There's Always Room For One More in Swit Salone

Saturday


The new clinic building for Nar Sarah opened. A grand opening ceremony was held complete with traditional African dancing and singing. There were contributions from many tribes including the Temne and the Mende, and even the Bush Devil made an appearance. Many prominent people attended including Paramount Chief Sengbeh, Paramount Chief Wara Wara, and several other dignitaries. As we sat down, I started to get the feeling that this would be another situation like “The Engagement Ceremony.” (Africa 2008 Team, you know what I’m talking about). It was hot, and just when you thought the seating was full, a few more would be added. Soon, we found ourselves sharing a chair. Of course, we didn’t mind that much at the time, but after about 3 hours of sitting on the corner of a chair, we were ready to stand for a while. About half way through the program, we heard the news that a pregnant woman who came to the clinic early that morning had given birth to a healthy baby girl. Is there any better way to open a clinic?! Everyone in the crowd donated money to the baby, and said she should be called NarSarah. Since all of our means of transportation were busy that afternoon, our only option was to take the 45 minute walk home. We weren’t exactly sure of the route, since John had taken us many different ways to the clinic, but we knew that a friendly person along the way would help us if we needed. It turned out that we found our way just fine, and we even made friends with the workers at the carpenters’ shop along the way.