My "Nephew" Jackson

Holly has always been the fourth Shermer girl. In fact all growing up she fought more with Nick than I did, but for some reason I would always get yelled at for it. We too fought like sisters at times and couldn't get enough time together. Whenever there was a snow day from school- you know meaning no travel suggested on the roads, our moms would figure out how to bring one of us to the others house so we could get snowed in together. We have some great memories and are now making even more. One of the hard parts of being so far away in Sierra Leone was missing the birth of Holly and Aaron's son Jackson. My mom and Amy were able to go see him in the hospital though and send me photos, however I needed to go meet him for myself shortly after getting home.

Holly and Jackson
He truly is the best baby- so easy going and really does like to smile, that is until the camera comes out. Then it is always this wide-eyed look you see here. Jackson was born about than two weeks after my niece Koryn was born but was bigger than her the day he arrived and has continued to make her look like small.
I was able to stay for tacos with Holly and Aaron and just spend some time catching up. I love that they are not too far away and hope to get down there again sometime soon.

I'm Home- and Freezing :)

I left Sierra Leone Thursday Morning Oct. 16th at 2:00 am. So that meant I had to go to the airport Wednesday night. Here was the crew that came with me to send me off-

Rainny, JK, Joe, Sia, and Pastor Ibrahim
And of course a shot with me and the group. We had to go over early as the airport is on an island so we have to go by the ferry schedule. We arrived a little after 4 I think and were able to drop my two LARGE suitcases at the airport and walk around for a bit. We went to this quaint little restaurant to have one last African meal. IT WAS GOOD. However I still did not eat the fish head on my plate- I think that may take many YEARS living there in order to come around to enjoying that part- though I do like fish now.

Yes it was difficult to say goodbye, but knowing the reception at the airport on the other side would be a different scene made it easier to hop on the plane. I am grateful and blessed to have made so many good friendships and relationships. God let me be part of a whole new family and just like my family here- being thousands of miles away will not change that.

Thursday Oct. 16 at 6:30 pm I landed in Minnesota and was met by some of my family. the funny thing was that when I landed in Chicago there was a big note on the wall saying Shermer, Christine- letting me know my luggage didn't make it from London to Chicago- I think it may have actually been a better deal because I went straight to report my missing luggage as I landed at MSP and we were able to leave the airport before the bags even came to baggage claim. 10:30 am the next morning my bags were delivered to my aunt and uncles. Not bad.

I was happy to see a few fall leaves still left on the trees (in the cities at least). I love fall and didn't want to miss it completely. Here is my family outside Mike and Lor's house Friday morning.Isabelle, Grandma Shirley, Dad, Mom, Amy, Grandma Syvilla, Kari, Sophie, Mike and Lorie
And me back with the fam once again.I have to say I missed my mom a lot. She was not able to come visit with my dad and sisters and when I left for Sierra Leone- I left my mom in the hospital. I cannot tell you how great it was to see her and give her a big hug.

The three Shermer sisters are together again and ready to create some trouble. How thankful am I that Amy and Kari were able to come to Salone and share in this journey with me. I love being able to tell stories and have Dad, Kari and Amy know just who I am talking about- as well as have them asking about people. It also makes it easier for them to maybe let me go again!Of course I missed my other family as well. Mike, Lor, Sophie and Isabelle have always been my second family and home- it felt like I was home as soon as we arrived at their house. Thanks for all your love and support. I really did miss you all.My sweet girls- all the kids in Africa cannot take their place. It is crazy how much kids can grow and change in just 6 months.

On our way north Friday we were able to swing in to Nick and Jamie's for dinner and so that I could have the chance to see Alina and meet my second niece Koryn. For some reason we left the camera in the car but we'll get photos next time. Nick and Dad made us a great steak and potatos dinner on the grill complete with corn on the cob. The last great treat of the day was having my good friend Bren come over to eat with us as well. We made it home just in time for me to explore the new house a bit and then crash into bed. I am adjusting to the time change all be it slowly- and the craziest thing is how cold I am all the time. I am the girl who runs around in a vest all winter and now have a scarf, mittens, and winter coat on and am still cold in OCTOBER. I am sure it will come around and until then you can all just laugh at me.

It is good to be home- I miss everyone over in Sierra Leone- and yet I missed all of you here when I was there. I guess that is the way it will always be now. I back at work in the shop and already having some great adventures to share with you next time I post.

Thanks again for your love, prayers, and support. This is truly one of the greatest blessings in my life.

Thanks FW Friends

Last Spring, my good friends at FW Friends (the children's Wednesday night group at our church in Cook) did what we called a formula drive. The kids brought in money each week for about a month so that we could use the money to buy formula for the children in the "Baby Mother" program here in Salone. There are some infants who have either lost their mom or are malnourished and need some extra care for a time who Jonathan House provides support for. Formula is a big need and the kids at FW Friends did a GREAT job coming together to help these kids- they raised over $500 with their change have made a difference in the lives of kids halfway around the world. THANK YOU!!!

This is Jesse. He is still a bit malnourished but has been getting a little better day by day. He is about 9 months old and is now living with one of the cooks from JCC. Here he is with Marian and some of that precious formula that is mixed with a little extra love.
The other thing the kids at FW Friends did for me was write me letters to take with and open as I needed to get a little lift from home. They have made me smile, laugh, and feel the extra love and support I needed at times. I love being a part of this group and look forward to seeing them soon after I get home.

