Adventurous boat ride...

Life in general is busy. But good. Work is busy. And evenings have been filled with watching the tv series 'Alias'! It's been quite a week :)

I have to tell you about my exciting Saturday last week. I was invited to join a group of Rotarians (visiting us at the center), on a boat ride to Banana island. Well, it was quite an adventure. Let's start at the beginning...

It was clean up Saturday- all of Freetown was expected to be out on the streets cleaning. So we couldn't go anywhere until after noon time. So we were off to a late start. Once we got on the boat we were ready to go. However, it was hard to actually get anywhere as the engines kept cutting off on the way out...dirty petrol was the reason! Anyway, we finally did make it. Then on arrival I felt like we were invading as we arrived in a remote village and were shown around, introduced to the chief etc. Then we went to a little beach to meet up with the rest of our group (they were on another speed boat). We got there and they were no where to be seen! We got out of the boat and on to the beach just before the ways got too high. As the boat went back out further we realized we left our lunch on the boat...by now it was 5pm anyway. We decided to go for a swim...well, the first person that went swimming was stung by jellyfish...needless to say, I didn't go swimming. :) By this time the other part of our group had arrived, but they had gotten very wet in their boat and were not happy. So we decided it was time to head back. Of course, we had to swim back to the boat. One person fell off of the boat just as he got back in...quite a back flip! Then while we were sailing back one of the seats on the back broke...so we had to fix that. And to top it all off- we ran out of fuel about 20 min before reaching the marina!!! So our skipper had someone drive to a nearby beach with fuel. We managed to make it there with the boat to meet the guy. He then had to strip down to his underwear and swim out to the boat with the 5 gallons of fuel. Then on our way around the cape...5 minutes from our destination...we almost had a huge wave accompany us in the boat!

It was quite an adventure. To be honest I'd do it again tomorrow. It was great to have a different experience. It gets a little old doing the same thing every weekend for a whole year! Because of all that went wrong, the skipper said he'd take us out on his boat again. I'm looking forward to it already :)

Written in 1993...

At the end of the Anastasis outreach in 1992-93 I wrote the following for our ICS yearbook. The end of if- about the children with measles- is what encouraged me to go to Med School.

"As I reflect back on my time in Sierra Leone, West Africa where a lot of the school year took place, I am reminded of all of the things that took place during the five month stay. The time that was spent in Sierra Leone was long but also very rewarding.

I remember walking throught the streets listening to the sounds of childrens' voices saying, "One love, one love."

I remember strolling along the sandy beaches, watching the sun slip over the horizon.

I remember the hot days spent in the classrooms, with the 'rusty old' fans oscillating.

I remember the youth group's trip to the beach: playing tug-o-war, banana football, and having wheelbarrow and three-legged races.

I remember the high school promthat took place at the Atlantic Club, situated right by the beach and surrounded by palm trees.

Most of these experiences were fun, interesting adn exciting, But my milestone was set out at a village called Macumba, during my week of outreach.

I remember sitting down under the little palm-branch covered hut among the sick children adn their hopeful moms. The sight of those children tugged at my heart. Holding a hopeless and suffering, measle inflicted child in my arms, after watching two other kids die from the same thing, made me realize how fortunate I really am. I also know that with God's strength I have something great that I can give to the dying children in the world today."

The Masai Mara...

Here are some pics of the safari in the Masai Mara. We stayed in a tented camp- the tent being located next to a river. We did a number of drives into the game reserve and it was amazing to see God's creation! The cheetah actually got up, walked towards our car, and laid down in the shade of our car...we were looking down at the cheetah from our car!

Lake Nakuru...

During the Kenya conference we were able to go to Lake Nakuru on Sunday. It's an amazing lake with many flamingos and a game reserve with a variety of other animals. It was a unique experience! (you can click on the pictures for a better view!)

A bit more about Kenya...

A little more about the conference, since some of you are wondering what I really did in Kenya! A lot of people are surprise to hear it was a christian conference- so, just so you know, it was put on by the Christian Medical and Dental Association.

Small group was at 630 each morning! Early, I know, and it was cold too! After small group we had breakfast and a worship/teaching session. The focus was on Exodus- a desert experience. We talked about many difference aspects- what is a calling, what is true worship, etc. It was very encouraging.

From about 9am till 5pm we had ‘classes’, with a lunch break. I could choose different topics- there were 4 streams: a medical, surgical, community health and dental stream. I mainly chose the medical topics. I went to things like: rashes in children, common pediatric infections, severe pneumonia, typhoid, neonatal resuscitation, tropical dermatology cases, tuberculosis in children, malaria symposium, anemia, HIV treatment basics, study design, tropical medicine cases, spirituality in clinical settings, fever in tropics etc. There were a wide range of topics, and I could usually find something that would be beneficial to my work in the clinic. The dermatology lectures were very good, as were the tropical medicine cases.

I had free time from 5-6pm. After that I had my PALS course during dinner, and then we had one more lecture and a time of intercession. It was great to hear people share from their country and to pray together for people working in so many different countries- in Africa and the Middle East.

So, as you can see we had a busy schedule!

Conference snaps...

Brackenhurst conference center.....the dorm...


gorgeous tea fields....Ellen (MD), Connie (RN), Emily (RN) from Uganda

Back...and going again...

The Safari in the Masai Mara was incredible. We saw almost every animal imaginable in the game reserve except for a leopard. It was great. I hope to post some pictures soon! We stayed in a tented camp and we were lucky enough to hear a hippo grazing outside our tent at night! It was quite an experience. The trip back to Freetown via London was long but fine. It was fun to come back to the clinic and see my colleagues again. However, my stay here is short. Early tomorrow morning I’m leaving with my parents to go to Lungi airport. We’ll have to wait there some time since our flight to Liberia with the World Food Program isn’t till later in the afternoon. I’m sure we’ll manage to keep busy. I am really looking forward to going to the Anastasis! It’s been awhile since I’ve been onboard. I think it will be a very special, although difficult time, since it is the ship’s last outreach. I’m sure a lot of memories will re-surface!

Alright, more another time!

Conference ended...

Kenya has been great! I can summarize and say I learned a lot- spiritually and medically. I was also able to take a Basic Life Support Course and a Pediatric Advanced Life Support Course. That meant that most of my free time (which there wasn't much of anyway) was spent studying and attending the courses. It was worth it though. When I return to Freetown, I will give you some more details on how I spent my time here.

The conference ended today so the place is emptying out as people are catching flights back to various places. Apparently there were 300 people here, working in 35 different countries! I think I was the youngest physician actually. There were people here with lots of tropical experience and also a very good faculty from all over the USA. Needless to say, I have met some amazing people!

Okay, I'm off to bed. I am heading for a safari - the Massai Marra - at 730am tomorrow!