Heading Up Country!

I leave for the villages in about one hour! I get the opportunity to take public transportation with the matron of the Panguma hospital. It should be an adventure. We will be spending the night in Kenema, then we are going to Panguma on Thursday. I will have the opportunity to meet with the nutritionists, do home visitation, work in the hospital a bit, and present the Peanut Butter Project to them. Then, I will be heading to Taiama to spend some time learning from the healthcare workers at the clinic. I will be holding two peanut butter project clinics during my time. One will be in the UMC Taiama clinic and the other will be across the river where mothers will have easier access to the program. Mrs. Betty Sam and one of the healthcare workers, and I will be doing some house visitation to follow-up on some cases that have not been back to the clinic. I will not be back until Nov.25. I will post an update when I return. May the grace of God be with you all!

Psalm 8 is one of my favorite psalms. Sometimes I look at the natural beauty of God's creation and I don't even have words to express how in awe I am of God. I love this psalm because it is a prayer to God exactly how I feel. "O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens...When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place...O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" The countryside of Sierra Leone is by far the most beautiful place I have ever seen. In just one day, about a month ago, I experienced the grasslands, rainforest, mountains, and the ocean. I feel so fortunate to be able to work in such a beautitful country.

Peace Presbyterian

Melissa and I attend Peace Presbyterian Church. We visited the church the second Sunday I was in Sierra Leone. We keep saying that we want to visit other churches to see what they are like, but we haven't been anywhere else. I am pretty sure we have found our church home! The church is close enough, that I can walk to it from my apartment in the morning. It is a small church that has wooden frames and dirt floors. The hymnals are falling apart, and it is hot, especially after walking up a steep hill to get to the church. Despite not having the luxuries I have grown up in the church with, I have discovered that all you need is a group of people and a place for them to gather in order to worship God. The people are so excited and upbeat during Sunday morning worship. They sing a song each week that has the line, "Tell Papa God tanki." They thank God for their church and the opportunity they have to worship God each week. The pastor is from Ghana, and his theology is very good. Currently we are studying the book of Ruth. The atmosphere is wonderful! As you can see from the picture, there are so many children! If a baby begins to cry, instead of the mother running out of the church, she just passes the baby around from one mother to the other.... with hopes that one of the mothers will be able to stop the baby from crying. The service lasts about two and a half hours, but it is divided up. There is a Bible lesson for the children and a Bible study at the beginning, then the worship service begins.

Nutrition Training

I apologize for not keeping the blog updated! Last week I attended community based nutrition training that was conducted by the Ministry of Health. The training lasted all day long, so I was unable to go to the office to use the computer. The training was so helpful in teaching me about specific problems dealing with nutrition in different districts of Sierra Leone. The topics the training covered were infant and young child feeding, complementary feeding, promotion of breastfeeding, nutritional counseling and support, and nutritional care and support for adults with HIV/AIDS. I learned the most from the experiences that health care workers described in their hospitals and clinics. One of the things the health care workers discussed was the constraints local taboos play in nutrition. For example, one of the local taboos is that the mothers believe their children should not eat eggs, fish, or chicken because these foods will give their children worms. Actually, these foods will not give the children worms if they are cooked thoroughly. These foods are actually an excellent source of iron, and many children, as a result of this false belief, are anemic from having an iron deficient diet.

