been helping us keep an eye on these patients, and he went with us. Salumatu had been moved to ICU, so we went to check on her first. This was my first time into the ICU at Connaugh. It’s very similar to the triage room, none of the beds have sheets, the room is filthy and smells of waste. Salumatu was sleeping when we got there and we told the nurses not to disturb her for us. Jerry being a diabetic, noticed that her IV bag was of 5% glucose, not something you typically give diabetics. They were monitoring her blood sugar every 3 hours. At 8am it was at 4.6mol and by 2pm it was up to 8.1mol. Jerry being concerned about her sugar getting too high asked if it was normal protocol to administer glucose to diabetics. The nurse had no idea so she referred us to the physician. We went to try to meet with him but he turned us away and told us he would not have time to speak with us until tomorrow. Praying that they knew what they were doing we made our way back to ICU. During the few minutes that we had stepped out of the room Salumatu passed away. Jerry requested that the nurse take her blood sugar again, and after some persuasion she agreed. It being 8.3mol offered a little comfort knowing this had not been the reason for her death.
We then went up to ward 8, where Mohammed was staying. He was doing far better than he was when we brought him in. His energy seemed to be up and he was now in a fully coherent state. His bedsores are another story though, they were the main reason he was hospitalized. He had now been there for 3 days and there had been no effort put into cleaning or bandaging his wounds. His wound appeared to be getting a little better, probably from just being in a less cramped less moist environment. We asked the RN if they would be caring for his wound and she assured us she was. However the few people who have gone to see him in the days that followed didn’t see any signs of wound care or bandaging.
Saturday Jerry, Phillip and I powered through some of the inventory at the office. The number of boxes is overwhelming to begin with and the disorganization within each box is ridiculous. At the rate things are going it will take years to sort all this stuff out. Saturday was also national day for the disabled, so many celebrations and programs were going on. We walked over to the youth center where Soffiatu was dancing. We came in late, got to see her perform and escaped before they put us on stage with the program directors and other white people.
Returning home Saturday we were met by one of the grounds keepers, he was wondering if we had moved the generator Jerry had just purchased. From his concern when we told him no, we quickly learned that it had been stolen. Someone broke into the generator room and stole the brand new generator Jerry just bought. Literally not even 30 minutes later the power went out.
Sunday I woke up feeling rather ill, but downed a bottle of pepto and dragged myself to church with Grant. We went to a catholic church in the army barracks, a church Grant enjoys mainly because of their choir. Sadly the choir wasn’t there this morning, but the welcoming congregation and beautiful murals made it quite enjoyable. It was a nice taste from home when the pastor asked any visitors or guests to stand and introduce themselves , I thought the church I grew up in was the only one I’d ever find that did this.
After church it was back to bed for me. At 4 the amputee football team had a game scheduled on the beach for the filming of a documentary that is being made by an organization out of Canada. Still feeling pretty lousy, it was more pepto and Jerry and I made our way down to the beach. Everyone was there and ready to go…except the film crew. They were supposed to have arrived in Freetown on Friday, however Jerry had not been able to get in contact with them to confirm this. Around 5:30 we were fairly confident that the filming was not going to take place so Jerry and I left so we could catch a Christmas service at the international church. Having just received the news about James Mckiernan passing away, some worship and fellowship was a good way to end the evening. My thoughts and prayers are with the Mckiernan’s.
Monday and Tuesday I was sicker than I have ever been. I stayed in bed for the majority of both days. If my parents and Johanna weren’t arriving here in a few days I would have arranged to be on my way home as soon as possible. After much rest, every medication I had available to me, and encouragement from friends and family I felt well enough to head to Bo on Wednesday. I had the Project Peanut Butter clinics Wednesday through Friday, together Lahai and I ran the clinics and they all went well. At the Friday clinic I met with the mother and infant that Chelsea and I met two weeks earlier who had the awful umbilical hernia. They had tried to go to see a surgeon earlier in the week but the surgeon had been out of town. We contacted the clinic where the surgeon works and set up a time for them to be seen this coming weekend, I hope to hear back from them Monday about how to proceed. Friday afternoon Lahai and I made the journey back to Freetown, and still not feeling 100% I spent most of the weekend resting.

