Building taking shape

A lot of hard work has gone into creating a second floor and roof for this building to house the senior secondary school pupils of our growing New Era Schools in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The picture gives a good idea of where we were in September 2016.  There was a bit to go as doors and windows needed to be fixed. In addition to funding the building work we are also committed to paying most of the teachers, until the Government takes over their funding. They have been promising this for some time. Alpha Kargbo, our Headteacher, and leader of the NGO we partner with, has been to the Ministry of Education  with all the paperwork they have asked for. At present (Jan 2017) we are still waiting for any further money.

Currently we are running short on regular funds.. We have been sustained in the past by a number of unexpected generous gifts as the Lord has continued to bless this work. We are the only Christian School in the area and are a witness to the community. If you would like to assist the work at any time any gifts should be sent by bank transfer (the easiest way) to Account name: Links International Projects
Sort code: 30-99-86
Account number: 00432695
Ref: 3030

They collect gift aid on our behalf and I can arrange this if you let me know. Prayers would be appreciated for the school as the country continues to recover from the dire effects of the recent Ebola Outbreak.

 

Need to get that roof on - Fast!

Delighted to be able to send another £600 to Freetown today to pay all our teachers for the month of May, apart from two who are paid by the Government of Sierra Leone. A report on the state of the country at this year's Independence Day, 27th April, claimed the government are running out of money. I was hoping they would take over paying the teachers, as they have promised in the past, but we shall wait and see. It will be a delight for me when they do!

The school has been very successful recently, both in exam results and also in the pupils ability to deal with the Ebola epidemic, where the Primary Department  came second  out of around 50 Primary Schools.

The Government approved a Senior Secondary School on the site, which started last September, and this has meant extending the present buildings in view of the increased number of pupils wishing to be taught at the New Era Community Schools.

We began this work with a generous grant from a Trust and have received  further donations. This is what the building looked like in May 2016.          

New building is making progress.

In time for Independence Day on 27th April we were able to send a further £500 for our new building which will go towards the completion of the roof.  We also sent £600 to cover the teachers' pay for April.  A report on the state of the country at this year's Independence Day claimed the government are running out of money. I was hoping they would take over paying the teachers, as has been promised in the past, but we shall wait and see. It will be a delight for me when they do!

Debate among six Secondary Schools on Independence Day - 27th April.

As the BBC reported

1961: Sierra Leone wins independence Sierra Leone has become the latest West African state to win independence, after more than 150 years of British colonial rule.The new nation was born at the stroke of midnight, when its green, white and blue flag was unfurled. A huge crowd, gathered at Brookfields Playground in Freetown to watch the historic moment, broke into tumultuous cheering. Independence Day formally began as the Duke of Kent handed over royal instruments recognising Sierra Leone as an independent nation. Sir Maurice Dorman, Governor since 1956, was then sworn in as Governor-General by Chief Justice Beoku Betts. In 2016 Alpha Kargbo has invited five other Secondary Schools to send pupils to debate the respective contributions of men and women to the future of the country. Sounds interesting and I hope they have a great day. The Queen did not attend the original Independence Day Celebrations but she did visit the country shortly afterwards. As we are now celebrating her 90th Birthday I would like to record of her visit. Did you note the train running through the street. Times have changed.

Very latest news - and I am amazed.

In 2011 we set up our micro-enterprise scheme which lent money to the poorest of the poor to set up or expend a small business. We began with five clients who were given the equivalent of £140 each.

 Fatamata Conteh was typical of those that the committee wished to support. She was married with two children, Hassan and David. She had been in business for the last eight years and used the loan to purchase equipment to keep produce cool until she it needed for her small food outlet.

I don't know how she survived the difficult economic conditions during the Ebola period when prices rocketed due to the banning of movement in the country and nothing coming in from abroad.

Her loan repayments would have ended by now anyway.

Alpha tells me that the programme is to restart after Independence Day, 27th April, and they have 7.5 million Leones in the kitty. Sounds better in Leones but it is actually £1,335. I am amazed at this! What about you Andy Meek? You helped to start it all.  And before anyone asks, No. It can't be used for the building Fund.

