Mom's on the front page!

We're back in Sierra Leone, and there's exciting news. My mom was on the front page of the Modesto Bee yesterday!
http://www.modbee.com/featured/story/647024.html
They featured her story about coming to Sierra Leone to help out. She's pretty darn amazing.

Today I've had a calm morning, and I'm planning to spend the afternoon getting started on the inventory. We had a pretty smooth trip back... no crazy african stories to tell about this journey.

Day Break

Today was a nice relaxing day here in Dakar, Senegal. We woke up late, Marla McLane made delicious scones and smoothies for breakfast, then we went out shopping... which meant a few different things... shopping in Africa is quite a different story than anywhere else.

First we went to pick up some Nems... an egg roll type thing that this lady makes. We drove up to a random, unmarked house down a dirt road, and knocked on their gate. When we went inside there were tables full of these Nems. We bought 120 of them for about $36 (18CFA), and went on our way.

Then, as we waited in traffic, we decided to get some melons... which meant that I got out of the car while we waited for traffic, then tried to haggle with a local who only knows french...which I know none of. I got the price I wanted, and I went on my way.

After a quick fill up (at a Shell station if you can believe it), we went to this Amazing market...when you walked in you felt like you had just walked into a european shopping center. There were very nice stores...they even had a Guess jeans store and a dry cleaners... and there was a big, European style, grocery store. We walked up and down every aisle, in awe that these products made it here. My mom picked up a few things she can't get in Sierra Leone, like spinich pasta, broccoli, BBQ potato chips and heavy cream. We enjoyed a freshly made pizza in the car on our way home.

Before making it home, we stopped by this other random place... it was on a corner down another dirt road, a bit out of the way, but inside there were about 8-10 men sewing, and there was a little store with the most beautiful bags. I got quite a few of them... they were all kinds of fabric sewn together. Many pieces were very bright. I am very excited about a few purchases, but I won't go into detail since a few of my readers may be receiving some of these beauties.

Tonight was nice... I made cupcakes with Chloe (the McLane's 8 year old), and I played Settlers of Catan with Tom, Drew and Alex, along with their friend James. It's been a while since I've gotten to play, so it was nice to play again.

For now it's almost midnight, so I'd better get some sleep.

I miss all of my friends at home! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Swinging from the Baobab

On friday we went on a total adventure. We headed out of town (which always takes forever in Africa...because there are few roads going into or out of any given place), and eventually ended up at Accrobaobab. This is a ropes course in the baobab trees. We had a truly fantastic time doing this.




After our adventure we went to Lac Rose, a pink colored lake. It's a very salty lake, which means it has a certain bacteria that gives the lake a pink tint.

Goree Island

Here we are on the ferry to Goree Island
A beautiful sight from the top of Goree Island

Mom and I with the gorgeous flowers

Goree Island

Slave quarters

Traveling the African Way...

Here's the plane we traveled on.
This is the hovercraft we used to get from freetown to Lungi
My mom and I on the hovercraft.

African Transportation

Traveling is a total part of the adventure in Africa. Our flight out on Wednesday was at 3pm, but the Airport is on Lungi, across a body of water from Freetown. There are 4 ways to cross the water. The locals use the ferry, which takes an hour and a half...but you need to get to the landing which is far away from the clinic, and on the other side you have to get up to the airport. It's a big hassle. The other options are the Pelican Water Taxi ($40) which is a small speed boat that takes about 45 minutes, the Hovercraft ($50) which only takes about 15 minutes and is nice and big and safe feeling, or the helicopter (the only method I have left to try), which is a quick 7 minutes of terror, or so I've heard, since it regularly looses power and nearly crashes ($70).

So, our flight left on wednesday at 3, but since the only flight out of Sierra Leone that day was to another african country, the only transport across was the ferry. Rather than a whole day of travel to get across, we decided to cross on tuesday night with people who were headed for a London flight, and stay at the Lungi Airport hotel. We headed down to the Pelican Water Taxi, which we thought was scheduled to leave at 6:30. Only after the whole group of Africans watched us unload all of our luggage did they ask... "are you travelling?" Um, no... we just wanted to bring 2 big suitcases down to the dock and then carry them back home. So, they then said the water taxi left 2 hours earlier and there would be no more for the next few days.

