We traveled to Tikonko Chiefdom, first to meet with RHCI at the mother's waiting center, and then traveled on a bit further to see the deep bore water well project sponsored by Bethel UMC through Mercy Outreach. Mbao-mi Mothers’ Home is a safe place for women in the villages of Tikonko who are expecting to give birth to wait out the last weeks, rather than trying to reach a birth centre once they are in labor.
HCW has been brokering collaborations between Mercy and RHCI for about a year, and this meeting was the first of what is hoped will be many new collaborative health initiatives between the two provider organizations, including nutrition, maternal health, and prenatal care.
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Tuesday started with devotions at the Child Rescue Centre, followed by a joint meeting of leadership to solve campus wide infrastructure issues, and a trip to the District Health Office to speak with the DMO. I was reminded that the bugaboos of program administration, organizational management are universal and life is a process of constant negotiation.
The afternoon, however, brought more uplifting silo-busting collaborations, as we met with the Drs. Kabba, two German trained doctors working at Gilas Children's Hospital, to discuss ways that Gila and Mercy medical teams could work together to serve patients, several immediate decisions resulted in improved care outcomes for patients that very day, and two improvements to the electronic medical records system that Mercy Hospital is piloting. This system is the only one of its kind in the country, and it will go on line at Mercy in 30 to 60 days, transforming care there, and demonstrating a attainable higher standard for care management in Sierra Leone. For a nerd like me, this is dream to see it launch. Hats off to the incredible team who had the vision and talent to develop this system. I'm really starting to sense a trend in this mission trip. Sustainable Development Goal No. 17. Look it up! Monday began with Kim Nabieu sharing our revised agenda for the week. I realized that our time will be full of meetings with organizations that the team at HCW has been working for a year to bring together, and how lucky I was to be on the ground to witness all these huge steps forward. Next - morning devotions in the new Mercy Hospital waiting room and then a tour of the new surgical wing, the new HIV clinic, the new consultation area, improved pharmacy, refurbished patient wards, the new maternity labor and delivery ward, complete with indoor toilets, and so much more!
After that, a whirlwind round of meetings to discuss administrative matters associated with the opening of the OR, the upcoming partners meeting, the Sierra Leone Methodist Church Annual Conference and improvements to the energy and internet infrastructure on the campus. We attended joint meetings with leadership from Mercy, CRC and MTC, and the District Supervisor, Rev. F. Charley in his Bo office. Kim Nabieu and I were particularly blessed when Christians in Actions International Ministry, our contractors in the deep well project in Tikonko, arrived at Mercy Hospital, and we joined Hospital Administrator Jinnah Lahai, and Mercy Hospital Outreach Coordinator Mohamed Kadeh to discuss the next clean water project. We had a deeper conversation on the village mapping that had identified sanitation and clean water needs for almost every village in the catchment area. It was great to have Elmer and Tommy in the room with us as Mohamed discussed the particular health problems Mercy Outreach has identified in each village they serve and are tracking. Many are associated with sanitation issues in the lower resource communities. The importance of the work Helping Children Worldwide does to promote key collaborations was driven home for the second time that day as we all participated in the prioritization of long term goals and problem solving discussions. Visiting the sandbar with FudiaSunday morning at Leader Memorial United Methodist Church was the usual uplifting experience of lots of singing, dancing and celebration of the world that the Lord has provided to us, including our marvelous challenges and opportunities to demonstrate compassion and generosity for one another. A special treat was a evening visit with the MTC Caretaker, Fudia Ernest. We talked about the upcoming publication of her cookbook to benefit the MTC, and her vision for the future of the Missionary Training Centre. Then, Fudia and I drove out to the river to look at the progress of the new bridge that is being built there, and the new road that connects to it, and to watch the laborers dredging sand from the sandbar and carrying it in hand dug canoes. From there, other workers would load it into buckets and bags and carry the sand to the road, where they dumped it into a larger pile, which was loaded by trucks. The sand is then sold for building materials. By this, entire families were working to make a living, including old men, children and women with babies in slings on their backs. I would guess by the size of the piles, they had probably been working since the day began. In the course of an evening stroll, we marveled at these symbols of how far Sierra Leone has come in rebuilding its infrastructure, the promises and opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for those engaged in the work we support. I am so proud to be here with these amazingly courageous, hard working, smart, resilient and creative people building sustainable futures for the next generation. Travel merciesHappy 2019, Team HCW! I cannot believe I left the US a week ago. After 36 hours of air travel, and a chilly night in the Amsterdam Airport, the Nabieu's and I arrived in Freetown, where we were greeted by our good friend, Joseph, the MTC driver. I know our missioner's are well aware what a wonderful sight it is to see his face and know we are welcomed back to Salone. We arrived at Lungi Airport with layette kits for new mothers, back packs for students and all four computers needed to finish installing the Mercy electronic records system.
Have you heard of street cleaning day? I had not until last Friday night, when I learned that we would have to stay off the road until noon the next day. It's the law in Sierra Leone. It was a great excuse for a leisurely breakfast with additional time available for adjusting to the time zone. Mohamed had meetings in Freetown, so Kim and I finally hit the road to Bo, where we were greeted again by more friends at the MTC, Fudia, Rosaline and Jinnah and dinner was already on the table for me. It felt like coming home. |
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