March 6th
Last night was not a good night for sleep. It was
miserably hot and even with a fan I just couldn’t
get comfortable enough to go to sleep until
somewhere around 1:30. I finally made it to sleep
only to be woken up at a little after 2:30 by a
thunderous rainstorm. It’s not supposed to be
raining, it’s dry season, but I guess the weather
wasn’t quite aware of that fact. It helped cool off
the air considerably but it was raining so hard and
was so loud that I couldn’t sleep anyway, it took
me almost another hour to get to sleep. We went
to Katherie church this morning. It was the first
service for the churches new pastor that I attended.
I believe he began last week but we were at the
mother church and so we missed his first
appearance there as pastor. It wasn’t terribly
different than any other service I’ve been to,
though his sermon wasn’t so much a lecture on a
topic using a selected passage as a repeated
re-iteration of lines from the text over and over.
(I couldn’t think of more ways to coherently
include any other references to the repetitive
nature of the sermon in that last sentence, but be
assured, I tried). Anyway, it wasn’t the most
enlightening of sermons, though the intention was
there and that made it somewhat better for all its’
incidental shallowness. I have to say, I would give
quite a bit for a nice calm quiet reserved traditional
worship service, I’m about sick of all of the (what I
feel anyway) excessive noise. After church I walked
over to Kamakwie 2, then back to Kamakwie 1
where I had to stop in the market to pick up some
fabric for Karen that was “African” which meant it
needed to have images that evoked African settings.
I managed to find two types of fabric. I did go out
for a walk this afternoon after it had gotten to be
late afternoon and the sun was on its’ way down.
I was going to go map out the abandoned
president’s house (which is now used as the Muslim
junior secondary school). I think I’ve told you about
it in the past, but it was going to be the pre-civil war
president’s retreat, but it never got finished due to
the war. It would look spectacular if it were finished
I think and I wanted to draw it (to measurement)
cause I think it would be fun. However, as I
approached the school I saw some kids were
congregating for an evening class so I scrapped that
idea and decided to just continue walking, I’ll have
to go back next Saturday probably, it will be my only
available time. Anyway, that’s about all for my
Sunday.
“Every day is that special day you’ve been waiting
for. Seize it!”
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Sunday, March 13, 2011
March 5th
It was 112 degrees today, and it felt like it too. It
was a miserably hot day and it was hard to feel
like doing much of anything. I did make a massive
batch of bread, six loaves, for Karen. She has been
on a real kick to have home baked bread lately,
which is ok by me because I love making bread
almost as much as I love eating it. Not too long
after I had finished making the bread Saidu and
Foday stopped by and wanted me to go with
them to the games but it was too hot to go out
in the sun and I had already gone yesterday and
Abu told me most of the events would be
repeated today. Also, I didn’t want to be there
when they concluded because I was told that
the games had led to fighting and general
disorder on the part of the losing house since
only the fourth place house won nothing, the
other three houses got money I guess was
supposed to go to the house masters to pay for
food for a celebration, I could never get a clear
answer so I refused to give anything to it. I have
a sinking suspicion that most of the money that
goes to the house masters stays there, based on
the other things I’ve seen here. Now, I may be
mistaken, and I would be glad to be mistaken,
but I couldn’t be certain and I didn’t want to see
money that I might use to help go there. Anyway,
this afternoon was not the most productive
afternoon. I laid down to rest for a little bit, and
managed to sleep for around three hours instead.
Unintentional but it occurred nonetheless and so
I didn’t do a whole lot. With Solomon gone and
the 6 girls pretty much sequestering themselves
over in their house I don’t have a whole lot to do
at night so it was a relatively short day.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ”
-Philippians 1:2
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brook
It was 112 degrees today, and it felt like it too. It
was a miserably hot day and it was hard to feel
like doing much of anything. I did make a massive
batch of bread, six loaves, for Karen. She has been
on a real kick to have home baked bread lately,
which is ok by me because I love making bread
almost as much as I love eating it. Not too long
after I had finished making the bread Saidu and
Foday stopped by and wanted me to go with
them to the games but it was too hot to go out
in the sun and I had already gone yesterday and
Abu told me most of the events would be
repeated today. Also, I didn’t want to be there
when they concluded because I was told that
the games had led to fighting and general
disorder on the part of the losing house since
only the fourth place house won nothing, the
other three houses got money I guess was
supposed to go to the house masters to pay for
food for a celebration, I could never get a clear
answer so I refused to give anything to it. I have
a sinking suspicion that most of the money that
goes to the house masters stays there, based on
the other things I’ve seen here. Now, I may be
mistaken, and I would be glad to be mistaken,
but I couldn’t be certain and I didn’t want to see
money that I might use to help go there. Anyway,
this afternoon was not the most productive
afternoon. I laid down to rest for a little bit, and
managed to sleep for around three hours instead.
