Back home

My dear readers

The observant amongst you will have noticed that I have not written a blog for some time. In fact, the last one was April 1st and it is now August 20th. This is because I returned home to the UK unexpectedly on May 10th and this blog has not been uppermost in my mind. Only now am I getting round to saying farewell to you all.

I do miss Sierra Leone and, forgive the cliche, it was a life-changing experience. To have been able to uproot myself and live in relatively basic conditions was a real eye-opener and I am amazed at how I adapted to it. It did take me about 3 months to do so but then it all became my life and it was just normal.

The things I found difficult were: living in fear that the water would run out, not being in easy contact with friends and family back home, finding food that I wanted to eat, the heat which was pretty relentless and I was constantly wet, travelling and I expect there were other things once upon a time but I seem now to have forgotten them.

But then there were the extraordinary things. I always felt part of a group of supportive friends and if any of them read this, it was great to know you all. I have written elsewhere about the starry sky which is a thing we hardly ever see in the UK (or not my bits of it, anyway). It was fascinating to see how the local people took their pleasure and fun where they could and usually in ways that we westerners would scorn. They dance at any opportunity - if there is any music anywhere such as in a shop, then they will dance. And no-one looks at them and thinks 'nutter' like they would here and move away. No, it was quite normal and acceptable. Most ordinary people have no access to television. On some evenings there would be a big crowd around one of the street stalls in Makeni; someone would have a tiny, tiny tv screen and this large crowd would be craning their necks to try to watch it.

One of the things I miss most is the morning hymn singing in the midwifery school. I would wait in the library for the students to finish their prayers and would hear, drifting through the corridors, the inimitable sound of African women singing with passion.

I will be uploading photos over the next few weeks, so please keep an eye on my blog still.

Africa, I miss you.