The end of our exploration together

It's never easy to say goodbye, but it is easier after some hard work that is leaving the community in a good place to move forward and to share what they have learnt with others. Both the Micro-enterprise Development and the promotion of Health Care are their babies to grow and nuture, not ours.

As last year, the Health Care teams produced an Action Plan which they presented to all the group.

A presentation in progress

The end of the course leads to the Presentation of Certificates by Ted Swindale, Co-ordinator of the work in the UK and Team Leader. The Certificates are highly valued. Masu is delighted to receive his.

Mattu is given her certificate

But what difference will they make in the community? We shall wait to see, but we have high expectations!

Micro-enterprise Development. A start with a super team!

The aim was to establish a committee, with an administrator, to manage a project. The project being to lend money to the poorest of the poor in the neighbourhood so that they could set up a successful business.

All those who attended had been personally selected by the NEEDEP director, Samuel Kargbo, and numbered eight. Those of us doing the training, Linden Boothby, Andy Meek and myself, were rapidly impressed by the quality of these people. The Administrator, a key role requiring vision, local knowledge, business acumen, transparency and a caring heart, was to be Albert Lebbie, who has an accountancy background.

Albert, a great guy who will do a fantastic job, was also given the name Barnabas "son of encouragement" at his baptism. He is now known by both names which initially caused me some confusion!

The group is looking forward to the day's training. They represented a good cross-section of  local society and included ladies working at dress-making, keeping a shop and a petty trader. A Refrigeration engineer with the splendid Mende names Umaru Bavoray Gamanga is in the back row on the right. We have something in common for I am very proud to have been given a Mende name years ago by Christian Kallon, Senior Pastor of the Christians in Action Churches, It is "Munda" means "our own".  On the left of the photo is Ansumana O. Koroma who serves on the Freetown City Council.

Linden Boothby started us off by explaining aims of the training and the model that is used by her organisation, Links International. She is sitting in front of this chart by Andy Meek, who was in his element as he systematically went through the aims, the problems and the details of setting up the constitution and the day to day management of the organisation.

Andy Meek with the group on our last day together.

The Constitution sets out that the team will give loans to the poorest of the poor. People at this level are lacking basic human needs such as clean and fresh water, healthy nutrition, healthcare, education and decent clothing. Their income is $2 a day or less, £1.25 in Sterling. According to the UN Human Development Report for 2009, 70% in Sierra Leone are living below this figure and 53% are trying to live on less than $1.25 (76p) per day. They cannot even feed their children on this amount.

I taught on the biblical basis for work and its importance in the Kingdom of God, and also on the role of the Administrator who has a crucial job in holding the enterprise together and moving it forward. He interviews those seeking loans, helps those with a viable business proposal to fill out the forms, discusses their cases with the management committee, who have the final say, and gives advice and support to those who have been successful. He carries the vision and provides appropriate training to the committee and all new applicants. He collects and records repayments. He reports to the New Era Board and also to myself in the UK, as I liaise with the Sponsors.  No interest is paid on the loan, but an extra 10% of the loan amount is paid for the administrators expenses.

Albert starts work on the Constitution.

Two groups were formed to work out and present a business plan to each other. The second group then decided whether or not they would lend money on this presentation. In the photo one group is outside working on their plan.  One group wanted to set up a stall trading at the side of the road. It got its money. The second group wanted to expand their bakery business. They already had a commercial oven. They were turned down on the grounds that they were not the poorest of the poor!

I will leave you with a plan showing the types of businesses that might be viable in the community.

We are moving forward with confidence and hope - and I have three weeks left to find £1000 of seed capital which will fund 5 new businesses!





The Health Care Teams

This year there were three groups

Margaret lead a group of four or five from Kissy, many of whom had attended last year's sessions. Jeremiah Cole, the Head Teacher at the New Era School, is seated on the right of the group.

Sarah Frost lead half the contingent from Wellington which numbered about a dozen people. Sam assisted with this group.

Richard and Susie looked after the other group from Wellington. Each group had people from the same area of the village as far as possible.

Topics

Following our policy of talking over the topics that the group wished to discuss, the subjects covered included Malnutrition, especially as it affected children, and the importance of clean water. Many children suffer from dehydration and our contact at the Children's Hospital in Freetown, Dr. Fred Martineau, had told us the communities needed to know when to take a child to hospital, as many were taken too late for treatment to be effective.

This stems in part from ignorance, but also from a fear of being unable to pay the fees. Health care is now free for children up to five, lactating mothers and pregnant women. The government has also given nets to families to protect them from mosquito bites. (Typing this makes me remember that I need to take my malaria tablet for the day, Malarone!) There has been some misuse of the mosquito nets, however. Some families have been selling them in the market. Others have used them to catch fish!

