It was a particularly special day here in Sierra Leone among our SHGO team. It was Krissy Truesdale’s 21st birthday and we celebrated her throughout the day with special apples native to Sierra Leone followed by an explosive birthday cake this evening.
Much of today was spent traveling to the south of the country toward Pouchon, where we visited a medical clinic being built by Save The Children, and discussed the collective work of SHGO and our partner, Zion Ministries. Early this morning we met again with the leaders of Komende village to discuss the feasibility of improving their bush road and building a bridge over a river that swells during rainy season—preventing children from attending school or pregnant women from reaching our birthing clinic. My hope is to find a donor in the US who might consider funding the $5300 needed for an improved road and bridge. Another urgent need of the SHGO/Zion Ministries medical clinic is the expansion of our prenatal women’s labor room. We are now delivering over 25 babies each month and the size of our tiny labor room can accommodate only one woman at a time. Ideally, we need to double the room’s capacity so awaiting mothers can safely deliver.
These past nine days in Ghana and Sierra Leone have reaffirmed the intent and mission of Seven Hills Global Outreach which began quietly in Ghana in 2010. Today we support the poorest of the poor in eight countries, representing the diversity of our 3920 Seven Hills employees.
Tomorrow is our last day in Sierra Leone and we will tour several government healthcare facilities before traveling to the airport in Freetown and boarding a plane bound for America. Krissy, Carmen, and Ashley have been such incredible companions on this trip and I hope they all could join me next year. This work in developing nations is hard, exhausting—often times we are without electricity, familiar food, or hot showers, but I’ve never regretted one moment over the years supporting our staff and this work. We are educating hundreds of children, providing medical care to thousands, and making a significant impact on the lives of over 17,000 globally.
Check back for more tomorrow and be sure to see photos from today here.
Once again, Happy Birthday Krissy!