Kushε from Freetown! We left the hotel this morning at 5:45am in order to make our 9:00am meeting with Statistics Sierra Leone. Some of us had to sleep in the car on the way there in order to be ready for our day of meetings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Statistics Sierra Leone collects census data and conducts other surveys throughout the country. Along with Saidu from World Hope International we met to explore the opportunity of collaborating with Statistics Sierra Leone to facilitate the survey. While initially they seemed skeptical, they definitely seemed interested by the end of our meeting and they provided us with next steps in the process, the first of which is submitting a concept statement.

We then had the opportunity of seeing World Hope International’s headquarters in Freetown (see photo of us all there below). The compound was very beautiful and had an incredible view. Saidu gave us a tour of headquarters, which allowed us to hear first-hand about some of World Hope’s initiatives that were introduced to us on our first day here, such as PowerGen, a company using solar energy to provide power to hospitals in smaller villages and World Hope’s initiative to reconnect victims of human trafficking, aid in their recovery, and if possible reconnect them with their families. It was extremely interesting to hear about their work directly from the individuals who are leading these efforts.

After the tour, we went to lunch at a really good restaurant (and had meat for the first time here)! If the nice lunch wasn’t enough of a surprise, we then got a text that we were able to get a meeting with a higher up at the Ministry of Health who was involved with Ebola containment efforts and now heads the related department for later in the afternoon. The timing of the meeting allowed us to go to the market after lunch which allowed all of us to get some souvenirs.

We then went to our meeting at the Ministry of Health. Throughout the meeting he seemed skeptical that our work would provide any benefit to him, but he did still seem potentially interested. While he may not have understood completely today, he did direct us to send him our concept statement in which we hope to provide him with more clarity on the tangible benefits to him of our research.

It was a very long day for our team but it was critical and effective in initiating partnerships for this project. On the drive back to Makeni, Javier even feel asleep! We had another great surprise of pizza for dinner instead of the rice, beans, bread, and veggies we have had since arriving. Overall it was a great day for our team and our project!