Good day, November 9th
As I’m in the chiefdom, we did some more walking around after staying overnight in the village. And every time that Merle would introduce me would be my uncle, because everybody is family there and that’s how things work. And then no other questions get asked.
We ended up looking at the healthcare facility one more time. A lot of the activities that take place have to do with preventive care and also with malaria, as well as prenatal, since there are lots of children that come about. It’s a very intense place. And that is where most of Merle’s activities are, but always at the clinic, not at somebody’s house.
We’re able to take a walk around and pick up some more of the views of the surroundings. And there’s lots of villages nearby. You could say that most of the kids have to walk a stiff walk to get to school every day. But it all seems to be working.
There’s also lots of wells in the village. Not all do what they are supposed to or have done in the past. So hopefully that will improve in the near future.
Departure from the Village
It was time to say goodbye and depart. It was a very worthwhile visit and a lot of gratitude for having had this experience. People are very friendly and they make do with whatever they have. I guess some of them do work in the gold mines. It supposedly are not legal, but the government-paid workers may not get paid.
So I made my way back to the main highway. When you pass through the villages, the kids called me out and called me Apato. Apato means white man. And I don’t think it’s any bad intention and they seem to have fun with it.
Language, Speeches, and Little Meryl
The language of course is Creole and Mero speaks it very well. She was able to translate when everybody did their speeches in Creole for me. And when I had to say a few words, she was able to translate for the local people.
I’ve been told that most of the time there’s way more people that show up for these events. But I was happy with whoever attended and it was really mind-blowing stuff.
So we also were able to see little Meryl. And so one time when Meryl was gone for a week, there was a birth of three children at once. And one of them was named after her. So she has a namesake in the village. Everybody’s just very friendly.
Return to Makena
So then I made my way back to the main highway and had to go through the two stops on the highway. Again, just small talk and being waved on.
So after the first 9km, it’s all well-paved road and one can move pretty fast. So made it back to McKenna and back to the Woosam Hotel to do more administrative stuff and catch up for two more nights. And hopefully we’ll make it to Freetown after that.
Thank you for coming along. It’s amazing stuff. In the chair, Leon. Catch you later.