Plan B... we rushed over to see if the helicopter or hovercraft was going... and we arrived after the hovercraft had already started going. But they waited, hauled us all onto the hovercraft over the big pontoons, and off we went. It's pretty cool...hovering over the water with a giant fan to propel us forward. This thing could fit probably 70+ people, but there were only 4 paying customers. No wonder they stopped for us...we doubled their payload!

The next day we got to the airport, where they didn't even look in my bag, and there aren't even x-ray machines. Good thing I'm not a terrorist. It was open seating on the plane, which was fine since it wasn't full. My mom and I were the only non-africans aboard the flight, and the fear on any flight within africa is that the standards for safety aren't exactly the same as else where in the world. When the pilot was ready to taxi, we went from zero to sixty in 10 seconds and once we were in the air the pilot got up to altitude as fast as possible. The turns were fast (sometimes you could feel the g-force like on a roller coaster), and when we descended and landed it was all done in a matter of minutes.

We had a stopover in The Gambia...which is actually a Nasa emergency landing center...although you would never know it if it wasn't for google. When we were on the ground a group of boys who were continuing on to Senegal got up and said they needed to use the bathroom. Everyone knows you cannot use the bathroom while the plane is on the ground. They didn't care...they HAD to go. Finally the flight attendant said that we'd all have to deplane if they went to the bathroom, and they rushed off to use the bathroom in the airport. So we had to load up all of our stuff and get ready to get off the plane... finally she said we could all stay on board, but this is the kind of thing that just would never happen in the states. I mean, really...just hold it for 20 minutes until we get back in the air, rather than making the whole plane wait for you to go to the bathroom.

Anyways, we were absolutely lucky to have Tom and Alex McLane pick us up at the airport...making for a great and easy escape from the african transportations that we had travailed.

A day in Senegal

Today we had our first real Senegalese adventures. We went to Goree Island, the most Western part of Africa, where the slaves were kept before they were shipped off. The story of the slave, and their treatment is always so horrible. We toured a place that was a slave house, and saw the small rooms where they would keep many slaves.

I did learn a few new things today. It is interesting because they wouldn't ship off anyone under 60kilograms (thats 132lbs)...so they either fattened them up or enslaved them here in africa. They kept the virgin girls separate so the men could take them, but if one got pregnant they were let go. They would not enslave the half white children. Very sad, but at least they recognized these children were of their own men, and wouldn't enslave them.

On a better note, the island has grown to be a beautiful place, so it is no longer an oppressive land. The colors of the buildings and the plants are amazing. We picked up a few trinkets on this trip, and the pictures are so beautiful. (see them all on facebook).

Afterwards we were in downtown Senegal to go to Ali Babas. We had hamburger complete... a hamburger with a fried egg and french fries and ketchup and mustard all on the burger. Crazy, delicious, and I think I need to exersise every day for a week to make up for it.

It's amazing because there are times here where you don't even realize you're in Africa. We went into a sporting goods shop that looked as nice as any in america, and we stopped in a beautiful bakery with all kinds of delicacies... since Senegal was a french colony, that is the national language. There are also a lot of french tourists, so there are restaurants that cater to them. This makes for a much more international feel to the city... much nicer than Sierra Leone.

Tonight we're going to have a local dish called ceebu jin (sounds like chubba gin), a wolof name. Wolof is the local ethnic language... don't use the term tribal here, they don't like that. Smells very yummy, so I'll let you know how it turns out!

Hi from Senegal!

This might give you a view into how bad Sierra Leone is. We looked out the window on our way into Senegal today, and our first comment was "wow! Streets! and even street lamps!" Sierra Leone rarely has an actual paved road...I mean a lot of the roads were once paved (before the war in the 70's) but now it would be better to have a dirt road than these potholes and holes in the road that people make in order to tap into the water pipes below. Senegal's roads are nicely paved and there was a traffic guy who actually directed traffic.

