reality and imagination

Pictures

2010-01-28T00:23:00.002-05:00

I've continued received so much encouragement since returning home. I hope to be able to sit down and share pictures and stories about Sierra Leone. Until then, I wanted to post a brief slideshow of pictures.

Please note that due to the child protection policy, I have omitted pictures with the youth. These slideshow pictures are a compilation of pictures taken by me and the other three servant team members. Thanks for your support!

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Good-byes

2009-12-12T15:16:00.002-05:00

I don't like good-byes. They're hard and I cry. Today the reality of it all hit me out on the dance floor. Yes, the dance floor. Noah and Florence got married today (both Sierra Leoneons on WMF staff). It was a privilege to go to the ceremony. And of course, there was lots of singing and dancing at the reception as well. As I looked around the room, I tried to take it all in. One minute I was laughing and dancing with Beatrice, who can out dance anyone, and the next I had to walk away to keep from sobbing. I'm feeling a bit erratic with this whole good-bye thing.

The past four months have been wonderful and equally difficult. I get angry at the man in the street who yells out to me. I get tired in the hot sun, sweating as we walk. I get anxious at night with the crazy street noises. Sometimes I'm just not the best version of myself and that's a humbling lesson.

But, when we're together - the staff and the Lighthouse youth, I'm just filled with love for each of them. So I looked around the room. I tried to memorize each face. To cherish these moments of being displaced but together at the same time.

Then Santigie, one of the Lighthouse men, started this emotional goodbye speech, choking back tears. I just gave in. Tears streamed down my face - recalling happy times, hard times. I love these people so much. Somehow it seems that once you start to really get settled into a place, it's time to leave. I feel that way now. I am counting down the days until I will see Scott, my family and friends, but then I realize that means leaving these friends behind. Good-byes mean leaving, and that's never an easy thing to grasp. Good-byes mean change. Good-byes mean sadness and joy simultaneously.

I've heard it said that once you've lived in a place where the people are blue, and then live in another culture where the people are yellow, when you return home, you're neither blue nor yellow - you're green. I think that's a fitting analogy - to not fully fit in here or there, but to be changed. The process of living in that change awaits me. I'm praying for patience and an open heart. I'm praying for honest conversations and the ability to process what I've learned from my friends in Sierra Leone. Please pray with me.

Happy Krismes

2009-12-06T05:45:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the Kroo Bay Christmas Party.

Apparently, it's a hot ticket. We handed out over 250 tickets to kids who attended the Good News Club the week before, inviting them to the big Christmas bash. I was stationed at the door to check for counterfeits. Kids actually photo copy them or sell them or steal them from others. Barricades were set up on either side of the door to have some semblance of an orderly line and keep kids from trampling each other. Parents shouted and argued for their children to be let inside.

Using words to convey this craziness just isn't quite enough. I will try to appeal to the senses:

Hear: Shouting, singing

Smell: Sweat, food

Taste: Jollof rice and chicken

See: Overcrowded church, smiles, dancing

Touch: Kids' hands, dirty plates

Inevitably, we ended up with around 300 kids inside the church. Some kids who are regular attenders may not have received a ticket and those with fake tickets may have squeaked past. Children sat tightly packed on rows of benches, dressed in their best clothes for the occasion. We performed a skit about the Christmas story. I got to be Mary and I tried to keep a straight face.

Next we passed out plates of food and drinks. Imagine 300 excited small children eating rice and sauce sitting side by side. At least the mess was anticipated. After they ate and we had collected their trash, it was time for games. A group of four girls and another group of four boys played musical chairs while the other kids watched - the best part is the end when the winner stands on top of the chair and does a dance. These kids can daaaaaance! It was, hands down, my favorite part of the day.

Then we sang some songs, which is basically a shouting match. After this: dance party. The kids ran into the open space in the middle of the room and let loose. We somehow managed to get them sitting down again and at this point they knew what was coming next: toys. The room grew quiet. To get a toy, you must sit still and be quiet. We dismissed them one by one and the happy looks on their faces were priceless.

Of course, the barricades still stood erect outside and the Lighthouse youth stood guard so toys wouldn't get stolen from the small children. It's a hard truth that this is such a big deal to come to the Kroo Bay Christmas Party. We offer a meal - and that's enough incentive to steal a ticket without the lure of a new toy. At times, in the midst of the raucous inside, between yelling at the same kid five times to stop hitting the girl next to him, I stopped to look around at the faces of the kids - in them I see joy.

Ale Ale House of Hope

2009-11-25T15:30:00.005-05:00

Exciting news for WMF Sierra Leone - a 'home' has been found. Yesterday, with the signing of the lease, an official office space now exists. We met at the new office, named the 'Ale Ale House of Hope', this morning for prayer and worship. ("Ale Ale" is what nearly every child in Kroo Bay shouts when we walk by, referring to the Good News Club that meets on Saturday afternoons, shortening "Alleluiah" to "Ale-Ale". Side note: getting 300 kids to sit still in a crammed church is no easy feat. One of my favorite moments was when the place was finally quiet, one child shouted "Ale Ale" and I couldn't help but laughing at the inability to quiet excitable children and loving the child that shouted it).

The place is perfect. I am so excited to see where the collective imaginations of the staff will lead. Pictured below is the view of Kroo Bay from the second story window, looking towards the city - my favorite aspect of the house.

In the words of Steph:
Word Made Flesh has had a presence in Sierra Leone for nearly 7 years, and since then we have made the best of our resources by using our homes and various other places for all of our meetings and activities. We are all over the place. I do most of my administrative work and servant team meetings in my home, staff meetings and morning prayer/worship are at Cami and Faye’s house (which also functions as an office for many of us), community dinners are at the Harrell home by Special Court, tutoring/lessons for Lighthouse youth and Kroo Bay kids is held at the Freetown Youth Center by Victoria Park, large group meetings for Lighthouse are at Scripture Union on Pademba Road, small group meetings are held at various other locations around town, Good News Club is at the church in Kroo Bay, and Erin travels to each of her physical therapy patients houses. All in all, WMF Sierra Leone has not had a place to lay its head.

It is a 2-story house in a roomy compound on May Street in Kingtom, right on the edge of Kroo Bay. There are trees and quiet and room to grow – all of which are rare in this city – and the back of the house looks out over the very neighborhood where we feel our efforts will be focused in the future. It is easy enough to reach for those who know us, but out of the way enough that we will have some privacy. The compound is large enough that we have room to grow, and we all have shared dreams of a garden or some play equipment for the neighborhood.

If you are able to give and enthusiastic about giving toward this project, please include a note with your check stating that it is for the “Sierra Leone Ministry Center and mail to:Word Made Flesh PO Box 70 Omaha, NE 68101

Kroo Bay

2009-11-11T08:52:00.007-05:00

Kroo Bay.
Houses situated on piles of trash that the rains push towards the water.
Tin and tarp and serve as roofing. Scraps serve as walls.
Cramped quarters. Narrow alleys. Dirt floors.
Babies crying. Children darting. Magical amulets hanging from their necks.
Hoping for protection, hoping for life. Death is all too common.