Winter on the equator

lovesafrica — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:39:16 +0000

The weather is finally beginning to cool down a little bit. Still in the 80s I wouldn’t categorize it as cool, but there have been several mornings that Morli has worn a jacket for our run. Between the clinic, office, and now project peanut butter I seem to loose track of the days. I haven’t been feeling well this week so I paid a visit to the pharmacy and collected deworming pills for Jerry and myself. Most of the expats I’ve met here say they’ve been advised to take them twice a year while here, so I figured Jerry and I should probably as well. With the treatment consisting of only 1 dose, costing less than a dollar and having next to no side effects I figured it couldn’t hurt.
I spent only a small amount of time at the clinic this week, but the time I was there was rather interesting. Phillip had a patient with a cockroach lodged inside his ear that he removed and then killed.
Tuesday evening we got word that one of the amputee football players, Mohamed, was in horrible condition after spending several days in Connaugh hospital. He had been removed from the hospital by a man from Germany, Michael, who happened to be in town working with some of the polio. Michael was getting some medications for some of the polio at the hospital when he came across Mohamed who would have likely died had he stayed there another night. Michael somehow heard about out clinic and thinking it was an inpatient facility he took him out of Connaugh and brought him to Phillip, who happened to still be at work. After some IV fluids were administered properly Mohamed was in much better shape, but would need 24 hr care for several days.
Wednesday Umaru, Victor and I went to Mohamed’s home to get him and take him back to Connaugh where inpatient care is available, if you have funds to pay. I called Michael, the man who had found him and fought to keep him alive and arranged to meet him at the hospital. Michael is working from Germany with a German NGO, Robin-Food, and hopes to bring more aid to Sierra Leone. We got Mohamed readmitted into the hospital, this time making sure that he would be cared for properly. Just being in Connaugh hospital is always an eye opening experience. Patient confidentiality is pretty much unheard of, you can just walk in there without anyone even questioning your purpose for being there. The triage room has about 10 beds in it, none of them have sheets, they haven’t been cleaned in ages, and until you pay the registration fee and purchase your chart no one will even give you a second glance.
Michael had encountered another patient, a 14 year old girl, several days ago who was also in horrible condition. He got her admitted into the hospital as well, and asked if I would go see her with him. I thought Michael would be a good person for Jerry to meet as well, so I ran back to the office to and asked him to join us. We went up to the 10th ward where this young girl was staying. She was nothing more than skin and bones. One look at her and it brought a flash back to the story Chelsea had just told me about Hawa, the young girl she met at the feeding clinic who had type 1 diabetes. I told Michael and Ibrahim, the lab tech at Connaugh, to be sure to check her blood sugar. Jerry followed up the following day, and turns out that with running the glucose test they discovered that she does indeed have type 1 diabetes.
Thursday I had the PPB feeding clinic in Kissy, a part of Freetown on the east end. Chelsea wasn’t feeling well so Michael, her husband, and I ran the clinic. On our way across town this morning it was pouring rain. The rain comes down so hard the streets literally turn into rivers, we saw a woman carrying 2 large burlap sacks on her head get completely taken out and swept down the street. It being now 2 months into what should be the dry season this type of rain is very abnormal.
The Kissy clinic has been the largest lately, and it tends to have the most corruption when it comes to the mothers. There was one child who after 8 weeks of supposedly being given the food was still deteriorating. He is less than half the weight of what he should be. I asked the mother if she had been giving him the food, and that if she was not her child would die. She insisted that she was giving the child the food so I told her her child must be seriously sick and that she needed to have him seen at the hospital. Michael told her to wait for a few minutes and that she would not receive any food for the child right now because he likely needed to be admitted. Michael went to follow up and the mother had taken the child and left. This is just one example of the horribly sad corruption that we are faced with. Please keep these mothers and children in your prayers. The clinic left me completely exhausted so I spent the rest of the day resting. I am hoping that the extra rest plus my trip to the pharmacy will have me back up and running at full speed.
9 days until my parents and Johanna arrive

