Journey With Ellen

Our team arrived in Freetown yesterday so we could visit Bunce Island today. It was quite a day. For those who may not know, Bunce Island was where captured Africans awaited slave ships to begin their passage across the Atlantic. 30,000 Africans passed through Bunce Island, most going to SC and GA due to the rice growing skills of Africans in Sierra Leone. Our day trip began at the ferry terminal. It was a long wait as our boat had trouble locating fuel. Plenty of time to visit the bathroom…except I was the last one, and then the door stuck and I couldn't get out my little stall!!! Screaming and beating on the door did not produce a rescue and no one seemed to notice I was missing. FINALLY, one more person visited the loo and heard me. Whew! The boat ride was 20 miles (1 hour) long) and the weather slightly overcast with calm seas. Really lovely. We passed all of the city with mountains just beyond. Then, as we got further away, it seemed exactly like riding in the rivers a...

Tomorrow morning we depart Bo and head by van to Freetown. Our work here has wrapped up, and our good-byes to new Sierra Leonean friends have taken place. I HATE goodbyes! So, I've been teary most of the day. And then, the Sierra Leone team presented us with dresses for the ladies and shirts for the men. They are really beautiful, and such a gesture of love from a group of folks for whom every penny matters. (My understanding is that the university graduates in social work who case-manage 35 to 50 families earn around $150 per month.) Yet they chipped in in such a grand way. I thought I would share a few pictures of our housing and training situation. Enjoy. The team sitting room; where the a/c lives... WHEN we have electricity Dining area Our training space Our bathroom (makes me love, love, love our bathroom at home)   Our bedroom   Coming up this weekend...Freetown shopping and Bonce Island. The long flight home begins Sunday night.

About Toilets Tuesday was the grand opening of a village latrine. We arrived to see the villagers singing and dancing in celebration that HCW had paid for them to get a latrine. I don't think that I had ever before fully grasped that a toilet is life-saving. But if the village has a well (not all do), it is critical that the ground water be protected from contamination. Without a latrine, people only have the bushes, and children just go on the ground wherever they might be. A latrine changes all that. Some pics from the village Notice the mud brick construction (middle pic) The grand opening included speeches from the chief, a strong but very wrinkled woman, who spoke only in Krio. In addition to her, we heard prayers from a Christian and also a Muslim, as both faiths live together in the village.  The village chief Four young men played homemade drums to enliven the dancing, and we all danced, clapped, and sang. This all happened in the covered village gathering space, or Peac...

We had a truly busy and exciting weekend. Maybe the best days of all. Saturday, we visited our two sponsored families. Musa is a young boy about 10 years old who lives on the edge of Bo. His father is ill and cannot work. Musa was very shy, but his family was very grateful for the 25 pounds of rice and bag of small candies that we brought them. Musa watching us drive away from his home After seeing Musa, we began the long, long drive to Sami Village for a little girl named Misu and her family. Most of the 37 miles thru the bush was on a deeply rutted dirt road, passing through 4 small villages to reach Sami (it took almost 2 hours each way). We went in a very worn-out Land Rover that was equipped but struggled. We bounced like ping-pong balls -- yes, I bounced against the vehicle ceiling. Ouch! The "road" to Sami In Sami, we had a very warm greeting from almost everyone in the village. Even the chief was there. Misu's mother hugged and hugged me. James, the case man...

  It's Friday night. One work week over and one more to go.  I've heard such incredible stories from people, and I must share at least one...  JB was 5 when he came to the Child Rescue Center (orphanage then). His single mom had three children and was unable to provide for all of them. So one day she promised to make him a special meal and then to go out. He was so excited by the extra attention. She got him dressed up, they ate, she packed his clothes, and then walked him to a meeting place. He saw other children sitting with their families while an adult talked at the front. Suddenly he realized his mom wasn't beside him. He wasn't alarmed. He sat quietly waiting for her return. He noticed other children alone now too. Some were crying. He didn't cry. He believed his mom was coming back. She always came back. But then another woman came, took him by the hand, and led him away to his new home in the orphanage. He saw almost nothing of his mother for years. She ...

Aime kicks off morning team devotional and meeting  

It's Wednesday night of week one. We are well into the swing of things... The Work Side Tommy and I arrive at the CRC (Child Reintegration Center) at 9 am each day as the clapping and singing begins. It's the daily team meeting. The clapping is the same beat we hear in African American churches in SC. The singing is in Crio, similar to Gullah. The songs are Praise songs, exuberantly full of thanks to God. Simultaneously, across campus, the Mercy Hospital staff is doing the same ritual. Then we have Scripture reading and a devotional message. Today's message came from Matthew 6...don't worry. Announcements follow and we are all ready for work, energized and inspired. Tommy and I are here to offer leadership coaching, encouragement, and training. We have a plan and materials. But, best laid plans...well, you know. I won't take you thru the details, except to say we did a short training program and then began a series of individual coaching discussions. (Goal is ...

Started in Charleston early Saturday morning, July 16. Landed Brussels Sunday morning where we sat...and sat...and sat. Then a 7-hour flight to Freetown. Arrived about 6 pm and were greeted by a customs process that only the Chinese could rival. It took an hour to collect the team’s 25+ bags. We slathered ourselves with deet to enjoy outside dining on delicious chicken and rice at our hotel. Climbed under bed netting and slept like babies. Breakfast of fried plantains, eggs, pineapple before a 4-hour van ride in country to Bo. (Driver had us all pray together before we set off down the road.) Tired? Oh, you betcha! But then we went on a 2-hour campus walkabout to tour the children's center and Mercy Hospital. (Much more on that later.) Decompressing now before supper in the only air-conditioned space in our residence hall. Later, malaria pill and devotion before we climbed under netting, settled into bed sacks, fired up the fans we brought, and zzzzzz! Pictures help tell the trav...

The final countdown has begun! We leave for Sierra Leone this coming Saturday, July 16, and there is so much left  to think about and do ahead of time! I find myself reflecting on the spiritual growth of this trip. I've heard everyone describe this as life-changing. Some said they came back feeling guilty for all the material abundance we have in the US. Some said they came back inspired by the happiness and spiritual depth found in the people there.  Some said the day-to-day connection with devotion and God brought them personally closer in touch with the Divine. (Each work group we visit begins their day with devotions and we will have nightly devotions as a team.) I wonder - how will I come back? God will be really close in all we see and do at Sierra Leone.  Here at home, while God is certainly present with me, I keep God mostly in the background of my everyday life. I can't say I read my Bible daily. I can't say I even pray daily, unless Tommy prompts me. Yet, o...