It has been a month now since coming to Segbwema and we think this is a good point to sit and reflect on what we have experienced so far. It’s been a beautiful time, and we thought we would have been bored silly – but we don’t miss TV, nor watching movies. We go to bed on average at 9 p.m. and by then we are well and truly exhausted. The tasks at hand are numerous for all and with the arrival of our shipping (which arrived safely and intact – Thank God!!!) Joey is in the middle of trying to sort the books as quite a few of them are for nursing tutors, higher-level studies, and NHS biased. Some of these will most likely be used in the very near future, as there is a national plan to add to the syllabus nursing research, management and the use of the nursing process. So, with Little J more active than ever, the house hold duties to sort and the ad hoc meetings to attend, Joey is very occupied and often exhausted.
Michael continues to be on demand – as Business manager he needs to oversee the daily running of the hospital, conduct meetings, supervise building work ( current and future), in addition to going to the nearest town to facilitate hospital and personal business. As described in an earlier blog, it takes a good 2 hours one way to meander these roads – so a trip to the town (Kenema ) and back takes the better part of a whole day. It’s a very different stress indeed, but we are learning to deal with it as much as possible. Hopefully we would be able to upload pictures of our house, the hospital, roads and other interesting places soon. To give you an idea of the state of the road and the challenges they pose – Michael and the two doctors once left for a meeting at a town about 47 miles away. They were forced to turn back three-quarters of the way because a vehicle had got stuck in the middle of the road making it impossible for other vehicles to get pass from either direction. Great fun now!!!! But it wasn’t then – think of the man (or is it doctor) hours lost.
Little J continues to be the star of the show. Her best friends (2 ½ yr old F and 3 yr old S) are just so suited for each other. Their temperaments all fall in place, although Little J has become more assertive (or is it aggressive) and F and S have learnt to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ – with some reminders- but all in all it’s a good mix. It gets a bit much when the group is joined by 7 yr old P, 10 yr old F and two young teenagers who compete for toys (we shipped a tricycle), but they help with supervising the little ones. It can be a very noisy and overwhelming affair at times, but growing up with brothers and sister and cousins have given Joey enough practise.
We promised to give a picture of the nursing school. There are 117 students presently, and the composition is similar to any other nursing school (1st year/introductory: 2nd yr: 3rd yr). Its good to see a few males (about 24) in the group and the age range would put some of them in the mature student category. The majority of the students live on site in hostels (2 in a room – some of us can just imagine how uncomfortable that can be). Economically it is better for the students because it reduces drastically their cost of living re: no transportation and accommodation cost. Their cooking facilities are coal pots in a huge kitchen – and they have to fetch water on a daily basis -there are no mod cons here, so they are given a generous 2-hour lunch break, as many have to heat up/cook lunch on coal pots.
There are 2 classrooms and 1 practical room. The biggest (and better) classroom has no windows and doors and was used as an eye clinic before being destroyed in the war. It can comfortably seat 50 – 60 students and the ventilation is ideal (as there are no window panes or doors to block the breeze). The second classroom is a ventilation disaster (It is not ideal for teaching and for the fear of keeling over in the middle of the lecture, the management – oh Michael - is exploring ways of making it healthy for lectures) . It seats approx. 30 students, but to do this the blackboard needs to cover the only window in the class – making it dark and hot. The library is a very very small room ( relative to the student population), with only few very old books. This is about to change soon – thanks to all of you who worked hard to secure some books which we presented to the President of the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone on behalf of the School. (Pictures to follow soon).
The practical room has one mannequin/model – a male head on a female body and one attached arm. The only midwifery teaching aid available is a model of a pelvis (though Joey hasn’t seen it yet). Although we have all these limitations, I must say the staff is incredible and passionate. There are only 2 nursing tutors (the principal tutor is blind and has been at the school for over 30 years. He still writes on the board in his lectures and teaches strictly from memory. For diagrams, he gives his very old and tattered notes to the students to reproduce in their spare time. The other tutor does some lectures, all of the practical sessions and supervises students on the wards. They are gems and true saints!! However, this cannot go on indefinitely as the principal wants to retire (for good reasons) and the practical tutor also needs to have some time off. This is where they hope Joey can help…………..in addition to everything else mentioned in earlier posts.
There are many, many limitations, but we are happy to report the willingness of a NGO to help asap, esp. with white boards for the smaller classroom ( thus relocating the black board covering the window), to put windows and doors on the bigger classroom making it a proper classroom and possibly a library from an adjacent room. We have already received estimates for the classroom. They also will possibly donate some models and teaching aids. So, we are hopefully going to make a difference, before next year. Watch this space………. God is faithful and already we are beginning to see the ‘rain’ of blessings on the way.
Prayer warriors, thank you so very much for your constant and faithful prayers. There are signs - ‘a cloud the size of a man’s fist’- before the abundance of rain. We continue to trust God, as He is faithful. So far we are overjoyed to report we are healthy- no sickness of consequence - ;well fed (Little J has joined her father in the love for grass cutter – a bush meat. Joey is yet to be converted); not too hot (some mornings are very cool and foggy) and generally making many friends and professional acquaintances. Pray though, for God to bring peace to the hearts and minds of the people on the hospital team as we try to introduce changes (systemic, professional and personal) which the team have all agreed will be proactive. Some people have been working so long in a vacuum they have forgotten how important and progressive it can be when we pull together as a team. Pray also for the supply of drugs and other medical equipments to come through for us. We are desperately in need of drugs but our location makes it extremely difficult to travel regularly to either the capital or the district headquarters to pursue our supplies. We thank God though as w have recently taken delivery of a small stock of mediation that should see us through to the end of the year.
We miss you all, but we really think you guys need to come to visit. It would be worth it to see how beautiful and peaceful the surroundings and people are. Think about it…..we have an extra room…..
With all our love and with every blessing.
M,J and Little J
Sunday, 18 November 2007
Thursday, 8 November 2007
Settling In - The Task really starts now
Its been 2 weeks since we have been in Segbwema, and we are loving it more and more each day. We had the opportunity to go to Freetown for a few days for a meeting and were longing to go back ‘up country’. We have become comfortable with the night noises and the peace and quiet that comes with a deep rural setting, and were uneasy with the city noises of Freetown. We are well and truly converted.
So, Michael is on full speed ahead at his post as Hospital manager. There’s lots to do here, with challenges similar to regular hospitals, in addition to many other problems. We seem to have a good team to work with, though, they just need to be organised and motivated to develop and fulfill a specified goal. Knowing Michael, the greater the challenge the more exciting the job, so he’s very happy.
Joelle continues to have such a great time. The kids are numerous and we are expecting a few more in December. Our house is always full of children ready to play at all hours (after school ). We have to limit them – once it gets dark everybody needs to find their yard………..
We are still trying to work out child care – the lady we found will need help with house work ( the fetching of water is a day’s work on its own) as well as running after Little J – so Joey needs to be home until this is sorted. Even then she has started her orientation of the hospital and the nursing school. We were pleasantly surprised to find 117 students enrolled – mostly all of them living on compound in addition to some of the hospital staff and their family. So, we feel we are living in what seems like a mini- village. The land space is huge – more than 50 acres - maybe covering more than a mile or two – or more!!!! We haven’t toured it all yet. The problem is that it’s so remote that selling the land would not fetch much, so we have to think of other means – maybe farming to market or to subsidize our needs. I tell you, we are far from being lonely.
The statistics for the country makes grim reading and the midwifery course Joey is asked to coordinate will have to reflect this in its preparation of the students. Death is nearly a daily occurrence here – and one needs to get used to this fact. Delivering macerated babies or watching a mum die from obstructed labour or ruptured uterus is an experience one dreads– so it’s going to take real guts to face a case.
We understand the need to highlight the current situation ( as much as we are aware) of the country, as this will give a somewhat updated picture of the hospitals’ situation.
A networking proposal by Cordaid has described SL as:
‘….from a period of more than 10 years of civil service ..…SL is now one of the poorest in the world with over 50% of the people living in absolute poverty. Large part of the health service infrastructure was destroyed and more than 60% of the health workers stopped working. The health indicators is the worst in the world with maternal mortality 2000 per 100,000 live birth, infant mortality of 170 per 1000 per live birth and an under five mortality of 286/1000 live birth.’