Driving in Freetown :)

lovesafrica — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:34:31 +0000

After our journey home from Bo I spent the weekend exploring Freetown a bit more. Several weeks ago I met another American running on the beach, Fatima, who has been here for work. She is staying in a hotel near where I am living so her and I have been exploring Lumley beach area together. Friday night we went out to one of the restaurants on the beach. It sure is hard to top dinner on a white sand beach at sunset. Lumley beach is where expats often hang out, so you are always bound to meet interesting people from every corner of the globe. This particular night we met the first actual tourists I have encountered here in Sierra Leone. Tourism is on the rise, but it’s not the reason why most foreigners are here. This group of friends were from Switzerland and they definitely were more of the adventurous type, several had been all over the world. Fatima and I had a great time getting to know lots of different people, and learning about the many reasons people end up here in Freetown.
Saturday Fatima and I took a trip downtown to a tailoring shop where she had ordered several dresses from. After seeing the incredible dresses, I put an order in and went down to the fabric market to pick out some fabric to have my dress made with. The fabric market is always an adventure, there are so many beautiful colors and patterns I always end up with far more fabric than I have plans for. I am very excited to take my mom and sister here when they come to visit.
After our time downtown Fatima came with me to a birthday party for Patricia’s nephew. It was quite ironic, her nephew Joel turned 2 on Saturday, the same day that my nephew Sam turned 2. Like any African party, it was huge. There were TONS of kids, loud music, microphones for people to address the entire party with, decorations…it was intense. I introduced Fatima to many of the GGM staff and she and I spent much of the time playing with Lizzy and Dorkas, Musu and Patricia’s 4 year old daughters who I have gotten to know from time at the clinic.
Before calling it a night Fatima and I got a bite to eat and I picked up the GGM car from Umaru. Driving here can be rather insane, but I can’t handle being stranded down a dark scary unlit road any longer. During daylight, although inconvenient, public transport is no problem, but as the days get shorter and shorter venturing out after dusk is inevitable.
Sunday less people are out and about so it was a good day to really test out my Freetown driving skills. We made the trek out to Reagent village again for church and then checked out Bliss cafe for lunch. Bliss is a very western style cafe, with fantastic coffee . A walk and then dinner on the beach with Fatima was the perfect end to the weekend.

Project Peanut Butter

lovesafrica — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:53:04 +0000

Working with Chelsea to learn how to run Project Peanut Butter has been incredible. I traveled upcountry with her on Wednesday to set up and run the 4 clinics in the region surrounding Bo. Traveling anywhere in this country always comes with its surprises and this trip was no exception. On our way out of Freetown we came upon a crowd of people and some police loading a man into the back of their truck. As we slowed to pass, our driver inquired about what had happened. The man was an Okada driver and he had been jumped and stabbed then left on the street. Thankfully the situation had been handled and the police were sorting things out, so we were able to continue on.
Arriving to our first clinic, located at Njala University, we set things up and Chelsea walked me through how to screen the children. The PPB program is designed for children 6-60 months old suffering from severe or moderate malnutrition. With corruption running rampant on every level here watching out for corrupt mothers is currently the number one problem we face with running the program. Mothers often bring in children other than their own in attempt to get more food, and many get the food and then sell some or all of it on the street. This is apparent when the mother either doesn’t even know the name of the child that they are bringing in, or if the child is not getting any better after several weeks on the program. All of the mothers are counseled on the severity of their child’s condition but sadly these problems continue to exist. With severe malnutrition in children under five 70% will die if their condition is not cared for. After finishing up at Njala we continued on into Bo and found a room to stay in at the United Methodist pastoral training center. The center happened to be empty for the week so we were able to get great accommodations that included meals cooked to our order.
Thursday clinics were in smaller more remote villages just outside Bo. The first one we set up and ran out of a mud hut (very similar to the home I helped build in Uganda). Being in the more remote villages it was comforting that we saw far less corruption with the mothers. We still saw many sick kids, but we saw very few kids who were in the program and not improving. Our second clinic of the day was at a new location that the community had requested we be at. Chelsea had paid a visit to the village chief last time she was in town, 2 weeks ago, to set everything up. Additionally we stopped by the village Wednesday to make sure that we had permission to be there and that the community knew to expect us. All seemed to be in place. However when we arrived Thursday morning we were surprised to see no mothers and children. After talking with some of the people from the village we learned that apparently the chief had not spread the word. We informed the few people we saw about who we were and what we were doing and they gathered the few children and mothers who were still in the village and not out working in the farm yet. Hopefully next time more people will be expecting us. We had a rather light day of work in the feeding clinics, a very nice way to spend our Thanksgiving here in Sierra Leone. Friday morning we packed up and headed out to our last clinic. This one located in a the small town of about 600 people, Taiama. We arrived a little early so we got to walk through the town and see a little bit of the area before we got started. This clinic ran smoothly, several corrupt mothers, but the majority of the children were improving. Right as we were ending the clinic a mother arrived seeking help for her 2 week old. The child was born with what appears to be a massive umbilical hernia, that may be beginning to become strangulated or infected. We sadly had little advise to offer her other than she needed to take the child to a hospital to have it checked out as soon as possible. We paid for the mother to get transportation to and from the hospital and sent one of the nurses with her to follow up. Before leaving the Bo area we delivered some supplies to a little girl with type 1 diabetes. Chelsea had met her through a feeding clinic a year or so ago. She was severely malnourished and although on the program she continued to deteriorate. People in her village believed it to be a witch that was living in belly. They would beat her and poison her in attempt to rid her of the witch. Chelsea saw that medically something was obviously wrong and took her to the Bo hospital for some lab tests. After discovering that she had diabetes it still took much explanation and persuasion to get the village to welcome her back. Now with the proper food and insulin to manage her condition she is healthy and doing well. What a week!

