We were driving to Logos Ship (floating book store), when we got to a sign that said no through traffic. But since the place we had just came from was completely blocked with traffic and we were directed this way, I just moved the sign to the side and let my driver drive the car past, and then I replaced the sign. Then all of a sudden, I see this policeman yelling at me. He was saying something like "You can't move that sign!" I tried to explain that we were told to come this way, but he wouldn't listen and kept on yelling at me. But since he didn't speak very good English, I couldn't really understand him. Anyhow, my driver came out, and told me to sit in the car while he argued with the police. Eventually we were allowed to leave, but then my driver found he had been pickpocketed.
Later, I was told that the police in Sierra Leone will try to stop foreigners for any reason (and sometimes no reason) at all. They essentially just want you to bribe them with money. What they'll do is they'll take you to the police station, and the people at the station will say there's no reason for us to be stopped, and just let us go, but the whole process is just extremely time consuming, so when a police tries to stop you, you need to just ignore them and keep on driving (since they don't have vehicles). In fact, the police don't even have the legal right to stop NGO's for any reason. Pretty much, this whole country is corrupt. Sad, but true. There's corruption in the police system, corruption in the government, corruption in the healthcare system, and even corruption with distribution of plumpy nut. President Koroma's new Anti-corruption Committee is helping out a lot (firing Minister of Fishery, Land, etc...), but it's a looooooooong process.
Monday, June 28, 2010
I Can't Believe I Waited 4 Hours!!!
I can't believe I waited 4 hours to have someone type a few 0's and a few lines on a sheet of paper and sign it! I went this other day to a lab to get results for our plumpy nut to make sure there are no germs in it. I waited for probably an hour before someone finally came and said I can go take a observe the lab procedure (which I also went to do). That pretty much consisted of the lab guy saying "Look, it's all purple still, which means no microbes." And then I continued to wait. Got so bored I went downstairs to watch the World Cup. I finished A WHOLE FREAKIN SOCCER GAME, and then I went back to ask what's going on. Only then did she finally get on her computer to type up the results and print it out. Why couldn't she have just done that FIRST and then done whatever she needed to do? Why did she have to make me wait FOUR FREAKIN HOURS!!! Why did she tell me it was going to be ready at NOON when it wasn't ready till AFTER FIVE!!! Ah...I hate how Sierra Leone has no concept of time! I guess the plus is that I got to watch the US vs. Slovenia game, which was pretty intense.
Monday, June 21, 2010
(NOT) The best place to learn to Drive A Stick Shift
Yup, had my first experience driving a manual - oh boy. So I was planning to go to the beach to learn, where there weren't supposed to be a lot of people, and the roads are nice, open and wide. But, my driver (Lahai) decided it would be a good idea to go to a field to learn. However, when we got there, people were playing cricket on it (Of course! Cricket! Why didn't I think of that?!!), so I ended up learning on the road circling the field.
The road was DEFINITELY not wide enough for two way traffic but for some reason, cars were adamant about driving on that street. Maybe they knew I was learning, so they were purposely driving in the opposite direction as me to freak me out. Anyhow, I ended up learning how to drive a stick shift squeezed between a wall (or sometimes a ditch) and a car a foot away from me half the time. The worst was when an enormous construction truck would approach. I'd look on in terror and Lahai would laugh. Great. Oh, I didn't mention that driving on the main road in Sierra Leone is horrendous. Thank goodness this was a side street.
To make matters worse, I was learning from my driver. Not that he was a bad teacher, but his English was bad, and my Krio was even worse. So half the time, he's talking about "mass"-ing the break or the accelerator and I'm wondering does that mean press or release?!! (It means press.) And initially, I didn't even know if it was okay to press the break if I was going to crash into a wall. Well, okay, maybe my common sense was not functioning a hundred percent then.
At one unfortunate junction, I slowed to first gear to turn, but instead, I stalled. Frustrated, I banged my head on the steering wheel, and I fortuitously honked the horn just as a group of students were walking in front of the car. Yes, they all stared, pointed, and laughed at the strange American who couldn't keep a car running.
Then after a few circles, Lahai all of a sudden jumped out of the car and said, "I'm going to let you drive by yourself, to test how you do mentally." Great, I just hope I don't stall and forget how to start up the car. Well, despite my clumsiness gene, I made it back, and I jokingly said "I only ran over three people." But I don't think Lahai understood it as a joke - now he probably thinks I'm a strange girl who laughs about running over people.
