Back to the beginning…. Our trip to Sierra Leone began by meeting at the church parking lot at 4:00 A.m.
Considering I was up til 2 trying to do some final posts, it was a ridiculous beginning. Mark Prout is a wonderful human being and driver who served us generously by driving us there and promising to return for us (there’s something escatological sounding in this set up). After unloading all of us and our luggage at United, we discovered our flight was cancelled. Reload…go to a different terminal…unload. After that exciting start, Mark left the bus on the curb for a few minutes, and can now testify that A) airport security does NOT appreciate empty vehicles left unattended for any amount of time, and B) they are lightning fast at wenching up said vehicle to a wrecker for towing. I took copious notes on the various delays and cancellations which followed us into the next day, but I’ll summarize by saying that we were detained in D.C. due to a suspicious looking package, concerned that we’d miss our flight in Brussels, which ended up being cancelled anyhow and totally skipped a segment to Dakar as they rerouted us directly to S.L.
Although my ticket said we were flying to Freetown, the airport is actually in Lungi which is across the bay (river/inlet…some big body of water) from Freetown. We unloaded on the tarmac and immediately felt the humidity and heat. Dr. ABD met us and he, Dr. Smith and Ron took our passports and went to collect our luggage as the rest of us waited in a “VIP” lounge which was a slightly air conditioned room away from the chaos of the crowd of passengers trying to negotiate customs without the aid of someone like ABD. Those who were here last year raved about the beauty of this deluxe treatment compared to last year. We loaded vans and trucks in the dark (no street lights in the dirt parking lot we were in) using our trusty flashlights to try to distinguish between who was with us, who was helping us and who was just hanging out trying to get a tip from the stupid Americans. The truck with most of our luggage (each of us took a big tote full of medical supplies as 1 piece in addition to a suitcase for our own belongings) was stack higher than the cab, and one guy spidermanned himself somehow on the side ‘securing’ our things as we drove a few blocks to our hotel. In context, it was a nice place, though appreciation for Super 8 might have increased among us that night. The bar right across the road was rocking some tunes just this side of the sound barrier until about 4 in the morning. All my journal says is “I wonder how long the bar will be open”, and I want to clarify that it is because of the loud factor, not any plan to go drinking.
Saturday morning we awoke, ate breakfast and loaded up. We visited Mageni Hospital in Lungi which is overseen by Hassan, ABD’s brother. Of course our surgeons were consulted on some cases and Dr. Moosavi recruited a surgical patient for Magbenteh before we even arrived there!!! Back into the autos and we headed toward our ferry ride, then a two hour ride (decent paved road) to Makeni where Magbenteh Hospital is located. My first lessons in Time and Krio—languages spoken in S.L.—came from Ali, Saidu, Foday, and Santigie, 4 adorable boys who ride the ferry daily in order to sell things to make money for going to school. Already I love these kids.
