Change One Christmas Rice Project

Dear Friends--

We wanted to write to you briefly about Change One's Christmas rice project. Over the past year, the price of rice has doubled in Sierra Leone. This dramatic price increase on the staple food has created new challenges for individuals and families who are already living in strained financial situations. For Christmas this year, we would like to purchase several large bags of rice for distribution in some of the refugee and war wounded communities. A 110-pound bag of rice currently costs about $40 and, we would like to purchase as many bags as possible. We will be raising money over the next month for this Christmas gift to our brothers and sisters in Freetown.

If you are interested in making a donation toward this project, please send a check to Change One, PO Box 82044, Columbus, Ohio 43202, include a note that designates your gift to "Christmas Rice." Or if you see us around and want to give us a cash or check, feel free to do that as well. Every dollar is valuable and no gift is too small!

Thanks!
Keith & Laura Padgett
Change One International

Movember!

I wanted to help pass the word along about a good cause. Some of my friends and co-workers are growing moustaches for Movember (the month formerly known as November) to help the fight against prostate cancer. I'm helping raise funds and awareness because I think it is important to help men understand their own health issues by being proactive in the fight against prostate cancer. I know there are many worthy causes raising money this time of year, so our team would really appreciate it if you would consider donating $5, $10, $20 (or more, if you want!) to this cause.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the US with one in six American men developing the disease and more than 28,000 men dying of the disease every year. Prostate cancer is 90% curable if detected and treated early!

To donate you can either:

1. Click this link https://www.movember.com/us/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=1773931&country=us and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account

2. If you see me around, feel free to give me a check (payable to the Prostate Cancer Foundation) or cash, and I'll be sure it gets where it needs to go!

3. Write a check payable to the 'Prostate Cancer Foundation', referencing my Registration Number 1773931 and mailing it to:

Prostate Cancer Foundation

Attn: Movember

1250 Fourth St

Santa Monica, CA, 90401

(All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law)

The money raised by Movember is donated directly to the Prostate Cancer Foundation which will use the funds for high-impact research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.

Thanks so much for your time and consideration! If you know of any one else that might be interested in supporting prostate cancer research, please feel free to pass this along.

More information is available at http://www.movember.com/

A Hike in the Hock

A couple weeks ago, Karen and I decided to take a journey into the Hocking Hills. We drove down some beautiful country roads, which made me feel close to my Monroe County roots! We couldn't have asked for a nicer day--the weather was so beautiful. We stopped for a bit at a place called Cantwell Cliffs, and then went on to see the Rock House.


We hiked a 2 1/2 mile trail around a place called Conkles Hollow. It was quite a hike! And the best part about it...we wore flip-flops! I wonder if people thought we were a couple of silly city girls traipsing around the wilderness in flip-flops. I've walked worse paths in Sierra Leone in flip-flops before, though, so I didn't feel so bad about it. But, still, probably not the brightest idea we've ever had...there were some rather precarious parts of the trail.

Ben

Benjamin Ryan Weber was born to my brother and sister-in-law on July 2, 2008.

We got to visit him in the hospital on his birthday. (Keith looks pretty good with a baby, doesn't he?)


Big sister Grace and the baby:

Here's auntie with Ben in September. We bonded.

my new hair

Cider Makin'

We had a fun weekend making apple cider back home with my family. Apple cider has been a long-standing family tradition from my grandparents, which has been revived over the past couple of years, since the discovery and purchase of a used cider press. My brother and his wife had their 3 kids with him for the weekend, so that made it extra fun.

I've included some pictures below to show the guys hard at work. I even took a couple turns at the apple grinding part--that gym membership sure paid off!


Grandma Snider's job was filling the jugs. I think we had close to 30 gallons by the end of it.

Grace wanted a turn at the crank, too: Here's Keith taking his turn:
And finally, a short video of the process:

Beautiful Salone

Lighthouse Youth

Lighthouse is the program we worked with when we lived in Freetown. The program worked to get youth off the streets and into educational programs (whether traditional schools or training in a trade such as tailoring or carpentry). We loved getting a chance to interact with them for a couple of weeks. We miss these kids!