Our Building Challenges - but God is with us!

The community is extending their school accommodation in view of the increased number of pupils wishing to be taught at the New Era Community Schools. They have now started a government approved Senior Secondary School and this has meant extending the present building.

Pupils of the Senior Secondary School.

Gables are being put on this week and the amount we have sent so far has paid for this and for much of the corrugated sheeting that will form the roof. I am now looking for a further £1000 at this time to finish this work and go towards plastering,  painting, doors and door handles, steel windows and bars. My faith is for a bit at a time!

All the pillars are in place for the gables to go on this Wednesday 20.03.16

If you are a praying type, please pray for this money and future amounts to arrive at the right time (we need the roof to be secure soon before the rainy season starts in three or four weeks). If you wish to contribute please contact me, so I can send you details of how to do so, tswindaleuk@yahoo.co.uk.

Just a reminder - where we have come from!

It was at Easter 1986, thirty years ago, that Graham and Sandra Hinds and Ian and Margaret Trueblood from the East Midlands Christian Fellowships first visited Sierra Leone. Initial links had been made through SOON, a charity that publishes Christian testimonies in simple English to be read in less developed countries.
Pen friendships were formed and this is how I first contacted Alpha Kargbo, who became our Programme Director for the present work. I met him on my first visit to Freetown in 1989.

Alpha Kargbo today after a friendship of thirty years.

From these beginnings People in Partnership was formed in 2000 to work with a local registered NGO called the New Era Evangelism and Development Organisation (NEEDEP) based in a Loko Baptist Church,.  Since these early days, we have helped to establish a Christian School in a Muslim area in a very deprived part of the capital, Freetown. This has expanded to a Primary and Junior Secondary School with just over 700 pupils. 

The school just before it opened in 2004. 

Sierra Leone was the first West African country to be evangelised (1785), yet over 200 years later only 13% of the country claims to be Christian.  The Loko, a tribe whose main base is in the North of the country, are classified as an unreached people group. The Joshua Project defines this as a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group without outside assistance.  

Working with the charity, Links International, in 2010 and 2011 we have taken two teams to pioneer work in Primary  Health Care and Micro-enterprise, which gives loans to the poorest of the poor to start small businesses.

We continue to work with the school, paying the wages of most of the teachers until the Government takes them on, which it has promised to do. We are also funding new building work to accommodate the increased number of pupils.

During our partnership we have had to contend with the aftermath of the civil war and recently with the Ebola crisis which killed 47 people in our local community, including parents of school pupils but only one pupil, a girl, died.

Mother and child being sprayed with disinfectant during the Ebola crisis.

We sent  £2350 during the Ebola emergency, which bought food for orphans and the starving and also basic medical and disinfecting supplies.

Sierra Leone declared Free of Ebola

After some 17 months of tackling the Ebola crisis in which around 4,000 people died, the country was declared free of the virus this morning, Saturday, 7th November by the World Health Organisation. That is because there had been no new case of the disease for 42 days.

There have been celebrations in Freetown and the President, Ernest Bai Koroma, has paid tribute to the 35000 workers in the fight against Ebola “whose heroism is without parallel in the history of our country”. He praised their bravery and said the country mourned their sacrifice, adding: “The disease challenged the very foundations of our humanity.” He called on the community to halt the stigmatisation of survivors and said the focus was now on improved hygiene, healthcare and economic recovery.

"Ebola has ended but we must be prepared for a re-emergence and we are retaining some laboratory testing capacities and treatment centres," the President has said, "But we are confident we now have a system in place to respond."

Although the State of Emergency has ended, there is a 90 day period of "heightened surveillance" to catch any signs of a return of the virus. A consultant at the Connaught Hospital said "There is still a lot of anxiety about what might happen. There is still Ebola in Guinea and we know it is not over yet."

It is reported that there was a party atmosphere in Freetown, the first for many months, a celebration but tinged with sadness for the many lives lost. One survivor, who had lost 2 sons and 15 other relatives said, "Today brings sad memories but I take comfort that the disease has been defeated."