Boys and girls, men and women sifting through trash.
Mingling with the pigs. Competing for space.
Searching through mounds of garbage and dirty waters.
Looking for scraps to sell. Take care to avoid hazards, razor blades.

Walk cautiously over rocks and mud and water.
Visit Beshe, the boy with the burn wounds on both legs.
Neglected for months.
He is able to walk now. Out of the hospital, healing slowly.
He radiates joy and thanksgiving.
And likes to dance.

Talk with Mariatu, who lives a free life.
A prostitute since age thirteen.
She was orphaned, no family left.
Where else to turn? No education, no skills.
It's been six years in this business.

Where does the hope lie?
Under which rock is justice found?

Na fo bia (it is you who should bear).
Na fo bia don pwel salone (na fo bia has spoiled salone).
No more na fo bia. The new idea: do something.
Do something.

Sharing communities reveal beauty despite brokenness.
(We are all broken).
Poverty is an ugly, dehumanizing truth.
Solemn faces. Joyful faces. Faces of poverty.
See the beauty of the people who dwell in Kroo Bay.

Banana Island

2009-10-28T09:58:00.005-04:00

Banana Island. Beautiful. Restful. Refreshing.

Our half-way retreat was absolutely tranquil. We started each morning with quiet time. I spotted a comfortable looking rock on the beach that gave me a perfect view of the rolling waves and mountains in the distance. Bustling Freetown is tucked away in the mountainous peninsula. I was reveling in the quietness of the island, reflecting on my time in Freetown during the past two months. Steph read us Psalm 139 and 1 Corinthians 13, and we were to spend our quiet time thinking about love - where we see love in Freetown and how we can strive to embody the love of Christ. It was so rejuvenating to take this time to be still and process what I've experienced, and to happily usher in the next two months.

We spent the remainder of our days at the beach. It was just us, some local fishermen and a few island dogs. I could get used to island life. Reading in a hammock, eating good fish and swimming in the ocean. And at night it was so dark that the stars shone even more brightly. Beautiful.

Our accommodations were basic and the family running the place was so welcoming. Anne and I were greeted by a spider one afternoon in our room, which we thought was pretty large. Later that night we we proven wrong. The spider in our room was a mere baby. A monstrous tarantula clung to the wall in Ben's room. It was zoo-quality size. I wished it was in a cage instead of roaming in the bush outside. Bats and rats scurried back and forth between the adjoining straw ceiling to the hut that the girls shared. Lots of shrieking and laughter filled the night air.

After our restful time, we hopped in the large canoe-like boat back to mainland. The water was rough, since it just stormed, and it made for a fun trip. Back in Freetown now, ready for what's in store for these last two months!

Playing Catchup

2009-10-17T08:07:00.006-04:00

It appears time has slipped away from me and I need to do a summary of the past few weeks. Between getting behind on emails, getting food poisoning and other events I've neglected the blog. Oops.

Sometimes I open a new post, planning to write, and wonder how to possibly sum up a day here. Sometimes the day is in line with our routine. Except, when I really stop and think about our "routine" I remember that when crazy, out of the ordinary from our Western-view-type of things happen, it's not really so typical as it would be at home. They just happen here and it's morphs into the norm. For example, I could write about how I woke up to a marching band at 3am with drums and whistles again. How we got caught in the middle of a secret society processional while trying to buy bananas; how the men stopped in front of us, with their masked "devils" behind them and demanded that we give the devil money. We said no. How baby strollers are used to transport coolers full of goods for sale instead of children. How it does look really funny when I see other white people in the masses of black faces downtown, and how being called "white girl" time and time again is like being a bit of a celebrity and a circus side-show act. How guys pee into the gutters from the side of the street. How toilet paper is optional in the bathrooms and how that's unfortunate. How you get marriage proposals from strangers (Don't worry I said no). Just a few examples.

Sometimes encounters happen in just the short span of a few hours that are difficult to process. I started to write about one such conversation in Kroo Bay (which now happened two Thursday's ago) but couldn't find the words. I'll get to that eventually, I promise.

And now, back to my original point - needing to summarize the past few weeks. We had our typical days of tutoring, Krio lessons, book studies, Bible studies (I would've led on Isaiah this week but the food poisoning kicked in), Lighthouse, staff prayer, and other adventures. The "routines" of living here. We went to a chimpanzee sancturary last Friday which was entertaining. One particular chimp named Jimmy liked to launch rocks towards us. Our Seirra Leonean guide was fantastic and warned us to get behind the net, saying, "Ok. Jimmy has not one but two large rocks. Everyone behind the net. Careful Jimmy." There are 97 chimps in the sanctuary and the employees must know them all my name. It's pretty incredible.

Anne and I moved back to Aunty Sally's house this past Sunday. The place is dry now, but every time it rains at night I get a little surge of anxiety. I think the sound of the rain is magnified as it pounds down on the tin roof. I'm enjoying getting to know the families that live in Aunty Sally's compound. And I learned a whole new laundry system, wich meant a whole new round of laughter when I washed clothes outside, getting water from the communal spring and hanging them up to dry. At least my Krio is improving. (In fact, we're done with classes). And if I can make it up the crazy hill we have to walk up and down to get to the house without being winded, then I will feel accomplished. Maybe in long distance running Olympic-qualifying shape even. Ok that will never happen.

Living at Aunty Sally's means being out of the noise of the market and entering into the noise of every one's conversation, music from nearby shops and radios that start up at 5am. It also means no electricity, which means hot nights under the top bunk bed draped in a mosquito net in a room with one window which has a concrete wall one foot in front of it. We sleep with our door open to the living room, hoping for a breeze which has yet to come. I've never been so thankful for the rain that comes at night to cool things down briefly. Right now we're reading "City of Joy" for our book discussion, which takes place in India; I have a new found respect for people living there, where temperatures regularly reach over 100 degrees. I have a new found respect for a lot of things, like the person who invented battery-powered fans, and would he please ship some to Sierra Leone?

My favorite thing about living with Aunty Sally is getting to know her, her sister Adema, 10-year-old Fatmata, and the other kids in the compound. It gets dark by 7pm, and we need to be home before it's dark. I love to sit outside at night at watch the stars and talk. Aunty Sally is an incredible woman with a great story. Life is definitely lived publicly with little space and all the heat inside the house. The other night Fatmata and three other little kids were crowded around a battery powered light looking up at a poster of the alphabet. Anne and I took turns teaching them the letters and sounds, laughing together as we taught them. Coming up with an "i" word was tough - with the short "i" sound we kept coming back to igloo, but the concept of an ice house didn't translate too well to them in Krio so we settled for "igbako" which I'm pretty sure is the Krio word for "rice ladle." It's always an adventure.

