And now a word from Sierra Leone

My neighbor R, a twenty-something nursing student, jetted off this morning to volunteer as a midwife in a village in Sierra Leone for the next month. She will live with other volunteers in a concrete dormitory building without electricity or running water. This is going to be Survivor without TV cameras and prizes. We had dinner a while back, and she explained that Sierra Leone has the highest infant mortality rate in the world. The group she is with runs programs to teach midwife and infant-care skills in places like Sierra Leone, to help bring up the survival rate. I am awed by her guts. Go R!