Here's me with Fatmata:

Keith wrestling with a couple of the boys:
Me & David:

David & Santigie playing mancala:
Cooking cassava leaf and rice:

This is Joseph, showing us the ceiling he was helping build (Joseph is a carpentry apprentice). I love this boy so much!

A Day in Konde Farm

Pastor Menyongar lives outside Freetown in an area called Konde Farm. He has started a church and a school in this community. We had the privilege of visiting his home and church one Sunday.

Here is their current church building, that is also being used for classrooms for school children during the week:




Pastor Menyongar, Manasseh (Pastor's son), and Keith at the site for the new church building. They are working slowly to raise funds to build a more structurally sound building to use for their church as well as the school. Change One is funding the latrine project here, since there is currently no toilet facility in this area.

These next 2 photos are of the "bridge" we had to cross to get to Konde Farm. To be honest, I was scared I was going to fall in the river. Thankfully, I had Rugi (pastor's small niece) holding my hand to keep me steady!

This one is me with Pastor's kids: Rugi (she's actually a niece), Manasseh, Becky, and pastor's nephew (who's name I don't remember...):

This is just an example of the types of fine roads we got to drive down... Ah, Salone...

Percival Street

One of my favorite things about our trip was visiting our old house on Percival Street. Zara, the little girl who lived downstairs, was my saving grace so many days when we lived in Freetown. When I would come home from a long, tiring, stressful day, I could just go sit and play with Zara and feel it all melt away.

When we first walked into the house this time, Zara ran out to greet me and gave me a huge huge. That one moment made the whole trip worthwhile.

This is Zara and another little girl that was at the house:

This is Ishmael--we didn't even recognize him, he's grown so much!

Kroo Bay Kids

The Kroo Bay Good News Club didn't meet while we were in Freetown. They had taken a break for the month of August, due to the excessive amount of rain they were having. The Bay floods terribly during the rains, especially since it acts as a drainage ditch for most of the run-off from the city.

Keith and I walked down toward the Bay one day to visit some friends, and were swarmed with children. It was so good to see Remie, Saidu, Kuami and some of the other kiddos we used to see every week.



Kids love Play Station games everywhere, I guess! It seemed like Freetown had more electricity in the 2 weeks we were visiting than in the entire time we lived there! The kids were sure taking advantage of all the power for things like video games. Keith even showed Kuami & Saidu a few new moves on Mortal Kombat.

my boy, the preacher

Keith preached at Pastor Menyongar's church one Sunday while we were in Sierra Leone. I was so proud of him! He spoke all in Krio and seemed to really be connecting with the people. (He even got some cheers!)

I also took a video of some of the women singing in the Loko language during the church service. Loko is unlike any language I've ever heard!

Keith on SL radio!

Pastor Menyongar does a radio show every Saturday. This week the show included guest contributor, Keith Padgett. They talked a little bit about empowering church members to serve in the church and the community and even took a few phone calls.

Here they are in the studio:

Pastor Felix, Keith, & Pastor Menyongar, outside the station:

Rokel

Rokel is where Change One and IMC completed our first project--a water well.

Here we are going up the hill:

Here's a shot of the well, complete with sign board:

And the view from up the hill:

Grafton Polio Camp

Change One recently finished a latrine project in the Polio community in Grafton. This community supports individuals with polio and their family members. We went to "dedicate" the latrines yesterday. We were so welcomed and the people were so thankful to have a decent toilet.

Below is a picture of Keith with the community and the sign board for the project (I think it's a cultural thing to have to put up a sign board for everything):

This is me with Samuel Sessay, the pastor for the church at the polio camp. He is one of the most thankful and joyful people I've ever met:

I had some bubbles in my bag, and the kids loved them!

One Fabulous Road

This is the road to Grafton, a community east of Freetown, where many of the war wounded and displaced persons were relocated after the war. I tried to take this picture out the back window of the car. Rainy season makes road maintenance even more difficult.

Freetown

These are some views of the city from where we are staying. Freetown has become even more overcrowded and congested in the past few years. It's amazing to see all the little houses cropping up farther and farther up the mountain-side.

Sweet Salone chop! This is the lunch we had today. Keith had beans and rice, and I had jollof rice with fried chicken. delcious.