As indicated in an earlier post, the maternal mortality rate feels similar in this hospital. This is not due – as far as we are told - to health professional mismanagement, but to sheer cultural practice of many women finding it easier and faster(roads to the hospital are atrocious) to go to the village Traditional birth attendant (TBA) who have very limited knowledge and resources to deal with complicated and difficult deliveries. The women are usually ‘rushed’ to the hospital at the point of death ( days in labour leading to ruptured uterus’/ post delivery bleeding). So far we have not personally experienced any of this (and pray we will not have to at all) but Joey personally witnessed a case of eclampsia – the woman was having an eclamptic fit. After helping to settle her with medication ( there is no magnesium sulphate in the hospital - she was prescribed and given diazepam), Joey was informed that this was her first baby, she had no antenatal care ( she didn’t visit the hospital for this ) and her only symptom was very bad frontal headache for a couple of days (her blood pressure was in normal range and there was no sign of odema). She was seen in the community by a MCH who referred her immediately to the hospital. She started fitting before delivery, delivered normally and then fitted again. Happily, she recovered ( however slowly) and when we visited the ward she was reported to be able to care for herself and her baby after a few days of being in an unconscious state.
The health professionals are doing their best – there is only 1 midwifery sister( she works every morning shift – except Sunday – and is on continuous call in any emergency) and student nurses who have done basic obstetrics on the maternity ward. We now have 2 doctors and they are also on call 24/7. We cannot imagine working in this kind of condition and pray the hospital management will look into employing another midwife – fast!!!!!!!!! Sister has already implied Joey takes a few morning shifts on Sat. to allow her to have a weekend off, but that is still to be decided. .
The infrastructure is dire indeed – there are hardly any drugs, one blood pressure machine and stethoscope available for the whole hospital (4 wards – male, female, children’s and maternity- and clinics), mattresses are filthy and flimsy, no running water or electricity (the generator is used on surgery days and alternate nights) and one very small operating theatre for every case.
We have started highlighting the need in emails to friends and have appealed for small groups of people to help. There is so much need here that we believe that it would take more than the public sector/ government to help with alleviating some of the problems .
Even with all this limited resources, the hospital’s catchment area covers 100 or more villages and even see people as far away as Freetown. We believe people visit hospitals mainly because of its reputation/cadre of doctors/level of care, and this somewhat explains them trekking more than 100 miles on very very bad roads to be seen here. It says much about this hospital, but we are not surprised as it was rated the second largest in Sierra Leone before the war. At its peak the hospital had 4 Medical doctors and provided both general medicine and specialized services such as eye clinic, Lassa fever research, ( linked with an institution in Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and had specialist TB and leprosy wards. The reputation of the hospital was such that it drew patients from all parts of the country and from neighbouring countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Ivory Coast. Therefore, it has the potential to regain its reputed form. This is not necessarily our goal, but it is close to what can happen in the next few years. We feel this is enough ( distressing) information for now, so we’ll leave the story of the nursing school for future posts.
Thank you for your prayers, we have felt and seen their effects as God continues to watch over us and prepares the hearts and minds of the people here for change. We are comfortable and happy and are convinced that this is the right move for everyone. Continue to pray, esp. for continued good health and strength. With all our blessing and love.
M, J, and Little J
So, Michael is on full speed ahead at his post as Hospital manager. There’s lots to do here, with challenges similar to regular hospitals, in addition to many other problems. We seem to have a good team to work with, though, they just need to be organised and motivated to develop and fulfill a specified goal. Knowing Michael, the greater the challenge the more exciting the job, so he’s very happy.
Joelle continues to have such a great time. The kids are numerous and we are expecting a few more in December. Our house is always full of children ready to play at all hours (after school ). We have to limit them – once it gets dark everybody needs to find their yard………..
We are still trying to work out child care – the lady we found will need help with house work ( the fetching of water is a day’s work on its own) as well as running after Little J – so Joey needs to be home until this is sorted. Even then she has started her orientation of the hospital and the nursing school. We were pleasantly surprised to find 117 students enrolled – mostly all of them living on compound in addition to some of the hospital staff and their family. So, we feel we are living in what seems like a mini- village. The land space is huge – more than 50 acres - maybe covering more than a mile or two – or more!!!! We haven’t toured it all yet. The problem is that it’s so remote that selling the land would not fetch much, so we have to think of other means – maybe farming to market or to subsidize our needs. I tell you, we are far from being lonely.
The statistics for the country makes grim reading and the midwifery course Joey is asked to coordinate will have to reflect this in its preparation of the students. Death is nearly a daily occurrence here – and one needs to get used to this fact. Delivering macerated babies or watching a mum die from obstructed labour or ruptured uterus is an experience one dreads– so it’s going to take real guts to face a case.
We understand the need to highlight the current situation ( as much as we are aware) of the country, as this will give a somewhat updated picture of the hospitals’ situation.
A networking proposal by Cordaid has described SL as:
‘….from a period of more than 10 years of civil service ..…SL is now one of the poorest in the world with over 50% of the people living in absolute poverty. Large part of the health service infrastructure was destroyed and more than 60% of the health workers stopped working. The health indicators is the worst in the world with maternal mortality 2000 per 100,000 live birth, infant mortality of 170 per 1000 per live birth and an under five mortality of 286/1000 live birth.’
As indicated in an earlier post, the maternal mortality rate feels similar in this hospital. This is not due – as far as we are told - to health professional mismanagement, but to sheer cultural practice of many women finding it easier and faster(roads to the hospital are atrocious) to go to the village Traditional birth attendant (TBA) who have very limited knowledge and resources to deal with complicated and difficult deliveries. The women are usually ‘rushed’ to the hospital at the point of death ( days in labour leading to ruptured uterus’/ post delivery bleeding). So far we have not personally experienced any of this (and pray we will not have to at all) but Joey personally witnessed a case of eclampsia – the woman was having an eclamptic fit. After helping to settle her with medication ( there is no magnesium sulphate in the hospital - she was prescribed and given diazepam), Joey was informed that this was her first baby, she had no antenatal care ( she didn’t visit the hospital for this ) and her only symptom was very bad frontal headache for a couple of days (her blood pressure was in normal range and there was no sign of odema). She was seen in the community by a MCH who referred her immediately to the hospital. She started fitting before delivery, delivered normally and then fitted again. Happily, she recovered ( however slowly) and when we visited the ward she was reported to be able to care for herself and her baby after a few days of being in an unconscious state.
The health professionals are doing their best – there is only 1 midwifery sister( she works every morning shift – except Sunday – and is on continuous call in any emergency) and student nurses who have done basic obstetrics on the maternity ward. We now have 2 doctors and they are also on call 24/7. We cannot imagine working in this kind of condition and pray the hospital management will look into employing another midwife – fast!!!!!!!!! Sister has already implied Joey takes a few morning shifts on Sat. to allow her to have a weekend off, but that is still to be decided. .
The infrastructure is dire indeed – there are hardly any drugs, one blood pressure machine and stethoscope available for the whole hospital (4 wards – male, female, children’s and maternity- and clinics), mattresses are filthy and flimsy, no running water or electricity (the generator is used on surgery days and alternate nights) and one very small operating theatre for every case.
We have started highlighting the need in emails to friends and have appealed for small groups of people to help. There is so much need here that we believe that it would take more than the public sector/ government to help with alleviating some of the problems .
Even with all this limited resources, the hospital’s catchment area covers 100 or more villages and even see people as far away as Freetown. We believe people visit hospitals mainly because of its reputation/cadre of doctors/level of care, and this somewhat explains them trekking more than 100 miles on very very bad roads to be seen here. It says much about this hospital, but we are not surprised as it was rated the second largest in Sierra Leone before the war. At its peak the hospital had 4 Medical doctors and provided both general medicine and specialized services such as eye clinic, Lassa fever research, ( linked with an institution in Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and had specialist TB and leprosy wards. The reputation of the hospital was such that it drew patients from all parts of the country and from neighbouring countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Ivory Coast. Therefore, it has the potential to regain its reputed form. This is not necessarily our goal, but it is close to what can happen in the next few years. We feel this is enough ( distressing) information for now, so we’ll leave the story of the nursing school for future posts.
