Rokel

Rokel is where Change One and IMC completed our first project--a water well.

Here we are going up the hill:

Here's a shot of the well, complete with sign board:

And the view from up the hill:

Keith & Laura in Freetown!

We've been in Freetown for several days now, and are enjoying visiting all the Change One projects and reconnecting with old friends. I've been posting some things on my personal blog if anyone is interested. Our internet connection is rather slow, so I'm trying to maintain at least one blog while we're here!

Grafton Polio Camp

Change One recently finished a latrine project in the Polio community in Grafton. This community supports individuals with polio and their family members. We went to "dedicate" the latrines yesterday. We were so welcomed and the people were so thankful to have a decent toilet.

Below is a picture of Keith with the community and the sign board for the project (I think it's a cultural thing to have to put up a sign board for everything):

This is me with Samuel Sessay, the pastor for the church at the polio camp. He is one of the most thankful and joyful people I've ever met:

I had some bubbles in my bag, and the kids loved them!

One Fabulous Road

This is the road to Grafton, a community east of Freetown, where many of the war wounded and displaced persons were relocated after the war. I tried to take this picture out the back window of the car. Rainy season makes road maintenance even more difficult.

Freetown

These are some views of the city from where we are staying. Freetown has become even more overcrowded and congested in the past few years. It's amazing to see all the little houses cropping up farther and farther up the mountain-side.

Sweet Salone chop! This is the lunch we had today. Keith had beans and rice, and I had jollof rice with fried chicken. delcious.

What makes my life worth while

The Ferry Incident

Keith and I are enjoying our first full day in Freetown, Sierra Leone! We flew out on Thursday afternoon, around 2:30pm, routed through Washington DC, London, then to Freetown. We landed a bit late at the Freetown airport. Not terribly late, but late enough that it was already dark (it gets dark around 7pm here).

Just for reference, the Freetown airport is located in Lungi, a peninsula across a really large "river" from the main city of Freetown. I've included a map below for people like me who need visual aids:

So, at this point, we'd already been traveling for over 24 hours. We're pretty worn out. Pastor Jacob (the pastor/construction manager who has helped us on our building projects with Change One) met us at the airport, and helped us get our luggage and everything to the ferry dock, so that we could make our way over to Freetown. Once we reached the dock, we learned that we just missed the ferry, but they would send another one soon. So, we waited.

The other ferry arrived around 10:00pm, and we loaded ourselves and our luggage onto the boat. At about 11:30pm, the engine died, and we were stranded, free floating in the river. They finally found a small fishing boat to tug us into the dock, but about half way there, the decided they wouldn't be able to dock properly. So, around 2:00 am, the ferry "docked" at a place called Government Warf, and all the passengers had to climb over the side of the boat, with our luggage, onto the warf. It was an interesting experience being stranded in an unfamiliar part of town in the middle of the night. Thankfully, one of the security guards offered to drive us to where we needed to go. He even helped me haul my suitcase up what seemed like thousands of stairs.

So, today, we slept in a bit and have been trying to rest after last night's ordeal. We got to spend some time with some of the lighthouse youth this morning. It was really sweet to see them again. We had dinner tonight at one of our favorite Lebanese restaurants, too. So, things are looking up a bit!

Kushay-O! (Hello, everyone!)

(August 2008 prayer letter)

Laura and I are brushing up on our Krio as we prepare for our trip. There are just about two weeks until we head back to Sierra Leone. We leave on August 21st and return on September 4th. We’re extremely excited and nervous for this trip. Pastor Menyongar, who we continue to work with, sent us a list of ministry opportunities Change One can engage in, so we have several options for new projects. As of right now, we have completed a water well project, two bathroom/latrine projects, and we have 9 micro-loans for small business under way. The possibilities for this trip include another latrine project, more micro-loans, school sponsorships for children, and/or helping with materials such as desks and benches for the grade school Pastor Menyongar has started. We had originally hoped for a short medical team to come with us, but have decided to postpone it until next year when we can have more time. We are praying about spending 2-3 months in Freetown next summer which will allow for more opportunities for medical missionaries, teachers, and pastors to come. Please keep us in your prayers for God’s guidance as we make decisions for this trip and future plans for Change One.

This will be an important trip for us. It will be Laura’s first trip back since we finished our work with Word Made Flesh. Along with visiting the completed projects we are hoping to spend a lot of time with our friends and the children that we ministered among while we lived there. Because our leave from the field 2 years ago was rather abrupt, we still feel there is a need for time spent healing those relationships.

This is a busy and exciting time for us. Just a few months ago Laura had a much needed surgery to correct some health issues she has struggled with for a very long time. She is still in the process of healing and we are hoping that over time her condition will be completely healed. So far the Lord has provided almost all of the $50,000 surgery costs. Also, Laura has been working on a bill in the State of Ohio that would create an emergency alert system (similar to the Amber Alert system), for missing elderly and mentally impaired individuals. This new alert system went into effect in June.

As for me, I recently finished my Bachelor’s degree at Ohio State and have been accepted as a Graduate Teaching Associate at OSU while I work on my Master’s in Religious Studies. It is an incredible honor and blessing from the Lord. The university will be paying my tuition and giving me a quarterly stipend as I teach classes in world religions and religious diversity in America. Only 6-12 people are accepted annually out of approximately 200 applicants and even less get to teach. It is a great opportunity and we thank God for it.

We appreciate all of your prayers and support for us in this time. Please pray for us as we make decisions on our trip for Change One’s next direction, as well as safe travel and on time flights. Also please pray for Laura’s continued healing. We will send out an update as soon as we return. Any donations you would like to make would be extremely helpful. We would be able to use anything we receive by August 19th.

Thank you again for your prayers. They are truly what guide and move forward the work of God’s kingdom. We look forward to telling you some amazing stories and sharing pictures when we return.

Blessings,
Keith and Laura
Change One International Ministries