We finally got to stand where the clinic is being built.
Getting there
It took us about six hours in a truck to travel roughly 60 miles from Koidu Town. People went ahead of us on motorbikes, and others rode along with us. There were many times we got stuck and needed help to keep going.
The Welcome
When we arrived in Yarawadu, the village greeted us with singing and dancing. I wasn’t expecting that kind of welcome, and I still get emotional thinking about it. After months of looking at photos and videos from far away, I understood in a new way why we named this effort the Barray Project.
Why we call it the Barray Project
A barray is a place where a community comes together. That is what we want this clinic to be: a place the whole community can gather around, for care, for health education, and for each other.
Standing on the site, it was easy to see the name wasn’t a branding choice. The welcome I received was the barray spirit in action. The people of Yarawadu have been part of this project from the first block laid, and they showed it the moment we arrived.
Seeing it in person
The first thing I noticed was the view. Mount Konkobanfira rises in front the site, and it is beautiful.
There is still much work to be done but seeing the progress in person was nothing short of amazing. The building is still early. A couple of walls, a few rooms, and the hallways are in place, so you can walk through and start to see how the clinic will flow.
Mount Konkobanfira
The people behind it
I want to thank Paramount Chief Musa Koroma and the villagers who have contributed to this project. Their time, their labor, and their trust are the reason there is a building to walk through at all.
I also want to thank everyone who made sure our journey was safe: the people who rode ahead of us on motorbikes, the people who rode with us, and everyone who helped us when we got stuck. We could not have made it without you.
Everything in our progress photos was made possible by people in this community who show up, lay block, and care about what this building will mean for their families.