Finally on the Web.

So we’ve decided to make the trip down to Makeni to use internet after 2 weeks without much contact with the outside world. The situation with internet in Kabala is that the CES office (Christian Extension Services is the NGO that is closely connected with the CRC Primary School here in Kabala), which is located on our property is going to switch internet providers if they do not have web access by Monday. So word on the street is that they might have internet access by the end of next week. might.

Thanks to my sisters for the extremely well - written and thoughtful blog post. Written by Jeanette and proof-read by Jacqueline I assume! =). Very Melissen Blog-worthy


Here's the latest update. Sorry for the length, as we've had to give a bit of an extended summary.


Living Situation:

When we arrived in Kabala, the house that we were supposed to be staying in was not finished, so it was decided that we should stay at the CES guest house. Although we saw a large spider, a frog, and a freaky rat/lizard/cockroachy creature within the first 10 minutes of moving in and Adrienne started crying and got mad at me for not catching the rat, this turned out to be a nice turn of events for us because the house is very nice for Kabala standards. It also has running water (not drinkable), a generator during office hours, and is already furnished. We have really enjoyed the view and the nice porch as well.
In fact, living here has really left us dreading the eventual move into our new place. Since there will be other guests arriving in January, we will most likely be expected to move out. Furnishing a house which is now completely empty is a daunting and expensive task. Maybe another option can be negotiated? We’ll see. For now, we’re quite settled in here.

Work:

Both of us just completed our first full week of work, which has been cool, but there are definitely a lot of challenges ahead of us. One of the main ones has to do with communication. We were under the impression that because it is an English speaking country that the people spoke English. Maybe this was naïve? Some speak English, but most people in Kabala speak Creo, which is impossible to understand without learning it first. It is an easier language to learn than most others given the fact that many English words are used, but it will take a number of months before communication in Creo is possible beyond simple greetings. Koronko is the alternate language, which is a tribal dialect.
At the clinic, lack of communication means Adrienne is not able to see and assess patients one on one. Hiring a translator might be an option down the road. This, however, is only one of the complex challenges that she is facing there. Helping out with setting up and organizing the new clinic is something that she can see herself being an important resource for, but unfortunately the new building will not be ready now until January, which leaves a lot of time working in a small, crowded and extremely unorganized space that is never cleaned. Helping out with the organization sounds simple, but for Adrienne it feels like stepping in taking this on by herself is quite daunting. Trust me, if you saw the clinic you would understand. Sorry about the lack of pictures - they will come soon. Another challenge is that her colleagues want changes, but aren’t excited about implementing them. A large percentage of the patients are under 5, and most of the patients are extremely sick. So much should be done for these people, but most are just given medications and sent home. Adrienne tells them to come back if they are not better, but this rarely happens – which may or may not be a good sign. Since some medications cost money (antibiotics, Tylenol, etc.), many parents can’t bring their kids into the clinic at all. On a positive note, the clinic is helping a lot of people in the community, especially through malaria meds (free) when parents bring their kids in early enough. On Friday mornings, there is a maternity clinic, which is also very helpful.
For now, Adrienne is working alongside Peacemaker and Theresa getting a feel for how things are done, doing some teaching and learning where possible, and just trying to figure out how to fit in.
For Joe, communication in the classroom has been a bigger challenge than expected. Neeless to say, the first day was a disaster. The upside for him, however, is that the school is supposed to be entirely English – speaking, which means communication will improve very quickly, and already has within a week. For some reason, I also expected there to be some sort of fascination period during which I wouldn’t have to worry about classroom management issues. There was no such period. In fact, the kids are quite high – energy, and it’s hard to reprimand a kid who doesn’t understand a word you say and whose name you don’t know. Every day, however, was much better than the previous ones, and I really enjoy the students. One big difference is that they all love being at school.
One serious challenge is their general academic level. Their ability does not match up with the text books, which raises curriculum concerns.
The staff are great, and the general tone of the school is really positive.
JT (the principal) has more than insinuated that he wants sista Adrienne on staff as someone to teach health to the students. She was invited to the staff meeting today (Friday), and made the mistake of staying long enough to be appointed “assistant deputy of sanitation.” She’s hoping to muster at least one idea good enough to uphold such a lofty title! Brodda Joe did not disappoint, as he was appointed “minister of Foreign Affairs”, AND “assistant deputy of Physical and Health Education.” Seriously, though, we are going to love sharing a year with the people there.
They are excited to have us as well, even if it’s only because we brought a volleyball net and 6 volleyballs. Their reaction to this, however, was nothing compared to the riotous applause that was heard when it was revealed that we brought 3 old trophies along!

Food:

Well we haven’t gotten sick yet, but this is one of our biggest challenges. There really is not a lot of selection. There are some imported products available, but not many, and the fruit and veggie selection is slimmer than we thought. No dairy products are available. There is great bread here, but we can’t eat it 3 times a day. We (especially Adrienne) are people that love good meals, so going from what we know back home to a situation where you come home from work and dread what you have to prepare is rough. We’ve definitely cobbled together a few unique dishes. Egg/onion/rice mixed together for example. We’ve considered taking up smoking in order to curb our appetite. Seriously. Another thing is the fact that we can’t really rely on our fridge to keep things fresh. One fun thing has been shopping. We really enjoy going to the market, which has been a very “raw” cultural experience.
Learning to cook here will be something that takes a bit of time. Some friends that we’ve made are bringing some supplies from Freetown which will help out.

General well-being:

We’d be lying if we said we’ve had a fabulous couple of weeks. It’s been a real emotional roller coaster, but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We feel that things like the food and challenges of living and working here will work themselves out over time. Something that we are praying for is that we will find a community of friends that could bring a sense of normalcy to us. As much as we love spending time together =), it’s always nice to mix in some different personalities.

Thanks for reading….don’t feel guilty for having skimmed over the boring parts.

Hopefully our next entry will be sooner and shorter. We hope you all are doing great, and we miss you lots!

Joe and Adrienne