Now, a street lamp would be truly ridiculous in Sierra Leone because they don't have power regularly, so the fact that Senegal had street lamps was a sign of development. The airport is very nice and calm, which is just fantastic. There were no people mobbing us to get tips for touching the luggage, because...imagine this... only people who used the airport were allowed in. All of our luggage made it there. wow.

Anyways, I'm being anti-social right now since I'm blogging in a room full of people. Hasta luego!

The dance crew

Across the street from Mercy Ships clinic the government sponsors a cultural area. The people there dance and play music, so when the government has events they call on these people to provide the local entertainment. Today they are practicing, and I can currently hear them in the background. The music is amazing...pretty much just drums and a marimba. The dancers are also amazing...

So I was standing outside their compound listening, and they invited me in to watch, so I was watching, and then I asked to take a picture. "I must ask the boss" he says, and dissapears. That's fine, so I just stand and watch and enjoy. He comes back and says it is fine for me to take pictures. They come over with a cup they won in a soccer tournament, and ask me to add to the donations, so I put in 1000leones (about 35cents).

I take a few pics, then someone comes and says I must stop or the boss will be angry...who knows why they said I could in the first place then. So I put away the camera, and I left soon after...although one man tried to get a phone number from me first.

Anyways, here's one of the few pics I was able to get...

Weekend pics

Back from the beach

So, it turns out that the volunteers here are not really suffering... I mean, Sierra Leone might be a very underdeveloped country, but it's so incredibly beautiful that sometimes you can really forget about the utter chaos that surrounds you.

This weekend we went out of Freetown (which is surrounded by water and beaches) up to the beach area, which is where people go for more of a relaxing beach time. I go running on the beach here near the clinic quite often, but it's the kind of place you'd be afraid to leave your flipflops on the sand because they'd be gone by the time you finished your swim.

So, off we went, with an ice chest full of food, but with no reservations....the one place we had a phone number for was full so we just went on our way, checking things out as we went. The roads are all dirt here, and full of rocks and puddles, so it's a pretty slow ride anywhere you go. We saw a sign and a small road off to the right, claiming to have accommodations, so we went ahead to check it out... what a hidden and wonderful surprise! There was a little place there, with a living room/kitchen area and a separate bedroom. They even had running water, a proper flushing toilet and solar lights, meaning we'd be able to turn on lights at night and wouldn't even have to run a generator...this is something that is really REALLY rare here! Even at the clinic we have to run the generator often times because the city power comes and goes.

Anyways, it was gorgeous. We had our own private beach area, and there were some nice tiled areas with a big covering overtop. All this for only 150000 leones...about $50 for the four of us for the night. (a good deal even for here).

We spent the day swimming in the ocean and enjoying our private beach area in and out of the sun. After missing the sunset because we were busy killing the biggest spider I've ever seen, we went for dinner where we all had either lobster or pasta with lobster ($20 for 2 lobsters!) It was so delicious!

The only problem was that last night there was a gigantic party in the community where we stayed, and although we didn't go to bed until midnight, they partied LOUDLY until about 5am when it started to pour rain for the first time since Christmas day. We were so grateful for the rain, not only because it would cool the land and settle the dust, but because the PARTY FINALLY ENDED!

Today we woke up, enjoyed a breakfast of salami, bread and cheese, then mom and I went to check out River #2. Beautiful.

Now I'm back at the clinic, enjoying the evening outside, and nursing my terrible sunburn. Tomorrow will be very different as I will be joining Vez who works with disabled kids in the communities. I have been warned it will be a tough day.

I've uploaded all of my photos from the weekend onto facebook, and it should be available to any facebook member... check it out.

The way home from the market

Here are some of the sights on the way home from the market.