The road was DEFINITELY not wide enough for two way traffic but for some reason, cars were adamant about driving on that street. Maybe they knew I was learning, so they were purposely driving in the opposite direction as me to freak me out. Anyhow, I ended up learning how to drive a stick shift squeezed between a wall (or sometimes a ditch) and a car a foot away from me half the time. The worst was when an enormous construction truck would approach. I'd look on in terror and Lahai would laugh. Great. Oh, I didn't mention that driving on the main road in Sierra Leone is horrendous. Thank goodness this was a side street.
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| Typical Sierra Leone traffic. Thank goodness I didn't have to drive in this. |
To make matters worse, I was learning from my driver. Not that he was a bad teacher, but his English was bad, and my Krio was even worse. So half the time, he's talking about "mass"-ing the break or the accelerator and I'm wondering does that mean press or release?!! (It means press.) And initially, I didn't even know if it was okay to press the break if I was going to crash into a wall. Well, okay, maybe my common sense was not functioning a hundred percent then.
At one unfortunate junction, I slowed to first gear to turn, but instead, I stalled. Frustrated, I banged my head on the steering wheel, and I fortuitously honked the horn just as a group of students were walking in front of the car. Yes, they all stared, pointed, and laughed at the strange American who couldn't keep a car running.
Then after a few circles, Lahai all of a sudden jumped out of the car and said, "I'm going to let you drive by yourself, to test how you do mentally." Great, I just hope I don't stall and forget how to start up the car. Well, despite my clumsiness gene, I made it back, and I jokingly said "I only ran over three people." But I don't think Lahai understood it as a joke - now he probably thinks I'm a strange girl who laughs about running over people.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Babies, Babies, Babies!
Njala, Kwarma, and Taiama:
Today we went to the clinics "upline" or "upcountry", aka, in the rural areas of Sierra Leone. It was so much fun being able to see the fruit of our labor (plumpy nut made at our factory) being put into use! Some would say it was heaven for me because when we got to the clinic, there were rows of mothers seated with their babies on their lap. The little ones were just absolutely adorable! Some of them cried, but others sat quietly and looked confused.
The Plan:
At the clinics we screen children for malnutrition by comparing their weight/height to a chart and looking for edema. We then give the malnourished babies (age range 6mo - 5 yrs) a certain # of bottles of plumpy nut (therapeutic food), and have them check up with us after 2 weeks.
Reality:
Crying, screaming, and disposing all sorts of bodily fluids everywhere. Yup, it was a medley of tears, slobber, pee, and poo (no vomit luckily). Every little one would burst into tears whenever we straightened them down on the height tape, and every time it made me cry a little bit on the inside and distracted me from measuring/recording.
But kids had different reactions to sitting on the scale. Most would cry with their little hands reaching out to their mom desperately, yet a few just sat there staring off into space. There was one who wouldn't sit and kept on leaving backwards; so we had to lie him down. And finally there were those who were so shocked that they literally **** (2 options) their pants (well, they were butt naked).
Every so often, I'd see one who had a bloated stomach, tiny arms and legs, and an emaciated chest and face. They looked like old people. Holding them was like lifting a sack of skin and bones. Poor little things!
Records show some kids reaching their target weight - which is awesome! We call them "graduates"!
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| Mothers lined up at the Taima "hospital" (aka run-down store) waiting to get their babies screened |
The Plan:
At the clinics we screen children for malnutrition by comparing their weight/height to a chart and looking for edema. We then give the malnourished babies (age range 6mo - 5 yrs) a certain # of bottles of plumpy nut (therapeutic food), and have them check up with us after 2 weeks.
Reality:
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| This kid didn't want his length measured. |
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| Getting weighed! |
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| This kid didn't put up a fight!...he was sleeping. |
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| This poor little girl had severe marasmus and oral thrush |
Records show some kids reaching their target weight - which is awesome! We call them "graduates"!
