Pam Parish

Journey to Sierra Leone: Day 2

Posted on 05 November 2008
Tags: Christianity, Inspiration

Sunday began at London’s Heathrow airport as our team awaited the departing flight to Sierra Leone. We spent our time sleeping, eating and window shopping. London’s airport is an indoor mall… if only the U.S. dollar wasn’t so weak compared to the pound. Geez things are expensive.

The time finally came to board the plane for Sierra Leone. Our flight would be about 7 hours, putting us in Sierra Leone around 7:00 p.m. On the plane we all had a chance to reflect on our journey so far and anticipate the days ahead… some of us also caught some shut-eye, although we knew it might not be a good idea since we needed to sleep that night. I had a chance to catch up on my journal writing and take some beautiful pictures of the sky and sundown from my window seat.

Yes, that’s Craig, Darrell & me hiding in the next row back. Funny.

We arrived safely and prayerfully in Sierra Leone’s Lungi Airport. Our plane ride was really, really rough. Wow, can anyone say turbulence?! As we were beginning our final approach into Sierra Leone we were witness to a fantastic lighting storm over the area. As I watched the lightening brighten up the night sky, I gazed in awe at the landscape below us. With each lightening strike, shadows danced across the African terrain. I couldn’t help but to reflect on the shadows and scars that the war has left behind on this beautiful place and wonder what experiences await me on the ground.

The airplane parked on the tarmac and we walked into the airport under a sign reading “Welcome to Sierra Leone”. The first thing I noticed was that it was very, very humid and, as expected, the airport was small - really small. As I entered the airport doors there was a Sierra Leonean man standing by the door - he reached out to shake my hand and as I took his hand he smiled and said, “Welcome home.” I laughed and said, “Thank you.” A nice way to start my time in SL.

We were directed into the VIP lounge in the airport and one of Joan’s Joshua International team greeted us and gave us our custom’s cards to fill out, then she took our passports and ran us through customs as we rested. I was so impressed with the pre-planning that Joan’s team had done to help make it easy for us.

All of our luggage made it, except 7 boxes which contained some of our more important antibiotics for the medical clinic. We gathered as a group and prayed, asking God to protect them and bring them safely on the next flight which would arrive tomorrow.

After gathering all of our luggage, we loaded onto a bus headed for the hovercraft. It was pitch dark at this point, going on 8:00p.m. SL time. As the bus headed out of the airport, I got my first real glimpse of Sierra Leone. The road outside of the airport was lined with small tin roofed shanties, each one about the size of the small aluminum buildings that you can buy at Home Depot to store your lawnmower; they appeared to serve as both family homes and storefronts where the family would sell their wares. As we passed, I gazed at families gathered around gas lanterns and fire pits - their only source of light. I looked into one of the candlelit buildings whose walls were lined with items for sale and saw three adults sleeping on the wooden floor covered by thin blankets. Driving along the road, I could make out other figures along the road in front of other shanties, appearing as shadows moving in the darkness of night.

Traveling through the darkness was a bit eerie; the road appeared to be only one narrow lane, full of ruts from recent rains and bordered by tall brush on each side. Occasionally a motorcycle carrying a few people would pass us and there were people out all along the way, walking on both sides of the dirt road.

We arrived at the hovercraft station and waited in a large concrete building with a tin roof as our luggage was pulled from the bus and placed onto the hovercraft. As we waited, a couple of kids came up outside of the station, I was surprised to see children up this late and out on their own. I would soon learn that this is very common and they were very likely war orphans who really have no family and hang around busy areas hoping to make some money or find some food. By the time we boarded the hovercraft headed for Freetown, we were all approaching exhaustion. Personally, I just wanted a shower, after a solid day of airports, airplanes, buses and boats… I felt icky. I knew that it would have to be a cold shower because there would be no hot water at the place we were staying, but at this point, it really didn’t matter.

We docked in Freetown and exited the hovercraft into a small building with seating while our baggage was unloaded. I can only describe the “luggage” scene in the building as organized chaos with men bringing in our bags and just as quickly trying to take them out to our awaiting vehicles. It seemed like mass confusion. After we’d identified our bags and made sure that they were all properly taken out, we exited to begin our trip up the mountain to Javouhey House.

Because of Joan’s connections to the Sierra Leonean government, we were provided with a military escort during our entire time there - something I would find extremely comforting in the days to come. As we loaded into the military van with a jeep following us loaded up with our luggage and turned onto the main road, I was surprised to see so many people out. All along the road in little shanties, small stick tents or in groups walking were people of all ages … many of them starring at us as we drove by. At the time I couldn’t decide if the looks were curiosity or anger… I would discover over the next week that it’s usually a mixture of both. As I looked at their faces, I couldn’t help but to see an overarching sadness in everyone’s eyes. If eyes are the window to the heart, the people of Sierra Leone have deeply wounded and saddened hearts. I uttered a silent prayer that God would use me, use us, in our short time here to bring a glimmer of happiness and hope to their lives.

Driving along the road to Javouhey House was an experience of night in Freetown. Along the beach there were tons of people, cars with music playing loudly and throngs of people partying - it had to be nearly midnight at this point - I was stunned, again, to see so many people out.

I was able to call home on Joan’s mobile phone for a few seconds to let Steve know that we had arrived safely, as usual, it was wonderful to hear his voice, but it did make me miss him. *sigh*

Headed up the hill to Javouhey House, we passed the U.S. Embassy. In comparison to the buildings of Freetown, the embassy is a massive structure painted bright white that stands out in stark contrast to its surrounding.

We finally arrived to Javouhey House, my new home for the next 9 days. We were greeted by more of the Joshua International Ministries staff and had food waiting for us. Initially the power was not on and the house was lit by gas lantern and candle. Shortly after we arrived someone turned on the generator and we had power to get our showers with. The electricity from the generator was great, but every light flickered continuously; it took me a while to get used to it.

When I finally unpacked and got into the shower, I really didn’t mind that it was cold water. I was so tired and wanted a shower so that I could crawl into bed. First, though, I had to follow a few shower rules:

1. Don’t get water in your eyes, mouth or nose.

2. Don’t wash your face in the shower. Wash it at the sink using bottled water.

3. Use bottled water, always, to brush your teeth.

Check, check, check… 1st shower over - it’s 2:00 a.m. and I am finally crawling into bed to sleep. We have to be up for devotions at 6:30. With windows open and the sound of crickets singing in the night, I drifted off to sleep with a quiet prayer that God would give the the strength I would need for the rest of the journey.

Here’s a pic of my bedroom, shared with my wonderful roommate, Bridget.