I've arrived! After a hectic journey, I've finally made it to Noepe, Togo. Let's start at the beginning of the story because its worth sharing. We left Worcester last Thursday to head to the Cape Town Airport to begin our journey. To save money we booked the flight with the most amount of layovers lol. First we stopped in Johannesburg where we sat on the plane for an hour waiting on the tarmack for other people to board. Then we headed for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where it was smooth sailing. I enjoyed a couple movies on the flight, slept and relaxed. Then that came to a crashing halt as we arrived in Nigeria... Apparently we booked a flight with an airline they said did not exist haha. After fighting for two hours with the airport staff and the plane being held up for us, they gave us tickets with a different airline and we boarded and took off. Because of our delays in Nigeria our luggage did not make the flight leaving me to spend my first night sleeping in my underwear with a bath towel as a blanket. Thank goodness its warm! Atlast we got a call late Saturday that our bags had arrived! Woohoo! When we got to the airport the two baggage guys were drunk and said they didnt know where our luggage was. We had to physically go to the back area (where no man ever gets to go haha) to pick up our pieces that had been sitting there all along. Oh the joys of travel! All of this to say that life is a journey. There are going to be bumps along the way but its what makes you stronger. It also makes for a good story. Nobody ever wants to hear you say, ya everything went perfectly... They want to hear the crazy stuff, because that's what epic stories are made of. If you can, enjoy the journey, don't rush to the next thing when life is easier. Embrace the difficulties, learn from them and try to have some fun in the meantime. In a nutshell that is the beginning of this adventure, one I cannot wait to see unfold.
We have been in Noepe now for a few days and were given a run through of what to expect from our time here and I'm so excited to get to work. I will be working in the clinic 5 days a week and on the side doing teachings on health, sanitation and wound care to the locals. We might also have the opportunity to work alongside a school teaching children. The clinic has been closed since arriving as the amazing woman (they call Mama Amy) has been away. It will be reopened on Monday where we'll get incredible experience dealing with malaria, TB, typhoid and any other tropical disease you can imagine. We will also be giving vaccinations, doing wound care, and assisting with the possibility of performing child deliveries. They deliver about 5 babies a week! People come from all of the surrounding villages to come to the clinic as this is the only one available to them.
Because we're not able to work in the clinic quite yet they didnt want us just sitting around, so they put us to work. I've had the privilege of working and learning a lot in the kitchen alongside this amazingly strong woman named Abigail. She came here from Ghana to work and go to school. She has graduated, gotten married and now runs the kitchen on base. Im inspired by her strength and her passion for cooking.
The lovely Abigail
I also participated in some physical labour jobs since ive been here, and let me tell you... These people work hard! We picked up trash from around the base and then had to sort garbage! We needed to sort the garbage into recycling and compost and then take them to the appropriate areas... After dumping the mucky slawp and what remained of the vegetables you have to hand wash the bins. Not my favourite job haha. But you certainly feel like you've earned your dinner that night.
Since arriving I've heard a lot about the area and the surrounding villages and I'm looking forward to learning more. One of my favourite discoveries was hearing about the water pump. This area was is need of a clean water source, so a group of missionaries raised the funds and built a safe water pump where everyone from surrounding villages could access it. To my amazement the story gets better... The local people came to the missionaries and asked if there was any way they could contribute. So a deal was made. A man has been designated the controller of the water and they keep it locked during certain hours so that the pump does not get abused. Also people pay (a very small fee) each time to retrieve water because they value it so much they wanted to be able to pay for it themselves if it ever broke. They did not want to rely on other people to take care of it, they wanted to take ownership and take care of their people. So this man who recieves no money for his time, collects the money and locks and unlocks this pump every day to make sure these villages always have access to a clean water source. My mind was blown when I heard this story.
This is the beautiful water pump
Well my friends, I hope you have enjoyed following me on this journey yet again. I'll do my best to update you but our internet access is unreliable. I love you all and miss you tremendously. Until next time :)
Meghan
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