More to write about later. We're going to Banana Island next week for our half-way retreat. Yes, it's already been two months of living in Sierra Leone. Two more to go. Much more to write about. Much more to learn!

More Pictures!

2009-10-02T14:47:00.005-04:00

I'm taking the easy way out and posting the link to pictures that Erik posted of our team in Sierra Leone. Check out this beautiful country:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124616&id=55003949&l=85e661055f

This picture is overlooking the city ontop of Leiscter Peak.

Tutoring

2009-10-01T06:11:00.005-04:00

Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we go to the Youth Center after Krio lessons to tutor some of the Lighthouse youth. This is one of my favorite things because we get one-one-one time with each person we teach. It's fun to get to know the kids this way.

It's interesting to switch topics each hour. I go from teaching long division and math to two 14-year old girls, to practicing phonics and reading with another boy, to explaining economic concepts and discussing literature with another teen. Most of the kids are in school and come to tutoring after they've finished their school day. (Kids in all different kinds of school uniforms swam into the streets twice a day) A few of the youth have learned trades and are not in school, but want to learn more. On Tuesdays we work with some of these youth who are tailors or carpenters, teaching basic business skills.

Each day, we track their progress and how well they followed the three rules: be respectful, be responsible and be fun to be around. Those who come every day and do this are invited to our fun reward day at the end of each month. It's hard to believe September has come and gone! Yesterday, we had our first reward day - we had snacks, played Uno and Twister, played games with a big parachute and just had fun talking and laughing.

I love being with the youth in this environment. Kids here don't get much affection or attention - they're often seen as workers. I've seen boys and girls who couldn't be much more than 7 years old carrying water or bags or some other product for sale. No time for school. It's her job to help bring in money for food; her job to help pay for basic needs.

A group of girls carrying items in baskets on their heads ran past me the other day, laughing and playing some kind of game as they roamed the streets in the blazing sun looking for people to buy from them. That is their life. They work and they try to squeeze in some childhood games as they do so. There are no backyards for kids to play in. There are trash-filled slums where pigs search for food. There are the streets where children must be careful to not get hit by passing cars. There are gutters and roads where kids search for trash to use as toys. The other day I passed a small boy who had a lock tied to a piece of plastic-like string. He trailed it behind him like it was a pet, taking care to look back and check on it. Life here is hard. Kids grow up fast.

Refreshment

2009-09-27T15:04:00.008-04:00

On Friday I got a massage. I sat on a rock at the bottom of a waterfall and let the water pound over my back. It was wonderful.

We took a taxi up to Charlotte Falls. It was an hour drive, and as we got closer the road got worse - unpaved, ridden with huge pot holes - and of course, it started to rain. The driver complained about the road as the bottom of his car scraped across the rocks and we could feel them scraping under our feet on the floor of the car. He said that Obama would fix the road if he came to Sierra Leone. Obama souveniers are everywhere here. I like when people sometimes get excited and shout, "Obama!" at us because we're white. We just smile and shout it back.

Once we reached the top of the hill, we hiked the rest of the way to the falls. It was beautiful. The mountains were in every direction. Everything was so lush and green. I felt as if I could breathe deeper being out of the polluted city. And it was quiet.

We stopped to pay the chief of the area before hiking closer to the falls. We could hear the water roaring. We hiked through a river filled with large rocks. The water was high since it's the end of rainy season. Then we made it to the beautiful waterfall!

We had to walk carefully on the big rocks down to the bottom of the falls. The rocks were very slippery. I sat down and slid into the freezing pool of water below. Waterfall rock slides are fun! We swam in the water and let the current swirl us around. The current was strong in one place so we held onto rocks to keep from being pushed all the way to the bottom. Thankfully the rain had stopped so it was a perfect day to hike and swim. Eventually my lips turned purple from the freezing water. This was exciting. It was the first time I've been cold in Sierra Leone!

We made peanut butter and banana sandwiches and then hiked back. There are some serious hills here. So far, the day at the falls was one of my favorite. This is a beautiful country!

A Sidenote

2009-09-22T05:07:00.007-04:00

Some things I forgot to mention in the previous blog post.

I really wanted to sit down with the members of the amputee football team and hear their stories. However, asking personal questions is not ok here. This is a big cultural difference. Personal space is nonexistant. Personal questions are not too common. This takes some getting used to, as our culture values personal questions and personal space. The reverse here is true. Stick your armpit in my face on the poda poda, but don't ask me anything too personal.

In fact, just when I think that no one else can fit, three more people climb inside. One poda poda we were in had four benches. Three people can fit comfortably on one bench. And even then your elbows are touching. We sat five to a bench. Three more people sat in the front seats. Twenty three people in a poda poda makes for an interesting ride. On an unpaved road. Espeically when it starts to rain and the windows must be closed. If your arm goes there, and my shoulder fits here, then all space is accounted for. Maybe we can hold onto the seat in front of us to keep from boucning around too much. We drive this way until people exit and we have to readjust to let people out. And of course, let more passengers inside. Sometimes with babies. Sometimes with bundles of food. Always crowded.

Poda podas have the place they're going listed on the front. However, you hear where they're headed before you can see. The "apprentice" is a man who hangs out the widnow and chants rhythmically where the poda poda is going. Aberdeen sounds like, "Abbaabbaabba" over and over. Freetown is a place of many sounds. And sights. And smells.

And the poda podas all have names, like "Praise Allah" or "In God's Time." I enjoy the poda poda's with the large sticker of an 80s-style Madonna blowing a kiss to those she passes by.

It's hard to take all the sights and sounds and smells in walking down the street. It's a place where senses are heightened. I'm very aware of this. Even when we tutor, a club next door blares music. I woke up one night to a guy on a megaphone preaching in the streets. Around 3 a.m. You never quite know what's going to happen next in Freetown. I like this and dislike this at the same time. There's so much to learn in Freetown.

Last Saturday

2009-09-18T13:46:00.010-04:00

Last Saturday I witnessed something inspirational.

Here's the back story. The lighthouse boys go to the beach every Saturday morning to play ultimate frisbee. Our second week here, we grabbed the poda poda to the other end of the beach and ended up walking a few miles to meet everyone. On our way, we passed a group of men playing football (soccer). That's not uncommon here, except that these men were either missing a leg, an arm or both. And they were really good at football.

We made our way to meet the kids for ultimate frisbee, and a little while later, a man named Joseph approached us. He was selling jewelry, which is also not uncommon as someone is always selling something here, but Joseph was one of the football players. He told us that the team practices every Saturday. We wanted to come watch them the following week, but they take the month of August off. He said to just let him know when we wanted to watch them play, and he'd get a group of people together. We thought the conversation had ended here.

And so my understanding of Freetown continues to remain cloudy. I've had conversations with friends who will say, "Tomorrow, we'll do this," or "tomorrow, we'll do that," but "this and that" have yet to happen unless specific plans are made. Not surprisingly, the conversation with Joesph went differently. He was at the beach waiting to play football for us. And he had brought his football friends.