As a result of the virus there are now 12,000 orphans in the country, some of whom are in the New Era Schools that we support in Looking Town.  There will be much work to be done to rebuild the economy, the local community and faith in the Health Service. Sierra Leone has been ranked as the world's poorest country for many of the last 15 years. I feel privileged to serve Alpha Kargbo and the New Era Evangelism and Development Programme as they seek to impact an area of Freetown with the love of Christ.

It is time to get moving again!

Some good news in last few days.

Just today. Alpha, our Headteacher, told me that Looking Town Primary School has been awarded a prize.   Around 50 Primary Schools were judged in a competition to see how well they knew what to do to prevent the spread of Ebola Competition, such as when and how to wash their hands.  They came second.

He is hopeful the the President will soon announce that the Ebola Epidemic has ended.

We have committed to help with the building of a second floor on the classroom block, which will give much needed space for the increasing number of pupils. I am delighted that last week we had a gift from a Trust of £2,000 which will enable the first stage to be completed.  God is good.

With the thought that we are starting to get moving again, here is a photo of the railway in Sierra Leone which ran from 1897 to 1974. The railway was unusual in that it was a national railway system which ran on a narrow gauge of 2 ft 6 in.    

the Good and the Bad news

The latest events in Freetown.  Some are encouraging, some are not. The  pupil figures for the school (June 2015) were very encouraging with 547 in the Primary (Nursery to Class 6) and from these 55 candidates were to take the exam to allow them to proceed to Secondary School. This exam should have been in May, but as schools were shut from September to April because of the Ebola virus, it has only just taken place. The Junior Secondary had 225 pupils last year and some of these are due to go to Senior Secondary. Our school has been recognised as a Senior Secondary School and could take them on.

This is where the problems have begun. The senior pupils want to attend school in the mornings and not afternoons. The Primary have traditionally used the morning slot, and extra accommodation would have to be found to house Senior Secondary pupils. Most of them, who have come up through the school, have decided to go to other schools which is a disappointment for Alpha, the Headmaster and our Programme Director in Freetown.

Alpha Kargbo, standing beside a model of Bai Bureh, a hero of Sierra Leone and of the same tribe.

The first stage of a new building has been completed as far as the ground floor is concerned and Alpha decided that a solution would be to build the first floor classrooms. In June he asked me for around £13,900 so that it could be completed by September. I had to say that such a sum at short notice was not possible.

The problems have been compounded because on the 15th/16th September there was a torrential rainstorm (147mm over 6 hours) which caused heavy flooding in which four people died and extensive damage to roughly 1,400 homes in Freetown

Emergency accommodation for people made homeless was set up at the national football stadium, but as the Ebola virus remains a threat in the country, the clustering of flood victims there could pose a new challenge.

The country's main referral hospital, the Connaught Hospital, has also been affected as operations have been cancelled because the theatre has been flooded. 

The roof of the new school building, which was designed to be the floor of the storey above, could not cope with the deluge and books in the library have been badly damaged. Alpha writes that "The flooding made us hold all the pupils and students in school as children in other schools suffered casualties when the flooding took place. We managed to see that each pupil and student was collected in school by their parents, Guardians or caregivers so that the flood did not claim their lives."

I have arranged with my church to speak about our work in Freetown and in the past this has resulted in a number of people giving a monthly amount, which greatly helps. A family trust have also offered to consider giving a sum towards the building work.

If you would like to help, yplease send cheques (payable to Links International) to Links International, PO Box 198, Littlehampton, West Sussex BN16 3UQ, with a note saying they are for account 3030 "People in Partnership".  If you live in the UK and wish to gift aid the donation, please say and you will be sent a form. Money can be also be sent electronically to account number 00432695, sort code 30-99-86, reference number 3030.

The present realities

The Ebola crisis, although conditions are much better, is still not over and has so far claimed 3582 lives in Sierra Leone alone.

There were ten confirmed cases of Ebola in Freetown in week ending 11th July, and three more in other parts of the country. During the past year (July 2014 - June 2015) we sent  over £8,000 to Freetown and  £2,000 of this was for Ebola relief which provided food for orphans and needy families as well as basic medical supplies and protective gear, disinfectant and buckets. Six teachers went on Ebola training and information was shared with the local community.

