Wrapping things up

I hate computers!
I just want to apologize.. There will be no newsletter this month! I am having some technical difficulties..to say the least. I finished the newsletter, and now the computer refuses to allow me to see it or send it. On another note, as I said in my last blog, I have been living in the production room. Good news! I am very close to being done making the supplement.

The UMVIM team
The VIM team arrived early Saturday morning. They were supposed to have come by Friday evening, but the ferry got stuck on a sandbar. They were stuck out in the ocean all night. They got in Saturday at about 5am, slept until noon, then had to get on the road to Taiama. I felt so bad for them, but let me tell you they are troupers! I met up and travelled with the team to Taiama. Everyone arrived in the village in one piece..well almost everyone! The van's window fell out on the way, but the driver pulled over and picked it up off the road, no worries. I left the group Monday afternoon. They were at the Taiama Health Center working hard. Good news, the well that members of the Taiama community have been building outside the clinic is finished! This is a big deal, because now the patients waiting at the clinic all day will have water to drink. Most of the time, mothers walk for miles and are thirsty by the time they reach the clinic. Christiana, the head nurse, was so excited. She said to me,"Look Chelsea, now we can give our patients what they really need!" It still amazes me that something as simple as water is of the highest value for so many people in this world.

Leaving soon...
I am leaving with the team this Friday to come back to the U.S. I am back in Freetown wrapping things up at the office, getting last minute things done, and saying good-bye to friends I have made. I will be back with Mike in July, so it is only good-bye for 3 months. I am so excited about going back and seeing everyone I have missed and to get married, but sad to leave the people I have spent so much time with over the past months.
One of the greatest lessons I have learned while being here is to appreciate the time I have with the people I am around at the moment. It is difficult missing people, but it is even more difficult when you dwell on it to the point it hinders the relationship you have with the people you are around at the present time. I feel such freedom in knowing that God will care for the people that I will not have the opportunity to see for three months while I am away. It is amazing what peace I feel when I can get past being in control of my life and place it in the hands of God wherever that may take me.

I almost forgot!
I ATE MEAT ON A STICK!
I was really hungry coming back from Taiama on Monday, so I did it. I finally ate meat on a stick. Everytime I have been to Taiama, as I ride through Moyamba Junction there are always people out selling this mystery meat on a stick. I always told myself that was something I did not want to try.
So here is how it happened. I was on the road hitch-hiking to get back to Freetown on Monday afternoon. I was worried I would not be able to get back because I was leaving later than when public transportation comes through on its way to Freetown. So I was out in the road when a missionary I knew drove by and stopped for me. Tom and his family are missionaries with the Assemblies of God. He so graciously gave me a ride back. So as we pass Moyamba Junction he says,"Oh yeah we are at the junction! Who wants some meat on a stick." me- "no thank you" Tom- "Okay I will be right back with some for you" -as he jumps out of the truck... He comes back and says, "It's beef today!" So that is how it happened. You know what? It was really good! That was the first time I had had beef since December. I was just trying to be polite and taste a bite. Good thing I tried it. I am never passing by Moyamba Junction again without getting some good ole meat on a stick.