Private School

Imagine if you paid for private school and this is what you got...

and outside they are working on building toilets for the first time...
the school has been open for years

The African Market

Today I had the pleasure of going to the market when the staff went to get the food for the clinic for the next week. It is amazingly huge and crowded... so much food everywhere, cars were just pushing their way through areas you can't even imagine they would fit, and people were almost being run over all over the place. I saw fish, meat, all kinds of veggies, rice, beans, greens and everything else an African would need. None of this was inside...it was on all the sidewalks and spilling into the street. I was there for about 2 hours and I never saw anyone else who wasn't an African. I stepped in some kind of puddle at one point, I bought some fruit and stuff to make salsa and mostly I tried to stay out of the way and not get hit by a car, or have my stuff stolen. The woman I went with was once a street vendor so she knew all kinds of people. When I pulled out my camera people all said "snap me! snap me!" and they really enjoyed just being photographed. Here is just a small percentage of what I took. I've got a bit of video, so eventually it'll go up, but it takes about 20 minutes to upload a picture so the video will have to wait until I'm back home. enjoy

The market is never ending...

To market, to market...

The Clinic

I haven't gotten up the nerve to start taking pictures of the patients, but here's an idea of what the clinic grounds look like.
I'm staying up on the second story in my mom's flat. I'll take pics of that later...
This is the center area of the clinic. There are 3 wards, an OR, a screening room, offices and more around the courtyard. During the day the women spend a lot of time sitting out on the benches around the courtyard.

Moving Boxes

Looks like an ikea commercial...

Yesterday I helped to move boxes out of the hostel, which will become the new birthing center. The guys here brought over a truck to move the boxes across the compound so we could load them into the container. I think the pictures say it all...

Already wednesday?

I feel like I really just got here, but today's already my third full day in Sierra Leone. The clinic is a great place to be. There are a lot of things going on...

Right now it is a fistula clinic, where a surgeon repairs wounds that women get during child birth. In Sierra Leone, C-sections are not available, and this results in a lot of problems...ultimately leading to these women becoming outcasts in their communities. It's a bit intense, but if you want to know more about these problems check out the website of one of the sponsors of the clinic, the Freedom from Fistula Foundation, but make sure you're ready because it's not anything you'd ever hear of in the USA. Fixing these fistulas allows women to reenter their communities, and it truly changes their lives.

The fantastic thing is that they've fixed so many fistulas over the last few years that they are finding fewer and fewer patients. By fixing fistulas, it doesn't really solve the problem of fistulas, so the next step for the clinic is to provide a safe place for women to give birth, with a surgeon available to do C-sections, so that they can avoid the fistula all together. This also increases the amount of children that are born alive. In the clinic right now there are 34 women, and only 4 babies. That means 34 women carried babies to full term, but then 30 of them lost their child during birth. These are the lucky women who survived themselves.

I am very excited to be able to be here now, since they are working on this transition. Yesterday I helped move boxes out of the area that will become the birthing center, and today I'm working on creating some of the paperwork they will be using after the transition.

I have a few other things I'll do while I'm here...today I'm going to go with Helen, another staff member, to a school that she helped get a building. One day next week I'm going to accompany Vez, a physical therapist, as she goes into the local communities to help disabled children. There is definitely not a lack of things to do here, and I am excited about the time to come.

I made it!

I left San Diego on Saturday at 1:30pm, and I arrived yesterday (sunday) in Sierra Leone at about 7:30pm... but that is not the end of the journey. You would think that the airport would be located on the same piece of land where everyone lives, but instead it's on Lungi, across a body of water from Freetown, the capital city. This means you have a few options of how to get home.

Last time I was here I traveled with my mom, grandparents and sisters, and we crossed on the ferry (it's own crazy story), but this time it was just me, so my options were the helicopter (which experiences fatal crashes every year or two), the hovercraft, or the pelican water taxi.

The cheapest is the water taxi, and so that's what was recommended to me. For $40 you are thrown in a van (I got to sit with half a cheek on the seat and try not to fall since I was in the aisle), with or without all of your luggage. You then are taken to a dock at a hotel while all of your luggage is put on a boat and it goes on to the destination...you hope. Then we headed into this small boat, and they give you a life jacket which you must wear.

