Tomorrow will start my final full week in Sierra Leone. My replacement arrived on Thursday and I have the rare luxury of being able to do an in-person handover. Now that I'm going and I've told everyone, each day I find myself fielding local colleague's comments about how they'll miss me and asking when I'll come back and my international colleague's asking me how it feels to be leaving.
Since I've arrived here, I've watched colleagues leave one after the other. Emergency response is by its nature a very transient world. Even though you only get to know people for a few months the intensity of our lives here and the constant contact in both our professional and personal lives forges bonds that are surprisingly strong.
My feelings about leaving are extremely mixed, for both professional and personal reasons. Although the OICCs that I was hired to manage have now closed and I've finished all of my work on those, my work as Freetown Health Manager is far from over. I've been able to accomplish a lot a work I had planned, but it never ends up being quite enough, but I don't think it ever really is. When I came, the Ebola epidemic was already starting to end and I really believed that I would be here to see an Ebola-free Salone. Unfortunately, getting to zero is a long process and we're seeing a resurgence of cases, especially in Freetown. I know that I won't be able to see us get to zero, but I feel confident that it will happen.
Personally, I just feel sad about leaving the people that I've met here. I know that with other expats, there's a strong possibility that we'll cross paths again some day. The development world is small and I've already seen that it's less accurate to say goodbye and more accurate to say until we meet again. However, it's different with national staff. I know that with most of the Sierra Leoneans I've met here, I'll only see them again if I come back to Sierra Leone, and maybe not even then. This isn't the first time I've come to feel at home in a new country and then had to leave its people behind, but it's one of the parts of this world that never really gets easier for me.
I think that all of those feelings are amplified by knowing that when I head back to the US I'll be starting over again in a new city with only a few existing connections. Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited to be starting my DrPH and I think that I will really enjoy the program and living in New Orleans, but my stamina for making new friends yet one more time is starting to wane.
I know that those of you who have read my blog throughout my seven months here and who have kept in touch with me during that time know that this has been far from an easy experience. Even so, I don't regret my decision to come here. I think that in whatever small way, I've been able to contribute to a response that I think is very important. All of the challenges that I've faced along that way have been learning experiences and I'll leave Sierra Leone having grown a lot.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Music saves the day
I'm now more than a week into my temporary escape from Freetown and I've seen and done some pretty great things, like....:
-Walk to a castle nestled in hills full of vineyard and enjoy a glass of wine while taking in the view
-Float along the River Rhine while mentally deciding which castle I would choose for my own
-Visit a 1000 year old cathedral surrounded by a quaint gothic village
-Walk along the remains of the Berlin wall
-Drink beer by the half liter
-Walk through the Brandenburg Gate
However, yesterday was a bit of a difficult one. I woke up in the morning with plans to go out to brunch with the friend I met in Berlin. I didn't have many euros so I was hoping to find somewhere to change money. In Freetown, you can change money almost anywhere, and even if you don't have leones you can basically always pay with dollars. Germany is not so dollar friendly, unfortunately. The hotel wouldn't change money, but gave me information for a place that would. I went there, but it was closed. I decided I would go meet my friend and figure it out there.
We decided getting money changed wouldn't be too easy, but we could surely get money out with an ATM (which I had done only a few days before). We were very, very wrong. We tried probably a dozen ATMs throughout the city with no luck. As each ATM refused to cooperate, I became more and more sure that someone had cleaned out my account. This happened to several of my colleagues in Sierra Leone and it seemed strange that my card had worked only days before. I was seized by an unshakeable need to check my bank statement. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember my password so we ended up returning to the hotel to get my password and check. My fears were, of course, unfounded. I had plenty of money in my account, I just couldn't access it.
So, one problem was solved, but the mystery of why I couldn't access my money was still pending. We went back into town and managed to find a place that would take credit cards and had our brunch, at 1 pm. My friend had to leave to go back to his town so I was left by myself. I went to go try to find somewhere to change money. The first person I went to try to give me 60 euros for 100 dollars, which I didn't accept but I eventually found someone.
