helen weld public health

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

‘Boh-dee fine’. . .

‘How-dee boh-dee’… How are you?
‘Boh-dee fine’ . . . I am fine.

This is a bit of Crio I have picked up. There are over 12 languages spoken in Sierra Leone, so learning bits and pieces of all of them is testing my brain power, but Crio is the predominant non-colonial language. Crio is very sing-songy and fun to listen to, with a large smattering of English and bits of French and Spanish thrown in for good measure.

Last week was mostly spent in the Bo District about 5 hours from Freetown in the township of Taiama which is the ancestral home of Samuel Pieh, WAFF’s country director. Samuel and his wife Clara were my hosts for the first week of my stay here. Samuel is the great, great grandson of the Mende slave Sengbe Pieh, who led the revolt in 1839 to obtain freedom while being shipped from one Cuban port to another. This saga was depicted in Steven Spielberg’s 1997 film, 'Amistad'. Sam was actually in the movie as well as working as a dialect coach for the filming.

When I first contacted Sam from Maine just three weeks ago he asked if I would be going Up Country with a medical team. Of course, my response was an enthusiastic yes. Sam was to be a co-leader of a 7 member medical team from Tennessee and West Virginia. All seven are all members of the First United Methodist Church. Sam has so much on his plate that he had neglected to mention to them that I was going to accompany them on their 6 day mission. Despite their initial surprise by my presence and plan to accompany them, they were immediately welcoming and grateful. We quickly meshed well as a team and we were all fulfilled by the experience.

Primarily I worked alongside Dr. Debi Selby, a pediatrician, who was able to teach me a lot. It was a great opportunity for me to gain more ‘in the field 'experience. Over the four days we managed to see over 400 children. Worms, malnutrition, upper respiratory conditions, scabies and fungal skin conditions were the most prevalent conditions we treated.

Sam arranged for us to do a mobile clinic in the village of Pujehun in the Kori chiefdom, which was a terrific experience and a trip highlight. We were delivered to the Tai River by our faithful and expert drivers and then transferred to a dugout canoe for the river crossing. It took four trips to get all of us and our supplies across. We then walked about 3 miles through the bush to a quintessentially African village with thatched roofed, circular mud-brick houses.

Upon returning to Freetown we had a farewell dinner where we all toasted each other with tears and laughter. Everyone had been touched deeply by the shared experiences.
Sam topped the evening off by arranging a surprise visit from the recently appointed Minister of Health, Soccah Alex Kabi M.D., who informed us that he had been able to make arrangements with the government and UNICEF to have oxygen converters delivered to Sierra Leone in the very near future. We all cheered and felt that there is hope and steady positive progress for Sierra Leone in the realm of health care delivery.

Love, Helen


Dear Family and Friends,
I have never been very brave about asking for donations (fundraising makes me squeamish), but I had a bit of a brainstorm in the middle of the night. Next Sunday is my 54th birthday... I know it’s not a very auspicious year, but I would love to have people help me celebrate it by donating funds of ANY AMOUNT to West Africa Fistula Foundation (WAFF) http://www.westafricafistulafoundation.org/ the organisation I am currently volunteering for in Sierra Leone. If you decide you want to do this, and don't mind sharing the amount of your donation, please email me so that I can plan a bit of a budget. If I could raise $1000, over and above what I personally plan to donate, it would be fantastic! In the spirit of my paternal grandmother, Gammy, I would love to have a "Chinese" birthday celebration here. She always gave presents on her birthday and this is what I would like to do for the WAFF women.

I would love to get some very basic outdoor furniture and some new hospital gowns etc. etc. I would also like to get a sewing machine for training purposes. It's not just the money which is important, but if the women realised that many people out in the world care about their plight I am sure it would boost their morale considerably.

Please see the letter from Dr. Maggi below. He is WAFF's "patron saint" in the USA. I look forward to meeting him when he is here at the end of next week. Mark cheques with "Helen's fund" at the bottom. I will ensure that the funds are spent on special and sustainable items. Thanks for any donation you can manage. You can also go onto the WAFF website and donate by credit card using Paypal.

Much love, Helen


Dr. Maggi's letter:

Dear Helen,

Thanks so much for your email and willingness to evaluate the program. When I get over there I will discuss with you more in detail. As you see there is so much to do in Sierra Leone and the people are absolutely wonderful BUT as you see there are obstacles that can be very frustrating.

Donations can be sent to:

West Africa Fistula Foundation
c/o Darius R. Maggi
3621 Pottsboro Road #150
Denison, Texas 75020

All donations are absolutely tax deductible and we send out tax letters every year to every donor no matter how much they donate. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit.

I know I told you that we have no administrative expenses in the U.S.A. and I do not take one red cent from the foundation nor does any one else in the U.S.A. use any of the money for anything.

Thanks for all you do and I will see you next week.

Darius