Unintentional but it occurred nonetheless and so
I didn’t do a whole lot. With Solomon gone and
the 6 girls pretty much sequestering themselves
over in their house I don’t have a whole lot to do
at night so it was a relatively short day.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ”
-Philippians 1:2
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brook
February 21st – March 4th
Wow, I’ve really gotten behind. As I write this it is March 4th. These last two weeks were long weeks largely in part due to the lack of classes to teach
due to the sporting events that take place on the 4th and the 5th (today and tomorrow). It wasn’t a bad week, just slower. We had three German
engineers come in on Monday. They are Johannes, Sebastian and Jacob. They’ve come to work on the SVoc center, the Sella Vocational center. They are
installing solar panels into the center in order to supply power for an internet café. Things are moving at a pretty fast rate here in Kamakwie all
things considered. The hospital is constantly trying to grow and improve, the town always has something new going on and now the town vocational center has undergone a big upgrade. They installed 20 solar panels on the roof and huge
batteries to store their power. They have also come to teach classes on electricity and computers (very basic ones of course) and they are meeting
with much of the same frustrations I have. Lack of knowledge in general added to poor problem solving and critical thinking skills as well as abysmal
math skills just to name a few of their biggest frustrations. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard enough of those complaints from me that you don’t want
to hear more of them from their perspective. I got to observe another C-section, but that’s not really new news either. As for teaching, like I said I haven’t
had a whole lot in that department. I spent so much time ranting to other people about my unhappiness with the situation that I forgot to write it here.
Monday last week they decided that they were going to cancel school for two weeks so that the students could practice for the upcoming games, which made
me very unhappy to say the least, so I decided I was going to try and arrange some classes myself with my students. That didn’t go terribly well. I arranged
for my SS 3s to meet with me on Tuesday, one came. Then I made arrangements for my SS 1s to meet with me on Wednesday, 4 out of 30 kids turned up so I just did a review with them. I thought about teaching them but I knew that I would end
up just having to re-explain everything again, and decided a review would be most beneficial to the few who came. Thursday was supposed to be my
SS 2s, but 3 of 23 showed up for that. Friday I had class with my SS 3s again, one showed, a different one but only one nonetheless. This week I tried to
have class with the SS 2s on Monday and no one came, so I gave up on them for this week and just focused on the SS 3s, who need it more anyway. I managed to get 4 to come around this time. We worked on some problems of the type they will
have to face on the WASSCE. This past Saturday the engineers, the med students and I went to the game park. They wanted to go and Tom wasn’t feeling up to it so I escorted them and made sure they got where they were supposed to be and all
that jazz. It was ok, I waited around for two hours by myself while they were out on the river to see the hippos. I explored a little bit and sat playing
solitaire for a little while, nothing too exciting. After they returned we had lunch. While we were eating we decided to go on the elephant safari
they have. You have to cross the river and then you walk around the countryside and finally going up on a hilltop. We were not fortunate enough to see elephants however, but the countryside was quite beautiful (if dried and shriveled). I don’t
know if I’ve mentioned it lately but it hasn’t rained since mid-December, it’s getting quite dry here. The vegetation around here is really hardy though,
it has to be really, because some of the trees and other plants are still going strong and green. I’m hoping we’ll return to school on Monday, I’ve seen
some of my students and made comments about having class on Monday and the responses I’ve gotten haven’t been the most reassuring. I can imagine that even if they do have classes attendance will not be exactly stellar. Karen left this Monday to Freetown for a day to pick up three new medical students, Katy, Courtney and
Aileen. While Karen was gone I did the cooking for lunch and dinner, which I find quite enjoyable. Cooking is a fine leisure activity as far as I’m concerned and I know I don’t cook as much as I would like to even at home, but that will change
if I ever get my own place, we’ll see how that goes, one step at a time. During this time I baked some bread that, everyone loved I might add. I was even
impressed with the result, and those of you who know me very well know that that sometimes I can be very hard on the outcomes of things I do, thinking that I should have done better, and this is especially true when I cook. But in this case I think
I could hardly have done better (minus the small addition of some bugs in the flour, oh the luxury of buying bags of flour at a supermarket). With the addition of these new students that makes 6 medical students here. Sadly, Laura, Emily and Sara
are leaving in 5 days. I still don’t like that about being here, getting to meet all manner of people and just getting to know them only to have them leave. I get attached too easily I know, but knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. Things here are more complicated than I could ever want in my life. I can make it 12 more weeks here but this is not something I could see myself doing long term. I was doing really good after the first two months, then time started flying by almost too fast, but now it’s seemed to slow since I passed month four or so. On top of that the frustrations seem to just build up, people wanting things, wanting you to do things, always placing expectations on us (anyone who has come here to help really).
