Health Care - Mothers to be and common problems.

Over the Christmas period I have been reading through the modular approach to Community Health Care that the team will be using on our visit to Freetown in March. I would like to thank 'Andrew' for the recent comment he made on the health care post dated 21 November, pointing our attention to an advert for the services offered by a native doctor in Mile 91, a Northern town which is 91 miles from Freetown and a major road junction. So many of these are covered in the manual and may come up as something that people want to talk about. Maybe a bit too graphic for a roadside display in the UK!

Christmas and babies go together, and it is of real concern that in Sierra Leone 1 in 8 women die in childbirth. In the developed world the figure is 1 in 4000. The film below points out that everyone in the country knows someone who has died in childbirth. Help and advice in this area could be a major topic when our team comes to do the needs assessment.

The film tends to suggest that the answer is more money going into the Health Service. This is on the macro development end of the scale, where governments or large businesses give aid. . We shall be working at the micro development end. This is good.  Both sides of the partnership know each other and have built up a good relationship over the years. Local church is rooted in the community and has access to the poorest in society. With trust already there a structure of accountability is easy to establish and maintain.. Church culture should encourage honesty, openness and thought and concern for others. So we are not going to give money, but to share our knowledge, our time and concern. It can change a lot.

Christmas Greetings

Christmas is here again, and what a mixed bag it can be.   We have a small amount of snow and our transport system is in chaos.

However there is good news!  This Christmas Eve it is reported that "British researchers have devised what they say is a guaranteed method of pulling crackers, to avoid disappoint at the dinner table this Christmas.   Diners are guaranteed success if they follow the formula O=11xC/L+5xQ which is based on the angle, grip and quality of the cracker".   I won't explain what O C/L and Q stand for. I am just going to enjoy the food and the company and if some else gets the present in the cracker, good for them!

Do we go a bit overboard at Christmas?  Having grown up and lived in the UK, it is part of our culture. I was talking to a lady who has lived in Asia for 20 years, and enjoyed a different culture. For her, Christmas was a time for sharing the good news about Jesus Christ - free from the commercial pressures of the West.

I enjoy much of Christmas, the getting together of family and friends, the food, the colour and bright lights. But present giving gets a bit much. What do you give people who have everything they need?  Not that this applies to the younger members!  Many people do give to charities at Christmas, realising that there are people who most certainly don't have everything they need.

Research for Superdrug reveals that  "The average family of four will spend a whopping £1,695 on Christmas this year.

Presents alone will cost a total of £606 while a staggering £321 will be spent on food and drinks.





People will shell out £125 on decorations for the home, Christmas tree, garden and dinner tables and a further £22 on cards, wrapping paper and postage.  Christmas parties will also cost a small fortune - including £130 on new party outfits, £32 on party accessories such as handbags and jewellery, £15 on make-up and £15.08 on perfume or aftershave."


Phew!  Fortunately our spending is nowhere near the average family. But I can't help thinking of what could be done with £1,700 in Sierra Leone, and in many other places too.  However, as St. Paul reminds us, "If I give all I possess to the poor.....but have not love, I gain nothing".   Men and women need more than money, we all need to know the depth of the love of God to be fully human and to become children of God. That is why a baby came at Christmas. Jesus came to show us the love and power of God - in a person.

John Wesley, the 18th century evangelist and Father of Methodism, taught that people could be perfected in love towards God and their fellow men in this life through their faith in Jesus. Far from producing an inward looking group of people in a "holy huddle", this exploded into a movement that produced missionaries, schools, orphanages, the first trade unions and support for many social campaigns, such as the ending of the slave trade.

So that is what Christmas is about to me. A man coming to show us God, so that we might be changed and into what? To "reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the full measure of the fulness of Christ". (Eph.4.13).  What a calling!  It's a big one.

Think of it in terms that Nelson Mandela used in his inauguration speech.    "Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be?"    We are called to be the city set on a hill that all can see!

Orientation Day - a challenging time.

On Thursday, 3rd December, fourteen people met at the Riverside Centre in Derby for the day that would show us  how to teach elementary health care principles to a less developed nation. John and Linden Boothby, and their friend Janet, were from Links International and were leading us for the day. They had travelled up that morning from Sussex.  Eight people were from Community Church Derby, and three were from other churches.

Our visit will be during the first week in March, but to encourage us to expect great things, here are excepts from a report of their recent trip to Malawi.

Janet teaching a group recently in Malawi. It was emphasized to us that the programme is based on discussion rather than the teacher standing at the front.

A participant in Malawi wrote, ‘The workshop was an eye opener. We discovered that we can influence our community to follow preventive measures against most of our killer diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, dysentery just to mention a few. As we were discussing we recognised the need of concentrating on sanitation in our community, and we agreed that sanitation will be our starting point. Our mind set has completely changed towards our community. When we were coming back on the 2 hour drive, we kept on discussing how we can implement the healthy tips that we learnt from the workshop. The fact that we have a role to play in our community cannot be emphasised enough. This workshop was worth attending!’

In Derby, Linden emphasied getting the Local Chiefs on board.  The Malawi report quotes Chief Chapsinja who wrote, ‘The training was timely. I will ensure that my community is practicing good health practices. In our country Chiefs are keys to the community, that is why I personally attended the training. I am convinced that the training is good so I will personally teach my fellow chiefs in their monthly meeting and work closely with the Village Development Committee to ensure that what we have learnt is being put into practice. I want my village to be a model village.’

We already have a good relationship with the Chief in Looking Town. I hope he will attend. In the photo below he is presenting me with the traditional welcome gift of Kola nuts and  water.

Behind us is the Rev. Samuel Kargbo, Alpha's brother, who is a Baptist Minister and very involved in the over-sight of the programme.

Kola Nuts

I was not expecting the gift and was not sure what he was giving me. We shared the nuts later and I am told that in Africa it is a symbol of peace, friendship, and hospitality, a bit like the Indian peace pipe. We are looking forward to the visit in March. Alpha has also promised me that we shall be treated to one of the high-lights of their year - the School Sports Day.