Loss And A Supportive Community

I’ve been meaning to post another entry into this blog for a while. I was going to write about the 10-day blackout that occurs in Makeni every year and the Mpox outbreak and how much education about prevention and isolation is needed for the general population. But as many of you know, something very personal happened to me. My mom passed away three weeks ago. When it happened, all I could think about was my dad and my sister and my family and how much this was hurting them. I was so far away, and I couldn’t be there for them. I had to wait a week to go to them. And every day that week was so hard to face.

But here’s the thing; I wasn’t alone. The minute the people of Makeni learned my mom’s condition had become critical, they came to comfort me. The very hour my mom passed away, the whole community came to support me and mourn with me. I was given food, care, and sympathy. More than that, the Catholic community organized a requiem mass to honor my mother and pray for her and my family. I grew up in a small community that supports each other. But I never imagined experiencing that amount of love and support from a community I had become a part of so recently. I felt so blessed. I still feel so blessed that I was able to volunteer in such a loving community. I had come to Sierra Leone to help. But in the end, they helped me. We helped and supported each other. May God bless them.