I’ve been working on getting the Kakamba church project going, they have made 800+ of the 1500 bricks they decided they needed for the church. Hopefully tomorrow they will do some or all of the rest. There has been some political nonsense going
on around this project. It’s a youth project, they came up with it and have done almost all of the legwork involved in getting the foot in the door, starting having church services there even without a church and everything else involved. However,
a particular member of the church leadership has been trying to edge in and take the project out of their hands and getting it into his. He’s got an unfortunate need to receive credit. The Asher’s have received some instruments to be donated
to the Katherie church. However this person has two problems, one there is no drums, and he almost demanded that they get some, which is outrageous considering what they’ve already given. Also, one of the instruments is with someone else because they are the only one who can use it and he pretty much demanded that he be given possession of it. So it’s causing some problems right now but hopefully the
church will handle it. The Asher’s and I have already talked to some other church leadership about it. Unfortunately it’s an attitude that’s not restricted to just a few members of the church, or even people not in the church. The desire to
lay claim to anything and everything they can. Sorry, I’ve gone griping again… I don’t mean to. My frustration level is just a little high with this
whole sports thing. Anyway, things are going ok beyond that I think, I’ve spent these last two weeks playing plumber, electrician, chef, baker, teacher, bike mechanic and probably a few other things as well. There’s always something to do,
never a dull moment.
“We can do no great things, only small things with
great love”
-Mother Teresa
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Wow, I’ve really gotten behind. As I write this it is March 4th. These last two weeks were long weeks largely in part due to the lack of classes to teach
due to the sporting events that take place on the 4th and the 5th (today and tomorrow). It wasn’t a bad week, just slower. We had three German
engineers come in on Monday. They are Johannes, Sebastian and Jacob. They’ve come to work on the SVoc center, the Sella Vocational center. They are
installing solar panels into the center in order to supply power for an internet café. Things are moving at a pretty fast rate here in Kamakwie all
things considered. The hospital is constantly trying to grow and improve, the town always has something new going on and now the town vocational center has undergone a big upgrade. They installed 20 solar panels on the roof and huge
batteries to store their power. They have also come to teach classes on electricity and computers (very basic ones of course) and they are meeting
with much of the same frustrations I have. Lack of knowledge in general added to poor problem solving and critical thinking skills as well as abysmal
math skills just to name a few of their biggest frustrations. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard enough of those complaints from me that you don’t want
to hear more of them from their perspective. I got to observe another C-section, but that’s not really new news either. As for teaching, like I said I haven’t
had a whole lot in that department. I spent so much time ranting to other people about my unhappiness with the situation that I forgot to write it here.
Monday last week they decided that they were going to cancel school for two weeks so that the students could practice for the upcoming games, which made
me very unhappy to say the least, so I decided I was going to try and arrange some classes myself with my students. That didn’t go terribly well. I arranged
for my SS 3s to meet with me on Tuesday, one came. Then I made arrangements for my SS 1s to meet with me on Wednesday, 4 out of 30 kids turned up so I just did a review with them. I thought about teaching them but I knew that I would end
up just having to re-explain everything again, and decided a review would be most beneficial to the few who came. Thursday was supposed to be my
SS 2s, but 3 of 23 showed up for that. Friday I had class with my SS 3s again, one showed, a different one but only one nonetheless. This week I tried to
have class with the SS 2s on Monday and no one came, so I gave up on them for this week and just focused on the SS 3s, who need it more anyway. I managed to get 4 to come around this time. We worked on some problems of the type they will
have to face on the WASSCE. This past Saturday the engineers, the med students and I went to the game park. They wanted to go and Tom wasn’t feeling up to it so I escorted them and made sure they got where they were supposed to be and all
that jazz. It was ok, I waited around for two hours by myself while they were out on the river to see the hippos. I explored a little bit and sat playing
solitaire for a little while, nothing too exciting. After they returned we had lunch. While we were eating we decided to go on the elephant safari
they have. You have to cross the river and then you walk around the countryside and finally going up on a hilltop. We were not fortunate enough to see elephants however, but the countryside was quite beautiful (if dried and shriveled). I don’t
know if I’ve mentioned it lately but it hasn’t rained since mid-December, it’s getting quite dry here. The vegetation around here is really hardy though,
it has to be really, because some of the trees and other plants are still going strong and green. I’m hoping we’ll return to school on Monday, I’ve seen
some of my students and made comments about having class on Monday and the responses I’ve gotten haven’t been the most reassuring. I can imagine that even if they do have classes attendance will not be exactly stellar. Karen left this Monday to Freetown for a day to pick up three new medical students, Katy, Courtney and
Aileen. While Karen was gone I did the cooking for lunch and dinner, which I find quite enjoyable. Cooking is a fine leisure activity as far as I’m concerned and I know I don’t cook as much as I would like to even at home, but that will change
if I ever get my own place, we’ll see how that goes, one step at a time. During this time I baked some bread that, everyone loved I might add. I was even
impressed with the result, and those of you who know me very well know that that sometimes I can be very hard on the outcomes of things I do, thinking that I should have done better, and this is especially true when I cook. But in this case I think
I could hardly have done better (minus the small addition of some bugs in the flour, oh the luxury of buying bags of flour at a supermarket). With the addition of these new students that makes 6 medical students here. Sadly, Laura, Emily and Sara
are leaving in 5 days. I still don’t like that about being here, getting to meet all manner of people and just getting to know them only to have them leave. I get attached too easily I know, but knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. Things here are more complicated than I could ever want in my life. I can make it 12 more weeks here but this is not something I could see myself doing long term. I was doing really good after the first two months, then time started flying by almost too fast, but now it’s seemed to slow since I passed month four or so. On top of that the frustrations seem to just build up, people wanting things, wanting you to do things, always placing expectations on us (anyone who has come here to help really).
