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Landed in Sierra Leone

06/03/2012, 7:25pm CDT
By Phil Doyle

Officially on the job for summer 2012

This is Phil Doyle, WAMM Volunteer Team Leader (Group 1), signing on to announce that I have landed in Sierra Leone and am officially on the job for WAMM 2012. This summer promises to be an amazing one, and I thought I'd take the time to periodically share some of the exciting news and incredible experiences occurring here. I have been in Sierra Leone for the past six days, and I am starting to acclimate fully to the unique climate and culture here. How do I begin to describe what a rush the past few days have been? It is so incredibly beautiful here, with the ocean visible from the patio of the WAMM compound, and the warm, tropical air and summer rains feeding the numerous palm trees and thriving vegetation,

Before I came to Sierra Leone, I had a limited idea as to where I was going to be placed, or what specific challenges I was going to be handed, Upon arriving and spending time in the local community and in downtown Freetown, where I will be stationed for most of the summer, my eyes were immediately opened to the true nature of the ongoing crisis brewing here, So many assumptions I made about Sierra Leone and its culture have proven to be false, and I have been humbled and pleased to meet many amazing individuals within and outside of the WAMM family. In less than a week, I rode in a taxi cab packed to the limit (former WAMM volunteers, you know exactly what I mean), two a-day runs with Gabe and our absurdly fit neighbor, and daily meals from streetside vendors (forget most of what you have heard – the food here is unique and excellent if you have an open mind). I have met two of our neighbors, who have courageously opened and maintained a local private school with a 100% pass rate on the NPSE exam (a graduate requirement for admission into secondary school in the Sierra Leone education system) for 13 years, but are struggling with maintaining a quality education due to a lack of technology and teaching resources. I have also been fortunate to spend a day learning about Sierra Leone's history and culture via visits to the Cultural Museum and Monument in Freetown, with a senior scholar from our Y.S.S.L. Program giving me a personal tour of Freetown's landmarks.

I'll keep some of the real surprises and first time experiences to myself, so that those of you joining us this summer can experience your first days in Sierra Leone with a blank slate and open mind, but here's what I can reliably tell you thus far. I have learned that, while there are obviously those who would try to take advantage of me here, Sierra Leoneans are amongst the kindest and friendliest people I have met. They are, in general, very warm and socially extroverted, showing gratitude and excitement at my presence. I am quickly coming to respect the people of Sierra Leone for their cultural pride, resilience, and positive outlook on life. I have never seen a group of people so happy and content. Truly, they do more with less, a philosophy I dearly wish those back home in the US, especially our youth, would adopt. It is nearly impossible to come here and bring along cultural arrogance after one begins to understand the true nature of the social plights here and the ultimate causes. The signs of the Civil War that raged from 1991 to 2001 are still painfully evident in burnt out buildings and an economy that, like our own back home, is struggling and hoping for better days. One can note, after conferring with elders and members of the communities in Freetown, that education is the major area of concern in Sierra Leone. It is a multi-faceted challenge, with two main components – availability of quality teaching of important school subjects and availability of basic healthcare knowledge/current scholarly texts – that WAMM aims to assist the local communities in addressing.

If you are reading this and have committed to joining WAMM, or if you are a student who is considering making a commitment to WAMM in 2013 or beyond, I want to commend you and encourage you to feel good about your involvement. Know that you can do good, both for others and yourself through WAMM (do not forget that this adventure is as much about your learning experience as it is about you being a part of WAMM's work in Africa). Having met and spent time around the leadership and in-country staff involved with WAMM, I can confidently state that this is a quality organization based on attacking and addressing the real problems plaguing developing countries like Sierra Leone. WAMM is run the right way and focuses on empowering the local communities to take charge of overcoming their own crises and foster the development of local organizations and social programs that will fill the cultural and educational needs not currently being meet. For the rest of this summer, I will be checking in to keep you informed of the news relating to the people and organizations we will be working with to help foster this community empowerment. It's going to be an amazing summer, and there is no where else I would rather be!

More Posts by Phil

  • Two Weeks In

  • 06/10/2012, 7:32pm CDT , By Phil Doyle
  • Getting acclimated to the climate and culture
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The Pulse

  • Sierra Leone News: Physically challenged benefit from WAMM

  • 01/21/2015, 5:45pm CST , By Ade Campbell
  • The West Africa Medical Missions (WAMM) with support from Christian Blind Mission (CBM) yesterday started a 10-day working session for forty physically challenged persons from various communities in Freetown on building resilience against the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
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