Work, Funnies, & Reflections

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 to speak individually to about 25 people.) And we have created a revised training plan looking toward Friday and next week.

The CRC staff is predominantly about family case management. Once an orphanage, the CRC switched to a family model about 5 years ago. Orphans in Sierra Leone were predominantly NOT orphans. Rather, they were children who got separated from their families during the devastating 10-year war and became street children. Or they were children whose parents were too poor to provide them sufficient food and shelter and asked the CRC to take them in. The family model reunited the orphanage children with their families, making the full family unit the "case." It is a model that is considered best practice around the world. 

Our mission project is to support the development of the leadership in the CRC as they grow and become increasingly capable in case management.

Today, our "conference room" was in the Peace Hut as no other space was available. It was lovely and cool for our very rainy day workload. 

Our office today

Tommy and I have had it pretty easy compared to our medical teammates. They saw about 400 people in clinic over the last 2 days where they ran a clinic for hypertension and diabetes.

Meanwhile, our teacher team is running a 3-day Train The Trainer program to build teacher skills.

The Fun Side 

• Tommy is now relaxing even without consistent electricity, and with cold morning showers, and pretty much zero control over our schedule. Whew!
• Lights out at 10 pm has taken on a new meaning. Better be ready for it!
• About cold showers: first of all, I always believed tap water would be "room temp." It's not. Enuf said.
• Tommy loves chicken. He has said a million times that he could eat chicken at every single meal. Well, his dream has come true here.
• So far, my fav food has turned out to be groundnut stew. And my food disappointment? They don't eat chocolate in Sierra Leone!
• Coming up ... next Tuesday we are invited to a village celebrating the grand opening of the village latrine! It is a big darn deal, believe me. 

Resting under the laundry

Reflections

I worried about having anything I could usefully contribute on this trip. Yet I found once again that people and organizations everywhere face challenges that I can recognize and have skills to offer. I feel good that I am here. I already feel the tug to return.

Sierra Leone has had a lion's share of heartache. The devastating 10-year civil war left a generation of children in poverty, without sufficient education, without mentoring. It left destroyed roads, train tracks, few surviving medical facilities or villages. It ended with a corrupt government mining the diamonds and selling them off to line their personal pockets. 

Then there was Ebola and the barely recovering country went into a complete 9-month lockdown. Today, the needs are beyond listing.  

Every bit of our encouragement and support is needed here. 

Yet, it gives so much back to us. I learn here too. To witness the determination to keep trying in spite of the odds. To hear the career dreams of young college graduates. To see the devotion and faith in God. It is all an inspiration and a model for living that I never anticipated. 

Must close. Lights out in 30 minutes, and I must be ready! Nite all!