Great is Thy Faithfulness

I returned from Taiama on Friday night. It was a quick trip, but I learned so much. Most of all I truly experienced the faithfulness of God. On Friday morning at the Taiama clinic I was there and ready to get to work. I was disappointed that the turn out ended up not being so great. The entire day I only screened about thirty children. Some of the children we enrolled in the malnutrition program, some were returners, and we had two graduates. It was great to see how excited the mothers were when I explained what it meant that their child had graduated from the program! Since the number of children who came to the clinic was low, it gave Christiana and me the opportunity to talk to the mothers one-on-one about why their child was malnourished. We asked them many questions trying to discover the root of the problem. I learned so much about the struggles these women go through daily in order to take care of their family. If I had not had the time to find out, I may not have learned the reason for the low number of mothers that came to the clinic. We discovered that this is the time of year that they are harvesting their crops. If the mothers stop working in the fields to take their child to the clinic, then some of the food needed to be harvested would go bad in the fields. During the time I spent talking with the mothers, I began to realize that there is no education of what foods are healthy and why. Even though the mothers have access and even grow healthy foods that would prevent their children from being malnourished, these are the foods that are valuable to sell. If the mothers were trained to keep some of the foods for their family, then this would be a great way of preventing malnutrition. Another reason for malnourishment among their children is that it is just hard on the mothers to do all that they are doing and be concerned that their children are receiving a varied diet. These mothers are doing the best they can to make sure their children are fed at all. Even though this trip looks as if it was not a success in the amount of children we saw, I think it may benefit more children in the long run. Lately, I have been praying specifically that God reveals His will to me in the direction the Peanut Butter Project needs to go. It is so easy to get my own will or what I see needs to be done confused with what God's will is. Only God's perfect will can bring about the way these children can truly be helped. Pray that I am able to discern God's perception of things from my own. How easy it is to see something that needs to be done and just because it has the appearance of a good thing, I want to go out and do it without patiently waiting on God's response. Great is God's faithfulness for being with us even when we persist on doing things our own way! This trip to Taiama has taught me some important things about community based nutrition that I can implement into the child malnutrition program. I am continuing to pray and think through how this is supposed to work, so I will keep you posted!

On the road again...

Today I have been busy working in the new peanut butter project production room! It is so exciting to be able to say that! I have been setting up supplies and figuring out measurements for the ingredients. Tomorrow we are making the supplement then heading off to Taiama to do the peanut butter project for this month. Amadu, Christiana, and me is the team traveling to Taiama. I am ready for another opportunity to learn more about the Taiama clinic, get to spend some time with the health care workers there, and follow-up on the children we saw last month. I will be back to the computer by Monday. Please pray for the children and families of the children we will be screening and evaluating at the clinic. Also, keep the healthcare system of Sierra Leone as a whole in your prayers. There are so many amazing programs dealing with healthcare that are beginning all over the place.

Yum!

We did not have work this Monday due to the end of Ramadan. There was a national holiday on Monday, so no one had work and schools were out. Today I have been in the office playing catch-up!

Since I don't have anything really interesting to post I thought I would explain my experience with "bush meat." As we were coming back from the Kono district a couple of weeks ago, we were driving along when one of my Sierra Leonean co-workers asked the driver to stop. So, along the roads you see people selling various things that you can stop and buy. The thing about stopping at one of these points is that the people are so eager for you to buy their product that they practically throw it into your lap as you sit in the car deciding if you want it or not. Well, someone in our car was interested in the bush meat that the people were selling. The bush meat was monkey! You could see these little arms with the hands still attached that had been cooked with the fur still on them! These monkey arms were almost thrown into my lap as we stopped! It was quite an experience. Apparently, the monkey meat is sweet and very tasty. I haven't gained enough courage to try it though!

Kissy Hospital

I have been at Kissy Hospital on the eastern side of Freetown for most of the day. I went to observe the nutrition program they have going on there. It is so refreshing and inspiring to see a program that is doing so much for the mothers of the community. The program teaches mothers whose children are clinically malnourished about healthy food. The nutritionist uses foods that are grown locally and teaches mothers how to prepare and cook the food for their families. I spoke with one mother today who had a two year old daughter. After breastfeeding, the only thing she was feeding the child was crackers. The child is malnourished but recovering thanks to the nutrition program at Kissy. The mothers come once a week, and they go to a kitchen behind the hospital where they learn in a hands-on way how to prepare the food. The next day they return to the clinic for their child's check-up, a nutrition lesson, then they get to take home some of the food they prepared the day before. I am going back tomorrow to learn more about the lesson and needs of the nutrition program.

Well, I'm still trucking around Freetown visiting companies that can provide the ingredients and things necessary to begin the production of the RUTF peanut butter supplement. There is so much traffic in the downtown area of Freetown! Along with the traffic I see so many amputees from the war. It is terrible seeing these people out begging in the streets day after day. I have even started recognizing people that I have seen before. There seems to be a lot of work being done to help these amputees, but there are so many of them that progress is slow. One thing that has been done that amazes me is there is a soccer (or football as they call it here) league for amputees. I have watched these boys play on the beach, and it is incredible what they can still do even without a limb. This is a picture of them playing that I found on the bbc website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_sierre_leone_amputee/html/1.stm This is a link to an article from bbc about a mother who had her arm amputated by RUFs during the war. She explains the daily struggles she deals with from being an amputee.

