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.

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.
.

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.