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| This kid is happily eating his Plumpy Nut! Look at him smack those lips! They might be crying a lot, but once they get a taste of that Plumpy Nut, they just shut up and happily eat it. So cute! |
Cho Chung
6/9/10 Bo:
Aside from the cat calls "Cho Chung", "Chinese woman", "white man", "Korean", "Ni hao", "I love you", and whatever gibberish people came up with to get my attention, my solo walk in Bo was quite pleasant. I met this lady in charge of a trade development school where people could learn skills to support themselves like making gara (women's wrap), metal work, etc. (The next day she called me to say hello, how I am, and promptly hang up.)
Walking alone may not have been the smartest idea, especially if it was just to stroll. I guess this is what it feels like to be an alien. With another companion to walk with, you can at least fake preoccupation when people try to get your attention. Walking by myself, I had to fake oblivion - which I'm pretty good at (I know some of you are thinking "Are you sure you're faking it?")
Anyhow, I took a back road and ended up with a swarm of children escorting me. The girls were so adorable! One of them hooked her arm around mine, and had a huge smile on her face. Of course some of the boys were getting a little rowdy and personal - asking questions like "Where do you live?", "Can I visit you", and "Are you married?" (I responded maybe to get them off my back). The male of all cultures seem to be the same.
Voltage instability: Light kept on changing its brightness and fan changed its speed every five minutes, literally.
Aside from the cat calls "Cho Chung", "Chinese woman", "white man", "Korean", "Ni hao", "I love you", and whatever gibberish people came up with to get my attention, my solo walk in Bo was quite pleasant. I met this lady in charge of a trade development school where people could learn skills to support themselves like making gara (women's wrap), metal work, etc. (The next day she called me to say hello, how I am, and promptly hang up.)
Walking alone may not have been the smartest idea, especially if it was just to stroll. I guess this is what it feels like to be an alien. With another companion to walk with, you can at least fake preoccupation when people try to get your attention. Walking by myself, I had to fake oblivion - which I'm pretty good at (I know some of you are thinking "Are you sure you're faking it?")
Anyhow, I took a back road and ended up with a swarm of children escorting me. The girls were so adorable! One of them hooked her arm around mine, and had a huge smile on her face. Of course some of the boys were getting a little rowdy and personal - asking questions like "Where do you live?", "Can I visit you", and "Are you married?" (I responded maybe to get them off my back). The male of all cultures seem to be the same.
Voltage instability: Light kept on changing its brightness and fan changed its speed every five minutes, literally.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Not Even Two Weeks, and I'm Sick
For the Medical Case Junkie:
CC: Vomiting, upset stomach, and fever Friday night
HPI: Patient is a __ year old Asian female who complained of vomiting, upset stomach, and fever. Patient was exposed to more than a hundred sick children for the past three days in rural Sierra Leone for screening/treating malnourished children under five. On her way back to Freetown (capital), she ate "meat on a stick" sandwich, which she had never had before. But so did her coworker. Later Friday, she cut up one of the slightly overripe 7 pineapples she bought for $2.50, and ate some while she cut them up. Her coworker had only a few pieces. She then had some late night oatmeal as her dinner. She felt fine until later that night at around midnight, her stomach was bothering her. She thought it might have been due to eating oatmeal too late at night or the unfamiliar damp smell of the bed sheets. She woke up early Saturday morning and continued to vomit the contents of her stomach out, which included pineapple, oatmeal, and malaria medicine. There was also slight abdominal cramping and diarrhea. She slept for a 2 hours, and woke up with a slight fever of 99.5 degrees F and continued to have an upset stomach, but no vomiting. She then slept for another 5 hours. Her meals for Saturday consisted of Gatorade. She does not have aching or headache. In the past, aside from vomiting due to coughing too much, she has not vomited since she was a baby. Symptoms subsided Saturday afternoon.
PMH: No surgeries or hospitalizations. Shoulder hurts currently probably due to a strain.
Allergies: No medical allergies
Medications: Doxycycline for malaria, Peptobismol for vomiting, Ibuprofen for fever.
SH: Does not drink alcohol, smoke, or do recreational drugs. Currently living in a beautiful house in Freetown Sierra Leone with coworkers, and some Ivory Coast people downstairs. Medical student, but working with Project Peanut Butter until August 4th. Used to exercise regularly, but right now, has not. Tries to eat a balanced meal, but vegetables are relatively rare and the staple food is rice and sauce.
FH: History of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and stroke (Ya...it sucks.)
PH: No abnormal findings.