I sat in the train station feeling a little shell-shocked from how the day had gone so far, but not feeling like it was a good idea to go to the hotel and call it a day. My feet were also still aching from the 10 or 15 kilometers we had walked the day before, exploring the city in full. I convinced myself to go back to an area I had particularly liked the day before and was rewarded greatly for my pluck. It turns out the June 21 is the 'Fete de la Musique' throughout Europe. It is the first day of summer and at one time, a French king (or equivalent to a king) designated that this date would be known as the Fete de la Musique and would be marked by concerts throughout the city. As I walked around Berlin, I couldn't help but run into small concert after small concert.
In the end, it may not have been exactly the day I had in mind, but it was still a good one. I saw that my friend here in Berlin is truly someone you can count on as he helped ease my panic and trekked with me to the hotel and back into the city. And since I was wandering aimlessly in the city rather than on a mission of some kind, I ran into the street concerts and felt free to sit and enjoy them.
-Walk to a castle nestled in hills full of vineyard and enjoy a glass of wine while taking in the view
-Float along the River Rhine while mentally deciding which castle I would choose for my own
-Visit a 1000 year old cathedral surrounded by a quaint gothic village
-Walk along the remains of the Berlin wall
-Drink beer by the half liter
-Walk through the Brandenburg Gate
However, yesterday was a bit of a difficult one. I woke up in the morning with plans to go out to brunch with the friend I met in Berlin. I didn't have many euros so I was hoping to find somewhere to change money. In Freetown, you can change money almost anywhere, and even if you don't have leones you can basically always pay with dollars. Germany is not so dollar friendly, unfortunately. The hotel wouldn't change money, but gave me information for a place that would. I went there, but it was closed. I decided I would go meet my friend and figure it out there.
We decided getting money changed wouldn't be too easy, but we could surely get money out with an ATM (which I had done only a few days before). We were very, very wrong. We tried probably a dozen ATMs throughout the city with no luck. As each ATM refused to cooperate, I became more and more sure that someone had cleaned out my account. This happened to several of my colleagues in Sierra Leone and it seemed strange that my card had worked only days before. I was seized by an unshakeable need to check my bank statement. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember my password so we ended up returning to the hotel to get my password and check. My fears were, of course, unfounded. I had plenty of money in my account, I just couldn't access it.
So, one problem was solved, but the mystery of why I couldn't access my money was still pending. We went back into town and managed to find a place that would take credit cards and had our brunch, at 1 pm. My friend had to leave to go back to his town so I was left by myself. I went to go try to find somewhere to change money. The first person I went to try to give me 60 euros for 100 dollars, which I didn't accept but I eventually found someone.
I sat in the train station feeling a little shell-shocked from how the day had gone so far, but not feeling like it was a good idea to go to the hotel and call it a day. My feet were also still aching from the 10 or 15 kilometers we had walked the day before, exploring the city in full. I convinced myself to go back to an area I had particularly liked the day before and was rewarded greatly for my pluck. It turns out the June 21 is the 'Fete de la Musique' throughout Europe. It is the first day of summer and at one time, a French king (or equivalent to a king) designated that this date would be known as the Fete de la Musique and would be marked by concerts throughout the city. As I walked around Berlin, I couldn't help but run into small concert after small concert.
In the end, it may not have been exactly the day I had in mind, but it was still a good one. I saw that my friend here in Berlin is truly someone you can count on as he helped ease my panic and trekked with me to the hotel and back into the city. And since I was wandering aimlessly in the city rather than on a mission of some kind, I ran into the street concerts and felt free to sit and enjoy them.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Escape From Freetown
I’m writing this post from inside a high speed train on my
way from Frankfurt to the Black Forest in Germany. I left Freetown on Friday night to start a two week
vacation, which will be my last before I finish my contract in August.
Leaving Freetown on Friday was typical. Although my flight left at 5 am, I
needed to catch the boat to cross the bay at 1:00 AM, so I needed to be there
by 12:30 and needed a car to pick me up at 12:00. I spoke with our fleet manager to arrange to have the car
there at 12:00. This, of course,
didn’t happen. I ended up getting
a driver who wasn’t on duty to take me to the boat and paid him out of
pocket. Then I waited for the boat
to leave for 30 minutes, had a 45-50 minute trip across the bay, another 20
minutes or so from the boat to the airport, 10 minutes getting through the
first security check, 20 for the next, and then an hour standing in line to
check in. I didn’t realize this,
but at Freetown airport there are actually no computers so you’re supposed to
print out your ticket, which I didn’t do.
In any case, they worked it out.
15 or 20 minutes to make it through immigration and security and then
and hour or so waiting for the plane to take off. Typical Freetown life.
