I had no voice with which to say “Good Morning” at 8:30,
Oh dear. Hope you started feeling better as the day went on.
In order to conserve water, regular flushes had ceased altogether, so a nice “aroma" had hastened my use of that particular area.
Um.... ew.
I think an outhouse might have been preferable.
I wouldn’t need much as we’d only be gone for 3 days.
Liesa's belongings for 3 days:
All packed up with nowhere to go and a rumbly in my tummy, I found myself downstairs with a packet of instant grits again.
Did Rebekah do that too? Or did she stick with what was provided?
It’d sure been nice to have a cup of coffee, but yesterday was the last I’d ever see of my French Press.
Where was it when you saw it last? In your room? Or?
I sufficed with instant Nescrappay
held my chin up high, and…. Ooops, sorry; that’s just me being snooty.
Nah. I don't drink it, but I get that there's a difference between good and bad coffee.
we found out that several others, including my aunt, left about 10 minutes before we were ready without even telling us. Ummmm? Okay.
Wha?
That was odd, if not a bit…. I dunno. It was just strange.
No kidding. Not even a "We'll be back in a bit"
it turned out okay because it did give us some extra time to relax and not do much.
And considering you weren't feeling well, maybe for the best.
To this day, I have no idea what they were all doing, but I did NOT miss skipping an opportunity to be stuck in a hot car breathing in car exhaust and being squished with 4 other people.
Yeah... I can see how that might now be so much fun... or... is it?
This was the first time ever that this woman had touched a white person, let alone braid her hair.
Huh! This too is out of my wheelhouse. It's just not something that would occur to me.
She had Rebekah’s hair double French-braided in literally 30 seconds.
That would explain the blurred super-fast hand.
W. Africans spend incredible amounts of time on their hair either getting it braided in elaborate weaves or putting on their wigs. The majority of what I saw were hair pieces and wigs of straightened black hair done in some sort of very fashionable hairstyle.
Like that one. That's... quite some "do"!
I give you….
The African Swallow. (Clearly, it was unladen. I did not clock its velocity.
Perfect!!!!
Yes, I literally laughed out loud and thought that yes, I was indeed very anxious to get home and begin to share my adventures with all of you… my “other family”.
With gems like that, you better!!
(Is anyone even still reading? 
)
Now that right there makes me sad. Of course we're reading! And enjoying the heck out of this TR, too!
(Don't worry! Not very far- I basically stood at the entrance to our compound as I needed a chaperone to venture much further.)
Phew! Good. I'd be a bit nervous about venturing out.
No, it wasn’t a swear word. I have been called those before,
Oh? And what were the circumstances that resulted in that?
“Apato-Fena, Apato-Fena!!!!” “Pretty white girl, Pretty white girl!!”
Awww! And... they're right!
I was touched and amused. When I waved at them, they shyly giggled and waved back. So sweet.
It just didn’t feel right to eat them by ourselves when it was obvious those waiting with us were not going to get food anytime soon either.
That's very generous of you.
and.... the right thing to do. I'm not sure if I'd have been quite so generous or had that thought.
I cannot describe how delicious these were. Then again, Top Ramen would have been the most delicious meal I’d ever eaten right about then too.
You've mentioned they were good before, so I'm thinking they still were.
***warning, a paragraph with boring World History coming your way***
This is odd. But when I read things like that on yours or someone else's TR, I almost always (if not
always) find it interesting. I guess if someone took the trouble to look into it and feels it's interesting enough to share... it usually is!
That's pretty cool. It looks like a single level house that then had a second level added later, right on top.
It also (still) has the oldest Western-style university on the African continent.
Really!
There, that oughtta make my Canadian readers feel proud!
Yay us!
Another thing I noticed on our way was an ENORMOUS, and I mean that in every possible sense of the word, tree that stood towering over everything around it.
I promise you won’t be sorry you read this very short article.
I did! And I'm glad I did. Quite the tree and an interesting story, too.
I have no idea why.... maybe because it's so dry?
But I keep forgetting that the ocean is
right there.
While we loitered, waiting for everyone to show up and the truck to finish getting loaded, I found this to be amusing. Yes, I’m that juvenile. It shouldn't need too much translation…
Oh, Liesa. What are we going to do with you?
For them, an outreach and donation of this size is a huge, big deal.
I can well imagine. Especially considering your comments of how poor many are there.
The Founder and CEO of our organization grew up in the village we would be going to first and spending the majority of our time. He, like all the other people still living there, are, quite literally, some of the poorest people on earth. They farm (BY HAND!) all of their crops, they make, yes, you heard me right, MAKE their own coal to cook with, eat one meal of rice, except on very rare occasions, every day, and live to be about 40. Ahmed had no shoes until he was 18 years old. One day when he was 13, he went to his father and told him he could not live that way and did not want to become a farmer for the rest of his life. He would leave that very day and seek a better life. He told them, his mother and father, that he would someday return, walked 8 miles to the highway and hitch-hiked to Freetown. That day.
He found a job doing laundry for an Indian man who sponsored him to go to school. He worked and studied hard, and eventually found himself doing other jobs and making other connections. When he was 18, he was invited by that same Indian man to go to India to study at university and, being an incredibly charismatic and sharp businessman, Ahmed started his first business. His success story only continued to grow from there, but he never lost sight of his life’s mission: to return to his home to bless and develop his little village, Mayola, into something wonderful.
To add a bit more backstory, Ahmed’s father passed away before he could return there. This broke his heart, but only served to strengthen his resolve to work hard and return to be a part of lifting his village out of poverty. He now lives in Maryland with his wife and children and spearheads much of what the organization does in Sierra Leone. PM me if you would like to read more. I do know they recently bought a tractor to finally be able to farm a community tract of land that Ahmed bought himself (200 acres or so?) for village food resource security. Huge!!!!!
Ahmed fulfilled his promise to return, and now does so as a celebrated hero. His first visit back was only 2 years ago but was only for a single day. This time, with us beside him, he returned to his village again with near demi-god status.
That is an incredible tale. Seriously. That's.... movie stuff right there. And... moving stuff too.
Next time, I will continue with our convoy, the long, long, long, long road to Mayola, and the welcome we received as we got there. I think it will touch your hearts… it certainly did mine.
I can't wait!
You mentioned earlier "
Is anyone even still reading?"
Well, I can assure you that I, for one, am on the edge of my seat and greedily devouring every detail of this trip.
I leave you with the requisite lizard shot- I just couldn't help myself.
Of course you couldn't.
And, well.... I don't think I could either. That is one...
different looking lizard! Never seen anything like it. All grey with that bright yellow head? Fascinating!
Thanks so much for posting the update!
(Well, raised a New Brunswicker, but I've been here long enough now to feel I've got Nova Scotia in my blood!)
How impressive is this guy!?
Cinnamon roll at Gaston's. At least I got my dole whips in! 
! Thank you so much for saying hello and letting me know you're here! I'm glad you are enjoying the things still and I hope you'll pop in every so often (or often is better!) to say howdy and join in the chatter! 
