The night of the elections in Sierra Leone...

7 pm.
Voting stations are closed.
All of a sudden there is a lot of noise on our street.
Fortunately it sounds more like excitement rather than violence.
I climbed back onto the roof to see what was going on.

I was surprised to see so many people running up and down our street, cheering, excited.
An old lady was jumping up and down.
Young men with radios clamped to their ears.
And then the little kids waving to the “white man” on the roof!

The votes are being counted.
Apparently our neighborhood just found out which party is in the lead at their voting station.
Everyone is quite happy.

In other parts of Freetown there are some disturbances.
Areas to avoid according to an email alert.
It’s probably good we’re still on a curfew.

Only time will tell what the outcome is.
Which party will win.
How the people will react.
How this nation will change.

Sierra Leone votes...

Freetown, Sierra Leone - This is Sandra reporting from her room at noon on Saturday, August 11, 2007. This is not just an ordinary Saturday; this is the day that 2.6 million Sierra Leoneans have the chance to decide the fate of their country. Polling stations were due to open at 7am but many opened late, possibly due to a delay in the ballot papers being delivered as a result of heavy rainfall on Friday. Word has it that as early as 5 am, citizens lined up with umbrellas at the various stations, in some cases hours before the stations opened, waiting to cast their vote. So far the process seems well-organized and peaceful.

Seeing as I am confined to my compound today (as a safety precaution), my personal experience of the elections is limited. However, we do happen to have a polling station on our road, less than 50 meters from our gate. So, at 11 am this morning, I decided to climb up the ladder onto the roof of our generator room to scope out the neighborhood a bit. Sure enough, there was still a line of people outside the polling station. Apparently, earlier this morning, the line reached past our house. There were also many people walking up and down our road; much more than usual. Fortunately, everyone seemed content and besides hearing a constant chatter in the distance it is very peaceful.

Sierra Leone elections...

The presidential and parliamentary elections in Sierra Leone are only 2 nights away! The campaigning days ended today and were relatively quiet on our side of town. It’s time for people to get ready to vote. I must admit, it was a little strange running/walking home yesterday, through busy streets with so many people, wondering how the elections would pass; not knowing what the very near future holds for this country. We are hoping for the best.

On Saturday more than two million Sierra Leoneans will go to the polls to cast their votes. The second national elections since the war ended in 2002. And the first since the United Nationals peacekeepers pulled out.

Feelings are mixed. What will happen?
Everyone seems to want peace but sometimes it only takes a spark to get the fire roaring. We can only hope for the best.

Please keep Sierra Leone – the country, the government, the people – in your prayers! Sierra Leone needs someone to bring positive change to the country and give hope to the people.

Right place at the right time...

Friday after work I decided to walk home with my colleagues Guido & Morgen. On leaving the clinic I thought it would be fun to say hello to a family that lives just down the road, since I hadn't seen them since my return. It's the family we always pass when we go for our walks/runs; the three kids are adorable.

The youngest child was born in January with a congenital problem which fortunately could be helped surgically at an NGO hospital. Since then he has come to the clinic with various complaints. A couple of months ago we diagnosed him with an inguinal (abdominal) hernia. Fortunately the hernia could be easily reduced and surgery was not needed.

So Friday afternoon we stopped by the family's little shack to say hello. The two oldest kids (about 3 and 5 years) were so excited to see us, they giggled with glee. It was so cute! I asked about the baby and they pointed to the shack. Just so you know, this is the same family that lost their father/husband only a few months ago.

I saw mom sitting with the child and excitedly asked how he was doing only to be surprised by her response: "not well". Apparently the swelling in his groin started again that night, he was crying a lot, not breastfeeding, and started vomiting. That didn't sound good. There I was in a dark shack, finishing up my Krio history taking and about to exam the baby, which I decided to do outside in the light. Sure enough, there was a very large swelling but this time I could not reduce the hernia, meaning the hernial contents could not be returned to their normal site. Not good. An irreducible hernia is life threatening. So, even though it was 5pm on a Friday I had to refer, which meant going back to the center, writing a referral letter and then sending the child and mom off to the NGO surgical center, praying that they would be let in.