After a layover in Casablanca for a few hours, I finally
arrived to Frankfurt. I was really
anxious about arriving to a place that was completely new to me, where I didn’t
speak the language, and trying to figure out how to get to the place I was
staying. My fears, however, were
completely unfounded. After a few
missteps, I found myself at my destination. Frankfurt has an amazing public transit system that would
put even DC to shame. It’s hard to
explain how liberating it feels to be able to decide where I want to go and
what I want to do without having to deal with calling multiple drivers, dealing
with other people calling and wanting the car at the same time, and knowing
that everyone knows exactly what I’m doing all the time. Despite its name, Freetown is the place
where I’ve felt less free than ever before in my life.
I don’t want to make you all think that I hate living in
Freetown, because that definitely isn’t true. There are absolutely great things about it like my friends,
without whom I would have had a nervous breakdown long, long ago. And to be honest it’s definitely one of
the most beautiful places I’ve ever lived. But it’s not easy.
Although I guess it’s not supposed to be.
Although life in Salone can be hard, the time that I’ve
spent there has flown by. When I
get back from my vacation on the 27th of this month, I’ll only have
a little over a month left before I come back to the US. The overwhelming feeling I’ve been
having at work these days is that there just won’t be enough time to accomplish everything I wanted to before I
leave. When I started in my new
job as the Freetown Health Manager, I took on the management of a huge project
with a team of 21 people and a gigantic budget. My job was to get it restarted and get it all
organized. I’ve made a lot of
headway, but there are still miles to go until I could say that my job is
done. The hard truth is that in
the end, I’ll probably have to just do my best to control my inner
perfectionist/control freak and accept that someone else can pick up where I
left off and it simply will not be the end of the world.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Highs and Lows
In the field of global health, as in a lot of fields, there are a lot of highs and lows. There are days where you find yourself so fulfilled with the work that you're doing that you couldn't imagine doing anything else and days where you find yourself wondering if anything you're doing makes any difference at all. And some days you even have both of those intense feelings within a period of hours.
This week I had one day that has exemplified a lot of my experience here and the highs and lows that have gone along with it. As I've talked about before, I've now moved on from my position as OICC Programme Manager focusing on Ebola response and have transitioned into a position as Freetown Health Manager where my job is implementing our long term health projects in the capital. Just to give you a sense of the scope of our project in Freetown, we have at least 70 project activities that have to be completed during the next six months. Although I manage a team of about 20 people, I had been finding that the responsibility for getting things done was all falling on the shoulders of the three of us at the top of the pyramid.
After discussing this with my boss (who is amazing, by the way), we decided to plan a one-day planning workshop with the team to increase understanding of the whole project and create detailed workplans for each of the project activities. I was really excited about this idea and threw myself into planning. I chose a great location that is close to the office but very pretty and sure to be a relaxing place for everyone to get to know each other and attack the task at hand.
I came into work on the day of the event and was told that the place we wanted had not been booked, but an alternative had been found. Not ideal, but ok. The alternative was further away, so we had to find a way to get the whole group there. However, our fleet manager told my colleague there was no fuel in the cars. I went to the Fleet Manager and managed to convince him that this was not an option and got us a car. At this point, it was 9:10. The event was meant to start at 9:00.
We got into cars and started moving. For about 5 minutes until we hit a massive traffic jam where we sat until 10:00. We finally arrived to the location, which was of course not as nice as the one I had originally requested. And, as it turned out, had also been double booked. My boss told me he would handle the double-booking issue and I started to set up. Of course, only one outlet in the hall worked, so we had to re-arrange the entire room set up. Finally by 10:30 or 10:45, we began.
I managed to shake off my frustration and found myself commanding the room as I started my presentation. The team was responsive and engaged and everything seemed to be coming together. I honestly had serious doubts about whether this exercise would work. We were asking our team to do relatively high level planning for a large number of activities and there was a definite possibility that they wouldn't be able to do it. I had set aside about 3 hours of the day for group work, so if we found that the team couldn't handle it, disaster would have been inevitable. As we put them to work, there were some challenges, but between myself and my boss, we worked with everyone and people caught on. Before long, I found that I didn't even need to assist the team with the work and I just left them to do it.