I’ve been working on getting the Kakamba church project going, they have made 800+ of the 1500 bricks they decided they needed for the church. Hopefully tomorrow they will do some or all of the rest. There has been some political nonsense going
on around this project. It’s a youth project, they came up with it and have done almost all of the legwork involved in getting the foot in the door, starting having church services there even without a church and everything else involved. However,
a particular member of the church leadership has been trying to edge in and take the project out of their hands and getting it into his. He’s got an unfortunate need to receive credit. The Asher’s have received some instruments to be donated
to the Katherie church. However this person has two problems, one there is no drums, and he almost demanded that they get some, which is outrageous considering what they’ve already given. Also, one of the instruments is with someone else because they are the only one who can use it and he pretty much demanded that he be given possession of it. So it’s causing some problems right now but hopefully the
church will handle it. The Asher’s and I have already talked to some other church leadership about it. Unfortunately it’s an attitude that’s not restricted to just a few members of the church, or even people not in the church. The desire to
lay claim to anything and everything they can. Sorry, I’ve gone griping again… I don’t mean to. My frustration level is just a little high with this
whole sports thing. Anyway, things are going ok beyond that I think, I’ve spent these last two weeks playing plumber, electrician, chef, baker, teacher, bike mechanic and probably a few other things as well. There’s always something to do,
never a dull moment.
“We can do no great things, only small things with
great love”
-Mother Teresa
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Sunday, March 6, 2011
February 19th – 20th
Not the most exciting weekend ever.
We were going to go to the animal park
Saturday but Tom was supposed to drive
and he was too tired so we decided to
postpone it for next weekend. So I spent
most of my time just doing some reading
and some other stuff. On Sunday we drove
to Kagboray (where I’ve gone a couple
times with Solomon) to go to church there.
With the Asher’s, the medical students,
pastor Alfred (the DS) and I there were too
many people for one trip so Tom and I
waited at the house for Karen to take the
other then come back and get us. It’s not
very far, like 7 miles, but it still takes about
25 minutes or so due to road conditions.
The district superintendant was pastor
there and now he’s coming to be a pastor
here at Katherie church and so he invited
us to his last service there. They made us
all sit at the front, which still makes me
uncomfortable and just a little bit annoyed,
I know it’s out of respect and all but I hate
being treated with deference, especially since
they kicked a bunch of kids off the bench to
make room for us. It was a different service
due to the handing over to the new pastor.
After the service they invited us over to eat
at the parsonage. The wife of the new pastor
made the food and it was pretty good. After
we finished, Tom, the med students and I all
headed back and Karen waited there to speak
with pastor Alfred. The rest of the day was
pretty uneventful as a whole, with a lot of
downtime, but with the heat lately it makes it
hard to want to do much. We finished up the
evening with a game night.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Not the most exciting weekend ever.
We were going to go to the animal park
Saturday but Tom was supposed to drive
and he was too tired so we decided to
postpone it for next weekend. So I spent
most of my time just doing some reading
and some other stuff. On Sunday we drove
to Kagboray (where I’ve gone a couple
times with Solomon) to go to church there.
With the Asher’s, the medical students,
pastor Alfred (the DS) and I there were too
many people for one trip so Tom and I
waited at the house for Karen to take the
other then come back and get us. It’s not
very far, like 7 miles, but it still takes about
25 minutes or so due to road conditions.
The district superintendant was pastor
there and now he’s coming to be a pastor
here at Katherie church and so he invited
us to his last service there. They made us
all sit at the front, which still makes me
uncomfortable and just a little bit annoyed,
I know it’s out of respect and all but I hate
being treated with deference, especially since
they kicked a bunch of kids off the bench to
make room for us. It was a different service
due to the handing over to the new pastor.
