"This mission has differed from the last because this time I had a "job" to do. Before we left I spoke to Julia Jordan (Calif) about painting a mural at the Narsarah Clinic in Kabala. She and her husband started the Creative Arts Initiative, a scholarship program in Kabala.

I brought all the color paint and Charlie and I picked up 5 gallons of white paint at a hardware store in Freetown. Plans have changed once we got to Kabala. The hospital where the rest of the ISHI team was working had a maternity ward desperately in need of sprucing up. Marina and Dr. Connie helped me speak to all the people in order to get the approvals. Monday morning 10 girls between 12-17 arrived.

The building has a 20 ft ceiling, but we only painted the lower 7 feet. So I showed the girls how to measure the line with a string and rock. Just as we were starting to paint the first coat of white the girls had to go to school. They came back at 3 and painted all the blue. I was amazed how fast they worked although I would have a lot of touching up to do. Before they left for the day we discussed what kind of design I would cut for the stamps. The plan was to have simple figures with bright colored clothes stamped with local textile design.

The morning of the second day I started to outline the figures. Since it was the maternity area I drew a woman with baby on her back, a pregnant woman, a mother nursing a child. The nurses wanted to be represented so one area has 3 nurses in their colored uniforms. The girls painted faster than I could draw, so the last wall I just traced their bodies and let them to do the rest. When the girls arrived on the 3rd day I gave them the beads+strings I had brought with me and they made themselves jewelry. There were 19 girls from CAI plus others who just appeared. So all the beads were used up fast. From the next 2 ½ days I fixed what the girls had done.

Everyone who walked by thanked me. It was a very rewarding experience that seemed to really brighten up the space."

Debbie Livingston, Artist Volunteer

Blog entry posted after return from mission in Sierra Leone