A little taste of Sierra Leone

Stepping off the ship and venturing out into the hustle and bustle of Freetown was quite an overwhelming experience. People out everywhere trying to make money in all sorts of ways; some were selling things, some were doing hard labor and others thought that they could snatch a few dollars out of a pocket. When the a pickpocketer was looked in the eye and ask "what are you doing?"....the response was "oh, sorry." People are living the only way they know how, survival. I don't know if I can express fully in words the full experience other then to think of how crowded a city, preferably NYC is during the holidays minus traffic laws adding in dirt roads along with vehicles (maybe that gives you an idea of what it is like), oh and its like this everyday from what I have been told. In my travels I managed to run into a man carrying some large items on his head, thankfully the people here have phenomenal balance! Well after my morning outing thought I'd join a group of people on a "walk/hike" to a university at the top of a hill where you can look out over the city. We trekked through the city and up a path that was between homes. It was neat to see how life is lived here, people doing ordinary things laundry, bathing, cooking, socializing, building and playing. Everything done as if we aren't living in the year 2011, its a little simpler or some may say its harder but I definitely believe its all how you interpret things. The people are happy and content maybe not in the conditions that we would think were ideal however it does work for them. The children are precious, it was awesome to see their beaming faces after they would shout "he-llo" and you would say hi back and touch their hand while they were giggling with their friends. While walking up the hill we came to a bend in the path and on the other side of that bend were steps straight up and on either side it was filled with children who were so elated to see us...it was a pretty crazy sight!

After my adventures off the ship I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, trying to wrap my head around the thoughts: how are we to make a difference when there are SO many people in need? where do you even start? i am so blessed to have what i do have, we are all living in the same world and just an ocean away, well even here on the ship life is so vastly different. All I can do is attempt to make a difference, even if it is just in one persons life. This week in two separate occasions a patient's daughter and another man (native to SL) told me what an impact mercy ships is having on the community, how grateful they are and they thanked me for my part. Well I guess God is trying to tell me that we are making a difference here even if I was overwhelmed by it all.

Thank you all for your continued prayers!! I am slowly but surely finding my place here. I started working this week and I have to say its very different then nursing at home but I am enjoying the fact that I am able to talk with the patients and get to know them a little. Some things that I'd like prayer for would be the people of Sierra Leone, that God guides the surgeons during difficult surgeries, us nurses as we care for patients and along with my continued transition-that my body adjusts to the food here on the ship :) Well thats all from Africa for now!