Thank you for your prayers, we have felt and seen their effects as God continues to watch over us and prepares the hearts and minds of the people here for change. We are comfortable and happy and are convinced that this is the right move for everyone. Continue to pray, esp. for continued good health and strength. With all our blessing and love.
M, J, and Little J
Friday, 26 October 2007
And it took a day and a half to open an account………………………………….
There are many acres of unoccupied land just outside of Freetown – green and lush and well watered with many tributaries. With all of this, we wondered why so many people prefer to live in the overcrowded conditions of Freetown. We were told because of the war many of the young moved to the city, leaving the older generation to farm the land and the new generation have become strangers to farming, preferring to haggle wares and services or just to plain beg. We see too many beggars in Freetown. There is a need for a new sense of survival and empowerment of the people.
We found out (the hard way) how much we take little things (like opening a bank account and changing flights) for granted, esp. how very tedious it can be, when done manually. But that’s how things are done here.
We finally came to the time to travel to Segbwema. The plan was to have a one day retreat to meet the staff of the hospital before we finally went. This was done in a Catholic guest house in Kenema (the catholics were the only religious body to have the vision to invest by building guest houses all over the country). The retreat was well attended and was very effective in highlighting the current problems, suggesting solutions and creating a pathway to reaching the solutions. The day went fast for us as we were anxious to see the end of our 4 week journey. At last, at 4:30 we set off from Kenema. We had only 27 miles to go – but we were told these were worse than the 100 plus miles we had already travelled. All the warning couldn’t have prepared us for the roads to Segbwema. It was worse than ‘river bottom’!!!!!! It took nearly 2 and half hours to travel. We were appalled. It seems it rains nearly on a daily basis and the roads reflected this. At one point we went through a muddy section where we could reach out of the window of the 4x4 and touch the ‘ground’. The more we drove the more it looked and felt remote – like driving into a jungle. We saw less and less concrete houses and more and more collection of mud huts with grass roof (villages). It was then it slowly dawned on us, we were really going in deep deep deep rural. It’s not going to be easy if we wanted to leave ( physically).
When we finally reached our destination it was dusk. The hospital grounds is not much to look at ( esp. in the dark – no electricity) and we were further alarmed. Was this really a hospital? We saw dilapidated buildings, overgrown premises, and few people milling around. Then we came to our new home. Of course, it was dark. The neighbour’s children came out to greet him ( he is the head of the nursing school) and they of course greeted us too. Everyone seemed pleased to have us. We found some light (our rechargeable lantern) and headed indoors – holding our breath for the surprise. And…………..we were pleasantly surprised. Our bungalow has 2 large bedrooms, both large enough to hold a king size bed, dresser, wardrobe, desk and chair, and also our many suitcases and bags and still find space to walk around without bucking our toes. We have a large living and dining area, toilet and bath (separated) and an ok kitchen. We have a fridge ( electric) and a gas operated stove. The corridors are huge!!!!!!!!! and Little J fell in love with the space. She also fell in play with the neighbour’s children. We were well looked after as person after person came with items for our comfort – food, water ( we have to get this at the communal source), light ( the generator was turned on for the hospital), somebody to kill the spiders ( they seem to just love the place) and someone to quickly give the tour. It was amazingly overwhelming.
We went to bed tired yet not, and woke at 3 a.m. to talk about our feelings. At 4:30 we heard crying (we’re approx 30 yards from the hospital) as it appeared there was a death. It turned out to be a maternal death ( obstructed labour ). This was the second in 2 days, and it seemed they are regular because of the practise and mentality of the people. They tend to go to TBAs even though the hospital is close by. But that’s another post.
Prayer warriors, please pray for team spirit to quickly grow on the workers and students; for the spirit of peace to descend when damaging old behaviour is confronted; and for people to want to change for the better. Don’t be alarmed or worried, we are all very, very well and learning to love the place more everyday. God has gone ahead and prepared the way. We are confident he will continue to be there for us. We are happy. With every blessing.
M,J and Little J.
We found out (the hard way) how much we take little things (like opening a bank account and changing flights) for granted, esp. how very tedious it can be, when done manually. But that’s how things are done here.
We finally came to the time to travel to Segbwema. The plan was to have a one day retreat to meet the staff of the hospital before we finally went. This was done in a Catholic guest house in Kenema (the catholics were the only religious body to have the vision to invest by building guest houses all over the country). The retreat was well attended and was very effective in highlighting the current problems, suggesting solutions and creating a pathway to reaching the solutions. The day went fast for us as we were anxious to see the end of our 4 week journey. At last, at 4:30 we set off from Kenema. We had only 27 miles to go – but we were told these were worse than the 100 plus miles we had already travelled. All the warning couldn’t have prepared us for the roads to Segbwema. It was worse than ‘river bottom’!!!!!! It took nearly 2 and half hours to travel. We were appalled. It seems it rains nearly on a daily basis and the roads reflected this. At one point we went through a muddy section where we could reach out of the window of the 4x4 and touch the ‘ground’. The more we drove the more it looked and felt remote – like driving into a jungle. We saw less and less concrete houses and more and more collection of mud huts with grass roof (villages). It was then it slowly dawned on us, we were really going in deep deep deep rural. It’s not going to be easy if we wanted to leave ( physically).
When we finally reached our destination it was dusk. The hospital grounds is not much to look at ( esp. in the dark – no electricity) and we were further alarmed. Was this really a hospital? We saw dilapidated buildings, overgrown premises, and few people milling around. Then we came to our new home. Of course, it was dark. The neighbour’s children came out to greet him ( he is the head of the nursing school) and they of course greeted us too. Everyone seemed pleased to have us. We found some light (our rechargeable lantern) and headed indoors – holding our breath for the surprise. And…………..we were pleasantly surprised. Our bungalow has 2 large bedrooms, both large enough to hold a king size bed, dresser, wardrobe, desk and chair, and also our many suitcases and bags and still find space to walk around without bucking our toes. We have a large living and dining area, toilet and bath (separated) and an ok kitchen. We have a fridge ( electric) and a gas operated stove. The corridors are huge!!!!!!!!! and Little J fell in love with the space. She also fell in play with the neighbour’s children. We were well looked after as person after person came with items for our comfort – food, water ( we have to get this at the communal source), light ( the generator was turned on for the hospital), somebody to kill the spiders ( they seem to just love the place) and someone to quickly give the tour. It was amazingly overwhelming.
We went to bed tired yet not, and woke at 3 a.m. to talk about our feelings. At 4:30 we heard crying (we’re approx 30 yards from the hospital) as it appeared there was a death. It turned out to be a maternal death ( obstructed labour ). This was the second in 2 days, and it seemed they are regular because of the practise and mentality of the people. They tend to go to TBAs even though the hospital is close by. But that’s another post.
Prayer warriors, please pray for team spirit to quickly grow on the workers and students; for the spirit of peace to descend when damaging old behaviour is confronted; and for people to want to change for the better. Don’t be alarmed or worried, we are all very, very well and learning to love the place more everyday. God has gone ahead and prepared the way. We are confident he will continue to be there for us. We are happy. With every blessing.
M,J and Little J.
First Few Days in Sierra Leone
Freetown is a beautiful city from where we are staying – up in the hills. We have uninterrupted view of the bay from the over hanging hills.
On the first day, we went into Freetown (down town) to register at the British High Commission and to start the search for a vehicle of our own use. That was a task and a half. Because of the terrain and the state of the roads ‘up country’, we were advised to purchase a 4x4, manual( instead of automatic). So the hunt was for a durable and affordable 4x4. Easier said than done. We looked at a number of vehicles but they were either not in very good condition or not affordable. Those in good condition were either automatic, very expensive or both. To buy anything here one has to haggle, as in all other African countries. Items are way above the selling price and the trick is to haggle to a price acceptable to both parties. We think we will leave the haggling to the locals.