I was in the right place at the right time. That's how a spur of the moment drop-in visit turned into a consultation which ended in referral. Within two hours the little boy went from being held in his mom's arms in their little shack to lying on an operating room table at the surgical center 30 minutes away. If I hadn't stopped to visit, it could have ended very differently...

PS: He was discharged yesterday and I went by again today and he looks great!

Sandra in Sierra Leone again...

I’m back in Freetown. The flight from Brussels via Abidjan to Freetown was fine; no problems. It was a beautiful flight actually. I admired the coastline of southern France, or was it Spain. I enjoyed spotting the coastline of North Africa. And then there’s the breathtaking stretches of desert sand. Pretty incredible landscape. I was pretty impressed by the size of Abidjan and the amount of lights I saw there; very unlike Freetown. It’s good to be back in Freetown, seeing staff, patients etc. We have a pretty new team here now so some things work a bit differently, but I’ll get used to things quickly again I’m sure. Look at the following blurb and see what it’s like to be back in Africa…

You know you live in Africa when…

…you lie awake your last night in Europe thinking about the fact that it is so quiet around you…no generator, no barking dogs, no yelling neighbors, knowing that it will soon be different.

…you are surprised that Abidjan, another West African city is so lit up and think ‘wow, they must have a lot of national power’.

…the 8 km trip from Lungi airport to Aberdeen takes 3 hours which is longer than it took to fly from Abidjan to Lungi.

…you arrive home, entering through a large gate, onto an enclosed compound surrounded by razor wire, being greeting by official night guards.

…you get excited when you realize that there is NPA (national power) at the house and it will be a quiet night without the generator after all.

…you realize that the only reason we might have more NPA these days is because the elections are imminent and it is a campaigning stunt. How long will NPA last? (Before my vacation we had NPA maybe once a month!)

…you turn on your light and the bulb blows out, probably due to NPA

…you find out that all of your sheets/bedding has become moldy due to the humidity here. SICK.

…you notice a big patch on the wall in your room that has fungus growing on it.

…you lock the doors and get ready for bed and then realize you can’t drink tap water and need to go outside again and get a bottle of filtered drinking water.

…you take a shower in the morning and need to squat in the shower to get enough water pressure to wash your hair.

…you go to get breakfast and realize someone forgot to buy bread…community life.

…your staff shows up to work late and doesn’t think anything about that.

…you can walk along the beach after work, enjoying the blue sky, the ocean breeze, children running around, etc.

…you can easily wave down a taxi to take you home. The surprise was, we weren’t ripped off!

…many of the children yell out “white man” as you pass by.

...a child walks up to you and asks for money for food.

…you are met by a fan club of African kids at our street excited to see you back.

…you sit in the gazebo in the evening for dinner.

…you go to do laundry in the evening (the molded bedding) and have to stand there and fill the machines with a hose.

I’m not mistaken. I am back in Africa, where the adventures are only a stone’s throw away.

07-07-07 The big day...

Finally, the long awaited wedding photos...

Stefan getting ready in the am. My little brother, all grown up!


Genae got ready at her parents place. Then did a photo shoot there. She looked amazing. And we had great weather (after a week of rain!)


The wedding ceremony...vows, tears, smiles, I do's, the rings : ) , beauty.




Congratulations!


Now presenting Mr. & Mrs. Lako - that takes a little getting used to, doesn't it ??!!!

Reception at the Oasis - at Mercy Ships

Steef & Genae make their appearance. The party is on...

The bridal party. I must say, the food was delicious. Great job Shirley!!

The first dance. How sweet. A little nervous at first, but at the sound of the '80s music, all was well.

Genae did all of the flower arrangements herself. I helped out. Fun fun. A cold room, lots of flowers, 300 limes, lots of creativity. And a beautiful outcome.

