Just like Wales (in some ways)
on Freetown Blog (Sierra Leone), 04/Nov/2009 09:35, 34 days ago
Every Monday morning there is an 8.15 meeting of the Directors in the Ministry of Health (which I and two VSO colleagues get to go along to) where the issues for the week are discussed. This week is busy: on Tuesday the President opened a telemedicine facility at the Connaught Hospital, and tomorrow he is attending the launch of the Health Sector Strategic Plan, so there was a lot talk about.  Immediately after the meeting I was asked to go with my boss to a meeting at the office of the Cabinet Secretary about the formation of the Health Service Commission. Although I was only there as an observer, this was definitely a jacket and tie job, as we sat around a very shiny table while my boss and colleagues were roundly berated for the quality of ministerial briefings and recommendations. In the car on the way back to the office, I told them how similar it all was to Wales, so we all had a good laugh about that!   As it is shaping up, my job is about helping my boss at a practical level to get on top of his huge agenda. It is proving a lot easier to help than I feared before I started, although that is probably more to do with his skill in knowing how to work with me, rather than the reverse. He did his medical training in the Ukraine, a Masters Degree at the LSE, was in Sierra Leone during the war and has more life experience than I will ever get.   There are loads of things I would love to photograph here– at work, on the way to work, around home. But you have to be very sensitive about using a camera, particularly away from the beach. So though I am now in city work mode, here are some more gratuitous beach shots, this time of Lakka beach. Getting there requires a bit of walking and taxi hopping,but I got there in about an hour last Sunday, at a total cost for the round trip of about 70p. The sand here is very yellow and, once again, the whole scene is stunning.