Situated about 25 km from Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa, Waterloo Hospital-Adventist Health opened in 2002 after the civil war, during which the rebels had destroyed the country's premier Seventh-day Adventist Masanga Leprosy Hospital up country in the Tonkolili District. The Waterloo District comprises a catchment population of 250,000 people.

This Summer, students from Loma Linda university School of Pharmacy will work together with hospital partners in planning and strategist Waterloo's Pharmacy logistics.  Interacting with hospital staff and healthcare professionals, our students hope to learn and partner within the culture of Sierra Leone.

Hello friends! I pray that all is well with you, and that God is working tremendously in your life. As you know, I’m still attending LLU pharmacy school and this quarter is going be my last didactic quarter with one year of rotations ahead of me. This year has been a fruitful year. I have been a president and a vice president in two different pharmacy student professional organizations. I am involved with a local Korean Baptist church. I also serve my classmates as a spiritual vice president. I am thankful for all the new friendships and life lessons in Loma Linda these past three years.  More than anything I am thankful for the education I had. I am excited for this trip because I will be able to apply my knowledge and skills in the real world. Also, I hope that I will have a clear picture of how God can use my profession for His glory.

This summer, I am going to serve the health professions and patients at Waterloo Hospital. I am going with three of my classmates and one of my professors. I heard that the hospital has never had a pharmacist. This is going to be a tremendous opportunity for us. We are going to provide training on the use/distribution of medications for the hospital staff and help with the pharmacy system.  We are working on counseling points for each medication so it can be provided to the patients at the outpatient pharmacy. We are still communicating with the hospital to figure out their needs. Two weeks is a short time to fix everything, but my school is hoping to send a team at least once a year and we are going to be the pioneers.

Please pray for me and my team: health, good communication, and humility. In a classroom setting, all the existing drugs are available for my patient so I can come up with the best regimen specific for the patient.  However, this will not be the case in Sierra Leone and it is going to break my heart when the patients are not getting their ideal treatment. Pray for my emotion and pray that I will trust God in all situations.

If you have any questions or comments at all regarding the trip, the team, or just life in general please do not hesitate to contact me (209-628-1414 or seusong2@gmail.com). I cannot wait to hear from you. You have been an important part of my life. I thank you for your support.