By the end of the day, our team had taken every activity in our program and had developed a detailed plan for its completion. For those of you who have worked in development and with large groups of varied experience and capacity, this is the kind of result that you can scarcely dream of. I was on cloud 9, feeling like I'd gotten to know my team better, built team solidarity, increased capacity, and saved myself a ton of work all in one fell swoop. My boss said to me 'we've made tremendous progress today,' and I couldn't help but agree.
And then I stood outside the training hall with my colleagues and waited an entire for a car to come pick us up, calling our Fleet Manager about every 15 minutes trying to understand why I found myself waiting for a car, once again. It finally arrived and I made it back to the office and went out to a bar overlooking the ocean for drinks with my colleagues, ending the day on not necessarily a high, but with the warm feeling of sitting with people who you have become your family and sharing the highs and lows of your days.
And that, my friends, is more or less a typical day in my life here. A roller coaster from being on the verge of tears to feeling unstoppable to feeling incredibly proud of your colleagues to feeling like your colleagues are completely useless to feeling awed by the beauty of this place and finally feeling so exhausted that all you can do is fall into bed and do it all again the next day.
This week I had one day that has exemplified a lot of my experience here and the highs and lows that have gone along with it. As I've talked about before, I've now moved on from my position as OICC Programme Manager focusing on Ebola response and have transitioned into a position as Freetown Health Manager where my job is implementing our long term health projects in the capital. Just to give you a sense of the scope of our project in Freetown, we have at least 70 project activities that have to be completed during the next six months. Although I manage a team of about 20 people, I had been finding that the responsibility for getting things done was all falling on the shoulders of the three of us at the top of the pyramid.
After discussing this with my boss (who is amazing, by the way), we decided to plan a one-day planning workshop with the team to increase understanding of the whole project and create detailed workplans for each of the project activities. I was really excited about this idea and threw myself into planning. I chose a great location that is close to the office but very pretty and sure to be a relaxing place for everyone to get to know each other and attack the task at hand.
I came into work on the day of the event and was told that the place we wanted had not been booked, but an alternative had been found. Not ideal, but ok. The alternative was further away, so we had to find a way to get the whole group there. However, our fleet manager told my colleague there was no fuel in the cars. I went to the Fleet Manager and managed to convince him that this was not an option and got us a car. At this point, it was 9:10. The event was meant to start at 9:00.
We got into cars and started moving. For about 5 minutes until we hit a massive traffic jam where we sat until 10:00. We finally arrived to the location, which was of course not as nice as the one I had originally requested. And, as it turned out, had also been double booked. My boss told me he would handle the double-booking issue and I started to set up. Of course, only one outlet in the hall worked, so we had to re-arrange the entire room set up. Finally by 10:30 or 10:45, we began.
I managed to shake off my frustration and found myself commanding the room as I started my presentation. The team was responsive and engaged and everything seemed to be coming together. I honestly had serious doubts about whether this exercise would work. We were asking our team to do relatively high level planning for a large number of activities and there was a definite possibility that they wouldn't be able to do it. I had set aside about 3 hours of the day for group work, so if we found that the team couldn't handle it, disaster would have been inevitable. As we put them to work, there were some challenges, but between myself and my boss, we worked with everyone and people caught on. Before long, I found that I didn't even need to assist the team with the work and I just left them to do it.
By the end of the day, our team had taken every activity in our program and had developed a detailed plan for its completion. For those of you who have worked in development and with large groups of varied experience and capacity, this is the kind of result that you can scarcely dream of. I was on cloud 9, feeling like I'd gotten to know my team better, built team solidarity, increased capacity, and saved myself a ton of work all in one fell swoop. My boss said to me 'we've made tremendous progress today,' and I couldn't help but agree.
And then I stood outside the training hall with my colleagues and waited an entire for a car to come pick us up, calling our Fleet Manager about every 15 minutes trying to understand why I found myself waiting for a car, once again. It finally arrived and I made it back to the office and went out to a bar overlooking the ocean for drinks with my colleagues, ending the day on not necessarily a high, but with the warm feeling of sitting with people who you have become your family and sharing the highs and lows of your days.
And that, my friends, is more or less a typical day in my life here. A roller coaster from being on the verge of tears to feeling unstoppable to feeling incredibly proud of your colleagues to feeling like your colleagues are completely useless to feeling awed by the beauty of this place and finally feeling so exhausted that all you can do is fall into bed and do it all again the next day.