CC: Vomiting, upset stomach, and fever Friday night
HPI: Patient is a __ year old Asian female who complained of vomiting, upset stomach, and fever. Patient was exposed to more than a hundred sick children for the past three days in rural Sierra Leone for screening/treating malnourished children under five. On her way back to Freetown (capital), she ate "meat on a stick" sandwich, which she had never had before. But so did her coworker. Later Friday, she cut up one of the slightly overripe 7 pineapples she bought for $2.50, and ate some while she cut them up. Her coworker had only a few pieces. She then had some late night oatmeal as her dinner. She felt fine until later that night at around midnight, her stomach was bothering her. She thought it might have been due to eating oatmeal too late at night or the unfamiliar damp smell of the bed sheets. She woke up early Saturday morning and continued to vomit the contents of her stomach out, which included pineapple, oatmeal, and malaria medicine. There was also slight abdominal cramping and diarrhea. She slept for a 2 hours, and woke up with a slight fever of 99.5 degrees F and continued to have an upset stomach, but no vomiting. She then slept for another 5 hours. Her meals for Saturday consisted of Gatorade. She does not have aching or headache. In the past, aside from vomiting due to coughing too much, she has not vomited since she was a baby. Symptoms subsided Saturday afternoon.
PMH: No surgeries or hospitalizations. Shoulder hurts currently probably due to a strain.
Allergies: No medical allergies
Medications: Doxycycline for malaria, Peptobismol for vomiting, Ibuprofen for fever.
SH: Does not drink alcohol, smoke, or do recreational drugs. Currently living in a beautiful house in Freetown Sierra Leone with coworkers, and some Ivory Coast people downstairs. Medical student, but working with Project Peanut Butter until August 4th. Used to exercise regularly, but right now, has not. Tries to eat a balanced meal, but vegetables are relatively rare and the staple food is rice and sauce.
FH: History of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and stroke (Ya...it sucks.)
PH: No abnormal findings.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Laka Beach! & When It Rains, It Pours!
Laka Beach:
Wow, you know it's been way too long since you've last been to a beach when you forget that waves can be pretty strong and you get completely knocked over and pulled under when trying to go swimming in the ocean. Yup, that's me. What do you expect, the clumsy gene is constitutively expressed. So everyone got a good laugh at it, and now whenever we see a stranger get knocked over/pulled under by a wave, the people I'm staying with call it "pulling a Yi." Perhaps a new discovery or surgical method, but THIS, this is NOT what I want named after me.
Pictured: Baracuda and Rice (yummmm) at Laka Beach post tidal beat-up
International Service at Mercy Ship (hospital on a ship that goes from port to port in Africa):
I remember sitting there and thinking, wow, this is just like a regular bible study in St. Louis where you sing songs and hear someone talk, yet I'm in a country thousands of miles away, surrounded by people I don't know who are from all over the world listening to this guy speaking in a funny accent. No, not in St. Louis anymore.
When it Rains, It Pours:
Holy cow, I've never seen so much rain in my life. I knew it was rainy season, but I still couldn't believe it when the first storm came. You remember that day when the tornado came to St. Louis and it rained like it was going to tear the building down? Well, every time it rains, that's what happens. It's like the sky is a bucket of water and God accidentally tore out the whole bottom. Sadly, it also means the roads become canyons.
Fooooooooooood!
6/5/10
Funny quote: “Car with lots of stuff on it, honking like crazy, and driving like a mad man – it means someone just got married” -MB
Had Hawaiian pizza yesterday - oh man was it expensive to get a pizza compared to local food here, but I felt bad because MB wanted pizza, and I didn’t want to say no. But maybe I made up that money by eating bread with eggs today – apparently it’s a common staple food here. I LOVE plantains!!! Perhaps that will become my staple .
The place I’m staying at is actually very nice! There’s electricity from 7-10 (or when we really need it), and there’s internet when we put in the little mobile modem. It’s so cool – almost like a little phone that has internet – whatever that’s called. But it’s super slow, so checking email takes forever.
Wow, it’s pretty cool to actually see the physical works of Dr. Manary and his Project Peanut Butter (PPB) pan out! Got to see the factory and the machine – can’t wait to see the clinics! Entering data is boring as usual, but it’s really cool to see the weights of the children increasing on those data cards! We also recently got an email from a physician working in another town saying that the UNICEF supply of Plumpy Nut failed to get to them, so they’re interested in getting it from PPB – kinda exciting that we’re needed!
