New blood and a bit of nesting

So last week saw the arrival of 11 new VSOs in country plus Alice (who arrived in April). I really do wonder if they know what they have let themselves in for! All the training prepares you to some extent, but I didn’t really know what to expect!! Alice’s blog has a really telling account of what is faced here (http://www.alicewatermaninsierraleone.blogspot.com/). Out of the 10 volunteers who arrived last September and committed to 1 year placements, only one remains and I met her this week. A lovely Australian nurse teacher named Maria, who is based in Kenema (about 5 hours away) whom I mistakenly thought was Filipino before meeting her as all the VSOs from the Philippines are called Maria!! The other September 09 volunteers have mainly left the country but a couple are still here working for other NGOs. My 2 housemates were also Sept 09 arrvials and they left for Ireland a couple of weeks ago, leaving me alone in the flat (which I actually like). I arrived with 3 others in March and one person has already left!

So new blood! 11 new folks, a mixture of Kenyans, Ugandans, Brits and Dutch. All enthusiastic, eager and with 1 million questions. So what's it like here? What are your top 10 tips to a successful time here in Salone? How on earth can you answer these questions? Wonderful, terrible, beautiful, upsetting, puzzling, challenging, fascinating..... I did a bit of helping out by doing a presentation about the Ministry of Health and Sanitation during the in-country training programme. I didnt mention the rats (alive and dead) that share the corridors of power here.

Anyway, at the end of the presentation and discssion, I was surprised to be asked to give the volunteers 5 minutes on how I kept so healthy here (apparently I'm one of the few volunteers that have??).... regular blog readers this is NOT a joke! Mmm... so what to say? I immediately started with the contents of my handbag... deet, tissues, hand sanitiser, torch, phone, pen, swiss army knife, money (split into 2 and stored seaparately) and various pills, including parcetamol, rennies, larium and multivitamins. I explained in no particular order the contents were used to stop me getting the dreaded Malaria, to prevent 'Run Bele' for the 48th time, stop me falling into a gutter/open sewer in the dark (no joke, someone did this and bruised their armpits trying to break the fall, they are seriously deep!) and to keep my nutritional status from becoming too precarious!

However, when you stand there, looking the happy picture of health they somehow thought I was joking, or maybe its just how I tell it! And the knife? Well its for opening wine of course! Unfortunatley I have learned this week that two of the new volunteers have been in hospital, one with Malaria and one with Typhoid, both contracted in Freetown. Really bad news.

I also decided to help out with the Freetown orientation trip last Saturday and it was alot of fun. We all went in a poda, it was a bit of a squash!! This day made me realise how much I actually know about the town now and how far I have come in 3 months. VSO then threw a party for the new and 'old' volunteers on Saturday evening. There was nice food, soft drinnks and lots of silly dancing but I was the only person who arrived with alcohol. The bottle of vodka didnt stretch very far....

So the new VSOs are a cheery bunch and some new friends to invite to my newly transformed flat for dinner. The previous inmates weren't much into making it a home, but I am. I have purchased some batiks and local art plus I found an old bedspread which makes a nice throw for the hideous sofa and the two matching pillowcases make good cushion covers on my new cushions which were made from an old pillow I cut in half!! I turned the balcony into something out of a foam filled hammer house of horror massacre, but I am proud of the results!! Already the flat looks totally different and with no power since Wednesday, the candles give it a homely feel. I promise photos to be uploaded soon, so please return.....