While Omar went to sleep at 9:00 PM, exhausted by yesterday’s demands, the rest of the team woke up what must have been 4 minutes after they had fallen asleep. Deprived of sleep, the team was still determined to do what they came here for, make an impact. Today’s day was short, but as the saying goes, quality over quantity. After arriving at world hope, the typical morning debrief with our new teammate Randolph and Khanjan ensued. As he always does, Khanjan gave us feedback and expressed his excitement for this remarkable team. He explained how we should focus on our AISHA 1.0 product, emphasizing that we need to keep working to ensure that we have a working product to leave behind. With AISHA speaking Krio on the backburner, our team solely focused on one objective: Perfecting the fundamentals. With our newfound inspiration, the team quickly got to work.
Eric and Elif worked tirelessly to get the AISHA website booming. With valuable feedback and their incredible intelligence, they were able to make a skeleton version of the website. LTS finally gave access to the wordpress, a stress now relieved. Rachel and Randolph, R2 , got to work on translation for the added questions Rachel was working on earlier. With Randolph’s experience in the clinic, he was also able to help with a list of medications, once again proving his usefulness to the team. The rest of the team either worked on the visuals for the laminated sheet that will show off AISHA’s functionality or was perfecting skills to get the demos working in PHUs. Sofía, Zavier, and Khanjan met with Carrie Jo, an instrumental figure in World Hope’s response to the ebola crisis. They were able to explain our product to her and how it would be used. Despite the recent struggles, the demo was a success, further emphasizing the potential of this project. A big goal is set, a working demo for the DMO. The days count down, and the demo approaches. But this resilient team is prepared for any challenge ahead of them. But the work day is now over, and we head to a village for some downtime.
Our incredible drivers took us down to the river near a remote village. Driving through bumpy terrain and getting bitten by ants, a new experience for most of us. While most of us made it to the right destination on the first try, some followed Bakarr into the forest. Fighting ants and avoiding muddy puddles was the most of our problems at that moment. While we were going the wrong direction, the laughs we shared formed core memories. Finally, we reached the destination. A wonderful river. The team took photos, shared laughs, and fortified our friendships. While here to study and find solutions to the current challenges in the country, it was also important to really connect with each other. That’s what makes this AISHA team so special, the bonds we have with one another.
We are an ambitious team. A team full of creativity. A team full of talent. A team that loves each other. We have many days to go, and we are determined to reach our goals. Let’s create something extraordinary!
Team Highlights
Eric → Group photo at the river.
Zavier → Trying palm wine and talking to Momoh.
Elif → Getting the website skeleton started.
Sofía → Taking pictures by the river.
Aabi → Khanjan’s kidney beans.
Rachel → Getting Rhandolph’s feedback on the AISHA Answers sheet and hearing about his experience.
Omar → Sitting in the bed of the truck, enjoying the wind as we head back to the restaurant.
Average rating of the team’s day: 3.13/5