May 12, 2016 | Summer 2016 Penn State Team

Before arrival, many important preparations were taken care of in order to aid in our research on the ground. Once the chemical protocol for our strips was finalized, we stamped 500 of our own test strips and taped filter paper to popsicle sticks. We will use this as a supplemental experiment to testing the community response to the introduction of test strips. Furthermore, we have ten parameter test strips that will be used as an additional supplemental study to gather data for future work. For our primary study we have 10,000 OEM test strip. We created and brought material for our trainings and experimentation and prepared 3 binders with a set of each.

Today we met at World Hope International Headquarters in Makeni, in the Bombali District. We waited for more information on future meetings and assignments for where our experiments will take place and who will help us complete them. We had the opportunity to talk to Hassan, the Supervisor of Social Mobilization. He explained his background, which included overseeing the national burial team needed to combat the Ebola crisis. He did this by educating different members of Sierra Leonean communities, including the leaders of “secret societies” –closed groups within the communities– so that they could use their influence to re-guide traditional burial practices and ultimately reduce the spread of Ebola. Hassan will be helping us identify places that we can begin our venture as well as providing us a more in depth understanding of Sierra Leonean cultures, traditions, and social structure.

Aside from the happenings of our venture, our personal day involved waking up around 7:30 and having a breakfast of mango, eggs, sausage, and really yummy bread at 8:00. Next, we loaded up in the back of a World Hope International van and headed to the headquarters of World Hope International. We waited and then had the opportunity to speak with Hassan, then, around 6, headed off to a restaurant for dinner.