Another day meant another early morning for the SicklED team. By 8 a.m. we were already on the move, heading to Magbenteh Hospital for a hospital-wide meeting where we had been invited to give a presentation on sickle cell disease. The conference room quickly filled with doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff, around 20 to 30 in total, who gave us their attention for the better part of an hour. We walked them through the basics of the disease, current treatment and management strategies, diagnostic challenges, and some of the most recent research developments in the field. It was encouraging to see the interest in our work, particularly when we shared what our team at Lehigh has been building toward.
We are especially grateful to Dr. Conteh and his team at Magbenteh for welcoming us so warmly. Not only were they a thoughtful and engaged audience, but they also generously offered us their time afterward for several interviews. These conversations helped us gain valuable perspectives and realities of clinicians who work with sickle cell patients every day.
Once our interviews wrapped up, we headed toward the Magbenteh canteen. Having left early in the morning without breakfast, everyone was more than ready for a meal, and the canteen proved to be the perfect spot to recharge. Sharing lunch together gave the team a chance for a short break while waiting for our ride back to World Hope.
Back at World Hope, the rest of the day was spent catching up on much-needed organizational work. Between refining paperwork, sorting through transcripts, and cataloging the many interviews we had conducted in the past 48 hours, the team focused on creating some structure to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks. With only a week of fieldwork left, it felt important to take stock of where we stood, what gaps remained, and how best to use our remaining time in Sierra Leone.