Had oatmeal chocolate chip cookies today!!! Yes…it was from a bag from 2007, but it was delish!
Funny quote: “Car with lots of stuff on it, honking like crazy, and driving like a mad man – it means someone just got married” -MB
Had Hawaiian pizza yesterday - oh man was it expensive to get a pizza compared to local food here, but I felt bad because MB wanted pizza, and I didn’t want to say no. But maybe I made up that money by eating bread with eggs today – apparently it’s a common staple food here. I LOVE plantains!!! Perhaps that will become my staple .
The place I’m staying at is actually very nice! There’s electricity from 7-10 (or when we really need it), and there’s internet when we put in the little mobile modem. It’s so cool – almost like a little phone that has internet – whatever that’s called. But it’s super slow, so checking email takes forever.
Wow, it’s pretty cool to actually see the physical works of Dr. Manary and his Project Peanut Butter (PPB) pan out! Got to see the factory and the machine – can’t wait to see the clinics! Entering data is boring as usual, but it’s really cool to see the weights of the children increasing on those data cards! We also recently got an email from a physician working in another town saying that the UNICEF supply of Plumpy Nut failed to get to them, so they’re interested in getting it from PPB – kinda exciting that we’re needed!
Had oatmeal chocolate chip cookies today!!! Yes…it was from a bag from 2007, but it was delish!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Time Magazine Feature Amy Smith
Amy Smith was recently featured in Time Magazine among the world most influential innovators. Cool!! Read more: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/time-smith.html
Thursday, June 3, 2010
1st Day in Sierra Leone: Being Too Gullible and Taking Cold Showers
6/1/10: Pleasantly surprised with flight attendents' English accents. I shoudl've lsitened extra well for Iris' sake. Oddly enough, one of them kept on saying "Madame" and "excusez-moi" - I guess she was French. I was almost going to reply with "de nada" when I realized that was totally not french. Ack - getting languages mixed up and I don't even know that many. Watched Temple Grandin - movie about autistic girl who got bachelors, masters, and doctorate - quite interesting.
6/2/10:
I'm Too Gullible - what's new:
Off the plane and I get bombarded by people asking for help. I refused everyone and decided to travel with some ppl I met on the flight. They got delayed by lost baggage, and since I had to meet soemone, I decided to go on my own to find the water taxi. But by then, everyone had left the building and I was left to the mercy of the vultures. A guy just grabbed my bag and asked if I was going on a water taxi. Though I knew ppl helped only to ask for money later, I saw he had a tag and thought he was an airport worker (somehow diff from other ppl there), so I let him help me get a ticket and call Mike. Oops. A Canadian from the flight tried to help me by saying he was with me, but I readily claimed I was on my own. Oops again - thwarted the person's good intentions to help me. SO I ended paying a little tip. Anyhow, learned not to let epople help me - didn't learn from last time I came here, but I'll know from now on. I'll think of it as a little donation. "small small" I guess what's important is I got picked up by Mike and I'm safely at the apartment - quite nice!
Cold Showers:
Yup, for the next 9 weeks - not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing.
Where I'll be living:
6/2/10:
I'm Too Gullible - what's new:
Off the plane and I get bombarded by people asking for help. I refused everyone and decided to travel with some ppl I met on the flight. They got delayed by lost baggage, and since I had to meet soemone, I decided to go on my own to find the water taxi. But by then, everyone had left the building and I was left to the mercy of the vultures. A guy just grabbed my bag and asked if I was going on a water taxi. Though I knew ppl helped only to ask for money later, I saw he had a tag and thought he was an airport worker (somehow diff from other ppl there), so I let him help me get a ticket and call Mike. Oops. A Canadian from the flight tried to help me by saying he was with me, but I readily claimed I was on my own. Oops again - thwarted the person's good intentions to help me. SO I ended paying a little tip. Anyhow, learned not to let epople help me - didn't learn from last time I came here, but I'll know from now on. I'll think of it as a little donation. "small small" I guess what's important is I got picked up by Mike and I'm safely at the apartment - quite nice!
Cold Showers:
Yup, for the next 9 weeks - not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing.
Where I'll be living:
/As an aside, here's a little video about my last trip to SL: D-Lab Development