Monday, May 11, 2015
The beginning of the end
There are funny things here that I use to keep tabs on how long I've been here... While I'm here, I have to take a malaria prophylaxis every day. I was advised to bring down enough pills for my whole six month contract, so I came down with about 175 pills. And as I watch my supply dwindle, it's like a visual representation of my time here. I also decided to leave my external hard drive at home, so every thirty days or so my MacBook will remind me how many days it's been since I last updated... another reminder of how long I've been away. At this point, it's been over four months and I have less than three left. My final day will be August 5 and I'll start orientation at Tulane on August 19. Just one more whirlwind transition with a cross-country move involved.
In reflecting on my experience so far, I find myself shocked at how transformative of an experience it's been. I think back on how I dealt with different situations in my first few weeks and how I deal with them now and it's hard to believe I'm the same person. Things that would have brought me to tears when I first arrived now barely even register. My obsessive need to be the smartest person in the room and my somewhat unhealthy level of ambition have both mellowed a bit. I've found that it's not so important to have the highest level position, but rather to have a position that allows you to have somewhat of a work-life balance and that you find interesting. And that's what I have now and I'm happy with it.
In my last post I wrote about how monotonous life can be here. The situation is still the same, but I decided to take the reins and make some changes. I'm working on organizing a pub quiz night at one of the local bars, I arranged a GOAL potluck this weekend, and I'm planning a karaoke night this week. Sometimes you just have to decide that you're going to get out of your rut and drag other people out with you.
Sadly, there are some changes coming that I'm not looking forward to. My French roommate got a job with another NGO and she's leaving at the end of the month. She'll still be in country, but not in Freetown. The dynamic that we have in our flat is one of my favourite things about my life here and it will be really hard to do without. It can be hard to trust people in an aid context because aside from drinking, gossip is probably the number one pastime. But I do trust my flatmates, and it will be really hard to watch her go. Our Assistant Country Director, who is absolutely fabulous, is also leaving at the end of the month... and then our Financial Controller at the end of June. One by one, my social circle is deserting. I realize that I'm deserting, too, but it doesn't make it much easier.
I know that it will be alright and that the time will fly by, even as I start to miss the people who have gone. It's just strange to realize that somehow, without me really noticing, my time here has started slipping away. However, I'm hoping that we're finally starting to get to the beginning of the end of Ebola. In order to be declared Ebola-free, a country has to pass 42 days (twice the incubation period of the disease) without any new cases. Although cases have been reducing steadily, we continue to have small surges of 4 or 5 cases at a time that have been stalling our progress. As of today, Sierra Leone has had 5 days with zero new cases. This is a big milestone for us and we're really hoping this could be the start of our 42 days. My big hope is that I'll be able to be here to see the end of Ebola, but it's hard to say whether or not that will happen. Ojala...
In reflecting on my experience so far, I find myself shocked at how transformative of an experience it's been. I think back on how I dealt with different situations in my first few weeks and how I deal with them now and it's hard to believe I'm the same person. Things that would have brought me to tears when I first arrived now barely even register. My obsessive need to be the smartest person in the room and my somewhat unhealthy level of ambition have both mellowed a bit. I've found that it's not so important to have the highest level position, but rather to have a position that allows you to have somewhat of a work-life balance and that you find interesting. And that's what I have now and I'm happy with it.
In my last post I wrote about how monotonous life can be here. The situation is still the same, but I decided to take the reins and make some changes. I'm working on organizing a pub quiz night at one of the local bars, I arranged a GOAL potluck this weekend, and I'm planning a karaoke night this week. Sometimes you just have to decide that you're going to get out of your rut and drag other people out with you.
Sadly, there are some changes coming that I'm not looking forward to. My French roommate got a job with another NGO and she's leaving at the end of the month. She'll still be in country, but not in Freetown. The dynamic that we have in our flat is one of my favourite things about my life here and it will be really hard to do without. It can be hard to trust people in an aid context because aside from drinking, gossip is probably the number one pastime. But I do trust my flatmates, and it will be really hard to watch her go. Our Assistant Country Director, who is absolutely fabulous, is also leaving at the end of the month... and then our Financial Controller at the end of June. One by one, my social circle is deserting. I realize that I'm deserting, too, but it doesn't make it much easier.
