Our first week

     Not quite sure how to sum this all up in one blog post that doesn't go on and on. We arrived safely in Freetown on Friday, Feb 24th and spent the next several days gathering supplies and getting some paperwork stuff done. We stayed at a family resort that was right on the beach, had free internet, free breakfast, and free laundry. While this was a little more than we planned on spending, it did allow us to get quite a bit accomplished since we didn't have to worry about those things. We were very thankful for our Sunday day of rest and the kids enjoyed playing at the little playground and splashing in the pool.

     Tuesday morning we set out for the drive to Mokanji. Thankfully it is the dry season and some of the local mining companies had graded the roads, so what was a 7 hour drive in September was now a 5 hour drive.

     Our house looks beautiful! It is roomy enough for all of us and quite functional. We are lacking in some furniture/shelving so unpacking was basically  reorganizing into specific suitcases. We are waiting on getting some shelves/bookcases built so that we can get a little more settled. Our furniture now consists of a nice table and 6 chairs, a bed frame and mattress for Jeneson and I, a bed frame and mattress for Josiah and a mattress on the floor for Sofia. Hopefully by the end of the month we will have steel bunk beds made for Josiah and Lydia and some shelving put up. Right now all of Josiah's clothes are in one suitcase, my clothes in another, etc...

     My pressure cooker from Freetown is my new best friend and I hope to be start blogging about some of the meals that we are eating. Right now it is quite basic, but nutritious and filling. Even Lydia, my picky eater, says "Mommy this is sooooo good" at almost every meal. I think that she realizes that her options are limited.

     I do laundry by hand every morning; clothes one morning, diapers the next and hand them to dry on our porch. The kids are always out playing and there is usually no shortage of playmates.

     Jeneson and I have been able to see a few patients in an unofficial capacity and have, unfortunately, witnessed the cold, hard, reality of the poor health statistics in Sierra Leone and Mokanji.

     There is a short-term team arriving tomorrow that includes 2 pediatricians that we will be able to work with. We are also hoping to meet with the District Medical Officer, the President and Director of Development for Global (they are coming with the team), and the local Community Health Officer to discuss the start of our medical services and how that is going to look. Please pray for these meetings, that all will go well with them.