More Goodbyes

I've been saying goodbye again - this time to a volunteer team. Most of the 3rd team left yesterday, although 5 of the team of 12 went on to a pastors conference in Lumley where they will be until next Wednesday. As always I was sad to see the team leave and it seems really quiet here now with just me and Becky here.

We spent today at King Georges doing office work and sorting through the aid left by the team. I had promised to give one of the boys (Lamin) computer lessons which we started today - he'd never used a computer before, but he's picking it up really quickly so I don't think it'll be long before he gets the hang of it. By the end of the lesson he was getting used to the keyboard, had setup an email account and had sent his first ever email.

Yesterday morning I took the team to visit Mahanaim before they left - I think everyone enjoyed the visit and the kids there love the attention they get when we visit. Ramatu is continuing to improve each time I see her. The picture here of Ramatu taken the first time I saw her stand. She is so much happier now, she has friends at Mahanaim and is taken care of and gets food every day - I'm hoping that eveuntually she'll be able to go to school. Sadly Ramatu's mother hasn't been in touch or been to see her since she went to the home over 6 weeks ago. Becky and I are planning to go to Church with the children from Mahanaim tomorrow.
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We have a few days work to prepare for the next team who arrive on 22nd May, and then Becky and I are going to take a couple of days off - we've not decided yet whether to go to the beach or to head off into the provinces.

Team 3....Margaret & Abu

Here's a photo of Margaret, the girl who was burnt with boiling water - her burns have healed so well. The only problem is that she seems to relate the pain she went through with the burns and the treament to me.....and so is scared of me! It's great to see her out of pain and to have healed so well.

The 3rd team have been here since Monday - we've had a couple of days working at the Grafton City of Rest site with them, working on the generator house and digging the well. Today we went to City of Rest in town and cleaned and painted two of the mens dormitories there. This afternoon we visited the Leonard Cheshire home and sang with the children there and then played some parachute games. We have twelve people on the team altogether, 5 of which will be leaving us next Tuesday for a pastors conference in Lumley......leaving us with a small team of 7 for the rest of the week.

The Abu situation is much the same as the last time I posted - he's still staying with another family (Shaka's family). Once the team have gone I'm going to have a chat with Shaka's Mum and see how she feels about having him stay there and if she's happy to have him long term - he seems happy there and so far seems to be fitting in ok and is being looked after.

Bye bye Brian

Today Brian who I've been working with over here is leaving to go back the the UK - we worked together here in November last year and then again for the last 6 weeks. I've enjoyed working with Brian and I'm going to miss him. As Brian leaves another staff member Becky will be arriving and will be working over here with me for the next 6 weeks. It's going to be a long afternoon and evening.....I'm getting the 17:30 ferry across to Lungi with Brian so we need to get down to the ferry port by 16:00. Becky's flight is due in at 20:30 and I'm hoping that we'll be able to catch the 22:30 ferry back to Kissy.

We said goodbye to the second team a week ago today. While they were here they were able to start work on the generator house up at the City of Rest site at Grafton, and the digging of the well has also started. When the team left we spent a few days getting things ready for the next team and then we had a couple of days break at Number 2 River Beach. We came back to Kissy and back to work yesterday afternoon. The third team will be arriving on Monday so Becky and I will spend the weekend getting ready for their arrival.

It's around halfway through my time here and the time is just flying by, it will be June and I'll be back home again before I know it.

I'm worried about Abu as I recently found out that he's not being allowed to sleep at his aunties house but has been staying at another boys house.....his aunty says that there isn't enough room for him anymore. I'm hoping that by the time I go home that he'll be living somewhere more stable.

Quick update

My time online is very limited so unfortunately this is going to have to be a very short update.

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The girl who was burnt with boiling water whose picture I posted in my last update is doing well and her burns are healing very well......much better than I'd expected.

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Ramatu is so much happier in her new home....a place called Mahanaim. I spent some time with her today and she was laughing and talking, playing with the other children. She was even able to stand up! There has been a massive improvement in her over the last couple of weeks. I'm hopeful that when she is stronger she'll be able to go to school. Her mother hasn't been in touch at all since she was taken to the home.

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Abu is doing well, although he always seems to be in some sort of trouble or other. He got to know one of the team members in the first team well and was really upset when he left.

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We are around halfway through the second team at the moment, we have a nice mix of people in the team and I'm enjoying getting to know them. Yesterday we went to church and spent the afternoon at Bureh beach. Today half the team worked on site at Grafton while the rest of us visited Mahanaim, we are planning to show the Jesus film somewhere near Shell Junction.

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Settling into Life in Freetown

I've been in Sierra Leone now for just over three weeks.

The first few days were spent preparing for the first team, then a week after I arrived we went back over to the airport to pick the first team up.The trip didn't get off to a good start when we couldn't get their luggage to the hotel until the day after they arrived, but apart from that it was a good trip
I enjoyed getting to know everyone on the frst team and I've missed them since the returned to the UK last Wednesday.

While the team was here a young girl was bought to us who had been badly burnt by boiling water - we were able to get her taken to hospital and get treatment for the burns and I'm hoping to get an update on her from her Mum during the week. The girls name is Margaret and she is around three or maybe four years old.

I have some good news about Ramatu - she's now living at a home for disabled children called Mahanaim in Grafton. I've been able to pop in to see her a few times and she is much happier there.