Our Latest News from Sierra Leone

With the new phase of our development unfolding regarding our approval for building to commence on our Hub site we will have a very large requirement for concrete blocks.

As always God was way ahead of this. Through divine connections we were introduced to Arnold Polk of Development Associates in Virginia, USA who has pioneered the manufacture of a unique block making machine.

We hope to have one of these machines on site by August 2009.

What makes this machine right for us?

• No mortar needed between the blocks
• Fits together like giant Lego
• 1/10 of the cost of traditional blocks
• Can build in 1/10 of the time.
• Portable so we can build village churches, schools, clinics etc.
• 450 blocks per day
• Can be built by unskilled people with a little training
• Pioneered and trialled in Ghana with great success

At last we aready to start to build on the 10.5 acres of land we purchased a year ago for our operational Hub. It has taken this long to complete the legal and conveyancing arrangements.

The first thing we need to do is clear the land of the dense under-growth  - brushing - but leaving the larger trees standing for shade. We can then see the land surface and plan out the layout.

The next step is to errect, or partially errect the perimeter wall. We already have heavy maker posts in place but that does not stop any encroachment attempt to build or develop on our land!

From now on we are going to be needing many buildings on this Hub site, so we are planning to make our own inter-locking concrete blocks with a very innovative block making machine - see seperate article.

Due to the tightening of regulations regarding children in care in Sierra Leone, we are now only allowed to take babies and children refered from Government or award of court unless for temporary respite.

While this is good as it gives some control over unsrupulous organsitions using orphanages as front for child trafficing - a big problem in Sierra Leone - however, it can lead to delays in us getting to and rescuing the very vulerable babies.

We had a new admission recently through Ministry of Social Welfare. The baby, called Emmanuala, is 2 months old, the mother had five previous babies, all have died.

She is unable to breast feed Emmanuala and so instead, through ignorance was giving her ORS instead of baby milk.

ORS is Oral Rehydration Salts which is normally given to replace body fluids and salts as a result of diarrhoea, however, it is very dangerous to give it to a very young baby in the same quanitiy as for milk.

The husband abandoned them because of the history of deaths. The baby is now taking formula milk and she is doing well.

One of the most frustrating things about our work is that no matter how hard we try it is very difficult to keep in touch with everyone that we reach out to, as we try to be as accountable as we can for the help that they are given. For example the mother of the triplets has moved away without telling us where. She used to help look after her girls and help generally in the Baby Rescue Centre, now the girls are on their own.

Some of the girls that graduated from the Vocational Training School last year can not be traced by our pastoral team, maybe they have moved to village or with relatives, who knows.

The orphaned family of five that we were asked to take in last year never turned up at the pre arranged place and no one knows where they have gone to.

People that we meet in the villages also seem to move between villages where they have relatives, sometimes quite far away, we notice it especially when we the children don't turn up at school.

Its something we just are going to have to come to terms with, but nevertheless it is very frustrating!

During a recent Sunday service at Fresh Hope Bo No.2 extension Church plant where one of our western guests was preaching, we witnessed the sovereign move of God when during the prayer time, an old lady with a white cataract in one eye received the gift of sight in that eye.

Before prayer she could not read the date on a banner at the back of the church advertising a conference in a neighbouring church. After prayer she could read even the smallest print on the banner and the white cataract was gone! She had 2 dark brown eyes.

As someone recently said to us, if this sort of growth and dramatic healing happened in the West, we would call it revival - This is revival in Sierra Leone!

Micheal our Bandawa Pastor and school teacher outside our New Bandawa Church Structure

Our church there was in a very dilapidated state and was recently flattened by a falling tree.

The villagers are currently rebuilding the church using traditional methods and materials with a little help from us providing corrugated zinc for the roof and boards for the doors and windows.

If your church would like to help in this area please drop us an email through the website.

Other adoptable projects available in Bandawa are, Ventilated Pit latrines for the school, a dug well with pump head followed by de-worming for the children

303 pictured with Alec Depledge Pastor of New Life Church in Brigg whose church largely contributed to her purchase in 2006

While not completely repaired at least it is now available for light use after obtaining some parts from a source in the neighbouring country of Liberia.

We have been plagued with almost constant outbreaks of Malaria amongst our babies and toddlers at Heaven's Garden Baby Rescue Centre.

Thanks to support from Gateway Church, Dallas and Heaven's Garden Ministries, Oregon we have upgraded all the windows and doors with tight fitting mosquito mesh which has made an immediate and dramatic impact on this killer disease.

Treatment for Malaria is now very straight forward if the drugs come from a reliable source. Unfortunately many drugs available from pharmacies locally are fake or reduced strength and cannot be relied upon for effective treatment.

As a UK charity we are able to procure high quality pharmaceuticals at wholesale prices as long as the drugs are exported.

Thanks to continuing support we have also been able to provide instant malaria test kits which can be 100% reliable at diagnosis.

Again thanks to support, we will shortly be providing the very latest high resistance Antimalarial Combination Therapy (ACT) for those in our care.

In the past year we have had 2 children and one staff member diagnosed with Typhoid, probably contracted from drinking contaminated well water.

Wells can be a lifeline to many communities, however we have found that even well water can carry harmful worms, bacteria and viruses that can kill where few can afford diagnosis and treatment.

Joseph one of our toddlers helping himself to clean drinking water courtesy of Links International

2 of our children at the remote Bandawa Fresh Hope School with the second Links International water filter

They also provided a second ceramic filter where it is now in use filtering slow moving swamp water for our kids at the remote village school at Bandawa.

Our first working prototype bio-sand water filter in the House of Hope

The materials for these filters cost only £28 GBP ($40 USD). Why not sponsor one...or two!

FACTFILE: 80% of illnesses in Africa have links to poor water quality and poor sanitation