Another fascinating topics has been latrines. The World Health Organisation requires a pit latrine, basically a hole in the ground, to be sited at least 20 meters from a dwelling or a water course. This is clearly impossible in a compact urban area. An answer would be a brick latrine built up above the ground, for which we had some illustrations that caused great interest.

Water Problems

Richard and Susie were taken by their team to look at water use in the community.

The water supply in Wellington that comes through a pipe with two garden hoses attached. The locals use the water for drinking, without boiling it. Sometimes it is filtered through a cloth.

Also in Wellington the two pictures of the same spot show the dirty quality of the water and its use for washing clothes and people, as well as being carried away for drinking.

Little brown hut at the side of the house is a pit latrine built very close to the water course.

Nutrition

One of the teams put on a good display to show the make-up of a balanced diet.

Fish, Mango, banana, kasava root and kasavo leaves were assembled. and then arranged in the shape of a house.

carbohydrates are the energy foods, the foundations to make you strong,

the proteins are the walls or the bricks to help you grow and heal,

the vitamins and minerals are the roof, the protection against disease.

Thanks to Susie Marshall for many of these photos and for the explanations.

 



Back safe and sound

My first objective in taking a team to West Africa is to get them all back in one piece, hopefully with the satisfaction of a job well done which has contributed skills, knowledge and some material aid to the local community. This was achieved, although a team member was laid up for two days with sickness and missed out on participating in the healthcare teaching.

Our flights by BMI were pleasant but two hours late in each direction due to head winds. Returning from Freetown these were so strong that we needed to touch down in Malaga to refuel.

Our Airbus A321

The team began teaching, after a brief visit to the school, from Monday afternoon to Friday morning.

The School

It was a normal school day and the Primary children, who use the building in the morning, were still there. It was good to see the dedicated teachers in action, and also good for us to see the very over-crowded conditions that the children work under.

No room for any more!

A view of the progress of the new classroom block, much needed but going up slowly as the cash comes in. The group on the left are waiting to sing to us. They were then joined by some of the teaching staff who received gifts for the school from England, such as pencils, exercise books. paper, files and folders, chalk, toys for the nursery. (pictured below)

The teaching venue - Wellington Baptist Church
After this interlude, we moved a couple of miles to Wellington where the teaching of Primary Healthcare and Micro-enterprise development was to take place over four days. The church gave ample space for three groups looking at health care and the best furnished vestry I have ever been in became home to the micro-enterprise group.

A lunch break at Wellington's Faith Baptist Church.

One last thing

We all needed some local currency, the Leone, currently trading at around Le6700 to £1. At Independence 50 years ago, it was Le2 to £1. Alpha and Albert arranged the exchange for us. This is what £250 looks like.

Transport.
This vehicle met us at the airport, accompanied us on the windy night ferry crossing and took us to Hotel 5/10. Not the last word in comfort, but reliable. It also did the return journey.

 The Team

front row. L to R.  Susie Marshall, Margaret Lansdall-Welfare, Linden Boothby, Sarah Frost, Andy Meek

back row. L to R.  Ted Swindale, Sam Warwick and Richard Lansdall-Welfare.

Here we go!

Fly off to Lungi Airport, Freetown Sierra Leone around noon on 13th March.  We know some of our itinerary. 
Monday:  Visit the school in the morning and begin teaching sessions on Primary Health Care and Micro-enterprise in the afternoon, and continue these at the scheduled times of 10.00 to 13.30 on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. This leaves us free in the afternoons to visit other places such as the Children's Hospital, Mercy Ship and possibly the City of Rest and the local mental hospital in Kissy.

An outing to Bureh Town Beach is likely, giving us the chance to sample the great tourism potential of the country. Another day is marked "Team shopping and site visit". What do they have in mind?

On our last day, after morning worship at Faith Baptist Church we begin our travels via the ferry back to the airport.

So what will happen?  You never quite know in Africa and God will surprise us. It will be good.

If you are a believer, please join us in prayer for this visit. We don't know who will return to continue the Health Care training, or who is interested in Micro-enterprise management. We trust the right people will come.

We shall also be looking to expand the work we do in the future. Will keep you informed!

Man killed in stampede for help from Mercy Ship

On Monday, 7th March, just a week before our team continues with primary healthcare training, an elderly man was killed in a stampede at the National Stadium, where screening was being carried out by staff from the Africa Mercy, the world's largest non-governmental hospital ship, which had docked in Freetown the week before.

The ship will provide free health care to the people of Sierra Leone and training for health care workers until November 2011.

More than 5 000 people had crowded the national stadium in the capital Freetown on Monday for the free screening, nearly half of them arriving the night before.

