Trek to the Bush

Well, I went on my first trek into the bush a few days ago. Wow. I've never been so thankful for 4 wheel drive in my life! I have to say, the trip didn't start out too well for me. I am taking Doxycycline for my anti-malarial at this time and if I take it without eating too much breakfast, it can make me a little nauseated. In fact, the sickest I've ever gotten in Africa (so far) was when I threw up after not eating enough with my Doxy. Well, the morning we were leaving, I ate a little banana, took my doxy and off we went. Oops. I don't think it was enough. I was in the backseat of our vehicle with 2 other people and for some reason the heat, combined with the exhaust fumes from the city and the cramped quarters were causing my stomach to have....well....not the best morning. Then we stopped so our friends could get their lunch. Fried fish with the heads and tails still intact. Yikes. I was afraid that would push me right over the edge. But thankfully the nausea passed without making itself known...all over the backseat. I think that might have made the trip worse!

We went to scope out a village to see if it would be a good fit for this years rice planting initiative. Looks like lots of fields to me!!

I thought it was kind of neat the way that we ended up going there. One of Chad's friends was raised in the community but ended up leaving when he was 19 and his father died. He went to stay with his mother and ended up doing really well for himself. He is married with some kiddos and runs a successful taxi business. But he hasn't forgotten his village and wants to help them if he can. When he found out about the rice initiative, he told us about all the land this village has that has been farmed in the past but not for many years. So we went to have a look.

The language this village spoke was Temne, which is coincidentally the language that most of my neighbors spoke when I lived here a few years ago. So when the kiddos started yelling "apato" "apato" I knew they were yelling, "white man, white man." So I clarified that I was remembering right and started yelling "Wenebee Wenebee" or "black man, black man" back at them. :) I dont' think I pronounced it quite right but when I started saying "apato, Wenebee" then the laughter started. Ha! That made me laugh. Gotcha!!

Of course once my camera came out to take some pictures all the kiddos got in for a group photo and loved looking at themselves after I took the picture.

The village is pretty big with over 1000 people and no clinic. If someone is sick, the people in the village rig a hammock type thing and two people carry him the 3-4 hours to the nearest clinic. Needless to say my wheels started spinning. :) We'll see what God has in store for the future!