I know that it will be alright and that the time will fly by, even as I start to miss the people who have gone. It's just strange to realize that somehow, without me really noticing, my time here has started slipping away. However, I'm hoping that we're finally starting to get to the beginning of the end of Ebola. In order to be declared Ebola-free, a country has to pass 42 days (twice the incubation period of the disease) without any new cases. Although cases have been reducing steadily, we continue to have small surges of 4 or 5 cases at a time that have been stalling our progress. As of today, Sierra Leone has had 5 days with zero new cases. This is a big milestone for us and we're really hoping this could be the start of our 42 days. My big hope is that I'll be able to be here to see the end of Ebola, but it's hard to say whether or not that will happen. Ojala...
Sunday, April 26, 2015
The Last Mile
It's almost the end of my fourth month in Sierra Leone and I'm finding that things are changing, but even more so they're staying the same. The Ebola epidemic was already beginning it's downward trend when I arrived, but now four months later, we still haven't managed to get to zero. We're now stuck in a tricky middle ground where we have to be constantly prepared for a surge of cases, but at the same time have to turn our attention towards recovery projects.
For me, this means dividing my time between my original role of managing the OICCs and my additional responsibilities as Freetown Health Manager. With the OICCs, every month requires me to try to anticipate the future and determine whether or not we can get funds to keep it open, what to do with the staff employed there, and what our long term plan is. At this point, I think we're all comfortable with it remaining open through May, but it's April 26 and I don't yet have the funding secured for May 1. This kind of constant uncertainty and narrow focus is a sharp contrast with Freetown Health, which is a long term health project with a broad array of activities. Trying to juggle the two, along with new projects that will likely be thrown my way, is proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated.
As things change and stay the same at work, the same thing is happening in the rest of my life. Since we're still in the midst of an epidemic, albeit one that is losing steam, our options for a social life in Freetown are still limited. There are still only four restaurants open after 6 pm, and every Friday night inevitably means going to the only one with a DJ: Country Lodge. Our lives have reached a level of monotony that can become quite depressing. Our Sunday escape the beach, though, is now no longer a possibility. The official stance of the President is that beaches are off limits, although the authorities had become lax on that issue and we were able to go the beach with no problem. Until Easter weekend when a group of staff from the Ebola Treatment Centre in Port Loko were arrested for going to the beach. Since then, the beaches have been off limits for all staff. As far as we can tell, we're the only NGO that has this restriction, so it's something that's really frustrating for all of us. When you have such a limited option of things to do, having such a key one taken away is really no fun.
It's funny even the little things that grow monotonous. I didn't bring a lot of clothing with me, just like everyone else. We see each other so often and all have such limited wardrobes that we all wear essentially the same thing, week after week. I open up my closet in the morning and internally sigh as I think about wearing the same thing I wore last week, and the week before, and for every week in the past four months. Our office isn't exactly surrounded by restaurants and the streets are dusty and full of traffic, so going out to lunch isn't really a nice experience. We have a woman at the office who cooks, but every single day it's rice with chicken and fried plantains. Every. Day. The chicken always has bones, but she only gives us a spoon, so I spend my lunch time desperately trying to get some meat off of the bone with a spoon and inevitably making a mess of the task.
In the midst of this monotony, though, things are changing all around me. In crisis situations like this, people are usually given six month contracts. Many people extend, but all around me, my social circle is deserting. When I first arrived, I just took all of the people around me for granted because I saw them so often, but now people are leaving left and right and I'm finding the my social circle was somewhat fragile. Luckily, though, my flatmates aren't going anywhere. It makes me sad when my friends start leaving, but if any of my flatmates left I think I would be in really bad shape.
I think that the way that I'm feeling is just part of the stages of living abroad. At first it's all new and exciting, but as the new wears off and the small frustrations start to seem bigger, you find yourself feeling dissatisfied with your life. I've been through it before, so I know that this feeling will pass with time. And I know that when I have to board that plane to head back home, that it will be hard to go. And also, there are of course some ways to break up the monotony.
Last weekend, my flatmates and I went to a chimpanzee reserve just outside of Freetown. It had been closed for months because of the outbreak, and had just reopened. We stayed in an ecolodge in the heart of the jungle where we could hear the sounds of the chimpanzees and other jungle animals all around us. As soon as we arrived, I felt this wave of calm wash over me and I continued to feel that way for the entire weekend. We didn't do much, went to see the chimpanzees, went on a hike, and ate food and drank wine and just relaxed.