Freetown itself, is like any overcrowded city. The roads are filled with people, the buildings are old and not maintained. They would have been beautiful – old colonial style, with wooden louver windows – if they were well maintained, but they looked over used (infrastructure and facilities). Of course, there is a massive shanty town on the outskirts ( just on the beach) which floods when there is too much rain. Some secondary roads ( just off the main), resemble trails of red dirt leading up hill into ‘homes’. Many people live in corrugated zinc houses, with no light and water facilities. In all of this many of the people are beautifully dressed in African styles and the women’s hair are immaculately plaited. These people do not have much, but they hold their heads high. Even going to church, they were immaculately dressed and accessorised. Poverty does not show on them at all. However, because of the lack of infrastructure, there is a lot of unfinished work to do in Freetown. The new government have a great task on hand. In some ways, we are glad to be going out of the city to work.
On our first Sunday, we attended the Buxton Methodist Church in Freetown. We were informed that services usually last for an hour and half, unless when ‘they have a special programme’. And, of course, this Sunday was a special programme – the Zion Circuit Youth Fellowship was celebrating their yearly African Service together with the 99th Yearly Celebration of the Methodist Local Preachers’ Mutual Aid Association. Needless to say, the service lasted for more than the 90mins. Actually, the service lasted for over 3 hours; however, I can honestly say I enjoyed every bit, even though I struggled with the Creole language in some instances. There was the usual and typical praise and worship, which lasted for about an hour, whilst I counted about 6 different offerings – for the building fund; the MLP,MAA, and others. This should not have been a surprise since we had to pay for a copy of the ‘Order of Service’.
One feature which I found really ingenious was the ‘decorate a friend’ section, during which members of the congregation were encouraged to purchase hand made florets for other members of the congregation who have done ‘special acts’ and who deserved praise and acknowledgment. This I thought was an ingenious way of raising funds whilst encouraging other congregants by showing appreciation.
Little J had to be escorted out of the service after an hour ( after the praise and worship and just before the sermon). We found the Sunday School children who were practising songs for the annual Harvest Sunday in the basement of the church. Of course, she enjoyed the singing and managed to disrupt the programme by going up to nearly every little child and touching them. They didn’t find this amusing and she had to be parted from a few fights. At (the sudden) end of practise, she found a few ‘friends’ to run around with. Then we were told the children should go up to the main service, which they did, but ended sitting up in the top floor listening to the service (for the next hour and half). Of course, Little J wasn’t amused and Mummy had to take her outside ( again) to do some running in a safer environment. As usual, Mummy heard none of the sermon ( she hasn’t sat through a sermon for nearly 2 years) and had to get it second hand ( and not very thorough) from Daddy. I guess that’s life!
Monday, 16 October was a public holiday. We had hoped to visit other parts of the country and probably to have ended up on the beach with most of the ‘Freetownians’. We were taken to a relatively far beach in Kent (we didn’t see a beach – as we refused to pay the entrance fee) and York ( which turned out to be a fishing beach). The coast is really beautiful, and we enjoyed the outing, although we did not get to swim. The driver took us back to Freetown through the back roads and we got a taste of the ‘bone crusher’ roads everybody talks about. I thought I got whiplash going over a few of those pot- holes, and we were relieved to have left the vehicle at the end of the journey. We wondered what it would be like going to Segbwema – a good 50 miles of very, very bad roads. But that’s another post.
Prayer warriors, keep praying for journeying mercies and survival of the terrain – ‘ bone crusher’ roads, heat and mosquitoes. God bless you all.
M, J and Little J.
PS: System too slow to allow uploading of pictures. Still working on it.
On the first day, we went into Freetown (down town) to register at the British High Commission and to start the search for a vehicle of our own use. That was a task and a half. Because of the terrain and the state of the roads ‘up country’, we were advised to purchase a 4x4, manual( instead of automatic). So the hunt was for a durable and affordable 4x4. Easier said than done. We looked at a number of vehicles but they were either not in very good condition or not affordable. Those in good condition were either automatic, very expensive or both. To buy anything here one has to haggle, as in all other African countries. Items are way above the selling price and the trick is to haggle to a price acceptable to both parties. We think we will leave the haggling to the locals.
Freetown itself, is like any overcrowded city. The roads are filled with people, the buildings are old and not maintained. They would have been beautiful – old colonial style, with wooden louver windows – if they were well maintained, but they looked over used (infrastructure and facilities). Of course, there is a massive shanty town on the outskirts ( just on the beach) which floods when there is too much rain. Some secondary roads ( just off the main), resemble trails of red dirt leading up hill into ‘homes’. Many people live in corrugated zinc houses, with no light and water facilities. In all of this many of the people are beautifully dressed in African styles and the women’s hair are immaculately plaited. These people do not have much, but they hold their heads high. Even going to church, they were immaculately dressed and accessorised. Poverty does not show on them at all. However, because of the lack of infrastructure, there is a lot of unfinished work to do in Freetown. The new government have a great task on hand. In some ways, we are glad to be going out of the city to work.
On our first Sunday, we attended the Buxton Methodist Church in Freetown. We were informed that services usually last for an hour and half, unless when ‘they have a special programme’. And, of course, this Sunday was a special programme – the Zion Circuit Youth Fellowship was celebrating their yearly African Service together with the 99th Yearly Celebration of the Methodist Local Preachers’ Mutual Aid Association. Needless to say, the service lasted for more than the 90mins. Actually, the service lasted for over 3 hours; however, I can honestly say I enjoyed every bit, even though I struggled with the Creole language in some instances. There was the usual and typical praise and worship, which lasted for about an hour, whilst I counted about 6 different offerings – for the building fund; the MLP,MAA, and others. This should not have been a surprise since we had to pay for a copy of the ‘Order of Service’.
One feature which I found really ingenious was the ‘decorate a friend’ section, during which members of the congregation were encouraged to purchase hand made florets for other members of the congregation who have done ‘special acts’ and who deserved praise and acknowledgment. This I thought was an ingenious way of raising funds whilst encouraging other congregants by showing appreciation.
Little J had to be escorted out of the service after an hour ( after the praise and worship and just before the sermon). We found the Sunday School children who were practising songs for the annual Harvest Sunday in the basement of the church. Of course, she enjoyed the singing and managed to disrupt the programme by going up to nearly every little child and touching them. They didn’t find this amusing and she had to be parted from a few fights. At (the sudden) end of practise, she found a few ‘friends’ to run around with. Then we were told the children should go up to the main service, which they did, but ended sitting up in the top floor listening to the service (for the next hour and half). Of course, Little J wasn’t amused and Mummy had to take her outside ( again) to do some running in a safer environment. As usual, Mummy heard none of the sermon ( she hasn’t sat through a sermon for nearly 2 years) and had to get it second hand ( and not very thorough) from Daddy. I guess that’s life!
Monday, 16 October was a public holiday. We had hoped to visit other parts of the country and probably to have ended up on the beach with most of the ‘Freetownians’. We were taken to a relatively far beach in Kent (we didn’t see a beach – as we refused to pay the entrance fee) and York ( which turned out to be a fishing beach). The coast is really beautiful, and we enjoyed the outing, although we did not get to swim. The driver took us back to Freetown through the back roads and we got a taste of the ‘bone crusher’ roads everybody talks about. I thought I got whiplash going over a few of those pot- holes, and we were relieved to have left the vehicle at the end of the journey. We wondered what it would be like going to Segbwema – a good 50 miles of very, very bad roads. But that’s another post.
Prayer warriors, keep praying for journeying mercies and survival of the terrain – ‘ bone crusher’ roads, heat and mosquitoes. God bless you all.
M, J and Little J.
PS: System too slow to allow uploading of pictures. Still working on it.
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
God answers Little J’s prayers……… for French fries!
Finally we’re in Sierra Leone (SL) !!!!!!!
We eventually checked in 4 suitcases averaging 35 kg each onto the flight. The charge for being overweight was US$250.00 for the 50kg excess. Again, local currency was not acceptable – remember the ‘visa saga’. There was however, a ‘small’ problem since Kenya Airways would not accept a credit card for payment. At least that was what we were told at the check-in desk even though their partners KLM previously accepted the same credit card for excess weight – a fact we pointed out to the check-in clerk. We only had travellers’ cheques on us at the time….so we had a small problem. There was a stalemate since we were not in a position to do anything else, and were asked to stand to one side whilst other passengers checked in. We had no choice but to pray whilst trying to reason with the check-in staff. Finally, after nearly 15 minutes waiting, our excess luggage were checked on to the flight and we thanked the check-in clerks with a ‘modest gift’. Whether the check in clerks were expecting us to ‘dash’ them (grease – palmed the Ghanaian way), we will never know because we did not ask and were determined not to pay. We consider this another miracle of God – because it was a risk to take all the luggage with us. We were the last people to be checked in and we had to race to catch the plane. The flight made up for the rush, as it was short, earlier than scheduled, and the crew were very accommodating. We sat together and Little J even had a seat for herself.