Saturday morning was a little rainy, so Anne and I decided to sleep in and skip going to the beach. We got a call from Erik telling us that Joseph was at the beach and asking for us. Then Steph called and said more and more amputees were arriving in their football jerseys ready to play. Apparently, Joseph had arranged for about a dozen football players to make a special trip to the beach to show us how they practiced. We quickly got dressed and hopped into the first poda poda to Aberdeen Beach.

We were greeted with smiling faces from members of the Single Leg Amputee Sports Club of Sierra Leone. These guys are incredible. They are going to Brazil in November to play in the Amputee World Cup. They have traveled to Germany, Russia and other countries to play football against other amputee teams. They have such positive spirits and love playing football. It was very impressive. We had a great time watching them play - using crutches and handling the football with such skill. They had a great time practicing and posing for a team picture. I look forward to watching them practice more before they leave.

Last Saurday I witnessed something heartbreaking.

Each Satuday afternoon, WMF has the Kroo Bay Good News Club. Basically, about 300 young children sit on wooden pews in a church in Kroo Bay, hear a Bible story lesson, sing and dance in worship, and then get a hard boiled egg before they leave. The WMF staff rotates on who leads Good News Club, and the Lighthouse kids lead the worship and help out. As the servant team, our role has been that of crowd control. A room, a very small room, full of 200 children is loud and crazy. Except, when 300 children get handed a hard boiled egg, the small room becomes very quiet. For many of these kids, the hard boiled egg may be the only meal they've eaten that day. For some, it may be the only meal they will eat for a few days.

Kroo Bay is a large slum along the coast. When it rains, it frequently floods. So, during rainy season, Kroo Bay has problems with flooding. Many of the people living in Kroo Bay sell items in the market. When it rains, people do not come to the market to buy. If people don't come to the market to buy from those in Kroo Bay who are selling, then those in Kroo Bay are not earning money. If no money is made, then how will these people buy food? Sometimes, there is no money for food. Imagine going without food. Imagine the effects on a child who goes without food. Significant brain development in children takes place from birth to two years of age - lack of nutrients causes deficiency and underdevelopment. If basic needs like food can't be met, then thinking of something such as school fees is clearly out of the question. Poverty is a viscious cycle, intertwined with complex issues of personal and systemic injustices.

After the kids have eaten their eggs, we pray for each of them and send them on their way. The kids who need medical attention stay for basic first aid treatment. I can clean a wound and slap on a bandaid, but other than this, I'm pretty useless in this area. However, there are so many kids who need just this. There are also many others who need much more than this, but that's a whole different story and blog post. One little boy had a deep cut on his right foot, underneath his big toe. I had to try to keep from crying when I looked at the bottom of his foot. His foot was wrinkly - the kind of wrinkly you get from sitting in the bath for too long - except I doubt he had bathed in a while. His foot was soaked from the water flooding Kroo Bay - from the rains, the sewage and the trash he is surrounded by. That he is forced to live in because of poverty. And this was just one little boy's wrinkly, cut foot. As I cared for his cut, I looked down to see if he had shoes. His little brown sandals looked filthy and water logged. One other boy had stepped on a paint can and cut his foot deeply. I watched him limp away shoeless.

These kids just suffered from cuts, but if left untreated could cause many other health problems. Other kids have foot fungus, malaria and so many other ailments. And these issues are just the tip of the iceberg. This is just one slum, in one area of one country. It's heart wrenching to see them hurting.

One Month

2009-09-16T07:54:00.004-04:00

Today marks one month since I stepped foot onto Sierra Leone's soil. Right now the soil is drenched with rain, but I think the sun is fighting the rain clouds in order to be seen.

Some thoughts

2009-09-11T14:55:00.007-04:00

Wednesday night is our night to go out to dinner. We decided to go to "Delightful Foods" after we finished tutoring. We walked in and they were closing. Of course. Plans in Sierra Leone are more like ideas. Sometimes they work, most of the times they change. Learning flexibility and patience is always a good thing, right?
Well, the woman at this restaurant looked at us and said, "You look tired. Stay. Eat." And we were tired, and we were hungry. So we stayed. We looked up at the menu on the wall to order, and a small, gray mouse ran across the top of the menu board. He ran back and forth a few times then reared up on his hind legs and sniffed the air. Mmmm delightful foods. Since they were closing, they told us what they had left to cook. I ordered a chicken schwarma and chips (fries). I got a non-chicken schwarma and chips. Again, plans are more like suggestions. I think the schwarma was beef. I hoped it wasn't mouse. No, it was beef.

Every Thursday we get our "allowance." Steph gives each of us enough money for transport and food for the week. Our budget is 2,000 leones for breakfast; 7,000 leones for lunch; and 10,000 leones for dinner (she pays our host families the money needed when they cook for us; we're on our own three times a week), and then we get a certain number of leones for transport that I can't remember. To put this in perspective, the exchange rate in Sierra Leone is around 3.8 leones per US dollar. It was about 3.75 when we arrived, and it's going up, which is not good news for the Sierra Leoneons. Prices will probably reflect this soon. At the end of each week, any unused money we have goes into a pot and we'll use this money for something yet to be determined.

There are many restaurants in town, people sell food on the streets, and there are small places called cookery's, which is basically a tiny room with a bench or two and a person cooking rice and sauce (casava leaf or potato leaf, which are very spicy for me). Going to a cookery costs about 1,500-2,000 leones for rice and sauce, and usually means good food and cheap food. We also like making different sandwiches with bread, veggies and roast meat cooked on the street. We get creative. People sell rich cakes (like corn bread), different candies, banana/plantain chips, donut things, and I enjoy stopping to try these different street foods when we travel between krio class and tutoring. I also want to point out that our food allowance is probably more than the average Sierra Leoneon would use.

We like to walk rather than take transport when time permits (and it's not raining like crazy) so we save some money and can use this to buy more food, to save or to give to others. There are many beggars in the streets, some who approach your taxi, some who sit outside churches, some who are blind and led by children. This is an issue I continue to wrestle with, when and how to give. We've been told not to give money to children because a mother would never send her child in the streets to beg; instead, she would go. So, we're told that if we ask the child where her mother is, and if she'd be happy if the child was asking for money, the child will usually look scared and stop begging. However, there are many adults who have physical ailments who beg. How do you walk by this and react every day? I'm still trying to form an answer to this question.

This was more so just my thoughts right now, a type of free writing rambling. More on this later :)

A Typical Thursday

2009-09-10T08:15:00.005-04:00

Thursday:

Woke up at 7 a.m. to do an hour of yoga with Cami and Anne. The yoga (and waking up early) is new to me, but I'm enjoying the relaxation aspect of it. I did some reading then made tea and oatmeal with banana slices. Breakfast usually consists of a small loaf of bread, which people sell on nearly every corner, and some fruit. I'm trying to mix it up.

