Today I celebrate KINDNESS

KINDNESS.

Tommy.
I arrived in Freetown scared and intimidated, curious and surprised, and well...scared. Tommy Garnett picked me up at the heliport and took me to the supermarket. He said something along the lines of "Welcome to Sierra Leone, now Im going to treat you like my own daughter, so just pick whatever you'd like". And he really meant it. I got some shampoo and soap, and some yhogurt, and along with the canned tuna and the guava juice, I got confidence, comfort and a sense of safety. Tommy showed me then, and for the rest of my trip, nothing but kindness.

Millicent.
I lost my bags. As you all know, I lost my bags at my arrival. I was glad I was safe, but still a bit upset that all my things where lost I dont know where. With all the patience in the world, Millicent, de admin person at EFA, helped me call around to find out about my bag, offered to help me have some clothes made, took me around town and made me feel welcome. She's taking me this week to have some traditional Sierra Leonean clothes made and constantly checks on me to see how I am doing...Milli has showed nothing but kindness.

Nancy.
In Liberia I got sick. I got sick enough to I scare myself a bit and everyone around me. It resulted in nothing, no malaria, no weird parasite in my stomach, nothing. But before I knew this, I was worried and scared, specially when others started worrying. Nancy Bakoyah came to check on me every 15min on that friday, even though she knew I would be sleeping. She brought me very black tea and rice, and called me at night when she was home just to check on me. She then spent the monday after taking me to the pharmacy and to the doctor. Waited patiently around until it was my time and spent the whole day with me in the clinic. In a moment of vulnerability I had a woman to hold me, cheer me up, share smiles with, and keep me company. Nancy is tough and strong, and sweet, and she showed me nothing but kindness.

Magona.
As I wrote not long ago, I arrived in Potoru, south-east Sierra Leone, freaked out. Scared of everything and insecure. I did not know how my interviews where going to go, I was worried about the cultural differences, about the flora and fauna, about...well as I said before, about everything. The Magona family gave me a room, a nice bed, great conversations, pinneapples and mangoes, light when I needed it, warmth when I needed it. Musu even accompanied me to the bathing room outside when it was dark, raining, and I didnt dare to go on my own. They shared their home, their food, their music, their hearts, with me. Momoh Magona, Daneh, Musu, Shiaka and Abu, showed me nothing but kindness.


Scott, Jan and Jestina
These three people arrived and filled the guesthouse with such a positive energy I could not help but smile around them. Jestina helped me cook when I was in a hurry because they were leaving and danced with me to Glora Estefan's "Mi Tierra" as I cut the ravioli. Jan gave me some wise advice I will not forget, good chats, and the warmest hug when I needed it. And Scott... Well, Scott inspired me to blog about Kindness. My computer charger exploded 10minutes before they were each returning to their respective homes, and Scott took pity on me and left me his computer charger (probably one of the fiew Mac users in Sierra Leone at the moment). He had a deadline the next day, he had almost no battery on his computer left. He barely knew me really...but still he decided to show me profound kindness. For that I will thank him eternally.


So today I celebrate kindness. I remind myself every day that an honest smile, a simple call, an truly interested "how are you?", can make someone's day. These people have made several of my days during this trip... They are not the only ones, but I thought a small sample of the kindness I've met during this trip, and during my life, might inspire others to do the same...

So what has been your good deed for the day? Because as my mother always says, "All you need is love".

Love and peace, and nothing more and nothing less, than kindness, to you all.

Have a wonderful week! (And wish me luck in my frantic writing of this paper...)

Giovi

PS: Will try to post pictures but it is a bit difficult at the moment.