47 people died in the local community and 28 orphans in our school lost their parents during this Ebola crisis.

No visit has taken place from the UK because of crisis and there are no direct flights yet from the UK.

A report from the school.
The school has 547 pupils in the nursery and primary and 225 students in junior secondary and senior secondary classes.        

Classrooms that were under construction have now been completed.

Closure of schools
All schools in the country were closed from September to April and from Oct to March we paid the teachers half their normal wage. After the schools reopened, they were able to supply teaching and learning materials to pupils and teaching staff.

We currently pay all but three of the teachers in the school. The Government pays for them and have promised to take on all who have been through Teacher Training College.

The school has requested funds for building work in view of the growth of the Senior Secondary School, and also for instruments for a band.

A further visit from Derby will be considered when the medical situation is clearer.

A new lock-down just before the schools re-open.

Alpha Karbo, who heads up our two schools and oversees the Development Programme, phoned to say that the President has ordered the country’s entire population to stay in their homes for three days in a bid to stem the spread of the deadly Ebola.
                                                                               
People must remain at home from 0600 Friday March 27 to 1800 Sunday March 29, with “no trading activities across the country.”

“I have made my personal commitment to do whatever it takes to get to zero Ebola infections and I call on every Sierra Leonean in every community to pull together,” President Koroma added

However, although Sierra Leone is a Muslim-majority state, the authorities are lifting the lockdown for part of the day on Palm Sunday to allow church services.
                                                                             

Freetown deserted in a previous 'lock-down'.   'No Trading Activities'

The schools are due to reopen on Monday 30th March and Alpha is concerned for the motivation of the teachers after a three day lock-down. We shall be sending their money, which is half the normal amount as they are not working, so they can buy supplies before they must stay at home.

As the President has said, “The economic development of our country and the lives of our people continue to be threatened by the ongoing presence of Ebola in Sierra Leone, The future of our country and the aspirations of our children are at stake.”

"Amazing Grace" - Sierra Leone's part in the story.

In Derby we recently had a performance by the Saltmine Theatre Company, a professional company with a Christian ethos who perform in Schools, Churches and mainstream theatres in the UK and Northern Ireland. They presented the play, “Amazing Grace”, using word, folk song and physical theatre.  John Newton’s remarkable life story was told from his time as a slave ship captain to church leader and author of arguably the most famous hymn ever written.

                                                               John Newton 1725-1807

This was a powerfully moving story of slavery, freedom and the remarkable power of love and grace to transform a life.

Sierra Leone played a big part in John Newton’s life.  In 1744, when in the Royal Navy, he fell out with his Captain who exchanged him with a sailor on a slave ship that was heading to Sierra Leone. He lived there for a year and seeing the money to be made in the slave trade undertook three voyages as a trader.  After his conversion to Christ, he was consulted about planting a new colony for freed slaves in the country and the town of Newton, 24 miles from  Freetown, is named after him.

The problems caused by Ebola have been far reaching.

When the problems with Ebola started last May, not very much was know in the public domain about the virus and it was initially a long way from our friends in Freetown.  Soon it became apparent that the medical structures in place were unable to contain the virus and in many areas the people lacked understanding and were uncooperative. Measures to prevent the spread of the virus went against established local customs, especially the practice of washing the corpse before funerals. Because doctors and nurses were dying from the disease, people began to visit traditional healers rather than clinics and hospitals. Some of the medical facilities closed because staff did not turn up, either out of an inability to cope or in some cases because they were demanding increased pay to deal with the traumatic situation. There was even a rumour that the disease had been started by Westerners who were experimenting on Africans. In some cases medical personnel working in the community were attacked.  There were also cases of relatives forcibly removing patients from isolation units.

The general lack of understanding of what was going on produced a sense of fear and hopelessness, which was compounded by the worsening financial and social situation.

On 31st July a state of emergency was declared in the country. Because borders were closed and some areas of the country were closed off, the free flow of goods was stopped and the prices of basic commodities rose sharply. A bag of rice in Feb 2015 costs £20, which is about the average monthly salary before the lay-offs. Alpha tells me that flights into the country have started again, but there are no direct flights from London yet. On 24 Feb McPhillips Travel, who handle the air transport for our teams wrote to say they can now flights via Brussels or Casablanca.