Flying in to Sierra Leone was interesting. The landscape seen from the aircraft is nothing like the city. We flew over a wide expanse of green forest – mostly palm trees, criss-crossed by rivers flowing into the sea. This is because the airport is on a strip of land - island really - away from Freetown. The view coming into land was mostly green expanse of land with ‘houses’ sprinkled – few and far between. Our flight was the only one at the time, so going through immigration and getting our luggage was a relative breeze. We had a representative from the church waiting for us – identified by our name on cardboard.
Getting from the airport to the city is an adventure by anyone’s standard. We had a choice of the ferry (2 hours), the hover craft (1 hour), by car (a 60 + mile merry –go – round taking a few hours) or by helicopter (7 minutes). Of course, we took the helicopter – not that we had a choice since both the ferry and hovercraft were out of service. This turned out to be a larger than normal army looking, privately run helicopter (picture M.A.S.H.), which transports approximately 12 people and their luggage with each trip. Therefore, for any one flight they may have about 4 – 5 trips (or more). It was a noisy and bumpy affair. In all that palaver, Little J fell asleep. She amazes us!!!
The route to Freetown from the helipad took us beside the beach. Now, this was nothing like Accra or Cape Coast – this was a nice sandy beach. There were people jogging and walking on the beach and the waves reminded me of Negril. Surprisingly, really nice. Freetown was bustling with people selling wares and (at the time we landed) trying to get home. It was hot, but nothing like Accra.
Our ‘hotel’ is in the hills overlooking Freetown. The road reminded me of Mobay, going up to the hills to Cambridge. Very narrow, winding through the hills, with gullies to the side, and in those gullies are peoples’ houses. It feels like Mandeville – cool.
The ‘hotel’ turned out to be a guest house owned (but not operated) by the Catholic church. So, our vision of a hotel by the sea, with A/c, some modcon, (like tv and phones) and maybe internet access was not really that. We have the natural a/c, a transistor radio and mobile phones (which we bought), definitely no internet facility available. We are provided with 3 meals, hot water (for bathing) and breakfast as early as 7 a.m. Electricity is via a generator which has a operating regime – lights/electricity out at 11 a.m, 5p.m and 11p.m. So, we have to work around those times if we want to do anything related to the use of electricity. Good practise for our own generator in Segbwema.
The first night was hard. We had to get our heads around the electricity, lack of tv and the remoteness of the place. We can’t just go down the road to buy neccesities. Our nearest neighbours are those working at the new American embassy, sprawled over more than 100 acres. They’re not that friendly anyway.
Little J’s craving was for ‘fries’. After one day in the city we saw no Mcd, Burger king, Nandos etc etc which might sell this highly demanded fries. But lo and behold, without saying anything to the cook at our hotel, our dinner that evening was chicken and fries!!!!!!!!!! Now, this was confirmation that God does answer prayers – even of a nearly 2 year old toddler!!! He will provide for even our wants and of course our needs.
We are still trying to understand the system. We are being ably and patiently helped by the church and hospital staff and transported in comfortable vehicles.
We will be in Freetown for maybe an additional week as we try to do all the paper work (work permits, registering with the nursing council and trying to get a vehicle for our own use). This makes sense as it is an 8-hour journey to Segbwema, and once we’re there we need to use most of the first few months to try to settle – esp. to sort all the books we had shipped.
For the prayer warriors – continue to pray for a swift settling as we try to understand the system, attempt to communicate and become apart of the community. So far, so good.
Unable to load pictures - but would try again later
We eventually checked in 4 suitcases averaging 35 kg each onto the flight. The charge for being overweight was US$250.00 for the 50kg excess. Again, local currency was not acceptable – remember the ‘visa saga’. There was however, a ‘small’ problem since Kenya Airways would not accept a credit card for payment. At least that was what we were told at the check-in desk even though their partners KLM previously accepted the same credit card for excess weight – a fact we pointed out to the check-in clerk. We only had travellers’ cheques on us at the time….so we had a small problem. There was a stalemate since we were not in a position to do anything else, and were asked to stand to one side whilst other passengers checked in. We had no choice but to pray whilst trying to reason with the check-in staff. Finally, after nearly 15 minutes waiting, our excess luggage were checked on to the flight and we thanked the check-in clerks with a ‘modest gift’. Whether the check in clerks were expecting us to ‘dash’ them (grease – palmed the Ghanaian way), we will never know because we did not ask and were determined not to pay. We consider this another miracle of God – because it was a risk to take all the luggage with us. We were the last people to be checked in and we had to race to catch the plane. The flight made up for the rush, as it was short, earlier than scheduled, and the crew were very accommodating. We sat together and Little J even had a seat for herself.
Flying in to Sierra Leone was interesting. The landscape seen from the aircraft is nothing like the city. We flew over a wide expanse of green forest – mostly palm trees, criss-crossed by rivers flowing into the sea. This is because the airport is on a strip of land - island really - away from Freetown. The view coming into land was mostly green expanse of land with ‘houses’ sprinkled – few and far between. Our flight was the only one at the time, so going through immigration and getting our luggage was a relative breeze. We had a representative from the church waiting for us – identified by our name on cardboard.
Getting from the airport to the city is an adventure by anyone’s standard. We had a choice of the ferry (2 hours), the hover craft (1 hour), by car (a 60 + mile merry –go – round taking a few hours) or by helicopter (7 minutes). Of course, we took the helicopter – not that we had a choice since both the ferry and hovercraft were out of service. This turned out to be a larger than normal army looking, privately run helicopter (picture M.A.S.H.), which transports approximately 12 people and their luggage with each trip. Therefore, for any one flight they may have about 4 – 5 trips (or more). It was a noisy and bumpy affair. In all that palaver, Little J fell asleep. She amazes us!!!
The route to Freetown from the helipad took us beside the beach. Now, this was nothing like Accra or Cape Coast – this was a nice sandy beach. There were people jogging and walking on the beach and the waves reminded me of Negril. Surprisingly, really nice. Freetown was bustling with people selling wares and (at the time we landed) trying to get home. It was hot, but nothing like Accra.
Our ‘hotel’ is in the hills overlooking Freetown. The road reminded me of Mobay, going up to the hills to Cambridge. Very narrow, winding through the hills, with gullies to the side, and in those gullies are peoples’ houses. It feels like Mandeville – cool.
The ‘hotel’ turned out to be a guest house owned (but not operated) by the Catholic church. So, our vision of a hotel by the sea, with A/c, some modcon, (like tv and phones) and maybe internet access was not really that. We have the natural a/c, a transistor radio and mobile phones (which we bought), definitely no internet facility available. We are provided with 3 meals, hot water (for bathing) and breakfast as early as 7 a.m. Electricity is via a generator which has a operating regime – lights/electricity out at 11 a.m, 5p.m and 11p.m. So, we have to work around those times if we want to do anything related to the use of electricity. Good practise for our own generator in Segbwema.
The first night was hard. We had to get our heads around the electricity, lack of tv and the remoteness of the place. We can’t just go down the road to buy neccesities. Our nearest neighbours are those working at the new American embassy, sprawled over more than 100 acres. They’re not that friendly anyway.
Little J’s craving was for ‘fries’. After one day in the city we saw no Mcd, Burger king, Nandos etc etc which might sell this highly demanded fries. But lo and behold, without saying anything to the cook at our hotel, our dinner that evening was chicken and fries!!!!!!!!!! Now, this was confirmation that God does answer prayers – even of a nearly 2 year old toddler!!! He will provide for even our wants and of course our needs.
We are still trying to understand the system. We are being ably and patiently helped by the church and hospital staff and transported in comfortable vehicles.