And then there was dancing...the children loved it. As did many of the grownups!

The cutting of the cake. The most exciting part was when Steef smother Genae with the cake of course : ) He's always up to something...

The siblings...

And off they go. Actually, they didn't quite leave for good. They showed up again at the brunch the next morning - more about that later- before heading off to Mexico.

I hope the photos do it justice. It truely was an amazing wedding!!!

Wedding...rehearsal dinner...

A post about the wedding. Finally. Well almost. Let me back track a little. I arrived a week prior to the wedding. Freetown-Brussels-Newark-Dallas. I was pretty happy to see Steef and Genae at DFW airport. And believe it or not I still had the energy to stop at the mall and go out for dinner. There’s nothing like being with family. I was happy to be able to stay at Genae’s parents’ house, with Genae & family. It was great! And it meant I was right there where everything was happening. Shopping, lists, lots of coffee, rain, more shopping, grandma ironing, getting ready on the day itself etc. Quite fun to say the least. And a privilege. That week was packed: wedding shower, dinner with bridal party, bachelorette party, 2 days of preparations (helping Genae with flower arrangements since she did all of the flowers herself!!!), rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony, reception/party, brunch the morning after.

To sum it up in one word: AMAZING

Really, not much more needs to be said. The pictures will say enough. Here are a few of the rehearsal dinner- a pool party. Friends. Family. Food. Fun. American flag. Dutch flag. Pool. Barbeque. Desserts. Catching up. Memories made.

Colorado trip...

After the wedding I decided to take a couple of days to visit a church that’s been supporting me for the past two years. I had never been to the church before and thought it was high time to pay them a visit! So, off I went, to the airport and before I knew it the plane landed at Denver airport where I was greeted by an old family friend and his daughter. It was great to see them again. They live about 30 min from Denver in a place called Parker.

I spent July 12 – 16th in Parker, Colorado and absolutely loved it. The house I was staying at was lovely and the family I stayed with is great (you know who you are!). There was a good balance between work and fun. We started with a business lunch- how bad can that be ??? : ) Then we went to the church. It’s a church of 4000 people; I knew it’d be big, but I was still a bit overwhelmed. It is amazingly big, well organized, etc. It was great to be able to meet people that I had been receiving emails from etc over the past two years. The next day we had a breakfast meeting, discussing possibilities of church involvement in the Sierra Leone project. And after that it was time for some relaxation- I was treated to a couple of fun things at a local spa. Very nice!

On Saturday we went hiking in a place called Evergreen. It was absolutely beautiful. The mountains were picturesque and even though my fellow hikers said there wasn’t much snow on the mountain tops, it looked like plenty to me : ) I guess you can tell which one of us lives in Africa! While there, I also went to Denver for an evening. We actually went to an improv comedy night which was hilarious. Great fun!

The work related part of the trip involved speaking in the children’s services. There are about 400 children that go to the three different services; one on Sat evening, and two on Sun morning. It was pretty high tech and I had to show up ahead of time to get wired up with a microphone etc. After my presentation I also had to ‘run down’ to the adult service to make an appearance there when they introduced me. I spoke at all three children’s services; showing a power point presentation with lots of pictures of the house, the clinic, my church, and cultural stuff (doing laundry in the river, carrying water, carrying baskets of fruit on your head etc.) I think they enjoyed it.

Of course there was time for questions & answers afterwards. There were many questions about reptiles in particular (are there snakes, have you seen a snake, how big are the lizards etc). And then some very thoughtful questions such as: what do the people there wear, what do they eat, do you have a television, why did you go to Africa. And then the random questions: are your mom and dad black or white. It was fun to be able to share with the children about Sierra Leone. Their theme for the month was Contentment: being happy with what you have. So that fit in really well, when showing them the cultural differences. Hopefully some missions seeds were planted.

To sum up my trip to Colorado...AMAZING and I’ll be back.

PS: my brother and sister-in-law are moving to Colorado which gives me even more incentive!