After the service they invited us over to eat
at the parsonage. The wife of the new pastor
made the food and it was pretty good. After
we finished, Tom, the med students and I all
headed back and Karen waited there to speak
with pastor Alfred. The rest of the day was
pretty uneventful as a whole, with a lot of
downtime, but with the heat lately it makes it
hard to want to do much. We finished up the
evening with a game night.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
February 13th – February 18th
So, I’ve gotten a little behind on my blog so I’m going to do the
best to recall and catch you up on anything interesting. Church
was fine on Sunday, we went to Katherie since Tom and the
medical students had been at the hospital pretty late and it’s the
closest church to the hospital. It doesn’t hurt that it’s my favorite
church. School this past week was ok. I didn’t have school on
Monday on account of there being some holiday. I hope there
aren’t too many of those. It doesn’t help that when there is a
Muslim holiday, no school, a Christian holiday, no school, a public
holiday, no school. On Tuesday I had a discussion on witchcraft
with my SS 3s (I know it’s not biology but then I have a bad habit of
getting off subject). It was an interesting discussion, but in
retrospect I wish it hadn’t taken place. It’s not that I don’t believe
in witchcraft, God wouldn’t say to avoid it if it wasn’t real, but they
ascribe way too many things to witchcraft. They give it too much
power by their readiness to believe it impacts so many things.
They tried to tell me that people who invent revolutionary things
(for example Bill Gates inventing Windows) are, if not witches,
some way the product of witchcraft, as well as a bunch of other
things. Then on Wednesday we (my SS 3s and I) had a discussion
about destiny versus predestination. This time I didn’t let them get
out of learning. I made sure to get all the notes on the board
before class started. I think they know that they can get me off
track with a discussion. I try to stay on task but always get drawn
into it. Classes are going pretty well in all other cases. I have said
before and I will say again, I much prefer teaching the SS 1 and 2
students; they are much more attentive and interested in actually
learning than my 3s. The 3s are more interested in doing things
their own way and having what they want. On Monday we
neutered our cats, Patches and Snowball. We had hoped that it
would calm them down but they seem to be just as annoying. I
spent Wednesday and Thursday morning at the house so I could
oversee the plumbing project so I didn’t get to go down to the
hospital. Then today (Friday) I had no school again due to a public
holiday again. When I made a comment about it to some of my
students, they seemed confused as to why I thought it was
excessive. They told me that it was ONLY two this week. Like two
holidays in one week wasn’t that many. I just shook my head
incredulously. Anyway, that’s about all the news I have from this
week. It was pretty slow for the most part. Anyway, have a great
night all.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
So, I’ve gotten a little behind on my blog so I’m going to do the
best to recall and catch you up on anything interesting. Church
was fine on Sunday, we went to Katherie since Tom and the
medical students had been at the hospital pretty late and it’s the
closest church to the hospital. It doesn’t hurt that it’s my favorite
church. School this past week was ok. I didn’t have school on
Monday on account of there being some holiday. I hope there
aren’t too many of those. It doesn’t help that when there is a
Muslim holiday, no school, a Christian holiday, no school, a public
holiday, no school. On Tuesday I had a discussion on witchcraft
with my SS 3s (I know it’s not biology but then I have a bad habit of
getting off subject). It was an interesting discussion, but in
retrospect I wish it hadn’t taken place. It’s not that I don’t believe
in witchcraft, God wouldn’t say to avoid it if it wasn’t real, but they
ascribe way too many things to witchcraft. They give it too much
power by their readiness to believe it impacts so many things.
They tried to tell me that people who invent revolutionary things
(for example Bill Gates inventing Windows) are, if not witches,
some way the product of witchcraft, as well as a bunch of other
things. Then on Wednesday we (my SS 3s and I) had a discussion
about destiny versus predestination. This time I didn’t let them get
out of learning. I made sure to get all the notes on the board
before class started. I think they know that they can get me off
track with a discussion. I try to stay on task but always get drawn
into it. Classes are going pretty well in all other cases. I have said
before and I will say again, I much prefer teaching the SS 1 and 2
students; they are much more attentive and interested in actually
learning than my 3s. The 3s are more interested in doing things
their own way and having what they want. On Monday we
neutered our cats, Patches and Snowball. We had hoped that it
would calm them down but they seem to be just as annoying. I
spent Wednesday and Thursday morning at the house so I could
oversee the plumbing project so I didn’t get to go down to the
hospital. Then today (Friday) I had no school again due to a public
holiday again. When I made a comment about it to some of my
students, they seemed confused as to why I thought it was
excessive. They told me that it was ONLY two this week. Like two
holidays in one week wasn’t that many. I just shook my head
incredulously. Anyway, that’s about all the news I have from this
week. It was pretty slow for the most part. Anyway, have a great
night all.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
February 11th and 12th
I set out this morning with Steven for Freetown
at about 8am. I’m pretty sure I state this every
time I make a trip to Freetown, but I’m going to
reiterate it anyway, I hate the road from here to
Makeni. It makes me so sick it’s just not fun.