"An aged man was trampled to death after a stampede. We have also admitted 12 others who are in a serious condition and need close medical attention," said a doctor at the Connaught Hospital.

Police said they were trying "to trace the identity of the dead man who was said to be suffering from elephantitis and had an eye problem".

Staff from the Africa Mercy said they were overwhelmed by the turnout, with mothers and babies, men on crutches and bow-legged patients waiting in a queue more than a mile long.

"Our hearts and prayers are with the individuals and families of those affected by today's events. The occurrence of this incident in the course of activities intended to restore lives is tragic. We move forward with tremendous sadness, but great determination, to assist as many people as possible in the next ten months," stated Mercy Ships Founder, Don Stephens.



This is the fifth visit of a mercy ship to Sierra Leone in the 18 years, and Africa Mercy is working in collaboration with the government's five year health care plan. Last year free healthcare for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under five was launched, but the nation still ranks at the bottom of the 2010 United Nations Human Development Index (at 158 out of 169). The infant mortality rate in Sierra Leone is 123 per 1,000 births. There is still a long way to go. Our team is looking forward to doing our bit. Like the ripple from a stone thrown into a pool, we hope the knowledge and love we impart will spread to places as yet unknown

A bit of Sierra Leone in London

If the High Commission is regarded in law at Sierra Leonean territory, I was there last week and will visit again next week! Why? Not for the weather. Last week it was cloudy and cold with spots of rain in Eagle Street a short way from Holborn tube station. I presented visa applications for 8 people, and was welcomed and looked after by a pleasant and efficient young man who gave me the raffle tickets that I must present to get the completed passports.

The High Commissioner has been in London for nearly a year.   H.E. Mr. Edward M. Turay presented his credentials to H.M. The Queen on the 23rd March last year. As a young man he qualified as a barrister at nearby Lincoln's Inn, which has produced many well-known students who moved on from the law to politics, Sir Thomas Moore, William Penn, William Pitt and Margaret Thatcher among them.

After the High Commission I went on an entertaining guided walk around the Inns of Court and we passed through Lincoln's Inn.

The entrance to Lincoln's Inn

The High Commission is currently arranging events to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the granting of Independence to Sierra Leone in 1961. These began with a launch Dinner and Dance Gala Extravaganza on the 12th February in Bayswater, London, at which the President of the Republic, H.E. Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, was present.

The actual day in 1961 was the 27th April and the Duke of Kent represented the Queen.

Her Majesty visited the country with her husband, Prince Philip, later in the year. Her signature in the visitor's book in Freetown Cathedral is dated 20th November.



Publicity - How others see us!

Good article by Caroline Jones in our local paper. It is true that we have only been involved with NEEDEP since 1999, but as a church we have been going to Sierra Leone since the 1980s. My first visit was in 1989. Many have given time, money and effort into building relationships in the past.

Derby Evening Telegraph
Tuesday, March 01, 2011,

We're on a mission to change lives

By caroline jones cvjones@derbytelegraph.co.uk



MEMBERS of a Derby church are hoping their seven-day visit to Sierra Leone will help change the lives of people they meet.

The eight-strong group, including some from the Community Church Derby, are heading to the African country's capital, Freetown, to work with pastors, community leaders and nurses.

The church sent a team to the same city last year and, 12 months on, they hope to continue support for the community groups they set up.

The group of Christians fly out on March 13, with the aim of teaching the city's people about healthcare and sanitation.

Ted Swindale, a founder member of Community Church Derby, said it became involved in Sierra Leone in 1999, after Freetown was attacked during the country's civil war.


He was asked for help by a pen friend, and so the New Era Evangelism and Development programme was formed.

Using church money, he and fellow members built a school for 700 primary and secondary school-aged pupils. In 2005, it was opened to primary school students and, three years later, to those of secondary school age. The younger children attend in the mornings, and the older ones go in the afternoon.

Mr Swindale, a retired driving instructor of Murray Street, Alvaston, will be leading the team on its second visit to Freetown, although it will be his ninth.

He said: "It's all about building on the work of the school, which was the community's first desire after the civil war. There were many orphans at that point with no future at all.

"More recently, we have wanted to share skills with the community rather than just money so they can organise what they want to do themselves.

"This time, we will carry on teaching as we did before but it is likely all sorts of problems will have emerged from the first time, and this trip should be productive because we can help them overcome them."

Members of the church, which meets at the Riverside Centre, in Pride Park, describe it as a "lively, contemporary church" which aims to have "a sense of community".

The team, which has joined up with the charity Links International for the trip, will stay in Kissy, a neighbourhood in the eastern end of Freetown.