Everyday Life

So much has happened since our last entry, and we do apologize for the length of time between blogs, but we've been a little tied up.  We'll try to fill you in on some of the things that are just a part of our routine here in Makeni, Sierra Leone. 

The first good thing that happened was that our shipment arrived with everything intact and safe and sound.  Well, we lost one plate, which broke during shipment, but that was it.  Everything arrived one night at about 10:00 pm and took another good hour to unload from the overloaded, broken down van that it came up to Makeni on.  As soon as the vehicle left, everyone broke out in song and dance.

The dance of Joy

We've had quite a few birthday celebrations since we got here.  Josiah's 15th birthday was March 25th.  Our stuff hadn't arrived yet, so it was a little tricky.  We went to the one and only tiny grocery store in town and got popscicles to eat and had roasted chicken and beef sticks and french fries for supper.  

Then Junior, one of our staff guys, had his 25th birthday on April 9th.  Junior has had pizza twice in his life, and it is his favorite food.  So we had a surprise party for him with homemade pizza and brownies.  He was very surprised! 

Rebecca, our cook, housekeeper and general all-around helper - and Junior's mom - had her 50th birthday on April 21st.  So we had a lot of parties.  For Rebecca's birthday, Kelsey and Kim drove up from Freetown that afternoon with take-out pizza from a restaurant in Freetown and ice cream.  Keeping the ice cream frozen on the 3 hour 100 degree drive was tricky, but we actually did it!  The pizza wasn't exactly warm, but we warmed it up in the oven.  

Getting water into our 1500 liter tank (you can figure out how much that is exactly) is not as easy as it might sound.  We have to beg and plead with whatever water tanker we can find available to come and pump water up into our tank, so that we have running water in the house.  Usually the city water bowser comes to our rescue (for a small fee and some Advil), but one time we had the city fire truck come and help us out.  One tank lasts us for about 4 days, so we're asking for help often, and very often, and much of the time, we just manage with buckets in our bathrooms.  

The city fire truck - the tank is up behind the mango tree

Getting a vehicle for Women of Hope that actually worked was a trick.  The first minivan lasted less than 24 hours and then the engine seized.  We were attempting to have an outing to a waterfall about an hour from us.  The outing didn't go all that well.  The waterfall and pool were completely dried up and on our way home, our van died.  We had to send Josiah into Makeni on a passing motorbike to get some help.  He came back with a mechanic who assured us that indeed the engine was gone.  A passing broken down pick-up truck, who happened to be friends with the mechanic, promised to come back after he took his passengers to town.  He needed Le 30,000 for some fuel and left us his son as collateral.  After a couple hours of wondering if we had just purchased a little boy for $7, he finally came back with a rope and a bar.  They rigged us up behind the pick-up and dragged us at 60 mph down the road dodging holes and people.  Mind you, with a dead car, the power steering and power brakes don't work very well, and this guy had no brake lights.  To avoid crashing into his rear end, which was about 24 inches in front of us, and crushing his apprentice's foot, we had to anticipate his every thought at lightning speed and do exactly what he did.  It was sort of like a combination of a roller coaster and a crack-the-whip game - only with high stakes!  We were VERY glad to get back to town.

The tow truck - objects in this picture are closer than they look!

We traded that van in with the dealer for another one, but it was a 2006 computerized, lots of whistles and bells Buick - with NO spare parts in the country and a glowing "check engine" light.  We decided against that one and sent it back.  Finally we ended up with another Mazda MVP that seems to be working well.  We took it to Freetown, using a temporary dealer license plate, in order to get a plate for it.  Well, that wasn't the greatest idea.  We were arrested 3 times in 2 hours!  Who knew there were so many rules associated with having a "G-plate" on your car!  We never ended up in jail, for which we were thankful, but we spent a lot of time in police stations explaining ourselves.  With the license plate finally attached and the logo painted on the side, it is now officially a Women of Hope NGO vehicle. 

Hand-painted with care!

We were recently given a goat as a gift.  He's kind of cute, but we were sure to inform the kids very quickly that he was not a pet, he was dinner!  Jeremiah dubbed him "Sammy, the Dinner Goat."  He needed some fattening up before we serve him up though, so we're keeping him around for a while.  He has managed to eat every bush that we had on our compound and most of the flowers and all the lower leaves on the trees.

Sammy, the Dinner Goat - with Tiana and Kelsey

Many (well, ok, most) things are done a bit differently here than they are at home.  It does take time to get used to things that are different, but we're finally settling in.  Here's Kelsey and Kim taking down the laundry...

Taking care of business is done a little differently as well. We went down to the market to get our passport pictures taken for passport renewals for the kids and our residential permits (we forgot to ask for permission to reside here... oops!). The gentlemen set up shop right on the porch, and there was an instant photo studio.

When we want roasted peanuts (groundnuts here) for a snack, we don't go to WalMart to buy them.  Rebecca goes to the market and makes them - like this, while talking on the phone.  :-)

With all that had happened prior to and immediately following our arrival, it was sort of like starting Women of Hope over, but with some prep work already done.  So, we've had a lot of work to do to get ready to get our staffing completed and our office ready to operate effectively.  We've done a lot of administrative work - writing policies and procedures, writing an employee manual, interviewing and hiring staff, ordering furniture, attending meetings, etc.  

Don't you like our purple living room furniture??

We were able to attend our second general meeting of the women with disabilities since we got here.  The meeting was not quite as well attended as the last one, but that was because one of our Advisory Board members, and a leader in the blind community, had died just the night before the meeting.  We still had over 120 women in attendance, and many of them still had to be carried into and out of the church.

We attended the funeral for SAS Kamara later that same day.  He will be sorely missed by the community, the secondary school he taught at, and our board.  

It's not all work though.  We have some fun too.  Kelsey is well loved by the kids, and spends more than a little bit of her time just like this - being loved to death!

Thank you for all your prayers!  Don't quit.  We still need them!  We miss our dear friends and family back home! Thank you for helping us bring transformation to these wonderful women!