We had the privilege of touring two campuses of Njala University. Emmanuel is a first year student at the main campus.
Kadiatu is a second year student at the campus for medical professions. She is working on her Registered Nurse higher diploma.
One of her lecturers, Mary Mbayoh invited us to lunch. She lives on campus in the lecturer’s quarters with her family. Mary is also a member of Kadiatu’s church. We had a nice lunch and then toured the campus.
Our daughter, Alyssa, has sent gifts for us to deliver to a young man, named Samuel. Samuel is the son of her friend Lamarana, who she met on Mercy Ships ten years ago. Lamarana now works on Mercy Ships full time. During the Covid shutdown, she started an orphanage in Bo. Her two sons live there along with eight other children.
The home was beautiful, clean and the children happy and attending school. So nice to be there. We gave Samuel his gifts and talked to the children awhile.
We asked them what they would like to do with their education. There were two bank managers, two presidents, a nurse, a lawyer. As a thank you gift, they had the boys go catch a chicken and we brought it home live. it was killed and cooked for us the next day.
Before we visit the hospital and the orphanage we want to share a few photos of daily life here at the compound.
Kadiatu takes us on an interesting tour of the government hospital where she has worked as a volunteer nurse for over five years waiting to get her government pin code so she can be paid.
We are now back in Freetown and we have WiFi and running water, electricity and AC! I want to reflect on our last day in Bo today, since it is fresh in my mind. Then I will cover other highlights of the week in future posts
It is a special day at Agape Free Pentecostal Church. It is their annual fundraising program. They are raising money to tile the floor and finish the ceiling. The members are divided into two teams and have a fun competition. The entire service was about four hours and they had fun! They love to sing! Tim and I were somewhat clueless during the event since it was mostly conducted in Krio.
After service photos
We took the family to dinner after the service to thank them for all the work they did for us. It takes everyone to make the household work, cooking, cleaning, hauling water, washing dishes…all by hand! They never let us work at all. Even Massah did dishes and served us well.
On the ride home, Massah who is sitting between us is tearful. When we get home she comes to me and begins to sob on my shoulder for awhile. Then she goes to Tim and hugs him. She is breaking our hearts!!
The next morning we see Massah off to school with smiles again.
Monday begins with a walk to visit Massah’s primary school. Her teacher greets us and the children in unison give us a greeting. The teacher proceeds to bring us to every class, including the kindergarten. The children were quite shy, but a few asked some good questions, What is the weather in America? What time is it where you live?
Most of the people in Bo are Mende. They have there own language. The first two years of school the teaching is in Mende or Krio. They learn English little by little (or “small, small” in Krio.)
In the afternoon we have a visit from Timothy, who was a friend and roommate of Simeon. We had a nice visit. He is writing his dissertation and will graduate early next year.
Emmanuel starts his first day of university today. His major is Social Work as he wants to learn how to help his people here in Sierra Leone. On Thursday he gives us a tour of Njala University. It is a large campus. We are introduced to the head of the department and we are welcomed to explore the campus. Emmanuel is quite pleased that he has been appointed class prefect for the four years. It is a position of leadership and responsibility.
Our food for breakfast was a scramble of plantains, onions, seasoning and eggs. They place it on bread and eat as a sandwich. For lunch we have fufu (fermented cassava) served with a spicy soup with chicken, fish and goat meat.
Our warmest greetings to everyone on this beautiful thanksgiving day! We are so blesssed and have many things to be thankful for. Experiencing Africa has emphasized that relationships are the most important of all those blessings. In America we think of the closeness of family. Here in Sierra Leone those relationships extend to neighbors, extended family, and friends. Sharing comes second nature to them.
With that said, I want you to know how much we appreciate each of you following our journey. Your prayers for us, your interest, and mostly we are thankful for our relationship with each of you!
On this African Thanksgiving we will eat a chicken that was given to us by an orphanage we visited a day or two ago. More to that story in a future post.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim that He has redeemed them from the hand of the foe and has gathered them from the lands — from the east and the west, from the north and the south.” Psalm 107:1-3
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I have enjoyed observing the ongoing construction in Sierra Leone. We have seen so many buildings started but not finished for an extended time. After several discussions I realized why. Many people build whatever they can till the money is gone. It seems they don’t do much borrowing since many don’t have much or any income. The most common method of building is a concrete pad with block walls. A wood framed roof covered with metal tops it off. Scaffolding is a bunch of skinny hardwood sticks tied together, multiple stories high in some cases.
I’ve looked in at several woodworking shops and most of the furniture is made using hand tools. A lot of the wood seems to be a variety of teak. There is some plywood material used. Much, if not all of the hardware I have seen is reclaimed or hand made. It seems nails are often used rather than screws. The end result is rustic and creative.
OSHA in the United States would be very overwhelmed! No safety guards, spraying paint with no controls, no breathing protection. The wood shop that Brian and I share is so much easier and safer to use. We are so spoiled! The art of hand craftsmanship thrives in Sierra Leone!
First, we apologize for our lack of posts the last week. We left out nice hotel with excellent Wifi and into the provinces where cell service is not strong. We ventured to an Internet cafe (remember those?) in order to update our blog. So you are getting many at once.
We attend Agape Free Evangelical Church with Emmanuel, Kadiatu and family. We and Emmanuel and the girls take the car with the driver Emmanuel has arranged. The rest of the family take motorbike taxis. (These motorbike taxis are the main transportation for people here. )
Pastor Thomas greets us and asks us to give a greeting. The service is over two hours long. There is a lot of very loud and lively worship songs. Tim is asked to close the service in prayer.
Following church we return home for rice and cassava leaf with goat meat. We exchange some gifts. One special gift is a vase the granddaughter, Jordan, made in pottery class.
Little Kathy finally warms up to me. 🥰
In the evening we go to visit Kadiatu’s mother. She is raising at least six grandchildren in her small home. The grandmas here are amazing!
I don’t know how to adequately describe the heart of these precious people. To live with an attitude of unselfish grace, humility, compassion, and resilience in an environment of poverty, fear of theft, limited electric and often no running water is truly an inspiration. That is a big sentence! At the foundation of this attitude is faith. We’ve observed it in their actions and talked about this faith with them. It seems like faith holds them secure when hope seems unreachable. —- Maybe an example is easier. One of our African families noticed a young women always standing around near their home. He discovered she had traveled a long way to take school entrance exams. She was alone and without a home. After a family discussion it was agreed to take her in. They have very little themselves but feared for her safety trusting that God would provide. This foundation of faith seems common in their families.
Tim & Kathy Simonsen