Sierra Leone: Round Two.

home sweet home : ]

Currently sailing to Ghana for Christmas after the Ship's 10 month field service in Sierra Leone. Off to Togo for 6 months thereafter.



I must say that it was more bitter than sweet to leave that wondrous place. Sierra Leone is so very special to me. The memories that I have from 10 years ago of going with my Mother. And now the new memories I have made.sorry for the lack of personal photos, but, my camera was ruined in a torrential downpour whilst on a hike my 2nd week of living on the ship. BUT I just received a brand new camera so next field  service ( Which will be in Togo come January) there should be more photos coming your way.

hike to sugarloaf mountain. highest peak in freetown, where i learned what rainy season really is. r.i.p. camera & i-pod.

highlights from this field service...


working security at a dental screening

 it was cool to see firsthand how the whole process works and how many people they help each week as they screened on Monday's and Thursday's.

my first African Wedding.

visits to the hope center to visit with some of the patients.

observing surgery. those of you who know me well, you know that blood and guts isn't particulary my thing. I can hardly watch House or Greys Anatomy type shows due to the fact of me getting extremely grossed out. BUT i decided to be brave and face my fear.

surgery number 1 was a hernia ( which i almost passed out due to the patient's bowels being out when i walked into the OR ). The 2nd one was not as gruesome & was a bi-lateral cleft/palate surgery.  Which I actually quite enjoyed.

* princess anne aka queen elizabeth's daughter stopped by for a visit.

(sorry folks..the princess asked us not to post photos)BUT i hope this photo of me working at reception will suffice 

: )

the dayworkers...they were hired at the beginning of the field service to assist us in many different ways.
these tremendous people are a HUGE part of what makes Mercy Ships work whether it be by translating, teaching us about the culture etc.

-ward instructions on how to use the toilet

This is Pastor Moses. & he has been working closely with Mercy Ships for many years now. He actually remembered me from my trip to Freetown 10 years ago when my Mom & I went to go visit his church.

*WARNING- may be a bit graphic for your liking, but, this is their reality. a few patients from our outreach .Many of them are ostracized & outcast from their villages because of their various conditions.

Shaka before

Shaka After!!!

this is Fanie.

Fanie After!!!

just a small taste of what has been accomplished this field service.

I will miss the magnificent Sierra Leone sunsets on the dock.

Went on an engine room tour of our ship. Was cool to see what happens "behind the scenes."

The Farewell & Thank You Reception for the DayVolunteers

saying goodbye to my buds Paul & Simeon

worst part of living on the ship is the goodbyes. these people become your family. whether it comes to crew members or day-volunteers, them leaving is not a fun process.

will have some statistics from this field service soon....

but until then, I wish the Happiest of Holidays to you all!!!

Yams Farm & Kissy Eye Clinic

The last week of field service was quite productive. We got a lot accomplished despite it being rainy season here in Sierra Leone.

We continued our teaching in Yams Farm on basic hygeine. The construction of the latrine was coming along quite wonderfully. Toni our Dentist and her lovely assistant Annika continued on with the extractions and dental work.

 On Tuesday a large group from my Gateway team headed over to Kissy Eye Clinic to do some prep work for painting. Kissy Eye Clinic is where Mercy Ships does the majority of the Eye screenings to mainly to see who they can help & schedule for surgeries for cataracts etc. so to sum it up...

we sanded.

we painted.

we conquered.

Thursday was our last day in Yam's Farm & Pastor Mark and the community wanted to have a Farewell celebration for us & for the completion of the latrine.

they wrote and sang a farewell song to us..

my buddy moses...such a leader. wise beyond his 10 years of living

 It was sad to say goodbye but thankfully they aren't to far away from us here on the ship : ] I was overwhelmed once again by their generosity...they ended up getting each and everyone of  me and my fellow team members beautiful African Attire. Dresses for the ladies & suave dress shirts for the gentlemen. This experience was so humbling. Twas so amazing to see those who have so little (materialistic and moneywise) want to give so much.

THE COMPLETED LATRINE!!!!!

here's a few extra pictures from my time in Yam's Farm....

 

Zaylib is the spunkiest thing you ever did see...she was another good buddy of mine!!!

And Friday was the epic day we'd all been waiting for ...MOVING ONTO THE SHIP DAY!!!

stay tuned for 1st day adventures aboard the Africa Mercy.

 

Yams Farm Festivities Part 2.

 I've been on the Africa Mercy for a few weeks now but I will catch you all up & fill you in on ship life soonish!!! But for now field service festivities part two. ...    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          We arrived in Yams Farm Monday morning with excitement, wonder & anticipation for the week to come. Looking forward to the known and the unknown & not really knowing what to expect. We had no idea how many kids would show up for VBS ( Vacation Bible School) or what games were going to work & what wasn't. If all else failed our back up plan was to play soccer with the kids. We also had a language barrier as 99.9% of my team didn't know how to speak Krio. Thank goodness Pastor Mark was available to translate for us. We had many plans but weren't sure because of the culture if they were going to work or apply

 On the construction forefront for the latrine the concerns were about the same. How were we going to mesh & communicate with the Yams Farmians workwise & just in general. Especially because everyone has different ways of doing things. We wanted to make sure that we were sensitive to the culture & didn't bombard them with our western culture/ideas etc. We wanted to make this about Yams Farm Village & just wanted to assist them in completing their project.  In the end we wanted the Yams Farmians to have a sense of pride about the completion of the Latrine & for them to feel & know it was theirs.

 Making progress as we layed down the bricks to fill the wall of the latrine

Those bricks were super heavy & Andrea ( One of our Team Leader's) worked very hard transporting them.

The beautiful faces that showed up everyday...all 70 to 80 of them

The first day was definitely trial & error. We quickly learned what worked & what didn't. The rest of the week went by so quickly & smoothly. It was such a learning experience for us

fun & games with the kids

they absolutely loved this snake game we taught them

thank you abby royer for catching wonderful moments with new friends such as this 

having too much fun playing jump rope with the kiddies
In addition to VBS we held a small medical or wound care clinic, dental clinic & basic hygeine clinic. We had a dentist on our team & she performed over 80 extractions during our time in Yams Farm.

One of my favorite things I observed after being in the Yam's Farm community for 2 weeks is how it doesn't matter how old or young you are. You still look after & care for one

another.