Ramatu 2009

Things have changed a lot for Ramatu this year. When I arrived in Freetown in March I went to see Max who runs the Epilepsy Association for Sierra Leone, he told me that Ramatu's family had stopped feeding her again and that she was in a bad way. He knew of a home for disabled children in Grafton called Mahanaim that he thought might be suitable for Ramatu. I went with Max to meet the Melrose, the lady who runs the home and between us we arranged for Ramatu to go to live there.

The photo above on the left was taken a couple of days after Ramatu arrived at Mahanaim in March, the one above on the right was taken in in June after she'd been there around 3 months.

The first time I saw Ramatu this year was a couple of days after she was taken to live at Mahanaim - she was very underweight and malnousrished.

She settled in there quicky - this photo was taken a week or so after she arrived.......that day was the first time I'd ever seen her smile!!

These photos of Ramatu wearing a scarf were taken in April. Week after week I was able to see her slowly improve. After about a month she started talking - she has a very quiet voice (it hasn't been used much during the years she was kept locked in a room on her own) but she can make herself understand......she calls me Alice! She has put on weight and is now able to stand and can even walk a little with a frame. Ramatu's best friend is another girl who lives in the home called Mariama who has polio and has been in the home since she orphaned as a baby in the war. Mariama helps Ramatu with washing and dressing - they get on really well and are always together!!

Since Ramatu moved into Mahanaim her mother hasn't been in contact or visited at all - it seems her family have washed their hands of her.

Sponsorship Trip.....and getting ready to go back

When I arrived in Freetown at the beginning of September it was raining......and it continued to rain for pretty much the whole trip - I've finally experienced Sierra Leone in the wet season (allbeit the tail end of it). The whole place was a lot less hectic and a lot more subdued than usual - this is probably partly because of it being the wet season, but also partly because it was Ramadan.
I was told that the flooding was particularly bad this year, with people losing their lives in a landslide in Kissy Brook and also deaths relating to the flooding in Kroo Bay.

The trip to work on the child education sponsorship program went really well - while I was there I was able to arrange the schooling for over 40 children, as well as having uniforms made and providing shoes, schoolbags and school supplies for each child. This included the children of our Sierra Leonean staff, some of the children of staff at the City of Rest and some children from the area we work in in Kissy.
I have plenty more children who need sponsors - email me if you want more information!!

I'm going back over to Freetown in November as Country Manager for Mission Direct.....hosting the teams of short term volunteers who will come over between November and January. This time I'll have a lady called Jill working with me - she visited Sierra Leone on a short term trip in 2006.

We're having a 15 seater minibus shipped across for use in-country, and we still have the landcruiser - I don't know if the teams will be relieved or disappointed not to be crammed into a poda poda!

Also posted at minklemar.com

Back to Blogging

I've been really bad at keeping up my blog lately. Apart from the post I made about my Dad I've not posted since 1st June!! I got back to the UK mid-June and my Dad was admitted to hospital not long after that.....since then I've been travelling between Portsmouth and Stevenage visiting my Dad and I've not been in the right frame of mind for posting.

I'm going over to Sierra Leone this weekend for a couple of weeks to set up a child sponsorship program that I've been working on. I'm matching up people in the UK and US who are willing to help with a child's schooling in Sierra Leone with children who need sponsors. If anyone who has been to Sierra Leone with Mission Direct wants to sponsor a child please contact me.

When I get back to the UK I'll be going straight from the airport to Center Parcs for a family holiday - we're all sad that my Dad won't be there with us this year, but we've decided to still go and have some family time.

Although I've not been there much I'm still enjoying living in Portsmouth. Just today I head a racket outside and when I went to investigate say the Red Arrows doing a display. I was able to watch it all from our roof terrace - I love living in the city as there is always something going on. Last weekend we went to a kite festival!!!

I've not got much news from SL.......Abu has a nasty wound on his head - he told me that he's fallen down but when I investigated further it turned out that he'd be trying to hit his friend but missed and headbutted the wall behind!! Maybe that'll make him think next time he gets it in mind to hit his friend!

Also posted at minklemar.com

RIP Dad

Sadly my Dad passed away on 13th August 2009.

He had struggled for a long time against his various illnesses.

My sister and I were with him when he slipped away peacefully.

I miss him so much.

Also posted at minklemar.com

Farewell to the final team

Our last team of the campaign left on Friday, 9 of the team were from Texas and there were also two Brits. This team worked mostly on the new accommodation block at Hastings which the US team last year started. They also painted the last remaining mens sleeping area at City of Rest in town and did some work at the new City of Rest site in Hastings.

Becky will be going home on Friday and I leave the following Friday - it's going to be a busy last couple of weeks shutting everything down and tying up loose ends.

I've really enjoyed my time here this time around and feel like I've got to know everyone so much better. I don't for sure when I'll be back, but I know that I won't be able to stay away for long. I'm going to miss the kids here so much when I go home. I'm looking forward to seeing Bob and my family though and getting back to some English food. I'm going to work on Bob when I get back to the UK and try to get him to visit Sierra Leone with me later in the year.