I'm also distracting myself with making plans. I've worked out my schedule for the future and I'll be leaving Sierra Leone at the end of the first week in August. And I'll be taking a trip to a few countries in Europe in June. For right now I think it will be Germany, the UK, and Ireland but I'm still working out the details. And on August 19, I'll be starting my DrPH program at Tulane! It feels great to have made a decision and I'm really excited about new challenges in a new city. Onward and upward!
For me, this means dividing my time between my original role of managing the OICCs and my additional responsibilities as Freetown Health Manager. With the OICCs, every month requires me to try to anticipate the future and determine whether or not we can get funds to keep it open, what to do with the staff employed there, and what our long term plan is. At this point, I think we're all comfortable with it remaining open through May, but it's April 26 and I don't yet have the funding secured for May 1. This kind of constant uncertainty and narrow focus is a sharp contrast with Freetown Health, which is a long term health project with a broad array of activities. Trying to juggle the two, along with new projects that will likely be thrown my way, is proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated.
As things change and stay the same at work, the same thing is happening in the rest of my life. Since we're still in the midst of an epidemic, albeit one that is losing steam, our options for a social life in Freetown are still limited. There are still only four restaurants open after 6 pm, and every Friday night inevitably means going to the only one with a DJ: Country Lodge. Our lives have reached a level of monotony that can become quite depressing. Our Sunday escape the beach, though, is now no longer a possibility. The official stance of the President is that beaches are off limits, although the authorities had become lax on that issue and we were able to go the beach with no problem. Until Easter weekend when a group of staff from the Ebola Treatment Centre in Port Loko were arrested for going to the beach. Since then, the beaches have been off limits for all staff. As far as we can tell, we're the only NGO that has this restriction, so it's something that's really frustrating for all of us. When you have such a limited option of things to do, having such a key one taken away is really no fun.
It's funny even the little things that grow monotonous. I didn't bring a lot of clothing with me, just like everyone else. We see each other so often and all have such limited wardrobes that we all wear essentially the same thing, week after week. I open up my closet in the morning and internally sigh as I think about wearing the same thing I wore last week, and the week before, and for every week in the past four months. Our office isn't exactly surrounded by restaurants and the streets are dusty and full of traffic, so going out to lunch isn't really a nice experience. We have a woman at the office who cooks, but every single day it's rice with chicken and fried plantains. Every. Day. The chicken always has bones, but she only gives us a spoon, so I spend my lunch time desperately trying to get some meat off of the bone with a spoon and inevitably making a mess of the task.
In the midst of this monotony, though, things are changing all around me. In crisis situations like this, people are usually given six month contracts. Many people extend, but all around me, my social circle is deserting. When I first arrived, I just took all of the people around me for granted because I saw them so often, but now people are leaving left and right and I'm finding the my social circle was somewhat fragile. Luckily, though, my flatmates aren't going anywhere. It makes me sad when my friends start leaving, but if any of my flatmates left I think I would be in really bad shape.
I think that the way that I'm feeling is just part of the stages of living abroad. At first it's all new and exciting, but as the new wears off and the small frustrations start to seem bigger, you find yourself feeling dissatisfied with your life. I've been through it before, so I know that this feeling will pass with time. And I know that when I have to board that plane to head back home, that it will be hard to go. And also, there are of course some ways to break up the monotony.
Last weekend, my flatmates and I went to a chimpanzee reserve just outside of Freetown. It had been closed for months because of the outbreak, and had just reopened. We stayed in an ecolodge in the heart of the jungle where we could hear the sounds of the chimpanzees and other jungle animals all around us. As soon as we arrived, I felt this wave of calm wash over me and I continued to feel that way for the entire weekend. We didn't do much, went to see the chimpanzees, went on a hike, and ate food and drank wine and just relaxed.
I'm also distracting myself with making plans. I've worked out my schedule for the future and I'll be leaving Sierra Leone at the end of the first week in August. And I'll be taking a trip to a few countries in Europe in June. For right now I think it will be Germany, the UK, and Ireland but I'm still working out the details. And on August 19, I'll be starting my DrPH program at Tulane! It feels great to have made a decision and I'm really excited about new challenges in a new city. Onward and upward!
