It’s been five years since I first visited Sierra Leone and for some reason, I can’t stop coming back. I came back to Sierra Leone three months after my first visit, convinced that I was supposed to be here for the rest of my life. Thankfully my grandma Dorcas, MamaLand’s director, convinced me to go back to the States and begin my education at Baylor University that fall. Now, it’s 2020 and I am supposed to be in my senior year at Baylor. But instead, I am here, back in Sierra Leone. 

My decision to come to Sierra Leone this fall was not an easy one. I continued questioning God’s plan for me to travel to Sierra Leone considering that there is a global pandemic going on. You have no idea how many people told me I was crazy for thinking I was still going to be able to travel during this time. In fact, my doctor at Baylor wouldn’t even prescribe my medication long enough for my stay in Sierra Leone because she without a doubt knew there was no way I was going to make it here. I have taken seven Covid tests, said goodbye to my boyfriend of almost four years, missed my best friend’s engagement, left my baby sister at Baylor for her freshman year of college, and extended my graduation until December 2021, all to come to one of the most impoverished countries in the world. God has a twisted sense of humor sometimes.   

I have been on the ground for two weeks now and I am slowly getting adjusted. I say slowly because every day there is something that comes up that takes me by surprise. I turned on my “shower” a few days ago and not kidding the water coming out was brown (I put this in quotation marks because even though there is a showerhead, I have to heat up my own water over a fire and use a bucket if I want a warm shower). Yesterday I sat down to have lunch and as I was eating my rice, I bit down into a huge rock. Then, that night, I found a huge cockroach in my retainer case! How gross!  

My first week when I arrived in Kabala we didn’t have electricity which made things very exciting. The sun sets around 7:30 here. Once it is dark outside we sit in the living room of Mama’s Den in the dark listening to stories Dorcas tells us. One night we put a mattress on the floor and all eight of us (the seven girls and I) braided each other’s hair and played with dolls for hours, just using my cell phone flashlight to see. This time with the girls here is so precious to me. I cannot describe my gratitude to everyone who has supported me coming back to Sierra Leone. I truly feel like I was made for this work here. I can’t wait to keep updating everyone on the work that God is doing here.

Thank you for your support and your prayers!  

-Jamie