STANDARD TIMES PRESS SIERRA LEONE US Actor Isaiah Washington Says: Sierra Leone Kept Me 'Sane' After Grey's PAGE

Isaiah Washington says he found solace doing charity work in Sierra Leone after being fired from Grey’s Anatomy in June.

"This is the thing that kept me sane,” Washington told USA Today. “While all the negative was happening [on Grey's Anatomy], I had all this support over there."

Isaiah Washinton...planinig to adopt from Sierra Leone

To soothe any bad feelings he had from the on-set altercation with Patrick Dempsey during which it was alleged that Washington used a homophobic slur, he says immersed himself in his children's charity, the Gondobay Manga Foundation.

The actor also tells the newspaper that he and his wife are considering adoption since the trip.

"There is one boy, about 8 years old, who I fell in love with [in Sierra Leone]," he says. "But I'm not interested in stripping him of his culture. My wife and I have three kids already, but we have talked about [adoption], and we're not ruling it out."

The actor's foundation is building a school in the Njala Kendema village in Sierra Leone, with 350 students due to start there this September.

Says Washington , who is currently shooting five episodes of NBC's new drama The Bionic Woman: "I feel safer in Sierra Leone than I do in L.A., because they're my people and they're not trying to hurt you. If anything, they're maybe going to try to get money out of you to survive."

He adds that, once he found that he had a genetic connection to people of that African nation, it has helped keep him going on a regular basis.

"When I get to the point when I'm very frustrated, I go to my Web site to check e-mails from [people] all over the world who want to help out."

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