Project Peanut Butter

lovesafrica — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:46:14 +0000

Journey to Bo

lovesafrica — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:34:28 +0000

Last week we ventured out to Bo with Mama Elise from the NGO Friends of Norway, and Maria. Friends of Norway has been working in Sierra Leone building homes for the war victims and amputees. They have build over 800 and have another 160 in progress. The road to Bo is now paved which makes the 4-5 hour journey a breeze compared to the all day excursion is used to be. Traffic getting out of Freetown is always a nightmare but once we made our way through the change of pace and surrounding was wonderful. The open space and clean air is quite enjoyable in comparison to the constant chaos of the city. While in Bo we went out to visit some of the amputee/war victim camps that the Friends of Norway has built. Maria, Jerry and I wandered through several of the camps and visited with many of the people living there. The homes are incredibly nice in comparison to many of the homes in the area. The homes are made from cement so they stay relatively cool and each is 2 bedroom with a small living area. They have small kitchens set up just outside the homes and community outhouses within the camp. Some of the camps have begun farming but it is a constant struggle keeping track of where the produce is going and why funds for farming are constantly being requested.
After touring the camps in Bo we traveled even further across the country to Kenema, a smaller more remote area near the border of Liberia. In Kenema we had a celebration dinner in the camp to welcome some of the board members from Friends of Norway who were with us. We had a meal of Cassava leaf (again with meat from a variety of animals, don’t think I will ever get used to that), African music and dancing. I spent the majority of the evening with the children from the camp dancing and taking “snaps” of them. We made the long journey back to Freetown on Saturday, arriving home to no electricity once again. So thankful to have a generator! Sunday we attended church with our neighbor Grant, at a church in Regent village just outside Freetown. The service was amazing, just the right mix of African culture and punctuality. After church went to Umaru’s, for an African naming ceremony for baby Saeed, his sister Haja’s 1 month old. I got to visit with Haja and Mohammed (Saeed’s parents) and got to know more about the different work they do. Haja works with an anti-corruption agency involved with health care, and Mohammed works with community development. The naming ceremony was a pretty traditional African party, lots of food, music and dancing.
Monday morning I met with Chelsea and Michael, an american couple who live here in Freetown running Project Peanut Butter. The feeding program I visited for a day several weeks ago. Chelsea has asked me to take over running the feeding clinics for the month of December so her and Michael can visit home. I am incredibly excited for this opportunity, and look forward to being able to share some of the clinic days with my family when they arrive. They currently have 4 feeding centers set up that operate through biweekly clinics, 3 near Bo and 1 here in Freetown. I will be traveling to Bo this week with Chelsea to see how I will need to set up and run the clinics out there. What an amazing answer prayer about how and where I should devote my time and energy while here .