Welcome to Yams Farm Wharf City



The kids were excited to see the map

Wow, a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks.  I am now, officially, in Africa, specifically Sierra Leone.   My Gateway group didn’t go directly to the ship, instead we drove an hour inland to a nice guest house where we stayed in dorms (men & women).  For the next 2 weeks we worked with a local church & school at Yams Farm Wharf City.  During the week, the one roomed church is school for 271 children divided up into 6 classes.  It was organized chaos.  A group of us spent time in the school going around to each class & showing them a map of the world, most didn’t even know where Sierra Leone was or what the blue stuff that covers most of the map was.  It was fun seeing their excitement & wonder over something as basic as a map of the world.



The kids getting ready to go to school



Before we had arrived at Yams Farm, we asked them what we could help them with, what did they feel they needed the most.  Pastor Mark, the local pastor & head of the school, told us they needed a bigger school.  The last Gateway group in July had helped them build latrines & since then their school has doubled in size.  The new school buildings were going to be in an L-shape around the church. 

Making window blocks

Yams Farm makes their money by selling sand that they harvest from sand bars out at sea & bring them in by large canoes.  They also sell rock & charcoal & bricks.  All our building materials had to be made, from mixing the cement for foundations or mortar to making the bricks for the walls.  A measured amount of sand was piled up & mixed with a bag of cement.  If it was for a foundation, we would add rock to the mix before adding water.  The cement would then be shoveled into a large pan & passed down the line to be dumped in the mold (usually the ground).  Bricks would be mixed with a different combination of sand, cement & water before pressed tightly into a mold to form it & then left out to bake in the sun.  If it didn’t rain, the bricks would be ready in a week or so.  If it did rain, the bricks could be ruined because the rain would wash the sand away. 



Getting water from the well



Water for the worksite has pulled by hand from one of the local wells.  We had 2 50-gallon barrels that we loaded in the back of one of the landrovers to carry the water up to the worksite.  Often the local kids would come out & help us, they loved to be useful & we loved playing with them.  Water runs were an enjoyable time because it was a chance to cool off from the heat.  Not only was the well in the shade, but driving 50-gallon barrels full of water uphill on a very bumpy path would leave you very, very wet. 



The group on the buried rock- before it was buried

The heat was impressive.  In the morning, it would be pleasantly warm, but soon it would heat up & the humidty would rise.  Our worksite wasn’t shaded for most of the day & often the clouds didn’t offer much relief.  A slight breeze was a welcome joy as we paced ourselves to prevent injury.  It usually stormed at night, which made things nice & cool for sleep, but the red clay we had to move around would be wet & heavy from the rains the next morning.  The ground wasn’t always helpful.  Numerous times we came across large rocks that we couldn’t move.  The first one was in the lower building & a debate arose over what to do with it.  After we prayed over the situation, God told us to dig a hole, roll the stone in & bury it.  So we did.  It worked out perfectly!  The local workers were amazed, Pastor Mark told us they would have never thought to do something like that, they would have hit it until it was small enough to move or fire it.  We got to see what “fire” a rock was when we came across a rock 3x larger than the one we buried.  We gathered wood, some diesel & built a fire on top of the rock to heat it up.  It made the worksite a little more hostile with the heat & smoke, but we were assured it would be worth it.  The goal was to let the fire burn all night & in the morning pour lots of water on it to crack it, but the plans of man aren’t always the plans of God.  That night we had the biggest storm yet & we were worried that the rock wouldn’t be hot enough to crack.  To our surprise the next morning we arrived on the jobsite to find that the rain last night had caused the rock to break.  God was so good that He decided to help us out by providing the water so we wouldn’t have had to carry it up!

Slowly over the past week the walls of the 2 buildings were growing.  The lower building had most of the walls done & the floor ready for cement.  The upper building finally had all the foundations poured & the walls starting to go up.  We moved a lot of sand, a lot of rock, a lot of water & a lot of brick.  We knew that we will not finish the project before our 2 weeks were up, but the progress is encouraging & we know that it will be done before the ship leaves Sierra Leone.



My Krio teachers



The goal for us was not only help build a school, but to put what we learn during our time in Texas about relationships & hot & cold climate cultures to use.  Often times on the job site there were too many people trying to help, so sometimes you would stand off to the side & watch.  Those were perfect opportunities to interact with some of the local women & children.  My first day, I found myself with nothing to do & saw a woman sitting next to a fire cutting onions.  I sat beside her & asked if she needed help.  Soon I found myself cutting onions & talking to the women as they cooked rice & beans for the construction workers.  Mariama, the lady who was cutting onions, then declared that she was going to “learn” me some Krio.  My education had begun & soon I knew basic phases & could understand most of what was said, as long as they spoke slow.  Mariama instructed the women & children to only speak Krio to me.  They were so impressed when I would greet them in Krio. 


I know this update is long & just skims the surface of our field service.  I will try to tell more about it later on.  Thanks for all your prayers & support, they really do mean a lot to me.

Blessings

In Case of an Emergency at Sea....



