January 8th
We set out for Freetown with the nursing students and
Tom this morning at about 7:30. It was quite an
adventure, we had crammed 9 people into the back of
the car we were riding in. so it wasn’t too crowded but
we were still very close together. The Kamakwie to
Makeni road was as awful as usual, it’s not something
you can really get used to. We got to Makeni around
10:30 and met with Reverend Osman, superintendant of
the Wesleyan Church of Sierra Leone. After that we
stopped for some snacks and set out for Freetown. We
made it to our destination at about 2:30. What was our
destination you might ask? Why none other than Sussex
beach (not that you know it but you really should) the
most beautiful place I have ever been. Words can’t even
describe it. It’s a super clean beach, almost no shells to
possibly cut your feet on along the shore, it’s almost
completely surrounded by mountains covered with
tropical foliage. There is little to no development, there
is only on hotel on the whole beach and it only has one
room (we didn’t stay here tonight). While we were
swimming I met some kids, first Moses then Charles,
and then a bunch of other kids who I can’t remember
all their names. Moses and Charles live in a village near
the beach, which I’m jealous of, what I’m not jealous of
is that they have to walk 8 miles to school every day. I
think if I had to do that I’d find something else to do
and forget school. That shows some dedication to me.
On top of that for being only middle school students (JSS 1
and 3 respectively) they spoke English pretty well and
they don’t even have a teacher for English at their school.
I spent a while hanging out with the nursing students
and some time hanging out with the Sierra Leoneans. It
made for a great time. After we finished up swimming we
went up to the hotel and had ice cream. It was so amazing
but then I haven’t had it in three months so I think that it
would have had to be pretty awful ice cream for it to not
be amazing. Since the hotel here was full we set out for
the one we would be staying at. It’s at another beach,
Lakka beach, and it’s called the Hard Rock. It’s not
related to the Hard Rock café, it’s called the hard rock
because it’s literally built on a hard rock. It sits out into
the ocean and when the tide is high its actually
completely surrounded by water. It’s really cool. I also
loved that the entire hotel interior was all sand. Needless
to say I took advantage of that and went around barefoot.
It was quite wonderful. It was pretty late when we got
there so we didn’t swim there even though the beach
was very nice there too. For dinner I had barracuda, it was
quite amazing. I was even adventurous, I tried lobster and
it was also quite good. This trip is kind of a treat, a way to
relax and de-stress. My last trip to Freetown was quite
stressful so I’m glad to get this opportunity It’s only about
10 now but we are all whipped and going to bed. Night all.

Blessings from Freetown,
Ryan Brooks