I’ve been back in Sierra Leone for 10 days now and have been thinking about what makes life here so different. Here are some examples…
- I don’t have Internet access at home
- I do go to Bliss with satellite Internet, smoothies and crepes
- I shouldn’t drink water straight from the tap
- What I can do is drink water from 500ml plastic bag
- I eat/drink ants when they sneak into my food or tea (via milk powder)
- Luncheon meat (a.k.a. spam) or laughing cow cheese usually accompany my bread at lunch
- Dinners consist of noodle soup all too often
- I cook using a gas stove and have to get the gas bottle filled when empty
- And when I do cook, aubergine (eggplant) is a used in most meals.
- I can sleep in my own bed!
- I can’t walk down a street anonymously
- On my road the children frequently call out ‘Sandra, Sandra’ as I walk past
- I sleep under a mosquito net at night
- I have security guards on the compound 24-7
- I get around on taxis or poda podas (minibuses) rather than a bike
- I get to attend exciting events like a TEDx night, photo exhibitions and the launch of a new hiking trail
- It’s around 28 Celsius rather than about 5
- There are about 3 traffic lights in Freetown, none of which work
- There is a thick layer of red dust hovering over the city
- I thankfully have a lady who cleans the flat and hand washes our clothes, saving me a lot of time
- People ‘flash me’ with their phone, meaning the phone rings once or twice and they hang up so that I’ll call them back on my phone credit
- I have a driver drive me to and from work everyday
- I get to speak Krio and rarely use my Dutch
- I have various groups of friends I meet with a couple of times a week
- The water pressure is low meaning I can’t wash my hair standing up
- I hang out with people from many different countries/cultures
- I have a stock of good chocolate I cherish in the fridge
- Sleeping is difficult at times due to barking dogs, loud music and heat
- No one looks at me strangely if I strike up a conversation with him or her on the street or in a taxi
- A lot of my neighbors live in shacks
- Water and electricity are not constant at the children’s hospital or at home (although pretty good)
- I drink an average of one bottle of Coca-Cola a day
- A lady comes to our office most days selling cakes, banana bread and other Sierra Leonean snacks
- I’m enjoying the kilo block of Dutch Gouda I brought back but very much missing milk
- If I wanted to I could go to the beach every weekend
- The sermon at church is generally an hour long
- I teach Sunday school a few times a month to lively 6-10 year olds
- I sometimes miss decent roads and sidewalks and fear I’ll fall into a gutter
- I eat much more fish here and it’s fantastic
The three hardest differences are probably that:
- Children die in the hospital I work at on a daily basis
- A lot of people do not seem motivated to help sick children
- Family is very far away
The best is that I feel like I can make a difference here and hopefully improve child health and in the meantime enjoy life in Salone.
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