Night shift to remember!

  

Countryside

     I worked night shift this past weekend, which was a lot more thrilling than one could imagine!  There is generally not a whole lot to do on night shift apart from treating pain and checking a few vital signs.  Some of the day-workers sneak away to hide and sleep, but I can convince some of them to stay and talk with me!  This weekend I spent hours talking to one man (we will call him Andy) about his experiences in the war.  What a sad and humbling experience to sit and listen to him share his stories with me.  He spent a good chunk of his childhood, roughly age 10-20 living in constant fear because of the rebels.  He explained to me how the rebels would scout the villages, sneak in, and ambush the town, killing anyone who ran away or refused to give money, or sometimes just killing and torturing people for no reason. 
     Andy's family was continually picking up and moving to new villages to try to avoid the rebel attacks, and try to find food.  Once when a city they were staying in was ambushed, they fled to the bush (jungle) and hid there for 3 months.  For 3 months they lived in the jungle eating only wild yam roots, and making small fires at night to cook and give light.  (He said at night the animals would stand around them in the jungle watching them- mostly monkeys, baboons, bush cows, etc.  The animals got so use to them being in there that the kids started playing little games of tag with the monkeys!)  They would sneak into town to find food and to get information on where the rebels were.  He also recalled a story of a young boy that he befriended and played football (soccer) with.  They became good friends, selling things on the street together and playing soccer in the evenings.  After a few weeks, the young boy told Andy in secret that he was a rebel.  He was sent to their village as a spy to find out who the wealthy and powerful were in the city.  The boy told Andy that the rebels would be attacking in 3 days, and he needed to get his family out of the village.  The boy said, "don't tell me where you are going or when you are going, because I will have to lead my people to you and kill you then.  Just leave and don't let me see you."  God had definitely blessed Andy in this situation and saved his family, because the rebels attacked the village just as the young boy had warned.  (Side note: crazy thing is that this boy is now living in Freetown driving Poda-Poda's (public transportation) for a living!  I hadn't thought about the fact that people I pass on the street every day, or people who drive my Poda-Poda's..could be past rebels)
     I was enthralled by his stories for hours, both heart broken and impressed to see how he has coped.  I won't share most of his stories with you, as they are way to horrific and graphic.  He is 27, and has seen and experienced things in his life that I could not imagine. His father and brother were both killed by rebels in the war, and he is the sole provider for his 2 sisters here in Freetown.  Despite all of this, he has such a positive and encouraging outlook on life.  It is a real lesson on learning to depend on Christ for your joy and comfort and not on your feelings and circumstances.
   
     Working night shift turned out to be more of a blessing than I had expected.  (Besides the fact that I slept for only 4 hours combine the whole weekend.. of which some of those hours were spent in a squishy shag-wagon!)  My Sierra Leonian friend Andy worked night shift with me again last night- my last of 3 nights in a row.  I was considerably tired due to my lack of sleep all weekend.  I was afraid he was going to sleep the night away and leave me by myself fighting to keep my eyes open.  I couldn't think of any exciting topics to discuss, so I figured I was SOL.  At the beginning of the shift I was sending an e-mail, and he sat down next to me, jaw dropped, and started laughing.  I looked at him, wondering what I did that was so funny, and he said, "look how fast you type! You're not even looking!"  It hadn't even crossed my mind that Sierra Leonians do not have the access to computers that we do.
     As Andy and I talked, I quickly learned that he has only been in front of a computer 7 times in his entire life.  A friend of his helped him set up an e-mail account 2 weeks before this, but he had no idea how to use it.  He went to the internet cafe by himself and took an hour just to login to his e-mail.  I decided that to occupy my night, we would do computer lessons!  Now I'm no computer wiz-- far from it actually.  In the US I would be considered computer illiterate, but to my friend Andy, I was Bill Gates!   Now, I thought helping my Mom and Dad on the computer was difficult (sorry Mom and Dad!), but I had to start at ground zero with Andy.  For instance- where do you type a web address?  What IS a web address??  how to open/close the internet, what is a search engine and how do you use it?  It was such a great experience for me to teach him.  Andy was so excited to learn, he was more awake that night than I have ever seen him during the day!
     7 hours later, He was searching information about his favorite soccer teams online, sending e-mails, and using Facebook!  Since it took him 10 minutes just to type a web address in, I decided we needed to do some typing tutorials. I opened a free online tutorial, and he spent 2 hours practicing how to type!  2 hours of, "fjfjfj kd kd lllgh..." etc.  I dozed off watching him, but he was thrilled!
     So many missionaries go overseas and spend so much time teaching computer classes.  I never fully understood why that was so important until now.  I hate to admit that computers rule our world, but it is true.  And when an entire country has virtually no access to or ability to use a computer, it makes it that much harder for them to get out of poverty and catch up to the advancing world.  Andy had been through school and graduated college with a degree in finance, and still had no access to computers.  Even the education system here looks so different because of the lack of computer access.

     By the end of night shift, I should have been exhausted, but it was hard for me to sleep because I was so excited for Andy.  I never realized how much of a blessing a simple computer lesson could be to him.  I feel like I just unlocked the world for him.

The rest of my weekend was nothing compared to my experiences with Andy, but I will sum them up quickly:



River #2 beach- absolutely beautiful! Just like the TV show LOST!







     - Took a 3 hour journey to the most tropical beach ever, taking Poda-Poda's, taxis, and motorcycles over roads that should not even be passable by pack mules. 

     - Floated down a real-life lazy river that was warm, clear blue, and lined with the softest white sand in the world.



     - Took an Okata (motorcycle taxi) to church.  Got lost and tried to help my driver find the way, and ended up driving through the middle of a soccer game.  Motorcycle apparel:  skirt, sandles, bicycle helmet.  (sorry Mom and Dad)

     - Drank a Sprite out of a glass bottle served to me by the pastor on Sunday-- it was filled with unidentified floaties.  Still not sick. fingers crossed.

   - Watched the most spectacular sunset yet from the top deck of the ship with an amazing African breeze cooling the hot air :)

Sorry for the lack of pictures this time!  My stories were all about night shift, where a camera is not exactly appropriate..

Prayer requests:

     - My patient, Lonny, who I talked about in past blogs went home today!  Pray for a welcomed return home for him, and continued wound healing with NO infection!

     - For Andy, that he can continue to mentally/spiritually heal from his war experiences, and that his new computer knowledge will open up a window of opportunity for him!

     - For our new plastics patients who just arrived today!  There are some very sweet children that I am excited to work with!

Love and miss you all! Continue to update me on your lives! I love to know what is going on State-side!