We will be in Freetown for maybe an additional week as we try to do all the paper work (work permits, registering with the nursing council and trying to get a vehicle for our own use). This makes sense as it is an 8-hour journey to Segbwema, and once we’re there we need to use most of the first few months to try to settle – esp. to sort all the books we had shipped.
For the prayer warriors – continue to pray for a swift settling as we try to understand the system, attempt to communicate and become apart of the community. So far, so good.
Unable to load pictures - but would try again later
Monday, 8 October 2007
Crocodiles, Lizards and all things creepy…..
Crocodiles, Lizards and all things creepy…..
It’s been great visiting family and friends in Ghana. It has turned out to be an ideal R&R stop as it has forced us to rest and re-group after leaving London in such a whirlwind. We are blessed to have such friends and family who are willing to accommodate us for this time and also to help to clean and rearrange the mess we left. We will be eternally grateful to you all.
A part of our stay saw us in Elmina, near Cape Coast for a few days. It was a beautiful and quiet break from the hustle and bustle of Accra. The bus ride to Cape Coast was surprisingly fast and smooth. Granted the bus left approx. 20 minutes late, but the roads were quiet, hardly any traffic and pot- hole free.
Map of Ghana – Cape Coast to the west of the capital Accra – along the coast obviously.
The infrastructure has been improved since we last experienced it 4 years ago. We decided not to take pictures of the journey, as the scenery is so much like Jamaica. For you all from Ja. just imagine the scene through Santa Cruz, or Westmoreland or St James. The only difference is we (in Ja.) have more mountains on the horizon and there are gullies beside all the winding heart-stopping ‘tracks’ called roads ( for example the Ginger hill road). The road to Cape Coast was like a highway through Jamaica, flat and mountain-free and somewhat safer.
Our friends’ hotel was situated in a green, ‘cool’, quiet area. The food was sumptuous and we had the whole hotel to ourselves. He had a great collection (they seem to like his rock garden) of lizards – all varying sizes and colours and behaviour! We got some good ‘up close’ (but not too personal) pictures. Everyone seemed ok with these lizards running around and they seem to come out approx. 8-10 a.m. Any other time and its too hot/cold. I think I can tolerate them for that time.
Lizards – female and the differently coloured male….and dem very big!!!!!!
We visited the Crocodile park, which turned out to be a house/ restaurant on stilts with water all around and the crocs (babies and adults) all free to roam (too near for comfort) around. This was the closest I had ever come to one so huge and I never want to experience that again!!! We had our meal - hastily- and made a literal run for the hills!!!!!!!! Only to find the cursed things were allowed to wander freely near fields by the roadside.
It’s been great visiting family and friends in Ghana. It has turned out to be an ideal R&R stop as it has forced us to rest and re-group after leaving London in such a whirlwind. We are blessed to have such friends and family who are willing to accommodate us for this time and also to help to clean and rearrange the mess we left. We will be eternally grateful to you all.
A part of our stay saw us in Elmina, near Cape Coast for a few days. It was a beautiful and quiet break from the hustle and bustle of Accra. The bus ride to Cape Coast was surprisingly fast and smooth. Granted the bus left approx. 20 minutes late, but the roads were quiet, hardly any traffic and pot- hole free.
Map of Ghana – Cape Coast to the west of the capital Accra – along the coast obviously.
The infrastructure has been improved since we last experienced it 4 years ago. We decided not to take pictures of the journey, as the scenery is so much like Jamaica. For you all from Ja. just imagine the scene through Santa Cruz, or Westmoreland or St James. The only difference is we (in Ja.) have more mountains on the horizon and there are gullies beside all the winding heart-stopping ‘tracks’ called roads ( for example the Ginger hill road). The road to Cape Coast was like a highway through Jamaica, flat and mountain-free and somewhat safer.
Our friends’ hotel was situated in a green, ‘cool’, quiet area. The food was sumptuous and we had the whole hotel to ourselves. He had a great collection (they seem to like his rock garden) of lizards – all varying sizes and colours and behaviour! We got some good ‘up close’ (but not too personal) pictures. Everyone seemed ok with these lizards running around and they seem to come out approx. 8-10 a.m. Any other time and its too hot/cold. I think I can tolerate them for that time.
Lizards – female and the differently coloured male….and dem very big!!!!!!
We visited the Crocodile park, which turned out to be a house/ restaurant on stilts with water all around and the crocs (babies and adults) all free to roam (too near for comfort) around. This was the closest I had ever come to one so huge and I never want to experience that again!!! We had our meal - hastily- and made a literal run for the hills!!!!!!!! Only to find the cursed things were allowed to wander freely near fields by the roadside.
The restaurant sitting in a ‘croc’ infested ‘pond’.
So, if we really decided to run for the hills via the field we would have a very very rude meeting indeed. These crocs are not little. They look large enough to swallow a small adult (like J!!!!!!!) whole. We couldn’t put Little J down for a moment without watching her every move, because ‘…management is not responsible for any accidents or incidents and parents should supervise their children…’. I tell you, no way Jose. That’s the first and the last time for us.
We then decided to go to Elmina slave castle to take pictures ( since the last time we were here we did the tour - plus we thought a fidgety 2 year old wouldn’t want to hear about the misdeed of her father’s and mother’s great great great great grandparents). We were sad to leave but it reminded us that Ghana has many interesting places to see.
Elmina Castle – the beginning of the Middle passage
Little J has really acclimatized. She doesn’t sweat as much anymore even though she’s busy playing, running and jumping etc. She’s barefooted most of the time and really enjoying her
cousins (and vice versa), even though she does most of the bossing around! She’s eating most of what is put in front of her and even asks for ‘fufu’ when she’s hungry! We think if she had her way she would ask to stay in Ghana. We’re actually thinking this may be a great idea – eventually. We just need to look around for good international schools and maybe we will decide to stay for her prep school days. We’ll see. How things change. We never thought we would ever be saying this because our thoughts were to send her back to England for her education when she’s older. That plan is already beginning to unravel. God works in mysterious ways.
Little J has really acclimatized. She doesn’t sweat as much anymore even though she’s busy playing, running and jumping etc. She’s barefooted most of the time and really enjoying her
cousins (and vice versa), even though she does most of the bossing around! She’s eating most of what is put in front of her and even asks for ‘fufu’ when she’s hungry! We think if she had her way she would ask to stay in Ghana. We’re actually thinking this may be a great idea – eventually. We just need to look around for good international schools and maybe we will decide to stay for her prep school days. We’ll see. How things change. We never thought we would ever be saying this because our thoughts were to send her back to England for her education when she’s older. That plan is already beginning to unravel. God works in mysterious ways.
We have made contact with Michael’s former colleague and friend who is a pharmacist here in Ghana. He was so impressed with our decision to work in Sierra Leone and has promised to help with a software to capture management information. This is very promising and God’s doing because one of our major tasks would be to set up a management information system for the hospital. God is great!! – who thought we would find a solution to one of our key needs in Ghana?
We are a few days to starting the real leg of our journey and it really feels a little like an adventure now. We have no clue of how the place looks, who will meet us (hopefully he’ll have a card with our name) and where we will stay for the first few weeks. We just know the flight time and date, and the name of the hotel. We have limited ourselves to 3 suitcases, 20 kg each and again we are praying hard for a miracle to fit all we think we need in 60 kg. It’s mind-boggling.
We would be leaving Ghana with very pleasant and fantastic memories but then we’ve always known that. We intend making the country our ‘base’ for the next 24 months so we may pay periodic visits just ‘to get away from it all’, think, plan, re-group and strategise. We will keep you all updated as much as possible. Prayer warriors – continue doing what you do best. With every blessing.
M, J and (a very Ghanian) Little J.
Bird nests overhanging the croc infested pond
Saturday, 29 September 2007
A New Chapter Dawns
Finally, the waiting and preparation are over. This is it – today we leave the UK to start the first leg of our journey to Segbwema in Sierra Leone, to take up posts as Mission Partners with the Methodist Church.