Esther makes a Mayday call



We have spent this entire week preparing for emergencies we might encounter while living and working on a ship.  The beginning of the week, we learned how to put out fires and save our ship.  The middle of the week, we learned how to save our fellow crew members with medical emergencies.  The end of the week, we learned how to save ourselves if we couldn't save our ship.

We practiced making Mayday calls- our creative sides came out during this part.  Some used real life disasters (ie: Titanic), some made up their own ship (ie: Good Ship Lollypop), the rest of us got creative with different ways to sink the Africa Mercy (all in good fun).



Getting the gumby suits on



Jen is ready for some cold water survival



Friday, we capped the week with a trip to a local jr college and their pool for some practical training.  We broke into 2 groups- one group practicing with PFDs (life jackets) and acquainting ourselves with the rescue raft.  The other group put on their immersion/survival suits (aka: gumby suits), practiced swimming and staying together, as well as jumping from a height into the pool and getting into the raft. 






Gumby Train




Everyone to the raft



Helping others to get to safety



If you have never had the privilege to don a gumby suit- you are missing out!  The suits were made of very think rubber, thicker than a typical wet suit.  They are made to fit over your deck cloths, so are baggy.  Mine was a little big, so when zipped, covered my eyes.  When you are wearing them, you loose your fine motor skills, most just give you three fingers.  The suits are designed to keep you afloat, even when filled with water, but on land they are awkward and heavy. 



Righting our capsized raft





We ended the pool portion with everyone taking a turn righting the raft by themselves.  A very fun and entertaining thing to watch.  Granted, if we had to do this in the real world, the conditions would be less than ideal, big swells, wind, rain, etc, but for the purpose of this course, it was just fine.

We ended the night celebrating our completion of BST with a trip to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.  So yummy!



We passed BST!



We only have a couple days left before we fly out to Sierra Leone.  Its exciting and scary at the same time.  I kinda know what to expect, but its weird to think it'll be over a year before I'm state side again.  Please pray for our safe journey.

Also, I added a feature to my blog that allows you to sign up for email updates.  Just add your email address in the box to the left, follow the instructions and whenever I update this blog, you're get an email. 

Thank you for your support and prayers and Thank you for following me.

Code Red!



Putting out a Class B liquid fire

Putting out a Class C electrical fire



Welcome to BST! 



Going into the container

Tuesday was a fun day of fighting fires and saving lives!  We are currently under a fire ban due to the fact that East Texas hasn't received any rain for over 100 days, so our firefighting consisted of a smoke machine and our imagination.  If was was still fun dressing up and using all the tools of the trade.



Florian



Advancing on the fire

We practiced search and rescue, going in teams to search the container for Buck.  Buck weighed 165 lbs of dead weight and we had to drag him across the floor in full gear and no visability.  Who would have thought that challenge would be so difficult!



Just saved Buck

We also learned how to put out liquid fuel fires and electrical fires with their appropriate extinguishers.  We got some team work practice when we had to put out a gas fire with a hose.  We ended by re-entering the burning container with a two man team and a hose to practice using steam and water to cool a fire.   Its an unsettling feeling trying to feel your way through a hostile environment, when your senses are inhibited due to the lack of sight from the smoke and you can't communicate very well because of the SCBA (breathing apparatus that we wear) and hearing over the roar of the fire.

My turn on the nozzle



I knew firemen were amazing, but I have a new found respect to the men and women who do this everyday!  Its hard work, but I had a blast!



Who am I & Flea Markets

Our Gateway group

We're going on our third week here in Texas.  Our days are filled with classroom work that both challenges us and gives us insights on who we are.  The time is broken up by skits and group activities that makes the day fly by.

After taking a DISC profile, we learned quite a bit about ourselves and who we are and how we interact with people.  If your interested here's the breakdown:  D= dominance (direct, self assured, result oriented), I= influence (people oriented, persuasive, good communicator), S= steadiness (great listener, loyal, supportive), C= conscientiousness (critical thinker, detail oriented, accurate).  Its very enlightening to see how we fall into each category and how it can explain our personality.  Comments like "I'm a S and will do whatever you tell me to do" or "it's my D side coming out, lets get this done" were used quite a bit since we learned about it!  In case you are wondering I am a C/S with a bit of D thrown in.



Simon & Tina in character as the bridal party for our skit

 This past week had a lot of great thoughts to ponder, such as "A team can be well rounded because it's members are not" or "don't focus on the work of the Lord, but the Lord of the work".  Deep right? I know! 

Saturday was First Monday, the world's largest flea market- right here in Canton, TX.  Every month they open the 640 acres and you can find almost anything you could imagine.  There was a stall selling nothing but antlers, we saw chairs made out of longhorn horns, we found a Chuck Norris picture, car parts, electric sanders, clothes, guns and knifes.  It was a fun day of exploring, even if it was hot and very tiring.

We find a hammock to relax



A bicycle built for Bronte & Leah



So as we begin our third week of class work, we are amazed that our time here is almost over.  In 15 days we will be heading out to Sierra Leone.