Anyway, that part aside the journey went pretty
well. We made record time getting to Makeni,
only 2.5 hours. The trip to Freetown from there
flew by and we were there by 2pm. Our first
stop was a road called Ecowas, there they have
all sorts of hardware and plumbing stores. I was
trying to find a new bathroom sink for the
plumbing renovation Tom and Karen want to do,
I did not succeed, they wanted one without the
holes drilled for the faucet and they were all
already drilled. So from there we headed to the
supermarket and picked up some groceries.
After that we went to go get some food at a
place called Basha’s Bakery. They serve really
good chicken, along with fried rice. I think if I get
to go again however I’m gonna order a pizza. It’s
been so long since I’ve had a real pizza. Anyway,
from there we proceeded down to the docks
arriving a little after 5. Since the medical student,
Sarah, was even landing till 7:45 I decided to
explore a little bit. Right near the dock is a place
called the “big market” and they have all manner
of things there. Carving, dyed fabrics, traditional
clothes, etc… I just wanted to look but they were
closing. I did manage to get to see a few people’s
shops but even though I told them that I wasn’t
interested in buying anything they still offered to
show me their shops, then just short of
demanded that I buy something, which really
annoyed me but I should have expected that. The
Sierra Leoneans don’t really understand browsing,
they just go, buy, return home. Anyway, after I
toured there I went down to the dock to sit at a
table and read, which I didn’t get to do any of, no
sooner did I sit down then I got mobbed by guys
selling DVDs. I was nice and looked, but got
annoyed when two different guys started fighting
over showing me their DVDs. No sooner than I was
finally done with that did another guy come sit
with me to talk, which was ok, then another guy
joined the table and started begging, which
started a whole “discussion” of begging and some
other things. It was kind of fun to be honest. Anyway,
me and the first guy were trying to persuade the
second guy that begging was a poor way to live and
that he needed to find a job. He didn’t disagree but
I don’t think he agreed, begging doesn’t pay super
well but it is an easy job I guess. Anyway, he used
everything he could think of, from promising Allah
would bless me (…) to he was sick and needed to go
to the hospital (which would have been more
believable if it hadn’t been a resort strategy after
other attempts). I did give him a little because we
had given him a hard time about it. Not in a bad
way, but the first guy was knew him pretty well and
another guy had come along and was teasing him
too. After the second guy finally left I spent some
time getting to know the first guy, whose name was
Jimmy. We talked all the way up to the time that
Sarah arrived, so for about 5 hours or so. Once Sarah
arrived we packed her in and after saying a quick
goodbye to Jimmy we set off for the Compañero. I
gave Jimmy my number and he said he’d call me
once he got a new phone. We got to the Compañero
where Emanuel got us settled in and then we talked
for a little while before Sarah went to bed. He and I
sat for a bit and talked, I was tired but I won’t get to
see Emanuel for a while so I wanted to talk some.
However, before long I had to go to bed because I
was just too tired. I got up at about 7:30; Emanuel
was already up so I talked to him for a while before
Sarah joined us at 8 for breakfast. We chatted with a
guy from the UK (can’t remember his name now)
about healthcare, politics and a few other things, all in
all not the most exciting topics but interesting
nonetheless. Steven showed up at about 9:15, he was a
little late because he said there was an accident on the
way out of Freetown that slowed traffic down. We set
out from there and headed back to Kamakwie. We
stopped for lunch in Makeni, then went to the grocery
store to get some things for Sarah. When we finished I
went to call Steven only to notice that my phone
wasn’t working. So I borrowed a phone from one of the
guys at the store and called him. I offered to pay him
for the phone call but he said I shamed him. I felt bad
and apologized and thanked him for allowing me to call.
We sat outside and waited for Steven to arrive, all the
while the beggars who hang around St. Mary’s
supermarket watched us waiting. Steven arrived after a
little bit and we set out on the final part of our journey
to Kamakwie. We managed to arrive in Kamakwie at
around 3 or so. Once we got Sarah settled in there
wasn’t a whole lot more to do. That trip is exhausting so
I don’t feel like doing anything either, so that’s about all
for now.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
I set out this morning with Steven for Freetown
at about 8am. I’m pretty sure I state this every
time I make a trip to Freetown, but I’m going to
reiterate it anyway, I hate the road from here to
Makeni. It makes me so sick it’s just not fun.
