First 24 hours...

I arrived in Freetown last night after being away for a month. I had a great time on my three country trip but it was really good to come home! 

Besides the fact that the electricity cut out at around 3am meaning my fan switched off and it got pretty warm, I slept quite well. Thankfully the power came back and my fan cooled the room down again. Breakfast today consisted of tea with a Basha donut, courtesy of my housemate who was very considerate to buy some 'welcome back donuts' yesterday. 

Within 10 hours of arriving home I walked out of the front door and out of the gate to find a taxi to take me to work. On arrival I was warmly welcomed by staff at AWC, which is always encouraging and fun, except for the comments about how I’ve gained weight because I was fed so well while on leave. This is one of those cultural things I will never quite appreciate. Is it really okay to tell someone they are fat?! I'm sure the donut this morning didn't help. ;)

There were about 45 patients waiting in the clinic when I arrived and they had probably been waiting since 5 or 6 am already. That’s the way it works here - no appointments and people come early to make sure they are seen that day. Thankfully clinic didn’t get too busy and we were able to take our time during the consultations. I even had time for lunch, which was rice with potato leaves - my favorite AWC meal.

My first patient was an infant who needed to be referred due to severe pneumonia. I also saw a child with epilepsy, a 5 year old weighing 11 kilograms and a child who had been mismanaged at a pharmacy who I diagnosed with malaria and started on treatment. I saw others with acute respiratory tract infections, skin conditions like scabies and diarrhoeal disease. It’s definitely never dull! I even had a little time left over at the end of the afternoon to update one of our protocols. 

After work I found a taxi to take me to Aberdeen road junction, walked to a supermarket to pick up a few essential items and then walked home from there, ignoring quite a few “white girl” comments on the way. Another one of those things I have never gotten used to!

I had a relaxing evening at home, which is a nice change since I usually come home and have to start studying right away. Thankfully module 3 of my MPH doesn’t start for another week. 

Alright, that’s it for a little glimpse of my first 24 hours back in Sierra Leone. More another day. It’s bed time now.

#lifeinsierraleone #sierraleone #alwaysanadventure #outpatientclinic #AWC 

Sierra Leone election results...

Sierra Leone Election News. Freetown, Sierra Leone: The last 24 hours have been a little tense in Sierra Leone as we have been waiting for the results to be announced from the presidential election held on 7 March 2018. 

There was a lot of anticipation on the 12th of March 2018 with the hopes that the results would be announced by the National Electoral Commission (NEC). There were rumors that they would communicate at 14:00 hrs, then 16:00 hrs, then 19:00 hrs. However, the announcement did not take place and instead we were informed that ballot papers were going to be recounted at 72 polling stations in various districts. This was in addition to recounts in 82 polling stations, announced the previous day. These recounts were being conducted after deliberations with political parties. 

During the day on the 13th of March there were more rumours that the results would be announced. Finally at 16:30 hours, NEC announced that there would be a briefing held at a press conference at 19:00 hrs today. 

At 19:00 hrs today thousands of people in Sierra Leone were tuned in to their radios, waiting in suspense for NEC's announcement. Finally, at 19:46 hrs, NEC announced the election results for the presidential election with the opposition party, SLPP, leading with 43.3% of the votes and the ruling party, APC, closely behind with 42.7%. Since neither party has 55% or more of the votes, a run-off election will be held on 27 March 2018, two weeks from today.  NGC has 6.9% of the votes, C4C 3.5% and the remaining 12 parties all have 1.1% or less. 

NEC reports that the results from 221 polling stations were excluded, including stations where votes cast exceeded the number of registered voters at those stations.  Also, after deliberations with political parties, recounts were conducted in 154 polling stations, none of these results were nullified. 

There were 3,178,663 people registered to vote, of which 2,676,549 people voted (with 139,427 invalid votes), meaning there was a 84.2% voter turnout on 7 March 2018. 

Well done Sierra Leone for conducting a credible election. Let's continue to keep the peace in the lead up to the run-off and the transition of power to whoever is elected as the next President of Sierra Leone. 

National Electoral Commission results: 13 March 2018

#SierraLeoneDecides #SierraLeoneElections #sierraleone #keepthepeace #undivided #votesalone #presidentialelections #NEC #votesalone