After eating, I decide to wash some clothes. This is no easy task. I try to remember how two girls taught me to do this a few weeks ago. I marvel at the Sierra Leonean women's ease at doing laundry. They have this technique and make it look so easy. It's some kind of rubbing, squeezing, three-step motion that cleans the clothes quickly. I try it and they laugh. I try it again, water and soap flying. They laugh again, saying my clothes won't be clean. Great. Hands sore from rubbing them against clothing, the clothes I'm wearing soaked from sloshing water everywhere, and no guarantee for clean clothes. Well, at least we're laughing.

The task of doing laundry goes like this: I filled up one bucket with water and fom (the powdery soap they use) and added several items of clothing. I fill up another bucket with just water. In order to wash a shirt for instance, I lay it face up in the water, take hold of on side and rub it against the other, working my way up. Then, I flip it over and do the same on the back. I ring it out and toss it into the bucket of clean rinse water. I do a few shirts per bucket, then carry the rinse water full of shirts outside to ring them out and hang them to dry. The bucket of water is heavy. I try not to spill it everywhere. Then, I empty the old wash water into another bucket to use as water to flush the toilet. And the rinse water (which is now slightly soapy) is poured into the washing bucket, and I add more soap and more clothes. I fill the rinse water with clean water and repeat the process. I'm lucky to have running water to do this. Most others have to fill up big jugs of water and carry them home on their heads. Or they wash clothes in a river.

Now I'm sitting at my favorite internet cafe. I wish internet cafes actually served things you'd find at a cafe. I could go for some coffee. They like their instant Nescafe here. I'm craving a mocha frappacino. My mind wanders to food frequently, as I'm reminded again. This particular internet cafe is at a petrol station. It's my favorite because it's on the second story, has a nice breeze, and the people don't try to read over your shoulder or try to carry on a conversation while you're paying for your internet minutes. And, as a bonus, there's a small restaurant across the hall and they serve the coldest Coke in a bottle, which is a nice treat.

No time for a Coke and reading today. I'm off to Steph's for our latest book study and lunch. We're reading Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider. I tried to read this book three years ago and made it through two chapters, feeling increasingly angry at the world around me and generally helpless; this time it's going much better. Sure, I'm still angry at the world around me and our unjust systems (and my contributions); sure, I often feel helpless to do anything about the vast expanse of poverty, but I have hope the story doesn't end there - with anger and helplessness that is. Sider has a whole lot to say on poverty, Jesus' ministry, and God's concern for the poor. While I don't agree with everything he says, I value this book and what it teaches; it's filled with good facts. I'm thinking I should stop here, because I could ramble on about this for a while. My Thursday ends with Lighthouse later tonight.

Frustrations and Amusements

2009-09-03T06:30:00.007-04:00

Everyday life here can be really funny and really frustrating. Much of the way you perceive these things can depend on your attitude. So laughing is always a good thing. I'm beginning to grow accustomed to these daily occurrences and differences in cultures. Since my daily encounters here are often nothing we'd see at home, I thought I'd write about some of them.

Taxis, motorcycles and podapodas are everywhere. A poda poda is a bus with several benches and drivers fit as many people as possible into them. They are labeled with the place they're headed on the front of the bus, and a guy hangs out the side of the window and yells repeatedly where they're going in order to recruit passengers. Some poda podas are even decked out with lights and flashing lights (we dubbed them party podas). If only cash cab existed in Sierra Leone.

To get a taxi, you stand on the side of the road and wait for them to drive by. Then, you tell them the stop you're going to, and they either say yes or no. Then you negotiate price. Sometimes it takes a long time to get a taxi, or get a taxi for a fair price.

Taxi drivers (and nearly anyone else we try to buy from) like to try to charge us well over the amount it is you need to pay. Sometimes, the drivers agree to your terms, and sometimes they just demand "two way", which charges you double. Yesterday, the four of us got into a taxi and the driver said "two way" once we were all in. We tried to tell him it was one way, but he said no, so we all got out and he drove away. I still don't understand why he'd want to leave with an empty taxi rather than get the price to take four people and get paid.

We wanted to buy some laughing cow cheese for lunch. (Cucumber, onion and cheese sandwiches with fruit are cheap when we make them together. We're living on a budget.) You never really know who has what for sale and when it is for sale. We spotted a woman selling the cheese, and we wanted to buy the whole wheel of it (all 8 slices), but she said we could only buy individual slices. No bargaining worked, so we left and found a restaurant selling it and bought it there.

Hearing people yell, "white girl, white girl" when walking down the street is quite different. People say it as a way to get your attention, but it gets pretty old. I'm still not quite sure why it's that exciting my skin color is different when I walk the same route nearly every day. Hissing is also a way to get attention, and people often hiss at taxis, or at others.

Little kids often run up to one of us, try to be sly about touching someone's arm, and then run away laughing with their friends. One little girl was awestruck with Erik's leg, toddled up to him and started stroking his leg like it was an animal.

Police officers and tax collectors set up shop along certain sidewalks and shout to passerby about showing their tax information (a card with a photo ID). Usually, we walk away no problem. Last week, Anne and I got cornered, and of course, a mob of people surrounded us to watch the situation. Erik was cornered and surrounded by a different mob. The guy was very forceful and demanded that we pay. A man rescued Anne and I by coming up and yelling at the tax collector saying, "You make Sierra Leone look bad. These people pay taxes in their country. If you want their money, go to their Embassy. Get an education." We left and the "rescuer" went on walking the streets ranting and raving about the tax collectors to no one in particular. Another concerned citizen rescued Erik as well. Knowing that the pay for even police officers is insufficient makes it more understandable that people try to get money to provide for their families. There is so much poverty here.

Pictures!

2009-09-01T15:30:00.005-04:00

Typical houses in Freetwon. Note the flooded streets.

To the right is my servant team (Ben, Anne, Me and Erik). This picture was taken where we go for Krio classes.

Thank you, Erik, for the pictures. Check out his blog for some more!

Krio Classes & Tutoring

2009-09-01T15:25:00.001-04:00

We started Krio classes last week. (This picture is the view from our Krio classes if you stand ontop of a building.) I'm excited to learn how to speak this language! I can get by trying to communicate when buying food at the market, but being able to speak in conversation will be great. I really look forward to walking around and understanding what people are saying around me, other than just picking up bits and pieces.

Our teacher, Joshua Duncan, is wonderful. He gave us a history lesson, and said that he will teach us not only how to speak the language, but when and where. Freetown and Krio have an interesting history. Below is an expert from my Krio In A Nutshell book; I'm too tired to sum it up in my own words and to get the space bar on this computer to work, you basically need to drop an anvil on it, so here it is:

"Krio can be traced back more than three hundred years to the time when coastal West Africans were first in close contact with English-speaking sailors and traders. The language grew rapidly after the founding of Freetown in 1787, as the newly emerging Krio community, composed of freed slaves and their descendants, adopted it as their native tongue, adding to its richness with new words and expressions they brought from the Americas, and from other parts of West Africa. Modern linguists regard Krio as"creole", or hybrid language, that combines elements of vocabulary and structure from English and from a number of indigenous West African languages. While Krio bears a superficial resemblance to English, it is, in fact, an entirely distinct language in its own right."