Thanks again and God Bless You!!!

My little buddy

I know I have mentioned Little Patrick before, but I am not sure I have put photos of him up yet. Everyone here calls him my son and I would keep him forever if I could. He is just precious. He comes to my door and says "mommy Christie- I want to come to you." He is just a little thing, but so smart and is great at correcting my English. We want the kids here to speak more English on the compound instead of Creole- or vernacular- so that it will help with their writing and education. However I had been trying a tiny bit to speak a little Creole- so one day Patrick and Nancy and I were in the barri when mommy Mary had come home from town. I looked at them and said, "mommy don come" and Patrick says, "mommy Christie- it is Mommy has come." He is great. a few days later he was walking towards the gate so I asked him if he was going to see uncle Ben (the security) and he told me, "no I'm going to see uncle gateman."I have taken him to town or to go get bricks or wood with the older boys and as we get to the road leading into JCC I let him sit on my lap (there are NO car seats in this country) and "drive". Well since he has done this a couple times he now thinks he is my driver and everytime I go anywhere he needs to come drive. I have asked him if he has a driver's liscence to which of course he says yes. He is a sweet boy who has filled my days with laughter and fun.

Youth Thanksgiving

Once a year at the church I attend in town there is what they call a Youth Thanksgiving. This is when the youth (I think late teens through late twenties) put on a special program for the Sunday service. They write and sing songs, have a theme for the service, a guest preacher, a few fun competitions, youth from other churches come and sing, it is really just a great time to worship together and celebrate. The other great part is a full week of activities the week before. Monday was a football game, Tuesday volleyball, Wednesday prayer and fasting, Thursday last practice before Sunday, Friday talent show, and then Sunday evening was just a fun party with music and dancing. (Though the rainy season had a thing to say about some of these activities) It truly was a great week and what made it even more fun for me was the relationships I have built over the last 6 months. I was able to go and know a good number of people there and feel like part of the group. God has truly blessed me with not only building special relationships with the kids and staff here at JCC, but I have also been welcomed into this great group of friends.

Below is my favorite music group here- Favoured Few. I truly do love their music but I also love them. They have become good friends and take good care of me as well. Tuesday I went to dinner with Solomon and Solomon (I don't like to have to remember names so I make them have the same name) and they didn't trust the honda driver to bring me home safely so they had their drivers take them all the way out to JCC and then bring them back to their homes- which were right near the resturaunt. This is not quite the whole group but...
This weekend a bunch of us will be traveling to Kenema for their Youth Thanksgiving. I happened to be going anyway so that I could spend some time with my friends JK, Theresa and others in their family, so it happened to work out great that so many more are going to be there as well. The time is going very fast now. I will be leaving Bo next Sunday night to head to Freetown and then go to the airport on Wednesday to come home. It is going to be VERY difficult to say goodbye. I look forward to seeing everyone, but... You can pray for me.

Aunty Mary

Aunty Mary is the House Mother at Jonathan House- my mom as well. She has become a great friend who I love going to the market with and learning how to cook from in the kitchen. Her birthday was in September so she, Lily, JK, and I went to Country Side for dinner. We like to say we are going to America when we go here. It is kinda like a small Country Club. We all had chicken dinner and a great time visiting and celebrating this great woman. I love you Aunty Mary!

Trip to Freetown

I know, I know- it has been way to long. Honestly I am just too impatient. I have tried many times to upload a post and then the battery will finish or the Internet goes out and I just have given up for a time. I apologize and will try to be better. There are so many things I have wanted to post about and will try to get to, but for now I will start with a trip a few of us took to Freetown last weekend. I was great to just get away for a few days with some good friends and have little responsibility for a time. We took the early morning transport- and by early morning I mean 3am- to Freetown and arrived with the whole day ahead of us. We stayed at a Guest House in the center of town which was perfect for walking around and finding some good cheap food- we ate chicken and french fries everyday. Freetown is a LARGE city PACKED with people. It is hard to get anywhere in a car as people walk the streets just as the cars do, there are no traffic lights or even signs, and the city is really just overcrowded. There are still some good things to see and some good times to be had. On Saturday we headed to Charolotte Village to check out this waterfall that everyone has talked about but no one has made it to. (Next time Kayla) We drove some distance on this barely made road and then parked to walk a bit further. We walked through this small Creole village called Charolotte and the houses looked a little something like this. (People are living in ALL of them).

After walking through the village we found a couple kids who led us to a path heading to the falls. We walked through this covered path not able to see the falls but able to hear them. At one point we had to remove our shoes and walk through the water to get on the path again. Now I loved this part as you know I love water, but one thing I have learned since coming is that almost no one here likes water. This was a lot for me to ask of the guys to remove their shoes and get into the water, but they did it for me and I love them for it. Back on the path again we could now feel the mist from the falls. I was walking ahead with the kids (it took the guys a little longer to get their shoes back on) and this was the scene that opened up before us. It was beautiful and I think everyone was thankful we made the trip.
Joe, JK, Christie, John Boland, Pastor Ibrahim

After we headed to the beach for sometime and then back to town. I enjoyed spending some time seeing Freetown in a different light. In the past I have only experienced sitting in traffic and having people crowded all around me. I guess Freetown isn't so bad, but I do love Bo and Bo is home so it was nice to get back on Monday.