Kimbima Hotel Freetown

... with Egyptians, to dinner with Lebanese, the beach with British educated Sierra Leonians, River No. 2 with Canadians and pool swimming at the "5 star" hotel with an American. It's no work at all! We just have to walk outside the hotel and we get free rides, meals, drinks, bracelets, etc. I really never thought I'd be so popular. The clubs, bars and restaurants we've hit up have been awesome. We've spent several nights at Paddy's which is the same bar from ...

... and that's why i ran just a little bit faster, just in case. the beach and the roadside were hoppin'. if you were a pedestrian on the road that WASN'T running, you were performing the incredible feat of carrying something on your head. you name it, someone here can balance it on their head. it's amazing. it's like everything below the neck can be doing whatever, while the neck and head are just easy-cheesy floating on the river like a bobber. i can ...

... at first hand the crime in SL as some guy tried to steal my camera just outside the main mosque. I was walking back from the FOWED office taking some photos along the way to the hotel and had noticed someone following me for sometime. Eventually the temptation proved too much and he tried to grab the camera off of my shoulder. Fortunately, I was expecting this and after receiving an elbow in the ribs he realised the error of his ways. Fortunately for ...

... to Conakry (9 hours); - the excessively claustrophobic Conakry to Freetown (11 hours); - the painfully early (but refreshingly spacious) Freetown to Kenema   (9 hours); - the frustratingly slow 55 miles from Bo to Tiwai Island (9 hours -   yes 9 hours for 55 miles) incorporating a hilarious (in our delirium)   motorcycle breakdown 3 miles short of our destination; - and most recently, the bum-numbing (honestly) boat and mini-bus   journey ...

... storm, we eventually boarded and, after a 30 minute flight across the bay we arrived in Freetown. After an hour or so of waiting around for the baggage (there seem to be a lot of waiting in Africa) we set off in the VSO minibus and over the next couple of hours everyone was dropped off people off at their lodgings around town - of course we were the last to be dropped of at around 2.30 am. A long day! There is rarely any electricity in Freetown so we saw ...

... wing and a prayer. We have pleaded with the rental company for a reliable vehicle when we travel for the next 3 days up-country into various remote villages to visit other amputee resettlements. We shall see........... Back to Mercy Ships. The director was out of town but one of the resident surgeons who has trained other physicians in this highly specialized fistula surgery agreed to meet with us and give us a tour of their facility. The women they treat have become ...

... Lynn's (African name of Lizzie) cogs were racing. All of a sudden it became clear that all the pieces to the puzzle could come together with Children of the Nation. By this we mean that we are interested in making sure that all amputee children and the children of the amputees are given the opportunity to attend school. We learned from the director that the founders of Children of the Nations were instituting a new policy regarding children with ...

... The highlight of the day however, was assembling the amputee soccer team near the beach for us to observe their routine work-out and practice scrimage. We met the players whose photos appeared in Sports Illustrated, that sparked our entire involvement in this project. The event started with a prayer by the team pastor, followed by the presentation of T-shirts from Concordia University (who will be helping us to ...

Como anda gente linda? Como están todos? Bueno, yo que les puedo decir? De mi vida acá... Pues bien, me levanto a las 7 AM todos los días y comienzo a trabajar a las 8. A veces tengo laburo de oficina, pero la mayoría de las veces, salgo en el auto a recorrer las aldeas. Pocas he encontrado. A veces una aldea es una choza, y a veces ni terminada. Aun peor, desocupada ...

... and poor countries. These guys sign up for 2 years then go to their allocated remote village and get given a hut to sit in. Three or so hours a week they spend teaching something in the local school. All seems strange to me and aft** speaking to them I got mixed reactions regarding their exp**iences. Ev**y morning, tummies rumbling we headed down close to the port towards a minor taxi stand, in front of a concrete block church with a steel gate p**forated by a bullet hole ...