We have Krio for an hour every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then go to the Youth Center to tutor. Each of us is assigned to work with a different student for an hour time period each day, and since they don't start school for another few weeks, we've been practicing reading and math with them. Once school begins, they will have homework they need help with and other specific subjects to work on. It is so much fun! Most of them know English, but need help with pronunciation so we read aloud. While they may understand how to say the words, they may not understand what the words mean, so we'll stop to ask questions about the reading. It's great.

Also, it's unusual for the WMF Servant Team to be made up of people who have studied business and worked in that realm, but three of the four of us have, so we'll be teaming up to teach some basic business classes to some of the Lighthouse kids who work. Lighthouse is a ministry that works with youth living on the streets to get them off the street by paying for their education; they graduate from the program after learning a trade (many of them have learned to tailor) they doing small group Bible studies and meet every Thursday evening for a Bible study and games. More on that later I'm sure, as we go every Thursday night.

The Lighthouse youth are the people we're around most of the time. For instance, after church on Sunday, it was pouring rain, and Cami invited some of them over for lunch and a movie. She brought out her laptop and 18 of us crowded around and watched "Cool Runnings." They enjoyed quoting the movie if they'd seen it, or cheering for the Jamaican bobsled team. It was lots of fun!

PS - Erik put up some pictures on his blog, so be sure to check those out!

Power and Love

2009-08-30T13:32:00.003-04:00

Just finished reading, Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton. The book was fantastic. I think it's one I could read again. Cami has two bookshelves full of interesting books that people can sign out, which makes me really happy.

The book is set in South Africa in 1946, during the time of apartheid. One of my favorite passages from this book is when Msimangu talks with Kumalo, the main character, about power:

"Because the white man has power, we too want power, he said. but when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted. I have seen it often. He seeks power and money to put right what is wrong, and when he gets them, why he enjoys the power and the money. Now he can gratify his lusts, now he can arrange ways to get white man's liquor, he can speak to thousands and hear them clap their hands. Some of us think when we have power, we shall revenge ourselves on the white man who has had power, and because our desire is corrupt, we are corrupted, and the power has no heart in it. But most white men do not know this truth about power, and they are afraid lest we get it.

He stood as though he was testing his exposition. Yes, that is right about power, he said. But there is only one things that has power completely, and that is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power. I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power nor money, but desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it.

He was grave and silent, and then he said somberly, I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they returned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating."

This passage on the struggle of power and love is striking to me. It would seem that love, a thing not desiring of power, is the most powerful of all. I believe this to be true.

A Prayer

2009-08-27T07:17:00.003-04:00

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, may I bring love
Where there is wrong - forgiveness
Where there is discord - harmony
Where there is error - truth

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is doubt, may I bring faith
Where there is despair - hope
Where there is shadow - light
Where there is sadness - joy

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive
and in forgiving that we are pardoned
and in dying that we awake
to eternal life forever and ever.
Amen.

-A prayer by St. Francis of Assisi

Every Monday, Tuesday Wednesday morning the WMF staff here meets for prayer and worship at Cami's house. We read this prayer each morning and also have ten minutes of silence. Since being here, I've heard WMF described as a groupof "contemplative activits" and I find that phrase to be fitting. This prayer by St. Francis is one of my favorite prayers. It describes so well the backwards way of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Other Perspectives

2009-08-27T06:58:00.003-04:00

If you'd like to read of different perspective of life in Freetown, check out the blogs of some friends:

Ben's blog: http://www.gollerinmissions.blogspot.com/
-Ben provides a reflective, theological view
Erik's blog: http://www.erik-lifeisajourney.blogspot.com/
-Erik provides descriptive, daily snapshots of life here
Steph's blog: http://www.stephmariemcg.blogspot.com/
-Steph occasionally updates with stories of her time here

Ben, Erik and Anne are on the Servant Team with me, and Steph is the servant team coordinator who has lived here for two years. I'll add these links to the side of my blog as well.

Lessons on Water

2009-08-23T10:58:00.003-04:00

Water is precious here. I think it's precious everywhere, we just don't know what it's like to do without it.

The past three days, it hasn't rained much. It's been very, very hot. Locals think it's pleasant, which has me nervous about the heat yet to come when rainy season is over.

I've had running water where I'm staying right now, but it's not always a guarantee. Sometimes the water is shut off. And when there's no running water, I've been extremely fortunate to have access to clean water. Buckets showers are a new experience.

A bucket shower goes like this: Fill up a bucket with clean water. Put a large basin on the floor of the shower to stand in. Use a small plastic bowl to scoop water from the water bucket, do the shower thing, then scoop up more water to rinse off. Use water carefully. Pour the basin of water you were standing in into another bucket. Use this dirty water to flush the toilet, following the general rule of, "If it's yellow yet it mellow, if it's brown flush it down."

If there is running water: Turn on the water to rinse off. Turn the water off. Do the shower thing and soap up. Turn the water on to rinse off. The water is cold. I'm so thankful the water is cold.

When washing dishes: Use one bucket of water with soap to wash. Use one bucket of water to rinse. When the wash water is too dirty, it becomes water to flush the toilet, and refilled with clean water to become the rinse water.

Drinking water: Fill the water filter with water. Fill up your water bottle. Another option is to buy bags of bag water, or to buy bag water off the street. Simply bite off the corner and enjoy.

No water is wasted.

In the next few days, I'll need to learn how to wash clothes. I think it's similar to washing dishes.

No water is wasted. Water is precious. Clean water is precious, life giving.

Freetown

2009-08-21T07:13:00.004-04:00

Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Crowded. Noisy. New language. New smells. New sights. New streets.

Dodging cars, motorcycles and poda podas (buses).
Avoiding potholes and gaping sidewalks leading to gutters with sewage water.

Street vendors selling and selling, row after row.
Bananas, grapefruit, pineapples, rice, bread, pig's feet, meat and on and on.
People calling out at markets, congested with bodies, food and products.
Buy a bag of water, bite off the corner and drink.

Women, men and children carrying items for sale on their heads.
Weave in and out of the traffic of automobiles and bodies.

Open umbrellas to the pouring rain.
Move quickly through puddles, flooding streets.
Calling taxis to escape the rain during a far walk. Dirty feet.

Horns blasting. People yelling in the streets, day and night.
Quietness exists in sleep.

Palm trees dotting the beautiful mountains.
The oldest cotton tree stands tall and strong in the city.
Sunshine peeks through the rain clouds, hot.

Tall buildings. Small houses, packed together. Kroo Bay slum.
Houses with tin roofs, some with concrete blocks.
Barbed wire, or not.

Churches on different corners. Stop in a cafe for a Coke.
The US Embassy high on the mountain. Sierra Leone parliament high on the hill.
Walk by buildings that used to exist before the war.
Greet people, "How de body?"