                                              President Koroma declared State of Emergency

From July, public meeting not related to Ebola were banned. Football matches were stopped, and bars and clubs closed. From September all schools were closed and areas, including Freetown, have had periods of quarantine where people were expected to stay in their homes. As a result of all this businesses closed and it is estimated that two thirds of the population became unemployed.

Alpha tells me that there have been 47 deaths from Ebola in the Looking Town community.  These have been mainly adults and a number of children have lost one or both parents. One of the children who died, a girl, attended our school. She was the only death among the school staff and pupils.

The governing body of the New Era School asked for a final payment for teachers in October and suggested they should not be paid until the schools reopened again at an unknown future date. I was unhappy about this as there is no social security for the teachers to fall back on and I wanted to preserve their morale and sense of community by giving some financial help. We have been paying them half their normal wage. It has just been announced schools will reopen on the 30th March and we shall start paying the full £600 in April. During the closures, the government has provided lessons over the radio, but without supervision and accountability I am not sure how effective these will have been. There were, however, going to be exams on the 2nd March, to enable pupils to qualify to move from Primary to Junior Secondary Schools. These were postponed.

                                        The last group of children to qualify for Junior Secondary

Before the re-opening on 30 March the government is due to disinfect all schools. They have also announced that class sizes are not to exceed 60 pupils. One result of the closures has been a rise in teenage pregnancies, and the government has instructed schools that pupils must not be stigmatised because of this when they return to school.

To help the community during the Ebola crisis, we have been sending money to enable Alpha and the community to buy food for quarantined families, orphans and anyone in particular need. They have also purchased basic equipment for hygiene, such as bowls to wash their hands and soap and disinfectants, these have been shared with local mosques and churches, together with simple medical supplies. Due to the generosity of members of Community Church Derby and some others, we have sent amounts totalling £2350 to date.

EBOLA: Community Church Derby members send cash to stricken area of Sierra Leone | Derby Telegraph

EBOLA: Community Church Derby members send cash to stricken area of Sierra Leone | Derby Telegraph

The poor in crisis as Ebola leaves a mark on the whole country.

The scale of the Ebola outbreak appears to be "vastly underestimated", the UN's health agency says, as the death toll from the disease reaches 1,069 with 783 deaths Sierra Leone
The World Health Organization said its staff had seen evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths do not reflect the scale of the crisis and is co-ordinating a massive scaling up of the international response.

 More than 300 patients have been admitted to MSF isolation centres in Sierra Leone. To date about 50 have recovered and returned home. A girl of 18 is being discharged after her recovery from the Ebola virus. That is the good news.

The WHO said that of the challenge was the fact that the outbreak was in "settings characterised by extreme poverty, dysfunctional health systems, a severe shortage of doctors and rampant fear".

To give you an idea of the difference between what we are used to in the UK and Sierra Leone, the last figures available, (2012) show that in Sierra Leone health spending per person was £58, in the UK it was £2197

That year Sierra Leone had 2.2 doctors for every 100,000 people. The UK had 279.

Resources in Sierra Leone are drained by malaria treatment and the economic effects of the civil war which ended in 2002.

Alpha Kargbo, our Development Director, says that the urgent need is economic, because people are told to stay in their homes. They cannot earn money. Petty trading is impossible. Shops are closed. Goods cannot be easily transported. The borders are closed. The price of everything, especially food, has gone up. I am looking at ways to send more than our normal payment of £600 to support the teachers in our schools.

Extra money would help families who have taken in extended family, such as orphaned grand-children, nephews and nieces. The children create problems as they become an extra burden in very difficult times. If you have ideas or can contribute in any way,  please get in touch with me.

Sierra Leone declares a state of emergency

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has declared a state of emergency, lasting initially between 60 and 90 days, because of the Ebola crisis.    "Sierra Leone is in a great fight ... Failure is not an option," he said,   "Extraordinary challenges require extraordinary measures."  

President Koroma

He has cancelled a visit to Washington and will meet the leaders of Liberia and Guinea in Conakry on Friday 1st August to discuss the epidemic. 

