Lazy Lumley afternoon...

After a very relaxing morning - with electricity, surprisingly enough- Luzanne and I decided to take a taxi down to Lumley beach to chill. Very brave of course, two white women, stepping into a taxi with three Sierra Leonean men. But we made it. We stopped at a place called Bunkers - a two-story beach bar/restaurant - and chose a table that overlooked the ocean. We made ourselves comfortable; extra pillows in the chairs, feet up on the ledge, a drink. Perfect. It was becoming a very lazy day. I basically read my book ('The Bookseller of Kabul'), dozed off and also enjoyed some photography. It was a perfect afternoon and we finished it off with a 45 minute walk on the beach! Here are some of the pictures I took:

Guess who I saw again today...

After a lovely afternoon at the beach, a friend and I walked back towards the clinic, to get a ride home. On our way, we met up with Osman and bought some groundnuts of course. This time I had my camera with me; so here are some very recent shots!

Reunion on the beach...

So, yesterday was Training Day 1.

This meant a 15 minute run on Lumley beach.

It was easy.

A good start.

However, after about 2 minutes of running, I had to stop.

Not because I couldn't run, but because I saw someone.

Osman.

An 8 year old boy who sells groundnuts on the beach.

I met him last year and often stop to say hi,

And sometimes buy groundnuts.

Which I then have to hold onto while running,

Or stuff into my running shorts' pockets.

It had been months since I had seen him.

I think he went upcountry for the summer holidays.

And of course with the elections, school was out longer than expected.

So, it was quite a surprise to see him on the beach yesterday.

I asked how he was doing, he said great.

Actually, he looked good. He's gained some weight.

He said school started on Tuesday,

He was glad to be back.

He had been upcountry, to visit his father.

When I asked where, he just said 'far far'.

I told him I was glad to see him again.

He just smiled.

Osman has the most amazing smile!

I'm glad he's back.

Seeing him made my day.

(PS: Nicci, I hope it's ok I used this picture)

3 months till Christmas...

Wow, unbelievable.
Only 3 months till Christmas.
Time is flying.
13 weeks to be exact.
And in that short time I am thinking about training for a 10k run.
A run which we'll organize ourselves.
Along Lumley beach of course.
And preferably not uphill!
We'll see how it goes.
Right now I am happy if I can run 15 minutes without a break.
So I will be impressed if I accomplish this goal.
We're starting our 'training program' tomorrow!

Monday...

It’s 17:45. The last patient just walked out the door. I’m now sitting outside, near the laundry room, waiting for a ride home after a fairly long day. I’m pretty hungry and am looking forward to dinner at 18:30. I’m listening to the rain drops landing on the ground. It’s Monday and it’s raining. It's been a long day and I'm tired. I’m secretly looking forward to the weekend already and hoping for nice weather. Fortunately, it’s starting to rain less. Rainy season is coming to an end. We had two beautiful Saturdays in a row and managed to get back out to River no 2 beach! What an amazing place.

A 10 year old, her mother and a stone...

Today a 10 year old girl came to the clinic with her mother.
She didn’t come with the usual complaints of fever and cough.
She came with a single complaint.
She had a stone in her left ear.

When asked how it got there,
She said she put it there.
When asked how long it had been stuck,
She first said a week, no at least a month,
No, over a year was the final answer.

It was about 1030 am when I saw her.
The waiting room was still full with patients.
Knowing that foreign objects can take a while to dislodge,
I decided she would have to wait.
No problem she said (after all, it’d already been a year!)

Finally at 3 pm I called her in.
I showed her the syringe with a little plastic cannula on the end.
I showed her how it worked.
Much like a squirt gun really.
Of course, she has never seen a squirt gun.

The 10 year old sat bravely;
While I started flushing out her ear.
Since one of my nurses was sick, the mom assisted.
Amazingly enough it only took about 10 minutes.
First some debris, then out came the stone.

The girl was relieved.
The mother was thankful.
She asked me what her bill was.
I said, there is no bill,
You already paid 1000 Leones consultation fee.

She then said she wanted to give me a small gift.
I told her she does not need to give me anything.
She was surprised and almost in tears.
I told her that this is why we are here.
This is what we do; we’re here to help.

I was humbled by her thankfulness.
All I did say was to please do these things for me:
Make sure you feed your child well.
Make sure she stays in school.
And make sure she doesn’t put anything in her ears again.

Excitement in Sierra Leone as the new president is announced...

7:27 am
I get a message saying SLPP is going to court at 9 and the final results should be announced at 10. Seems awfully quick for a court decision. We’ll find out soon enough. Everyone is proceeding with caution…

7:30 am
We leave the team house in a Terrano. 5 minutes later we are stuck in traffic prior to the Lumley roundabout. Check points. Since we were in an NGO car we were waved through. Those in public transport were less fortunate. Taxis were emptied, bags were searched etc. Police, Military Police, Special Forces. Everyone is involved. It’s just a safety measure…

8:00 am
We arrive at work. A little later than usual. Surprisingly a lot of the staff managed to make it to work on time. Of course some of them passed a few check points but overall they didn’t seem too bothered. Another surprise was that there were quite a few children at the gate waiting for the clinic to open. I thought maybe they would stay away. No one seemed to mind traveling today…

9:00 am
I pass through the waiting room and see a number of people with hand held radios; not a sight usually seen. Everyone is waiting for the results. I keep asking one of the father’s if there is any news yet. Nope not yet…

10:30 am
I am seeing a patient in my office. All of a sudden I hear a lot of cheering. The noise outside of my office became louder and louder. Everyone seems happy. Lots of excitement. The results have been announced. The waiting room has never been so noisy. APC won…

11:00 am – 4:00 pm
As I continue seeing patients in my office I can see the street through the window. I see people in red and white dancing down the street. I hear lots of whistles, car horns, cheers. I see 4 guys dressed in red shirts holding up a huge Ernest Koroma poster, followed by a poda poda (public transport van) driving by slowly with APC supporters. People are starting to party on the streets. Hopefully it will stay calm…

3:30 pm
I hear Christiana Thorpe on the radio. Saying the results are final. Apparently there are still some allegations. But the results won’t be affected. Good news for APC…

5:00 pm
We are going home. In two cars, one behind the other, just in case there is any trouble. I’m sure that our neighborhood is pretty excited. It’ll be interesting to see what’s going on there…

Please continue praying for Sierra Leone. The elections are over. Things are peaceful. The winners are ecstatic, which means the losers are disappointed. We hope for ongoing peace!

Official results announced today...

At 10 am this morning the official results of the elections were announced. Ernest Bai Koroma has won the Sierra Leone’s presidential run-off!

Ernest Koroma of the All People’s Congress received 54.6% of the 1,740,058 votes, while Vice President Solomon Berewa of the Sierra Leone People’s Party received 45.4% of the votes.

There are still concerns about fraud. The national electoral commissioner, Christiana Thorpe has launched investigations into at least 14 cases of alleged electoral fraud. Most thought not all, were reported in SLPP strongholds where an unlikely turnout of 100% or more was reported compared to a 68% national average. Dr Thorpe said these flaws were not sufficient to affect the final result. International observers praised the NEC's conduct of the election which was largely free, fair and peaceful - but that has not prevented some SLPP members from talking of a possible legal challenge.

Under Sierra Leone law, the official results can be challenged by petition to the Supreme Court within seven days of their announcement by electoral authorities.