Busy day, then rest. Thankful for today, for those I meet.
I am living a good life in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

A Follow Up

2009-08-19T14:21:00.004-04:00

The rain let up a bit yesterday during the day. And then returned full force last night. And also nearly all day today. I stayed at Cami's house (the field coordinator) last night, which was a nice- we had electricity and Aunty Sally was very stressed from the flooding so she had some time to focus on the house; she is so hospitable to her house guests, and everyone else too. The rains flooded Aunty Sally's again today. She cleared everything out of her house and is trying to fix the damage done. We will stay with Cami again tonight.

Yesterday we took a walking tour of the city - through the crazy busy markets, through Kroo Bay (the slum area and church we'll work with at times), I saw the President's and VP's office around lunch time. We can see the ocean at times, but with all the rain, the smog from pollution and rain, and the buildings and windy roads and trees and mountains, it's hard to see unless you're on high ground or right next to it.

Today we had prayer with the WMF staff, lunch at a good Lebanese restaurant that quite a few Westerners seemed to visit at the lunch hour (there are many NGO's here) and then some orientation with Steph at her house. Next week we'll start regular schedules, which I look forward to - tutoring, Krio classes, Bible study, and our book study. Please pray for me as I adjust - it's been harder than I expected adjusting to this new lifestyle and different living conditions. I'm so thankful for my team; we get along so well. Thanks for the prayers and encouragement - it means a lot!!

I'm Here!!

2009-08-18T13:38:00.003-04:00

I'm here!!

Day 1: We land in the evening and go to our homes.
Day 2: A bit of orientation
Night 2: The flood

We woke up to Aunty Sally yelling, "Anne! Krysta! We must go!" It had been raining all night...a hard rain. The kind that I had to yell to Anne on the bottom bunk for her to hear me. And we woke to find our room flooded. Aunty Sally had come in some time before with a flashlight and woke us up to move all our our things off of the floor and onto the chairs and table, as the living area had began to flood. I couldn't sleep after that since the rain continued to pour. Not long after, we found our room flooded. The water was up to my knees. We grabbed the important things we needed, shoved them into bags, moved our things to the top bunk, and got out of the house. The furniture was floating. The toilet was backed up. Water was everywhere. I had no idea what time it was, as my watch broke and we disassembled the wall clock that sang "oh susanna" and other songs on the hour every hour. I wasn't sure what the plan was after that. Aparently, we were fine outside of Aunty Sally's house, since hers is a bit lower. We live at the bottom of the hill, next to Natinoal Stadium. To our right was a field, which quickly turned into a river. Aunty Sally and several others began to use buckets to get the water out of the house. They wouldn't let us help. Then, they brought our suitcases, the generator, and other important things into David's house (Aunty Sally's son) where we ended up tying to sleep the rest of the night. Anne, Aunty Sally and I shared David's bed and tried to rest. It was an interesting wake up. They said it has never flooded that badly.

We are safe and dry today! Not too much rain today. Got to explore the city. My team is great and all are welcoming!1 Internet time running out.. more later.

It's time

2009-08-14T22:40:00.008-04:00

The time has finally arrived! I am so excited to embark on this journey. I have been humbled by the support that I have received and am thankful for the generosity of friends and family. Tomorrow I fly out of the states, and a few airplanes rides later I'll land in Freetown with my team.

I'm feeling a mix of excitement and anticipation. I'm not particularly fond of flying, so please pray for safe travels and for peace of mind. It is so encouraging to know friends and family are praying for me during this trip. Thank you for joining me in praying for safety, an open mind and heart, for steadfast faith, peace and clarity, and an ability to share God's love with those I encounter.

I hope to update this blog from time to time about my journey. Please feel free to leave comments - I'd love to hear from you!

One week + one day

2009-08-07T17:09:00.007-04:00

One week from tomorrow I will be hopping on a plane headed for Freetown, Sierra Leone! As the time draws closer, I'm getting more and more excited.

And good news: I now know where I will be living! My team consists of four people - Anne, Ben, Erik and myself. Anne and I will stay with a Sierra Leonean family, and Ben and Erik with another family. I will be living with Aunty Sally and two little girls from her extended family. Aunty Sally is the WMF Hospitality Coordinator and a small group leader for Lighthouse teens. She lives near the National Stadium, which I checked out on google earth (as pictured here). In just a short while, I will have more than an ariel view of Freetown; I'll be there to take it all in!

While I'm sure that my new home life will teach me much - from hand-washing clothes, buying food at the market to cook, and having no guarantee for running water or electricity - I'm really excited about learning from my host family, hearing the stories they have to share and the way our lives speak to each other.

Fundraising Update

2009-07-22T21:17:00.008-04:00

I have a total of $4,168 in my Word Made Flesh support account. I've been moved to tears with the generosity I have received.

The support continues to grow and the fundraising goal of $5,500 is very close. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Compassion

2009-07-18T00:55:00.003-04:00

While reading Compassion by Henri Nouwen, I came across several passages that struck me. I want to share some of them here. If you're interested in reading my reflection on this book, scroll down to "a little reading" and click to open the document.

Nouwen states that “compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there.”

Compassion is not lived individually; it is a life lived in community.

Nouwen writes, "As soon as we call God, ‘God-with-us,’ we enter into a new relationship of intimacy. By calling God Immanuel [a name that means God-with-us] we recognize God’s commitment to live in solidarity with us, to share our joys and pains to defend and protect us, and to suffer all of life with us.”

Nouwen writes that “the paradox of Christian community is that people are gathered together in voluntary displacement” and explains that “the Gospels confront us with this persistent voice inviting us to move from where it is comfortable, from where we want to stay, from where we feel at home.” He states that, “Voluntary displacement leads us to the existential recognition of our inner brokenness and thus brings us to a deeper solidarity with the brokenness of our fellow human beings."

Of prayer, he writes, "The discipline of prayer is the discipline by which we liberate the Spirit of God from entanglement in our impatient impulses. It is the way by which we allow God’s Spirit to move freely."

While prayer is a discipline of compassion, it is useless without action.

“Prayer without action grows into powerless pietism, and action without prayer degenerates into questionable manipulation,” states Nouwen.

The compassionate life points towards a God who chose to suffer with us and whose suffering we can choose to enter into so that we may begin to understand the suffering of others and to offer our presence in the midst of their struggle. The compassionate life ultimately leads to a life of servanthood, of living in solidarity with those who hurt and of recognizing our need for the gifts of others.

Plane tickets: check!

2009-07-02T17:42:00.005-04:00

It's official. My flight to Sierra Leone is booked!

I leave Ohio on August 15 and return on December 16.

I am flying solo for half of the journey to Sierra Leone. I will catch a connecting flight in Detroit and fly to London, where I will meet the other three servant team members. We will then fly to Freetown, Sierra Leone, and spend the next four months together.

I am so excited!

