Goodbye to Freetown

We left for the village of Baoma one last time Sunday morning and arrived before the 10:00 church service began, and boy were we in for a surprise! The service lasted just over 2 hours and their Pentacostal ways were a bit different for us. The singing, exotic dancing, and repitition of shouts was very interesting to say the least. After church, we quickly collected a few last water samples before playing football (soccer) and frisbee with the school children. Around three we started our final presentation to the community. Mike led the meeting with Mohamed's assistance. Meghan, Matt, and Bobby contributed by presenting the assessments of the health survey, water quality, and soil testing. The stage was then open for the community to ask us questions and tell us what they really want or need. There seemed to be a consensus that they need four things: a latrine, better school, water system, and a medical center. After some expressions of appreciation from both sides, Dr. L and Rich presented the community leaders with collared Penn State shirts to show our respect and thanks. We also presented Mohamed and his family with a small lion statue also to show our thanks for their hospitality. It was sad to leave the community, because we knew that we would not see those people again for a long time. We will stay in correspondance so that the distance between us won't seem so large.

Rich, Matt, and Bobby decided to jump in the Atlantic Ocean before they left. After waiting for those boys to get back, we walked over to the seemingly world famous Paddy's night club for dinner...don't worry, the night club part wasn't open when we went.

Today, we are heading into Freetown for some last minute shopping and cement retrieval. Around noon here, we will catch some taxis to the ferry, which will bring us to the island that the airport is on. This will be the last blog before our seven o'clock flight tonight, so we will look forward to seeing you tomorrow around noon (your time).