Tuesday night was a tedious and tiring night as we tried to fit everything we thought we would need for two years, into 5 suitcases. Trying to fit 2 years clothing into suitcases without exceeding BA’s ‘generous’ weight allocation of 92kg just doesn’t work. I am sure most of you guys know that. There was the constant weighing, adjustments and re-weighing of jumbo suitcases on bathroom scales hoping for some ‘magic’ but eventually we had to admit defeat. Suddenly it dawned on us all that no matter how hard we tried we just would not be able to fit an assortments of clothes, CDs, notebooks, every conceivable time saving equipment etc, into our suitcases. 102 kg was after all not that generous for 2 adults and a growing toddler when going away for 2 years. I am sure we will master this trick later – but not yet.
Wednesday morning was very emotional for me. Was up early as usual leaving J & J in bed and tip toed downstairs. I took one look around the house, all the cases on the floor, unpacked papers and the general chaos, and for no apparent reason the tears started flowing. It dawned on me then that this is what the last 18 months has been about - preparing for our ministries in Sierra Leone – all the preparation during the past year and months was geared towards today. Today is the day – and the thought made me emotional. I just went back upstairs to cuddle J & Little J. Did I have any regrets – of course not. I knew we were doing the right thing and this is what the Lord wanted us to do.
Finally we made our way to the airport after more weight adjustments and finally giving in as a losing battle. The irony is we got to the airport only to be told that we had a more generous total weight allocation of 138 kg between us even though BA was not keen to publicise that.
PART 2 In Ghana – The Entry Visa Saga
We finally arrived safely in Ghana around 8.00pm local time. The flight was smooth and the hostesses were very pleasant. Little J slept for the first 2-3 hours and for the rest of the flight the plane was her playground. We had to take turns in jumping and jogging down the aisle. It’s getting harder as she gets older, but we expected that.
We knew getting into Ghana would have been expensive when we checked in at Heathrow and we were told we needed a visa to enter. We ‘forgot’ this small matter….. and it turned out to be a long and expensive mistake. At least, they didn’t send us back on the next flight to London!!! We had to fill in countless forms in order to apply for ‘visa on arrival’. The visa application cost us $300.00 in total and even little J had to pay the $100.00. The irony of the situation is that the Ghana immigration service would not accept payment in the local currency, not that we had any local currency on us anyway. British pounds sterling was not acceptable either. In Ghana US dollars reigns supreme over the British pound. We were one of the last people to leave the airport that night, and Little J made the best of the emptiness of the immigration hall by running, rolling and basically ‘cleaning the floor with her clothes’. She was basically at home there, greeting all the officers, but it wasn’t enough to get us in without paying. Anyway, I think it’s good that they demand a visa. It shows not only the 1st world countries can do that and get away with it, and there were many varied people on the flight (not only Ghanaians). To think that we needed a visa to visit Ghana when Michael comes from Ghana, but then that’s what happens when we exchange our passports for that of other countries. The good thing about it all is tat no one tried to extort any monies from us ‘to try to help us’. If anything at all, they were very sympathetic considering the amount of money w had to pay. Everything was done above board – there are still honest government officials in third world countries contrary to reports we read in the west. Praise God
Ghana feels and looks a lot like Kingston and the people look like Jamaicans!!!!!! The difference is in the speech and the driving on the right, and they drive better, but otherwise, it really feels like home.
Until later, continue to pray for us.
Tuesday night was a tedious and tiring night as we tried to fit everything we thought we would need for two years, into 5 suitcases. Trying to fit 2 years clothing into suitcases without exceeding BA’s ‘generous’ weight allocation of 92kg just doesn’t work. I am sure most of you guys know that. There was the constant weighing, adjustments and re-weighing of jumbo suitcases on bathroom scales hoping for some ‘magic’ but eventually we had to admit defeat. Suddenly it dawned on us all that no matter how hard we tried we just would not be able to fit an assortments of clothes, CDs, notebooks, every conceivable time saving equipment etc, into our suitcases. 102 kg was after all not that generous for 2 adults and a growing toddler when going away for 2 years. I am sure we will master this trick later – but not yet.
Wednesday morning was very emotional for me. Was up early as usual leaving J & J in bed and tip toed downstairs. I took one look around the house, all the cases on the floor, unpacked papers and the general chaos, and for no apparent reason the tears started flowing. It dawned on me then that this is what the last 18 months has been about - preparing for our ministries in Sierra Leone – all the preparation during the past year and months was geared towards today. Today is the day – and the thought made me emotional. I just went back upstairs to cuddle J & Little J. Did I have any regrets – of course not. I knew we were doing the right thing and this is what the Lord wanted us to do.
Finally we made our way to the airport after more weight adjustments and finally giving in as a losing battle. The irony is we got to the airport only to be told that we had a more generous total weight allocation of 138 kg between us even though BA was not keen to publicise that.
PART 2 In Ghana – The Entry Visa Saga
We finally arrived safely in Ghana around 8.00pm local time. The flight was smooth and the hostesses were very pleasant. Little J slept for the first 2-3 hours and for the rest of the flight the plane was her playground. We had to take turns in jumping and jogging down the aisle. It’s getting harder as she gets older, but we expected that.
We knew getting into Ghana would have been expensive when we checked in at Heathrow and we were told we needed a visa to enter. We ‘forgot’ this small matter….. and it turned out to be a long and expensive mistake. At least, they didn’t send us back on the next flight to London!!! We had to fill in countless forms in order to apply for ‘visa on arrival’. The visa application cost us $300.00 in total and even little J had to pay the $100.00. The irony of the situation is that the Ghana immigration service would not accept payment in the local currency, not that we had any local currency on us anyway. British pounds sterling was not acceptable either. In Ghana US dollars reigns supreme over the British pound. We were one of the last people to leave the airport that night, and Little J made the best of the emptiness of the immigration hall by running, rolling and basically ‘cleaning the floor with her clothes’. She was basically at home there, greeting all the officers, but it wasn’t enough to get us in without paying. Anyway, I think it’s good that they demand a visa. It shows not only the 1st world countries can do that and get away with it, and there were many varied people on the flight (not only Ghanaians). To think that we needed a visa to visit Ghana when Michael comes from Ghana, but then that’s what happens when we exchange our passports for that of other countries. The good thing about it all is tat no one tried to extort any monies from us ‘to try to help us’. If anything at all, they were very sympathetic considering the amount of money w had to pay. Everything was done above board – there are still honest government officials in third world countries contrary to reports we read in the west. Praise God
Ghana feels and looks a lot like Kingston and the people look like Jamaicans!!!!!! The difference is in the speech and the driving on the right, and they drive better, but otherwise, it really feels like home.
Until later, continue to pray for us.
Thursday, 20 September 2007
The Final Push
Wed., Sept. 19th 2007.
Hello Friends,
I seem to be having trouble getting on the internet and we haven’t even left the UK yet!!!!!!!!!
So I have decided to write this letter as a Word document and attach when the internet is up and running again. So much for being in the so called ‘first world’……..
I promised to update you all as we prepare to leave for West Africa. We have a week to go now and I can be honest, we are really looking forward to it. It’s been a very long preparation period and I know some of our friends are not happy with us leaving, but God has called and we must answer. I hope it will be for a short while, but with God, nothing is impossible and we are open to the call.
We are well and truly immunized to our eyeballs – the last injections we had on Fri. 14th, and to tell you the truth, I got used to them and Little J started to look forward to the soothing expectations of jelly beans. The Lord is good. He has taught us how to cope even with needles!!!!!! The new experience is taking the anti– malarial, which we cannot afford to miss a dose, as the result can be very dire indeed. We have opted for the once weekly tablet
( mefloquine) which does not have a good reputation ( has documented psychiatric side effects), but again God is good. I can only report vivid dreams ( which sometimes are not too bad, esp. if I’m dreaming about Jamaica or food!!). I haven’t recognised anything else
( although I do think someone is following me … smile). Michael hasn’t reported any additional strange behaviour on my part. He’s as strange as anyone can get, so he’ll do ok on them. Little J seems ok. We think she also has vivid dreams ( she has been jumping out of her sleep a lot lately), but then again we were told this is expected at her age.
Packing is easy………….its just the sorting of the house that has been overwhelming – what to take, what to give away, what to store, what to throw away. The latter usually needs to be shredded and that really takes time, and cannot be done at 4 a.m.!!!!! So it tends to pile up. But we plod on, counting down the days ………7 days to go!!!!!!!
