Next trip
07/01/09 11:25 Filed in: Plans
We are getting ready for our next trip to Sierra Leone. We're leaving on the 26th of January to return the 10th of March, again a 6-week trip. The best news is that the airlines have rolled back their prices a bit as the cost of fuel has gone down, so each ticket is a couple of hundred dollars less than in July. We'll be able to put that savings to good use, paying for extra baggage!
We'll be working with our third cohort, in the town of Daru in Jawei Chiefdom. Our class will draw from several area villages, and we hope it will have no more than 25 or 30 women! Daru is the seat of the Jawei Chiefdom, and our favorite Paramount Chief, Musa Ngombuklah Kallon, lives there. It is a larger town than we've worked in before, with about 10,000 people or so. A nice clinic is in the middle of town, with several skilled staff members, so the environment will be very different from what we are used to having.
Needs!
We need to take lots and lots of supplies and mama/baby packets as we are supporting several areas now. Each mama/baby pack includes the following if we have enough to go around:
1 hat (lightweight crochet is nice)
2 onesies or tshirts (one plain and one cute)
1 pair socks (2 if we can get enough)
2 simple receiving blankets
1 cloth diaper (2 if we can get enough)
1 travel-sized bottle of shampoo
1 travel-sized bottle of lotion
1 travel-sized bar or bottle of soap
We'd like to take 200 packs if we can. The critical pieces are the hats, tshirts, receiving blankets, and luxuries for the mothers. All the cloth items will be washed by hand and dried on a line, so lightweight, sturdy cotton with little decoration is best.
We need to take gloves to the MOMS' TBAs in the Jokibu area, as they are out. We weren't able to take any last trip, so we'll take as many as we can, and put 20-25 in a baggie for each MOMS' TBA. They are very careful with gloves, washing them and hanging them to dry in a protected place. If we get nitrile, they will last longer, even though they cost more.
(It will be glorious when Sierra Leone gets trustworthy mail and delivery service. For now, sending a 50-pound packing box costs over $400. We could fit two dozen boxes of gloves in it, but we can't be sure we'd get it, we'd have to spend 3-4 days at DHL's office trying to pick it up, and it would cost us several other "processing fees". Boo. We do take extra bags on the plane with us - they cost about $200 each.)
We also need to take other supplies to them, and gloves and supplies to Pellie and to Daru. Umbilical tape is one request, along with scissors and hemostats.
Also, we found last trip that our posters for teaching had gotten mildewed and nasty, so we need to replace them. I'll be buying the laminated kind, which will last longer. We also like to take flip-chart paper for ad-hoc drawings! Thank you, Cindy, for the markers.
If you'd like to send us some of these items, wonderful! If you'd like to help us buy them, please send us a check or use your credit card on PayPal. Our website has links.
A new volunteer will be joining us this trip. Ami is a CPM and is studying for her BSN and will use this experience as part of her training.
As always, if you have questions or comments, let us know!
Trish
We'll be working with our third cohort, in the town of Daru in Jawei Chiefdom. Our class will draw from several area villages, and we hope it will have no more than 25 or 30 women! Daru is the seat of the Jawei Chiefdom, and our favorite Paramount Chief, Musa Ngombuklah Kallon, lives there. It is a larger town than we've worked in before, with about 10,000 people or so. A nice clinic is in the middle of town, with several skilled staff members, so the environment will be very different from what we are used to having.
Needs!
We need to take lots and lots of supplies and mama/baby packets as we are supporting several areas now. Each mama/baby pack includes the following if we have enough to go around:
1 hat (lightweight crochet is nice)
2 onesies or tshirts (one plain and one cute)
1 pair socks (2 if we can get enough)
2 simple receiving blankets
1 cloth diaper (2 if we can get enough)
1 travel-sized bottle of shampoo
1 travel-sized bottle of lotion
1 travel-sized bar or bottle of soap
We'd like to take 200 packs if we can. The critical pieces are the hats, tshirts, receiving blankets, and luxuries for the mothers. All the cloth items will be washed by hand and dried on a line, so lightweight, sturdy cotton with little decoration is best.
We need to take gloves to the MOMS' TBAs in the Jokibu area, as they are out. We weren't able to take any last trip, so we'll take as many as we can, and put 20-25 in a baggie for each MOMS' TBA. They are very careful with gloves, washing them and hanging them to dry in a protected place. If we get nitrile, they will last longer, even though they cost more.
(It will be glorious when Sierra Leone gets trustworthy mail and delivery service. For now, sending a 50-pound packing box costs over $400. We could fit two dozen boxes of gloves in it, but we can't be sure we'd get it, we'd have to spend 3-4 days at DHL's office trying to pick it up, and it would cost us several other "processing fees". Boo. We do take extra bags on the plane with us - they cost about $200 each.)
We also need to take other supplies to them, and gloves and supplies to Pellie and to Daru. Umbilical tape is one request, along with scissors and hemostats.
Also, we found last trip that our posters for teaching had gotten mildewed and nasty, so we need to replace them. I'll be buying the laminated kind, which will last longer. We also like to take flip-chart paper for ad-hoc drawings! Thank you, Cindy, for the markers.
If you'd like to send us some of these items, wonderful! If you'd like to help us buy them, please send us a check or use your credit card on PayPal. Our website has links.
A new volunteer will be joining us this trip. Ami is a CPM and is studying for her BSN and will use this experience as part of her training.
As always, if you have questions or comments, let us know!
Trish