After all the time spent traveling, I had a much-needed, restful weekend. I went to the beach and watched rugby with some friends. Rugby is a huge sport here. I would say its popularity is equivalent to the U.S. with football. Today I am in the office working on setting up production of the RUTF peanut butter supplement. I am meeting with someone in charge of a food processing company to talk about buying a bakery style mixer and producing groundnut paste, then I am meeting with the plastic company in Freetown to discuss manufacturing plastic containers to hold the supplement. It is exciting to begin obtaining supplies to start locally producing the supplement in a larger amount. Our goal is to buy as much as possible locally in order to give business to Sierra Leoneans. I'll keep you posted as we begin the production room!

Peace

The Friday before we left to go to the villages was the International Day of Peace. Since living here, I don't think peace has ever been such a reality to me. I have never been around people that depend and pray for peace so much! As I have spoken to individuals, one common thread seems to run through our conversations. They know the value and worth of life, because they know what it feels like to be close to losing it. Sierra Leone has been without war and "at peace" since 2002. Even though there is no fear of war currently in the country, this does not mean that Sierra Leoneans are at peace. As we drove out of the city and into the country I saw many camps for displaced people. The way these people are forced to live is anything but peaceful. They are without the basic necessities of clean water, food, and shelter. Each day as they struggle to survive, they are reminded of the events of the war that caused them these hardships. As I witnessed the conditions the people live in, it was hard to believe what my eyes were actually seeing. It was definitely not a community at peace. Peace is the work of justice and love in the world. In my opinion, the peace that comes from God is the restoration of order to the way God meant for things to be and this is done through love. A common krio phrase that people say when you ask them how they are is "TeGotanki." It means "Give God Thanks!" One thing that I have learned to "TeGotanki" for is the example of those who, no matter what the circumstance, continue to thank God. They may not have physical peace, but they experience peace in their hearts in knowing the love and faithfulness of God.

Back in Freetown

Our CHASL team arrived in Freetown yesterday evening. It was a productive trip for each of us. I have learned so much about the country in this short period of time that I don't even know where to begin! Let me start with the peanut butter project. We were in Taiama Thursday through Saturday. On Friday we held the child nutrition clinic. I couldn't believe how many malnourished children I saw. Seeing and experiencing the children suffering is something that just can't be described. There were three children that were almost two or already two years old and had not even started to walk or even crawl. The children were so malnourished that the mothers supported their heads because of lack of strength in their necks. I was speaking to one mother, and she explained that her child was like this because she had a disability. The mother did not realize that the disability was from lack of nutrition in the early stages of her child's life that would have made all the difference. It was amazing to see the physical results of what the project has already accomplished. Mrs. Betty Sam and I had the opportunity to "graduate" about five of the children that had been a part of the program since April. Their mothers were so excited to learn that their children were healthy! It has been such a blessing to see the physical results of this project.

The picture I posted was taken on Sunday before we left for the villages. Melissa and I have been attending Peace Presbyterian Church. This past week the church began a school. The school classroom is being held in the same structure as worship is held on Sunday mornings. Each week, on Sundays, the room is converted from a classroom to a chapel. In this picture, Melissa and I were helping them carry the desks for the classroom from the carpenter's shop to the church. Of course, we have to do it the African way! On our heads...it is actually easier, and you should try it!

It has been another beautiful, sunny day in Freetown. The rainy season is nearly over, so there have been some wonderful days of sunshine lately. Now that elections are over it is safe to travel up-country, to the villages! Some of the CHASL staff and I are traveling all next week to different villages to visit their medical clinics. At each medical clinic we are going to introduce the program we are beginning, The Baby Friendly Initiative which will officially begin October 1. Then, on Thursday we will arrive in Taiama for my first peanut butter supplement production/ distribution opportunity! I am so excited that it is finally time to begin doing the peanut butter clinic! I will have no access to the internet all this week, but will blog how everything goes when I get back on Monday or Tuesday. I have also put together a newsletter. I will be sending this out via email to my supporters. If you do not know if I have your email address to send you a newsletter, then post your email on my blog or email the address to me at chelsearingel@aol.com. May your lives be filled with God's peace, presence and faithfulness.

