Staff Training Trip

Traveling to Sierra Leone this September was a trip where I was filled with anxiety, excitement and hope. I had so many mixed emotions of what was to come from this visit. Our board has been planning for months staff trainings, intakes and meetings, but there is never much certainty when working in Sierra Leone. Things move at a slower pace, people don't show when they need to show and sometimes things gets lost in translation, even when you believe your Krio is pretty on point. ;)

We kicked off our training with videos on trauma, trauma signs and trauma care. We took questions and answers from the staff and spoke of ways to implement some of these things. The staff seemed excited and luckily there were a lot things that they were already doing in the home. We practiced a little roll playing of events and talked about proper ways to react to surprise situations. Every day of training I left feeling positive and upbeat and excited for not only how are children were being raised, but how our caregivers were such rockstars. 

While in country we were able to have 2 parties! The first party was for VBS where we invited members on the community, our staff, their children and other children in the neighborhood. 

Mark 12:30-3130 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”

The kids danced, jumped and sang as we worshiped. The kids really love music (as do I) and this is a great way to speak to them and learn about the love of God. 

Our Pastor who came and preached to the children on Sunday actually preached on this, as well....with no inclination that this is what were learning in VBS. Love how God works! The kids really got excited when they knew what he was speaking on. 

​Our second party was to celebrate our children and staff and again we ate and danced into the night, this time with some African music and some Justin Bieber....yes, they love the Biebs! We had such a great time and were really able to thank the caregivers for their service and love that they provide to the children. 

This trip was a lot of work, but so much love and laughs were shared. We couldn't be more thrilled in how things are running in Sierra Leone and how much our children are loved!

Thank you to all of you sponsor and partners who make this possible!

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