Mission control

    I thought it would be interesting to talk about our home.  They treat the couple missionaries the best they can.  Our house it really quite nice....keep in mind we are in Sierra Leone where people don't have homes, electricity, and indoor water.  Our home in Kenema has electricity, a back up generator, and running water.  The electricity comes and goes often, mostly it just goes off so that is why the generator.  Just a note on the electricity...it is 220 volt so everything we have brought from the US needs a step down.  I'm very cautious to plug things in correctly as to not fry my blow dryer or computer.  

    When the electricity goes out Fred runs outside and starts the generator, then we have power again.  The lights in our house are very dim and there are not many, but I'm very grateful for what they do offer. And to spoil us even more I actually have hot water for my shower (I have not ran out of water yet, but I suspect I will). I use water quite sparingly.  I do heat up water on our gas stove to wash the dishes.  For those of you who know Fred he is a great cook, but can utilize all of the dishes in the house.  He is learning that washing dishes is a timely chore now days so he is limiting his messy dishes.

  Below is a picture of our "MISSION CONTROL" for our electricity when the generator is needed.

  Some have asked what our house looks like.  It is shown in the below picture.  It is surrounded by a 9 ft cement wall with barbed wire on top of it.  We have 24 hour security guards that keep us safe and open up our steel gate as we come and go.  Truthfully, I think it is over the top security as I do not feel unsafe at all, but I think the theft rate is very high, so this is why the careful attention. 

 We get the privilege of living next to the sister missionaries who share our same compound.  I have enjoyed getting to know the sisters.  They are choice girls.  2 are from Tongo, 1 is from Zimbabwe, and the other is from Uganda.

  Getting the Job Done

As we drive around our mission boundaries, we have noticed that the power runs down the main roads in the bigger towns.  Any homes not on the main road do not have power ran to them.  Here is a great picture of the town we live in working on new power lines.

  Notice the ladder and the man straddling the pole.  This is a a Sierra Leone bucket truck for you!  The man is not tied on.  He runs up and down the ladder while a pickup truck tightens the wire from the ground.  

Water supply

    I am still not use to seeing little children, women, and some men hauling water in containers on their heads.  They walk to the nearest well to draw water. Then they carry it on their heads back to home.  Their wells are as you would picture in our pioneer days.  A hand pump spout.  As you drive through villages we see many gathered around them.  I'm sure many walk quite a distance back to their homes.  The wells are around 30 ft deep and dug by hand.  We are in the rainy season now, but I'm sure those wells will run dry in the dry season.  I will let you know as the place we will be moving to permanently has a well, as well as a water tank.  For more information, the water tanks need cleaned so they have water tank cleaners.  They empty the tank, then send the cleaner inside the tank to wash the interior to get rid of the algae and bacteria.  Good news, all of the missionaries including the couple missionaries have a state of art filtration purifier to keep us safe from the water.  Also, we can find sealed water bottles most places we go.

Below are some pictures of the water wells. This first one is at our permanent home.  The home is not quite ready for us.

     

Carry a load

     I enjoy how the people here are so genius in the ways they carry, transport, and pack thinks.  I don't thing I will every tire or quit being amazed.  My favorite is the women carrying babies on their backs.  I have rarely seen a baby in their arms.  Fred loves to take pictures of the vehicles loaded!  I promise you their loads are double the height of the vehicle.  After we follow a vehicle piled high with loads, we pass them and find that the inside is filled to over capacity with people.  One time we seen a trunk of a small car open and there were people being transported in the trunk!!