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Coming Home
I've had many homes that I've loved in my life, and now I can add Sierra Leone to that list. You never really realize that a place has become home until you leave it and come back. I returned from Ghana on Wednesday and found myself breathing a sigh of relief as I stepped out of the airport into the cool air. I enjoyed being away and having some time to myself, but I was happy to see the ocean stretching out before me on the ride home and was excited to see my friends in Freetown.
As I started to unpack, I had another great surprise. My room doesn't have a dresser or any shelves in the closet, so for the past three months I've been keeping things that don't need to be put on hangers in my suitcase. But when I came home, I finally had shelves! So after three months of living out of a suitcase, I was finally able to unpack properly.
My time in Ghana was really refreshing. I spent one day in Accra and then went to the coast to spend a few days. The town I stayed in was small and the coastline was dominated by Cape Coast Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coast_Castle). This is one of the several castles that were built on the Gold Coast of Ghana for the slave trade. It's hard to describe how I felt as I was touring it. The disconnect between the beautiful building and the stunning views of the coast and the ugly things that had happened there was hard to stomach. The most striking contrast was the entrance to the church in the castle. Just outside the door of the church was a spy hole for the men's dungeons where over 200 men at a time were trapped with only a tiny window at the top for light and ventilation. It's hard to imagine how the people working at the castle were able to walk into their church service past the cries from below.
My time in the Cape Coast wasn't completely heavy, though. I made new friends and learned how to play a ngony and managed to commission one to be made and sent to my Mom. I spent a lot of time sitting on the beach, sipping a beer, and just relaxing. Here in Sierra Leone we generally work 10-12 hour days and are expected to work at least one day of the weekend. Since it's the norm, you get used to it and start to forget what it's like to have a proper work-life balance. While I was away, I didn't check my email at all and I was able to just focus on myself for the first time in a long time. It was definitely a needed break.
This weekend in Sierra Leone we're having a 'stay-at-home' period, also known as a lockdown. The cases had been reducing, but getting to zero is proving to be much more of a challenge. We've had case surges in certain areas and it seems that our progress is starting to stall. So the government declared this lockdown for three days. No one is allowed to leave the house for three days to try to reduce cases. It's quite boring, but at least I have my roommates. The house we live in has three floors of people, so we've been taking turns cooking dinner for each other and hanging out. In addition to that, I've also been making great use of my Netflix account. I think if they ever need a spokeswoman, I could absolutely do it.
As I started to unpack, I had another great surprise. My room doesn't have a dresser or any shelves in the closet, so for the past three months I've been keeping things that don't need to be put on hangers in my suitcase. But when I came home, I finally had shelves! So after three months of living out of a suitcase, I was finally able to unpack properly.
My time in Ghana was really refreshing. I spent one day in Accra and then went to the coast to spend a few days. The town I stayed in was small and the coastline was dominated by Cape Coast Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coast_Castle). This is one of the several castles that were built on the Gold Coast of Ghana for the slave trade. It's hard to describe how I felt as I was touring it. The disconnect between the beautiful building and the stunning views of the coast and the ugly things that had happened there was hard to stomach. The most striking contrast was the entrance to the church in the castle. Just outside the door of the church was a spy hole for the men's dungeons where over 200 men at a time were trapped with only a tiny window at the top for light and ventilation. It's hard to imagine how the people working at the castle were able to walk into their church service past the cries from below.
My time in the Cape Coast wasn't completely heavy, though. I made new friends and learned how to play a ngony and managed to commission one to be made and sent to my Mom. I spent a lot of time sitting on the beach, sipping a beer, and just relaxing. Here in Sierra Leone we generally work 10-12 hour days and are expected to work at least one day of the weekend. Since it's the norm, you get used to it and start to forget what it's like to have a proper work-life balance. While I was away, I didn't check my email at all and I was able to just focus on myself for the first time in a long time. It was definitely a needed break.
This weekend in Sierra Leone we're having a 'stay-at-home' period, also known as a lockdown. The cases had been reducing, but getting to zero is proving to be much more of a challenge. We've had case surges in certain areas and it seems that our progress is starting to stall. So the government declared this lockdown for three days. No one is allowed to leave the house for three days to try to reduce cases. It's quite boring, but at least I have my roommates. The house we live in has three floors of people, so we've been taking turns cooking dinner for each other and hanging out. In addition to that, I've also been making great use of my Netflix account. I think if they ever need a spokeswoman, I could absolutely do it.
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