Now, I definitely appreciate the life jacket, however the fact that you need one doesn't make you trust these guys much more. There were about 12-15 people down in a boat, with enough seats for all of us. The water was very choppy and it was dark outside. For the next 40 minutes I had to keep my total focus on keeping myself from being sick. I've been on boats before, but here it was hot, with no windows open in order to keep water out, and I had all kinds of layers on, and a life jacket, and my backpack, and we were all crammed in there breathing and making things even hotter. Basically... not the best situation, but towards the end when we got closer to land, the water calmed down and they opened a window. Sweet nectar of life... AIR!

Finally we arrived on land, and as I wobbled across the rocking dock I saw my mom at the end.
This may have been the happiest I've ever been to see her... not only has it been about 5 months since she was in the states, and I was very excited to spend these three weeks together, but it also meant that my trip was at an end.

It was only a short drive to the clinic, then we went into her air conditioned apartment, sat down and got a chance to chat, relax and stretch out my legs! After I cracked open my suitcases I got a chance to have a shower and wash off the remnants of my journey. Even though it was the middle of the day back in the USA, I was tired. At this point it was midnight, and so we went to sleep, chatting until my Melatonin kicked in and my first night in Africa came to an end.

London to Freetown...what a small world!

Ok, so I just wanted to make a quick note on my flight from London to Freetown, because it really gives you a glimpse of the small world that we live in. About two hours into the flight an African man in a nice suit came walking from first class into the coach cabin, and began shaking hands with many of the people on board. I looked at the woman I was sitting next to, to see if she had any idea who it was. "It's the president" she said. Yeah... the president of Sierra Leone was on my flight from London to Freetown. All I could think of was how crazy that would be in the US... I mean, really...Barak Obama walking down the coach aisle of a plane..?. that would never happen in a million years.
Then the three of us in my row start chatting, and asking eachother why we're headed to Sierra Leone... when I said my mom works at a clinic, Regina who was sitting in the middle says, "Wait, don't tell me... I know your mother... it must be Joanie!" Yep, that's right, the random seating arrangement put me sitting next to a woman who knows my mom. We all chatted for quite a while and both women had such interesting stories...both working to increase health in Sierra Leone. It is so interesting how things turn out some times...

MIND THE GAP

Ok, so no underground trips for me, but I have to say... all these layovers feel like a bunch of gaps. I'm just working away towards sierra leone, but then I have to sit around a lot too. Boring. I'm tired. I don't even know what time it is in the US... I guess it's the middle of the night, and the 5 hours of plane sleep last night didn't really do it for me. Maybe I'll get some more sleep on my last leg... only 7 more plane hours!
Ok, I'm going to go hunt for some food in the airport mall. London really knows how to sell stuff. Trap a bunch of people in a building and fill it with stores. Don't reveal the gate until it's time to run there and board. You're stuck in the middle waiting for your flight and all there is to do is the duty free shopping. I bet they make a fortune.
If anything on this post doesn't make sense, blame it on my lack of sleep.

It's here

I thought it would never be here... today is the day that I leave for Sierra Leone. It's strange because when I began to plan it, it was so far away that it didn't feel like a reality. And now I almost feel like I'm leaving reality to go on this journey. I have no papers to grade. I have 2 suitcases full of medical supplies for the clinic and clothes for me for a month. I'm about to leave a lot behind, and forget it for the next 27 days, and it's really scary to just let go.
I've also got alot here to remember. My good friends, my fiance who I love deeply, and a life that I very much enjoy. I hope that this blog helps me stay connected to everyone while I am away, and can help you all experience Sierra Leone a little bit for yourself.

One last day

Tomorrow I leave for a 27 day jouney to Sierra Leone. I have only one more class to teach, I have only one more day to connect with friends and family here, I have only one more day to spend with my fiance, I have only one more day to decide what I will need for the next month.
My trip has arrived. Check out my blog to join me on my journey. You can also add me if you download Skype and you can send me messages on my trip. (screenname jewyla)
At this point I'm nervous and excited... there's a lot to do here, but I'm leaving it all behind to take a break from the ins and outs of every day life, and to experience a different way of living.
Sierra Leone...here I come!