Sierra Leone, West Africa, The world’s poorest nation where the average family makes $140 per year!  I have had the privilege to experience this first hand and I will never forget the desperation and the poverty I have seen.  We were docked in Freetown the capital city and I can say that the people are friendly and good spirited considering they have nothing to offer but friendship.  Most of the city does not have electricity; there just is not enough money to turn it on. This does not stop the city life the lanterns and candles come out dinner is cooked over open flames and the random Honda generator is seen with extension cords run to all the neighbors just to have one light bulb on.  I can count on one hand the number of times I saw the power turned on in the city.  The police force has not been paid for months but they continue to work in hopes that they will get paid someday, “at least they have a job” mentions one of the locals.  The city just does not have any money to pay them and what money they do have is spent by corrupt politicians, who in reality are just looking out for their families.  When your kids are starving and there is no money, and no food, good people out of desperation will do what ever it takes to put food in their kids mouths; and the corruption kicks in. 

I want to tell you about a village I visited and saw the reality of a country with no healthcare services.   I met a carpenter who had smashed his finger with a hammer and it was infected so much that he said he can not sleep at night because of the pain.  Now I am not a doctor, but what I saw was that he is very close to loosing his finger, the local treatment for such a thing is to take manure paste in a leaf and wrap the wound.  With simple first aide this guy might be able to keep his finger.  There is more work in Sierra Leone then Mercy Ships could possibly handle.  We are opening up this year a land base facility in Sierra Leone so that work can continue when the ship is not around.  While the focus over the last few years has been Sierra Leone, it is time for the ship to move on to other West African countries which are also in great need.  But first a short PR tour and down time for repairs…….