Saffiatu’s first night in Rhode Island
By Lisa Dallas
Published October 20, 2007
Hi Everyone,
Saffiatu
arrived last night to our home around 10pm without electricity! How fitting! We
told her we have electricity ALL the time, unlike Sierra Leone. There is no
electricity in the village of Kabala where she is from, and sporadic electricity
available in the capital of Freetown. Boy, were we surprised to come home to a
very dark house! After just 5 minutes or so, the power came back on. It was just
enough for us to appreciate the luxury of lights that we live with!!
The trip was fairly uneventful. It took Jeff and Saffiatu 36 hours to travel from Sierra Leone, through London to Boston. They looked great! Maybe it was the adrenaline!!
She was very attached to Jeff and held his hand often. Very nice to see that she felt secure with him.
She is the bravest person I have ever met! It was so evident when I tucked her in for the night and she smiled, gave me a kiss and hug, and rolled over to go to sleep. Sleep took over within a few minutes. If I were her, I know I would have been up the entire night, probably with tears soaking the pillow!
(At left, Saffiatu at airport in London during her long trip from Sierra Leone to America)
Saffiatu
had a very exciting and exhausting day that included a short trip to the local
library. Even though it was a very small library in our town, it was a bit
overwhelming for her and very difficult to even choose one book. We just sat
together while Carly read to us for a while. She had seen the movie Cinderella
while in Israel for her surgery so she was very excited to see any reference to
a ‘princess’. Grace found the Disney movie Cinderella for her to take home.
Attached are pictures. You can really see her wonderful spirit shine through in her eyes (photo above at left).
The second picture (at left) is taken inside the school that CITA is starting. Each child received a pencil from the school supplies that Jeff carried over. The teacher asked them to show their pencils! They were very excited!
The third picture (at right) is of dinner someone is cooking in the kitchen shared by a few families.
Now, I often find her stroking Grace’s hair or just looking at the other girls, deep in thought! She is so quick to help them and can communicate fairly well. I know it will be a long road to get her on her feet medically and a huge adjustment for her as well as our family. We are all up for the challenge! She has some wonderful things to teach us about life at her tender age of 12. Much more than she has to learn from us!
Blessings,
Lisa