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.

Freetown Field Service Festivities Part 1.

It's been quite some time & So much has happened within the last few weeks. After 20 something hours of traveling from dallas, nyc, brussels belgium to banjul gambia & finally FREETOWN sierra leone!!!

we arrived @ the airport early evening & it was an adventure from the start. The taxi ride to the ferry in itself was like a simulation of the Indiana Jones Adventure Ride at Disneyland. Then hoping on the ferry just in time for the last ride of the day. We made it around midnight to the Restore Hope Center, which was our home for the first  two & a half weeks. Shockingly I wasnt jet lagged whatsoever & woke up refreshed the next day. What a wonderful & gorgeous view it was to wake up to. I forgot how lush, green, & beautiful this country is!!!

Friday afternoon we went into Yams Farm Village to see where we would be working for our field service. Driving into the village was something I'll never forget & always cherish. All the children & adults waving & running after our Poda Poda (our means of transportation pictured below)

They were all so welcoming & ecstatic that we were there. I felt so priveleged & honored at that moment that I could be apart of this. They needed help building a Latrine ( Toilet) for the Primary School.  The hole had already been dug & they just needed the extra hands & strong muscles : ] to help complete the project. 

 We had the grand tour of the village compliments of Pastor Mark (pictured below with his wife Hawwa)whos runs the primary school & Word of Life church.

These lovely little ladies are some of my newfound buddies from Yams Farm Village.

There is more to come from the 1st week of us working there in just a few days : ]