From the other A and J Melissen!

This blog entry is coming from Kabala, but from the senior A & J Melissens. We have been spending time with Joe and Adrienne, and it’s a wonderful experience. We have so enjoyed following them through their neighbourhood to the shouts of “Saio, Saio” (Adrienne’s Sierra Leonian name). It’s fun to see the relationships they have built in the community through the school, the clinic and the market. The people they are working with are appreciative of the skills they are bringing to the school and clinic and we have enjoyed shadowing them as they worked. Joe’s class is indeed rambunctious, but they are a great group and like being with Joe. Today I spent the day at the clinic with Adrienne and was impressed with her ability to get the information she needed and to work with the clients and the staff. The clinic is very basic, but I got a tour of the new clinic which should be open before Joe and Adrienne leave Sierra Leone.
The neighbours stop by the house by regularly – the children just to chat and hang out and the women to bring some plantains, papaya or other fruits or vegetables they have in their gardens, and then to chat. I don’t think that a day has gone by when there has not been a guest sitting on the porch visiting. They are all quite happy to meet the “mama and papa of Joe”, and are looking forward to meeting Adrienne’s parents.
Let us report that Joe and Adrienne are doing very well, looking healthy and happy, they are being blessed by the experience and are being a blessing to the folks in Kabala.