We are in the process of setting up a bank account ( as suggested by many). These will be revealed asap to enable those who want to, cotribute to the development fund for the hospital.
We’ve met a few missionaries who were at the hospital (many before the war), but have recently visited Sierra Leone – as recent as this year. They have been fabulous in showing us photos and updating us as much as possible with the situation on the ground re: personnel and living accommodation ( or lack of, in our case).They haven’t held back or romanticised the situation. Many have said over and over again, about how hard it’s going to be because the task is huge, and the situation is so different to living here. We’ll see. Our house ( a 2 bedroom bungalow) is very close to swampy land. So we’ve been told the mosquitoes can be fierce and in abundance in the rainy season, (not to mention the snakes………….) Maybe we need to buy some guppies for the mossies and a mongoose for the snakes………….. need to check ebay.
The house is properly screened though, and we have been advised against going out in the evenings – that’s when the mossies come out. We’ll see.
Our kitchen consists of 3 stones for wood fire and a pot. Sounds and looks interesting. Maybe we can upgrade to a coal pot and bags of coal??
Toilet facilities will most likely be a pit latrine ( not new to that). Chimmies ( any Jamaicans out there???????) will come in handy I bet. That’s first on my list of ‘ things to buy’.
The plan is we will stay in the capital- Freetown- for the first 2 weeks, for meetings and to be greeted. We will visit the Hospital for a night or 2, to see the facility and make our list, then return to the capital to get ‘provisions’. It sounds so ‘wild, wild west’. We’ll see. In all of this we are convinced that God is in it. He’ll go before us to prepare the way.
We will spend 2 weeks in Ghana before going to Sierra Leone. We really look forward to seeing relatives who we haven’t seen in over 2 years. Little J needs to meet all of them, so it will be wonderful to see her interacting with her African cousins. She has met the Jamaicans, American, Canadian, Irish and Dutch and she did so well with them. For kids, language is never a barrier to communication. They all got along, and she asks for them nearly every day. A little child shall lead them…………….
Well, we shall write again when we settle ( a bit ) in Sierra Leone. By then, I should be able to update on our living arrangement and the true state of the work situation.
Please continue to pray for us. We have prayer cards to send out to a few people. Please say (before Fri. 21st) if more is needed – give full address please.
The bank account information will be given asap.
With all of God’s blessings.
Love,
Joanna, Michael and Little J.
Hello Friends,
I seem to be having trouble getting on the internet and we haven’t even left the UK yet!!!!!!!!!
So I have decided to write this letter as a Word document and attach when the internet is up and running again. So much for being in the so called ‘first world’……..
I promised to update you all as we prepare to leave for West Africa. We have a week to go now and I can be honest, we are really looking forward to it. It’s been a very long preparation period and I know some of our friends are not happy with us leaving, but God has called and we must answer. I hope it will be for a short while, but with God, nothing is impossible and we are open to the call.
We are well and truly immunized to our eyeballs – the last injections we had on Fri. 14th, and to tell you the truth, I got used to them and Little J started to look forward to the soothing expectations of jelly beans. The Lord is good. He has taught us how to cope even with needles!!!!!! The new experience is taking the anti– malarial, which we cannot afford to miss a dose, as the result can be very dire indeed. We have opted for the once weekly tablet
( mefloquine) which does not have a good reputation ( has documented psychiatric side effects), but again God is good. I can only report vivid dreams ( which sometimes are not too bad, esp. if I’m dreaming about Jamaica or food!!). I haven’t recognised anything else
( although I do think someone is following me … smile). Michael hasn’t reported any additional strange behaviour on my part. He’s as strange as anyone can get, so he’ll do ok on them. Little J seems ok. We think she also has vivid dreams ( she has been jumping out of her sleep a lot lately), but then again we were told this is expected at her age.
Packing is easy………….its just the sorting of the house that has been overwhelming – what to take, what to give away, what to store, what to throw away. The latter usually needs to be shredded and that really takes time, and cannot be done at 4 a.m.!!!!! So it tends to pile up. But we plod on, counting down the days ………7 days to go!!!!!!!
We are in the process of setting up a bank account ( as suggested by many). These will be revealed asap to enable those who want to, cotribute to the development fund for the hospital.
We’ve met a few missionaries who were at the hospital (many before the war), but have recently visited Sierra Leone – as recent as this year. They have been fabulous in showing us photos and updating us as much as possible with the situation on the ground re: personnel and living accommodation ( or lack of, in our case).They haven’t held back or romanticised the situation. Many have said over and over again, about how hard it’s going to be because the task is huge, and the situation is so different to living here. We’ll see. Our house ( a 2 bedroom bungalow) is very close to swampy land. So we’ve been told the mosquitoes can be fierce and in abundance in the rainy season, (not to mention the snakes………….) Maybe we need to buy some guppies for the mossies and a mongoose for the snakes………….. need to check ebay.
The house is properly screened though, and we have been advised against going out in the evenings – that’s when the mossies come out. We’ll see.
Our kitchen consists of 3 stones for wood fire and a pot. Sounds and looks interesting. Maybe we can upgrade to a coal pot and bags of coal??
Toilet facilities will most likely be a pit latrine ( not new to that). Chimmies ( any Jamaicans out there???????) will come in handy I bet. That’s first on my list of ‘ things to buy’.
The plan is we will stay in the capital- Freetown- for the first 2 weeks, for meetings and to be greeted. We will visit the Hospital for a night or 2, to see the facility and make our list, then return to the capital to get ‘provisions’. It sounds so ‘wild, wild west’. We’ll see. In all of this we are convinced that God is in it. He’ll go before us to prepare the way.
We will spend 2 weeks in Ghana before going to Sierra Leone. We really look forward to seeing relatives who we haven’t seen in over 2 years. Little J needs to meet all of them, so it will be wonderful to see her interacting with her African cousins. She has met the Jamaicans, American, Canadian, Irish and Dutch and she did so well with them. For kids, language is never a barrier to communication. They all got along, and she asks for them nearly every day. A little child shall lead them…………….
Well, we shall write again when we settle ( a bit ) in Sierra Leone. By then, I should be able to update on our living arrangement and the true state of the work situation.
Please continue to pray for us. We have prayer cards to send out to a few people. Please say (before Fri. 21st) if more is needed – give full address please.
The bank account information will be given asap.
With all of God’s blessings.
Love,
Joanna, Michael and Little J.
Thursday, 13 September 2007
The Big Bash - just having fun
On Sunday 16 Sept, our friends and bible study group at church organised a farewell bash for us and it was great. We are really going to miss our friends but we have to respond to God's calling. It was good to hear the concerns and support for us and we pray that our friends would keep up their own ministries and stay in touch.
Special Thanks to Bro Sheperd , Nana Yaw, Nicholas, Alex and Abi for organising this for us. Thanks for your kind words.
Top pic - With my beautiful Wife Joey
below - I am the handsome one on the left with Nana Yaw
It Started with a Kiss
So we are about to start our journey into Sierra Leone as Mission Partners for the Methodist Church of Great Britain - this is our story.
Michael used to work in Marketing with a large para statal organisation in the Communication Industry whilst Joey worked as a qualified Midwife with an NHS Trust in the UK.
In 2005 we believe the Lord called us to leave our jobs and go to a new land to help with our skills.
Through a series of events and 'happenstances' we were selected by the Methodist Church of Great Britain to work in Sierra Leone in West Africa. As part of the preparation period we spent a year in Birmingham at Queen's Foundation to do a Masters degree in Applied Theology - that is an experience worth recording - but not yet.
Finally we are about to leave for our psotings - Can't wait.
Michael used to work in Marketing with a large para statal organisation in the Communication Industry whilst Joey worked as a qualified Midwife with an NHS Trust in the UK.
In 2005 we believe the Lord called us to leave our jobs and go to a new land to help with our skills.
Through a series of events and 'happenstances' we were selected by the Methodist Church of Great Britain to work in Sierra Leone in West Africa. As part of the preparation period we spent a year in Birmingham at Queen's Foundation to do a Masters degree in Applied Theology - that is an experience worth recording - but not yet.
Finally we are about to leave for our psotings - Can't wait.
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