Today would not be a day I would call exciting, but it was productive. I was in an all-day meeting concerning child malnutrition and community health. The meeting covered all the major programs that are going on right now, and how each health association can bring the programs together in most efficient way.

Also, I have a prayer request. Vincent, an employee at CHASL, has a son who suddenly got very sick at the end of last week, and the son has died. Keep Vincent and his family in your prayers during this time. Thank you

An exciting day in Freetown

Yesterday around 10:30am I was at the CHASL office when I heard cheers and shouts of celebration. I ran to the nearest window facing the road, and it was obvious what had happened. The results of the new president were official. Ernest Koroma of the opposition All People's Congress had won with 53% of votes. Everyone in the streets was celebrating by putting on the color red, the party's official color, and dancing in the roads. There were mobs of red running everywhere! People were shouting, whistling, honking their horns, and cheering. There were many vehicles parading down the road crammed with so many, that people were hanging out of the vehicle. Koroma's entrance into the presidency has been a peaceful one, and it is good to see the country beginning to remember that no matter what political party they voted for, they are all Sierra Leoneans. It is exciting to see the country uniting again. All people share one thing in common. They are desperate to see a change. The people need jobs, adequate health care, electricity, and education. Hopefully, this change in political structure will be another step toward the good of the country.

A little of this and a little of that

It has been a busy few days! We have been working on a new project called the Baby Friendly Initiative. CHASL and UNICEF are partnering to work on this project to promote early and exclusive breastfeeding in 8 CHASL hospitals to trained workers and mothers.

Mr. Pieh and I went to a meeting at WFP (World Food Program) dealing with community therapeutic care. This meeting had many government organizations and non-government organizations present to discuss the problem of malnutrition in Sierra Leone. Up to this point every organization has been doing their own programs to fight the problem of malnutrition. Now the organizations are beginning to see that their efforts are much more effective when everyone works together! WFP has agreed to partner with CHASL in bringing the peanut butter supplement to Taiama. WFP will support CHASL with supplies, and also bring another malnutrition fighting food called benni mix to use alongside the peanut butter supplement. I can't wait to see what we will be able to accomplish working together!

Ramadan, the Islamic month of daily fasting and special nightly prayers, began today. Before now, I could not tell who was a muslim and who was a christian. During Ramadan, the muslims wear their dresses and tunics, and I see their brightly colored garments everywhere. The daughters of the man I am renting my apartment from have told me that there is no religious tension or problems in Sierra Leone despite the variety of beliefs you see here. People are very laid back and accepting of other peoples' religious beliefs.

Random Items...

There are so many fun and random things that people sell in the roads of Freetown. Most of these items are carried on their heads. I made a list of things I saw people selling:

multi-colored clothes hangers
gum and lozengers
floor mats
mugs
sunglasses
blue jeans, sport coats
bags of water
extension cords
dvds from China (twelve movies on one dvd)
tools
umbrellas
lamps
bumper stickers
manicure kits
hot dogs
Wal-Mart meets the street! It's great!

This morning Mr. Pieh and I had the opportunity to meet with the Nutrition Specialist at UNICEF. I got to talk to him about the child malnutrition program, and he was very interested in partnering with CHASL. YEAY! No results for the election have come out yet, so I am continuing to do office work. I have never heard rain come down as hard as it did last night! It sounded like a hurricane had hit Freetown! It cleared up though and is a beautiful, sunny day. Thank you Northside UMC members for the fundraiser, the Cabaret dinner. I heard it was lots of fun! I appreciate everyone's support. The amazing thing about ministry is that it cannot involve only one person, but a whole community of believers working together to be the body of Christ. Have a blessed day