Anyway, that part aside the journey went pretty
well. We made record time getting to Makeni,
only 2.5 hours. The trip to Freetown from there
flew by and we were there by 2pm. Our first
stop was a road called Ecowas, there they have
all sorts of hardware and plumbing stores. I was
trying to find a new bathroom sink for the
plumbing renovation Tom and Karen want to do,
I did not succeed, they wanted one without the
holes drilled for the faucet and they were all
already drilled. So from there we headed to the
supermarket and picked up some groceries.
After that we went to go get some food at a
place called Basha’s Bakery. They serve really
good chicken, along with fried rice. I think if I get
to go again however I’m gonna order a pizza. It’s
been so long since I’ve had a real pizza. Anyway,
from there we proceeded down to the docks
arriving a little after 5. Since the medical student,
Sarah, was even landing till 7:45 I decided to
explore a little bit. Right near the dock is a place
called the “big market” and they have all manner
of things there. Carving, dyed fabrics, traditional
clothes, etc… I just wanted to look but they were
closing. I did manage to get to see a few people’s
shops but even though I told them that I wasn’t
interested in buying anything they still offered to
show me their shops, then just short of
demanded that I buy something, which really
annoyed me but I should have expected that. The
Sierra Leoneans don’t really understand browsing,
they just go, buy, return home. Anyway, after I
toured there I went down to the dock to sit at a
table and read, which I didn’t get to do any of, no
sooner did I sit down then I got mobbed by guys
selling DVDs. I was nice and looked, but got
annoyed when two different guys started fighting
over showing me their DVDs. No sooner than I was
finally done with that did another guy come sit
with me to talk, which was ok, then another guy
joined the table and started begging, which
started a whole “discussion” of begging and some
other things. It was kind of fun to be honest. Anyway,
me and the first guy were trying to persuade the
second guy that begging was a poor way to live and
that he needed to find a job. He didn’t disagree but
I don’t think he agreed, begging doesn’t pay super
well but it is an easy job I guess. Anyway, he used
everything he could think of, from promising Allah
would bless me (…) to he was sick and needed to go
to the hospital (which would have been more
believable if it hadn’t been a resort strategy after
other attempts). I did give him a little because we
had given him a hard time about it. Not in a bad
way, but the first guy was knew him pretty well and
another guy had come along and was teasing him
too. After the second guy finally left I spent some
time getting to know the first guy, whose name was
Jimmy. We talked all the way up to the time that
Sarah arrived, so for about 5 hours or so. Once Sarah
arrived we packed her in and after saying a quick
goodbye to Jimmy we set off for the Compañero. I
gave Jimmy my number and he said he’d call me
once he got a new phone. We got to the Compañero
where Emanuel got us settled in and then we talked
for a little while before Sarah went to bed. He and I
sat for a bit and talked, I was tired but I won’t get to
see Emanuel for a while so I wanted to talk some.
However, before long I had to go to bed because I
was just too tired. I got up at about 7:30; Emanuel
was already up so I talked to him for a while before
Sarah joined us at 8 for breakfast. We chatted with a
guy from the UK (can’t remember his name now)
about healthcare, politics and a few other things, all in
all not the most exciting topics but interesting
nonetheless. Steven showed up at about 9:15, he was a
little late because he said there was an accident on the
way out of Freetown that slowed traffic down. We set
out from there and headed back to Kamakwie. We
stopped for lunch in Makeni, then went to the grocery
store to get some things for Sarah. When we finished I
went to call Steven only to notice that my phone
wasn’t working. So I borrowed a phone from one of the
guys at the store and called him. I offered to pay him
for the phone call but he said I shamed him. I felt bad
and apologized and thanked him for allowing me to call.
We sat outside and waited for Steven to arrive, all the
while the beggars who hang around St. Mary’s
supermarket watched us waiting. Steven arrived after a
little bit and we set out on the final part of our journey
to Kamakwie. We managed to arrive in Kamakwie at
around 3 or so. Once we got Sarah settled in there
wasn’t a whole lot more to do. That trip is exhausting so
I don’t feel like doing anything either, so that’s about all
for now.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Friday, February 11, 2011
February 10th
Another exciting day in Africa. I went on rounds with Laura again
this morning. There is nothing like firsthand experience. I’m still
not 100% certain, and probably won’t be until I actually do it, but
I think medicine could be for me. I really like it, and I love getting
to know I’m helping someone. I love to serve and help people but
I have trouble seeing the big picture and like to know right away
what I’ve accomplished, instant gratification if you will. While
medicine isn’t always simple instant results, it can often be.
Rounds went pretty well this morning, nothing really new. After
finishing up rounds, I followed Tom and the medical students to
one of the procedure rooms where they were going to look at
some ulcers on a diabetic ladies feet (sparing the gross details)
and they confirmed that they will have to do some amputation as
long as the woman consents, if she doesn’t she’s gonna lose a lot
more than part of her foot because from what they said it’s
getting worse fast. After that we headed up to the house to await
lunch, not a pleasant prospect following what I just experienced.