Fundraising Update

2009-07-01T17:50:00.004-04:00

To date, I have a total of $2,299 raised to travel and live in Sierra Leone. The total I need to raise to cover the cost of the four months in Sierra Leone is $5,500.

I have been so overwhelmed by the support I've received for this trip. I cannot say how thankful I am for the prayers, the interest and the financial support that have come forth. Thank you.

Blood Diamonds

2009-06-30T19:09:00.009-04:00

Part of preparing for Sierra Leone means doing some reading. Word Made Flesh selects books for each servant team member to read in order to learn, reflect and spark some dialogue. I recently finished reading Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones, written by Greg Campbell, a freelance journalist. He tells the story of diamond smuggling, the diamond industry and how the rebel war on diamonds in Sierra Leone devastated its landscape and its people.

The book was riveting. I was familiar with the issue of conflict diamonds, but unaware of their shocking history, their level of destruction and their repercussions felt worldwide.

For instance, Campbell writes that “drugs and diamonds can sometimes have a lot in common in regards to where they’re harvested, what they fund, and how they’re sold” and that wars over them are similar, but “the big difference being that the end product of one war was illegal and that in the other was one of the world’s most prized luxuries.”

The interconnectedness among people from various countries becomes quite evident as the story of blood diamonds unravel. Actions in Sierra Leone affect lives in the United States and elsewhere. Oftentimes it’s easy to remain secluded in our comfortable homes, but when we begin to delve into the history behind our routines and our commodities we become aware of our interdependence in this globalized society.

You can read my reflection here on this blog. Simply scroll down to the bottom of the page to the box entitled "a little reading" and click on "Reflection - Blood Diamonds."

"So...what will you do?"

2009-06-16T19:17:00.008-04:00

The question I am most often asked about this trip is, "What will you be doing?"

While in Sierra Leone, I will be able to take part in various ministries including the Lighthouse Ministry which provides tutoring, activities and mentoring for children living on the streets; the Kroo Bay Good News Club, which offers Bible teaching, a nutritious meal and basic first aid to over 300 young children living in the Kroo Bay slum; and other ministry opportunities such as working at refugee and amputee camps. I am excited about working with children and teenagers and getting to know people in the community.

The refugee camp and amputee camp exist as places to care for those affected by the war, which lasted from 1991-2002. An estimated 50,000 people died and 2 million people were displaced by the conflict. The refugee camp is comprised of girls whose parents were killed by the rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), during the war. Some of these girls have survived atrocities such as rape and now have children of their own. The amputee camp is a result of the horrific acts carried out during the war by the rebels who were notorious for terrorizing civilians by using machetes to and cut off arms, legs, lips and ears; many people suffered amputations.

The mission statement for the Word Made Flesh community in Sierra Leone follows:

"The WMF Sierra Leone community seeks to love, serve, and accompany youth on the street, destitute families and young children in Freetown. Through offering teenagers relationships built on mutual vulnerability and trust, along with leadership training, skills and traditional education, we endeavor to bring God’s light, hope, wisdom and peace to West Africa."

This is what I look forward to doing.

Sierra Leone: The Basics

2009-05-19T21:00:00.002-04:00

Background
Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one-third of the population). The military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 presidential election, but still look to the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - a civilian UN mission - to support efforts to consolidate peace. The new government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption.

Geography
Sierra Leone is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Sierra Leone is slightly smaller than South Carolina. The climate is tropical; hot, humid; summer is the rainy season (May to December); winter is the dry season (December to April).

Population
6,440,053 people
Life Expectancy 41.24 years

0-14 years: 44.5%
15-64 years: 52.2%
65 years and over: 3.2%

Language
English (official, regular use limited to literate minority)
Mende (southern vernacular)
Temne (northern vernacular)
Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%)

Government
Constitutional democracy
President Ernest Bai Koroma, since September 17, 2007
Independence April 27, 1961 (from the UK)

Religions
Islam 60%; indigenous beliefs 30%; Christian 10%

Agricultural Products
Rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish

Industries
Diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair

[source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sl.html]

The beginning

2009-05-10T16:26:00.013-04:00

And so it begins. My preparations for my journey to Sierra Leone. Let me provide some background on Word Made Flesh and how I came to arrive at this place.

Word Made Flesh is a nonprofit organization created to serve among the poorest of the poor in urban communities around the world. They were founded in 1991 and now operate in nine countries around the world.

I first learned of Word Made Flesh after I returned from the Dominican Republic during my sophomore year at Anderson University. AU has a program called Tri-S (study, serve and share) in which students can travel together to other countries to do various work projects, learn about different cultures and offer other acts of service. Upon my return I wrestled with questions about the extreme poverty I encountered. For only two weeks I saw how people lacked even the most basic necessities, then hopped on a plane and headed home. I had the option to leave, they did not. How could I reconcile what I had witnessed with the life waiting for me back home?

The director of WMF just happened to be speaking at AU's chapel in the following weeks, and I had the chance to speak with him afterwards. His words made sense; the values held by WMF was aligned with the type of life I wanted to embody. Joining a WMF Servant Team has been a dream of mine since then.

After going to Uganda, a country in East Africa, after my junior year at AU the desire to serve overseas for an extended period of time intensified. I have never before seen as much need as I had seen in Northern Uganda, a place ravaged by war for the past two decades and plagued with HIV/AIDS. My experiences in the Dominican Republic and Uganda are forever etched on my heart. I saw the atrocities of war, disease and extreme poverty and have been changed by the love, joy and hospitality of friends who face such injustices everyday yet choose to hope. These stories are transformational.

Three years later, I'm preparing to make the journey to Sierra Leone!

Welcome

2009-05-06T21:49:00.018-04:00

Thanks for visiting my blog! As you may be aware, I'm journeying to Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. I'll be in Freetown, the capital city, from August to December with three others who are part of a Servant Team through a program called Word Made Flesh.

It's my intention to use this blog as a way of staying connected to family and friends while I'm on the other side of the globe. From time to time I'll have access to the internet and hope to share my experiences of life in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Since I'm in the process of raising support to fund this trip, I will also provide updates in regards to my fundraising goal of $5,500. This cost covers my transportation, food and lodging for the entire four months. If you would like to support me financially, simply donate online at www.wordmadeflesh.org; click the “donate” button on the bottom left-hand of the page and include my name in the “designation” blank. The funds will be deposited into my WMF support account.

As I plan for this time, please join me in prayer that I may "walk in truth" and develop an "undivided heart" as I embark on this journey (Psalm 86:11-12). I seek to adopt the posture of a listener, take the form of a teacher and share the love of Christ. I look forward to living in community with others, learning a different culture and language, and seeing the beauty of God’s creation in a new corner of the world, to stand in awe of its wonder and to be challenged.

I invite you to take an active part in this blog, as a conversation - of different realities and imaginations, of unique perspectives and lifestyles, and of individual stories that are interwoven to connect us to a collective story wider than our own. Please check back for updates.