Mahanaim

I first met Melrose and the Mahanaim Home for disabled children in 2009 when I took Ramatu to live there. Sadly Ramatu passed away last year, but I stay in touch with the home and visit as often as I can.

 

Melrose joined with a UK charity with the intention that a new home would be built to move the children to and Melrose would move with them to be house mother. Unfortunately the relationship fell apart and when most of the children were moved to the new home about eighteen months ago Melrose decided to stay put and carry on running the home in Grafton.

 

The home currently has 17 children with various challenges such as polio, epilepsy, deaf-mute, learning difficulties.........Melrose herself has polio and is confined to a wheelchair.

 

The visit was challenging as the children love to hold hands and cuddle, and they know nothing of Ebola or avoiding body contact. As soon as I walked in the door Tamba came rushing over and before I could stop him he'd attached himself to my legs!!

 

Melrose told me that she is not getting any assistance from the government or other organisations.

 

Apart from their long term conditions the children are well, except for baby John who has malaria and craw-craw (sores on his skin).



Melrose with Baby John and Little Melrose

King George VI Home For The Elderly

I have known King George VI Home for the Elderly since my very first visit to Sierra Leone in 2006. Mission Direct used to have an office/team house in the King George compound so I would be there most days and got to know the residents very well.

 

King George was relocated to Grafton a few years ago when their compound in Kissy was purchased and redeveloped as an industrial site. I am not able to visit as much as I used to, but I try to get out to their site in Grafton at least every few weeks to see how everyone is doing.

 

King George has always been one of my favourite places to visit, and when I'm able to I love to spend time with some of the residents just chatting and passing time.

 

I popped in there yesterday to see how everyone is......worryingly some of the staff there told me 'Ebola don don' (Ebola is finished) - which is obviously not true as their near neighbours St George Foundation are currently under quarantine after losing one of their staff a few days ago to Ebola.

 

It was great to catch up with the staff and residents, including these two gentlemen, who I had a lovely chat with:

 

Mr Davis





Mr Joseph

Sadly since my last visit one long term resident Mr Prince has passed away. He was a lovely, friendly polite gentleman and he'll be missed by the other residents. RIP Mr Prince.

Rest in Perfect Peace Mr Prince

Lifeline Nehemiah Project

I was really happy to catch up with the wonderful people at the Lifeline Nehemiah Project in Kissy this week.

Wow, they have been busy the last few months!! Here are just some of the things they have been doing:

• Along with Medair they have built and are running a 20 bed Ebola treatment centre
• They have built an extension to their boys home to take in Ebola orphans
• They have been providing care packages to quarantined homes
• They've been sending people out to educate and sensitise people to Ebola.

The work they have been doing is seriously impressive, and it's inspiring to see the way they work together for the good of the Nehemiah family, the good of their local community and the good of their country.

I got to meet some of the Ebola orphans they are taking care of and it was lovely to see them so relaxed,  playing ball and having fun - they are obviously well cared for..

This is the extension to the home that will allow them to accommodate even more children:

Hosetta Abdullah Special Needs School

I visited the Hosetta Abdullah Special Needs School in Thunder Hill in Kissy this week - it had been a few months since my last visit and I just wanted to see how they are all doing.

 

I had a really good catch up with the Headmistress Mrs Kamanda and got to hear how all the students and staff are getting on.

 

Mrs Kamanda has kindly said that I can either share her office or borrow a room to use as an office until I find myself a suitable office space - so I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time there!

With the Headmistress Mrs Kamanda

Mrs Kamanda has moved into a house on site and is taking care of a number of children including the two lads pictured below.

The boy on the left is John, who I first met way back in 2008 when one of our volunteers from Texas made a strong bond with him which eventually led to us getting to know the Hosetta Abdullah school and enrolling John there. He was bought up by his Grandmother, but when she died John went to live with Mrs K.

Sadly they have lost two of their students in recent months. This is Kadi-Kadi, she had been living with Mrs Kamanda but went on holiday to family in the provinces and sadly passed away while there. Mrs Kamanda believes that she was infected with the Ebola virus. Mrs K kindly gave me this photo of me with Kadi-Kadi.

 

Ebola Fatigue?

People's attitude to Ebola has changed here in the past couple of months........I think that most people are just thoroughly fedup with it and the changes it has caused.

 

I've noticed that the people I spend time with aren't nearly so careful about avoiding body contact as they were the last time I saw them.

 

People aren't talking about Ebola now they way they were - before it cropped into most conversations, now if it's mentioned its mostly to say that it will be gone soon. Instead of talking about Ebola, now people are talking about the investigation into the suspected misuse of donations made to the government to help with the fight against Ebola.

 

I do think it's a good thing that Ebola isn't completely dominating the lives of people here in the way that it was at the end of last year.......the strain of living under the threat of such an awful virus takes it's toll - I know that and I had the luxury of being able to come and go.........imagine how much worse it is for the people who don't have that option - who had to stay here no matter how bad it got..

 

Someone told me that Ebola has been beaten, but the authorities are pretending that it hasn't so that people will keep sending money in.........dangerous talk, I really hope it's a very small minority of people that believe this.

 

I'm worried that people are becoming too complacent about it - the situation is much better, but it's far from over yet.

 

Today I heard that St George Foundation, one of the first projects that I worked on in Sierra Leone, has been quarantined after a staff member tested positive for the Ebola virus........proof, if any is needed, that the fight isn't over yet.