After lunch I headed off to school for a few periods with my favorite
students, the SS 1s. I drew some pictures on the board of a butterfly,
caterpillar and a pupa. By no means are they works of art but I was
proud of them nonetheless. The kids were worried I was going to ask
them to draw them on a test, they all think that they have horrible
drawing skills and while in some cases I’m inclined to agree, they
could be worse. After classes I headed back to the hospital. My task
for this afternoon was to assemble two of the bike from my church,
which just meant put the handle bars back on. They’ve been around
for a while but you can’t imagine how hard it is to get the
handlebars and the rest of the bikes together when they are stored
separately. There is always just so much going on we never got
around to it. It would have probably been a while longer if not for
the fact that the medical students want to ride them. So I got the
handlebars on (one was missing the bolt so I had to find a substitute)
and aired up the tires. They are fit for riding, but they need adjusted
for size, which I’m not going to be able to do for Saturday which is
when they wanted to go riding. I’ll explain in a second so as not to
further disturb the chronology of events as I already do badly enough.
After I got that done I had to go to the market to pick up some beer
for beer battered fish. Karen has a guy who she provided fishing lures
for and so he occasionally brings her fish (monstrous fish) and she
likes to prepare them that way. Reverend Usman came for dinner
this evening, he didn’t stay too long after dinner, but it was
interesting to see him outside of a formal setting. After dinner I
decided to read some more. Tomorrow I have to go to Freetown to
pick up an incoming medical student. Karen just found out tonight
that she comes in tomorrow, until tonight she thought the student
was coming Monday, good thing she double checked tonight. We
almost stranded the poor girl. I will be back Saturday, but that will
be too late to prepare the bikes for Laura and Emily (see, I explained
why I can’t do the bikes without interrupting the chronology).
Anyway, that’s about it for tonight, I hope everyone has a great
evening and a great Friday.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
Another exciting day in Africa. I went on rounds with Laura again
this morning. There is nothing like firsthand experience. I’m still
not 100% certain, and probably won’t be until I actually do it, but
I think medicine could be for me. I really like it, and I love getting
to know I’m helping someone. I love to serve and help people but
I have trouble seeing the big picture and like to know right away
what I’ve accomplished, instant gratification if you will. While
medicine isn’t always simple instant results, it can often be.
Rounds went pretty well this morning, nothing really new. After
finishing up rounds, I followed Tom and the medical students to
one of the procedure rooms where they were going to look at
some ulcers on a diabetic ladies feet (sparing the gross details)
and they confirmed that they will have to do some amputation as
long as the woman consents, if she doesn’t she’s gonna lose a lot
more than part of her foot because from what they said it’s
getting worse fast. After that we headed up to the house to await
lunch, not a pleasant prospect following what I just experienced.
After lunch I headed off to school for a few periods with my favorite
students, the SS 1s. I drew some pictures on the board of a butterfly,
caterpillar and a pupa. By no means are they works of art but I was
proud of them nonetheless. The kids were worried I was going to ask
them to draw them on a test, they all think that they have horrible
drawing skills and while in some cases I’m inclined to agree, they
could be worse. After classes I headed back to the hospital. My task
for this afternoon was to assemble two of the bike from my church,
which just meant put the handle bars back on. They’ve been around
for a while but you can’t imagine how hard it is to get the
handlebars and the rest of the bikes together when they are stored
separately. There is always just so much going on we never got
around to it. It would have probably been a while longer if not for
the fact that the medical students want to ride them. So I got the
handlebars on (one was missing the bolt so I had to find a substitute)
and aired up the tires. They are fit for riding, but they need adjusted
for size, which I’m not going to be able to do for Saturday which is
when they wanted to go riding. I’ll explain in a second so as not to
further disturb the chronology of events as I already do badly enough.
After I got that done I had to go to the market to pick up some beer
for beer battered fish. Karen has a guy who she provided fishing lures
for and so he occasionally brings her fish (monstrous fish) and she
likes to prepare them that way. Reverend Usman came for dinner
this evening, he didn’t stay too long after dinner, but it was
interesting to see him outside of a formal setting. After dinner I
decided to read some more. Tomorrow I have to go to Freetown to
pick up an incoming medical student. Karen just found out tonight
that she comes in tomorrow, until tonight she thought the student
was coming Monday, good thing she double checked tonight. We
almost stranded the poor girl. I will be back Saturday, but that will
be too late to prepare the bikes for Laura and Emily (see, I explained
why I can’t do the bikes without interrupting the chronology).
Anyway, that’s about it for tonight, I hope everyone has a great
evening and a great Friday.
Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks
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