The state of emergency means that the police and the military can enforce a quarantine on all the epicentres of the disease, and are required to protect health officers from attack by local communities.

House-to-house searches will be implemented to trace Ebola victims and homes where the disease was identified can be quarantined until cleared by medical teams.   

Public meeting have been banned unless related to Ebola. 

Passengers arriving and departing Lungi International Airport will be subject to new protocols, including body temperature scans. However the  international airlines association IATA said the World Health Organisation was not recommending any travel restrictions or border closures due to the outbreak, and there would be a low risk to other passengers if an Ebola patient flew.

A man has his temperature taken at Lungi Airport. Anyone with a temperature of above 101.6F (38.7C) will be prevented from flying. Passengers are also required to wash their hands in chlorinated water.

Ebola has been blamed for 672 deaths in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization. 

Ebola outbreak reaches Freetown

I am sad to read this evening that Dr, Khan, the chief doctor leading the fight against the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, died this afternoon (Tuesday 29 July) less than a week after it was announced that he had contracted the virus. I had hoped he would have had a chance of survival as he was diagnosed very early.

"His death at the age of 39 was a big and irreparable loss to Sierra Leone as he was the only specialist the country had in viral haemorrhagic fevers," said the chief medical officer, Brima Kargbo.

Ebola is believed to have killed 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since the outbreak began in February, according to the World Health Organisation.

Because of the outbreak which has now spread to Nigeria, two West African airlines, one based in Togo and the other Arik Air, Nigeria’s largest carrier, have suspended flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

However the World Health Organization does not recommend any travel restrictions to Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone at this time.

Public Health England advises that the risk to tourists, visitors or expatriate residents in affected areas is considered very low if elementary precautions are followed

However the situation is far from clear because, although numbers of cases in Guinea appear to be falling, suggesting the outbreak is under control, it may be that infected people are hiding rather than coming forward to be treated.

In Sierra Leone the Chief Medical Officer has stated that relatives of patients are refusing to allow medical staff to attend to them, making it difficult to reduce the number of new infections.  Because of hostility and fear, families are attacking doctors and people are refusing to take infected relatives to health facilities.

Officials report that some people don’t believe the disease is real or fear that white researchers have introduced it to experiment on Africans.

I now read that a case has been confirmed in Freetown, A woman from Wellington has been confirmed to have the disease, but her relatives stormed the Freetown hospital where she was held in isolation and took her away. Officials are searching for her.

I am very concerned as this is an area were we have been working. We need to pray for our friends, especially Dr. Samuel Kargbo, who heads the work of Faith Baptist Church in Wellington.  We are hoping to welcome out Programme Director from Freetown, Alpha Kargbo, to the UK in three months time.

Alpha Kargbo

Alpha lives in the neighbouring area of Kissy and is Samuel's brother. Both need our prayers. Will this visit go ahead?  We hope and pray that the situation will be under control.

Chief Ebola Doctor in Sierra Leone contracts the virus.

Sheik Umnar Khan

The President's office announced today that the Chief Doctor leading the fight against the Ebola Outbreak in Sierra Leone has contracted the disease. Sheik Umnar Khan, a 39-year-old virologist who is personally credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims, has now been taken to an Ebola ward run by the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has in recent weeks described the disease’s West African outbreak as “out of control”. The outbreak began in Guinea and has spread to both Liberia and Sierra Leone.

There is no specific cure for Ebola and the disease is normally fatal in 90% of cases. However in the current outbreak 40% of those infected have survived.  

Dr. Khan said recently, “Health workers are prone to the disease because we are the first port of call for somebody who is sickened by disease. Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk.”

The current advise for travellers from the British Foreign Office in view of the Ebola outbreak is 

"The World Health Organization does not recommend any travel restrictions to Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone at this time [2,9].  There has never been a case of EVD imported into the United Kingdom [10].

Public Health England (PHE) advises that the risk to tourists, visitors or expatriate residents in affected areas is considered very low if elementary precautions are followed [11]"

Vision 2025

It is our hope and prayer that this will happen.
"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity"
Psalm 133. 1.