Update on the weekend

Well, the run-off elections went peacefully for the most part. There were twenty voting stations, and only four had any type of violence that was stopped quickly by the police. I had to spend the Saturday around my apartment for safety. I went to my landlord's house. His daughter gave me a thorough lesson in Krio, culture, politics, tribal conflicts, and religions in Sierra Leone. I learned so much from Nadia! Mr. Assad (my landlord) told me many stories about the war that he experienced. On Sunday, I went with Mr. Pieh and Melissa (the other intern at CHASL) to a Methodist church. It surprised me with how similar it was to the Methodist church I am used to. We said the Apostle's Creed and everything! Later Melissa and I got to go for a walk at the beach, BEAUTIFUL! Today we have been busy doing office work. Betty Sam (nurse at CHASL) and I have set a date to go to the village of Tiama on September 28 to distribute the peanut butter supplement. Results for the election should be out by Wednesday, then it will be safe again to be out in Freetown and the villages, I am very excited!

Good afternoon! This morning we visited another medical clinic- Wesleyan Medical Clinic. It is hard to believe what I am seeing when I visit these clinics. This clinic had dirt floors and extremely small rooms. The nurse, Anna, spoke with us about what she sees most often. She says there are mostly cases of malaria. Even in these difficult working environments all the staff seem to work with what they do have with joy and contentment. We visited another medical center, which has a more common name, because they are located in many areas of the world- Mercy Ships has a base location in Freetown. We were not able to go inside here. I will not have the opportunity to visit the Minister of Health until tomorrow. This delay is due to a peace march that will be held in Freetown. It should be happening anytime now! The peace march is for the run-off election that will be held this Saturday. Instead of each party campaigning, they thought it would be a good idea to unify the people with a peace march. There are lots of people that are going to show up for this march, and they will be walking a good distance up and down the main streets of Freetown. Pray for peace during the upcoming run-off election in Sierra Leone.

Muddy Roads...

Greetings! Today has been an action packed day. Some of the CHASL staff and I have been visiting medical clinics. We visited Juba Medical Clinic, a clinic right behind CHASL, and St. Anthony's Medical/maternity clinic. There was a woman at this clinic who walked by herself all the way there in labor! She was waiting patiently in line when one of the nurses noticed she was in pain and asked her if she was in labor. This situation is not uncommon, and many women walk to the clinic by themselves while in labor. At each medical clinic the staff would show us each of the rooms and what they were used for, then they would give us some information on what types of patients they see and the treatment they give them. I am learning so much! We had a pharmicist in our group who gave them drugs, vitamins, and other medical materials. It took awhile traveling today, because it was so rainy. It rained last night and into the day. The roads are washed away in many areas. Tomorrow I meet with the Minister of Health to discuss the PB project. Blessings! By the way, thank you for the comments on my blog. I am still figuring out how to respond to comments..I wish I knew more about blogging:)

I'm In Africa!

I arrived in Freetown about 10:30pm last night. My first day has been full of so much excitement. This morning I rode with Mr. Pieh to CHASL, and I met everyone who I will be working with. Then we had a short devotion. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to sing and pray with people working for the glory of God! Then, we visited the Kissy Hospital/medical clinic. I got the opportunity to meet with the nutrition specialists there and ask them questions dealing with the malnutrition they see with the children enrolled in the clinic. I have already learned so much! This country is beautiful and so are the people. Thank you for your continual prayers! Oh by the way...For those of you who don't know, I have a pet bearded dragon named Parkson. There are millions of Parksons running around!! Well really they are king lizards, but they look just like him!

Ready to Go!!

Hi everyone! I am at home in Smyrna, TN spending some time with my fam, learning all I can about Sierra Leone, and trying to be patient as I wait to leave. Something I learned at UMVIM Connect is that in the ministry it is all about God's timing. I am learning though that patience truly is a virtue! This summer working at Northside UMC has taught me about being flexible and having an open mind and heart to where God leads. Sometimes no matter how much we plan, God will steer us in a completely different direction or enrich our plans even more than we could have ever possibly imagined! God has given me such an amazing opportunity to care for His people. I have never been more excited! Thank you to all who are partnering with me in this ministry through your prayers and financial support. There is no way this would happen without you! I leave for Sierra Leone on September 2nd. My next entry will be as soon as I can get to a computer when I get there. Peace be with you.