Month One in Sierra Leone

Let me take a moment and reflect on the happenings of my first month in Sierra Leone...

• January 3rd I arrived. It’s not hard enough to just land and find your baggage in the midst of hundreds of people, but then having to get on a water taxi to get to the mainland. The adventure had only just begun...
• Was welcomed into an amazing group of people.
• Visited some of the most beautiful beaches around!
• Ate some of the greatest seafood!
• Was crammed and pushed and folded into poda podas and taxis.
• Sat in traffic...
• Sat in traffic...
• Sat in traffic...
• Met some amazing women with fistulas.
• Cried in front of my boss.
• Laughed.
• Stressed.
• Prayed.
• Sent away women in tears knowing where I was sending them was not where they wanted to go but knew there were no other options.
• Led my first staff meeting.
• Wanted a dog.
• Taught my first lecture on hyponatremia.
• Ate African food for lunch five days a week.
• Shook my tumba.
• Danced, and not just at gladi gladi.
• Watched season 1 of Bones.
• Got a job title.
• Questioned what I am doing here.
• Questioned why I ever questioned what I am doing here.
• Saw patients wet.
• Saw patients dry.
• Saw patients somewhere in between.
• Learned about #2 and #3 plugs.
• Slept under a mosquito net every night.
• Woke up at 0230 covered in mosquito bites.
• Breathed.
• Forgot to take my doxi for three days.
• Went to my first management meeting.
• E-mailed the girl in this job before me with tons of questions.
• Made some great friends.
• Took a shower for longer than two minutes in Africa.
• Ate haggis...twice.
• Learned to play carcassonne.
• Saw one monkey.
• Made my first roster.
• Fixed my first roster.
• Still fixing my first roster.
• Witnessed pure joy.
• Witnessed pure heartbrokenness.
• Ate my first lobster.
• Was woken up at 5am to be told there were no more diapers.
• Learning more and more what it really means to trust God.
• Walked into the ward and saw a patient standing directly in front of a large fan holding her shirt above her head.
• Watched an ultrasound.
• Saw brand new babies.
• Bonded with a nurse over scrubbing cabinets.
• Sweat.
• Got filthy from just siting in a car.
• Reunited with friends I had met on a ship last year.
• Joined two Bible studies.
• I think I may have quit one Bible study.
• Sat and talked with patients without using words.
• Heard awful screaming from the labor ward.
• Floated down a river into the ocean.
• Learned very small small krio.

And tomorrow I may be on the radio.