God, where are you taking me now?

I am sorry that it has taken me a while to post something.  June seems to be flying past at speed!  So much has happened over the past couple of weeks that I need time to work out how to put in to words the things that I have experienced.  

In the mean time, I thought that you would like to see one or two of the weird and wonderful places that we have to get to to visit our patients.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself to know the reality of going to areas of Freetown that pass most westerners by.  It's amazing to be welcomed into all homes from barely a 1 room shack to a house with (gasp!) carpet.  I feel immensely privileged to be able to experience the lives of Sierra Leoneans in a way which is so personal.  There is something satisfying about clambering out of breath up another hill, greeting very surprised locals whose faces break into broad grins when they see the opoto/pumwi/white man (white person in temene/mende/krio.  Believe me, I learnt those words very quickly!).

I thought that I was getting pretty used to the different living environments until we went to see a patient who lived on the edge of one of the largest rubbish dumps in Freetown.  Surprisingly, it didn't smell too bad, but the flies were horrendous.  Esther (my translator) says that many people live down there because they do not have to pay rent but there is also a risk of the house getting washed away in torrential rain.  

I've learnt very quickly here that there are so many different levels of poverty, which can never be put in one bracket.  When I thought I had seen poverty, someone else comes along and completely confounds all my preconceptions.  It is something that we encounter out and about each day and cannot be ignored.  But somehow I have become immune to it, have hardened my heart to the myriad of people that I see need help.  If I let my heart be touched, the reality would be too much.  Every day I struggle but every day God brings me back to why I am here.  I have to focus on those He has given me to care for.  I am happy to bless them and I think part of that is accepting where they live, allowing myself to be welcomed in to homes barely fit for habitation and embracing them as they are and for who they are.  

The rubbish dump.  (Below) The patients house is the roof to the right of the picture.

A view of Freetown, standing with the patients house behind me

The great thing about Freetown is that as soon as you climb away from the main roads there is a wonderful sea view!

I also realised that I hadn't posted any pictures of my wonderful team, so here they are!  Dee, my fellow nurse from the UK and Esther, our incredible translator, friend and all round oracle of knowledge.  We would be very lost without her! (And yes, this picture was taken on one of our treks up a hill!)