I recall the day after I returned from a week-long dental mission trip in Sierra Leone, a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. I was walking to work in New York City. For a moment, it felt like I’d never been to Kono, a district in Sierra Leone’s war-torn eastern province. I’m living in a city with tons of restaurants and bakeries around me. I’ve never worried about having enough water or electricity becoming a luxury product.
But I was there, along with a faculty member, an assistant and five classmates from Buffalo. We left behind our love, hope and positive energies to the locals of Kono.