27th – 28th of May 2019:
After a typical local breakfast, which contained a spicy sauce with cooked sweet potato leaves and rice, we visited the hospital. Joseph guided us through the well-spaced and modern hospital buildings. We spoke to some of the qualified staff about the typical challenges in a developing country like Sierra Leone. These include for example the HIV-infection, child mortality, malnutrition, tuberculosis, typhoid fever and of course the maintenance of all the second hand devices that break a lot in this extremely humid climate. During a walk through the surrounding villages, we met several people with advanced diseases like tumors and fractures, who sadly cannot afford the by our standards cheap surgery. In addition, we visited a home and a school for orphans. The sweet children lost both their parents through the horrible disease Ebola.
We liked the loud, lively and chaotic market in the inner city of Makeni a lot. We walked for some time in the narrow alleys, which were wet from the rain and smelt stuffy. Joseph introduced us to many of his friends and we could answer many interesting questions. Alex, the owner of a bakery gave us even a couple of pieces of bread as a present, since he liked our way of travelling a lot.
