Sierra Leone 2009

Back in England

2009-09-23T17:16:00.003+01:00

I have been back now for a couple of months. Everything seems so different, the fact that when i switch on the lightswitch there is actually light. And same with the taps, when i turn them on, running water comes out rather than going down the street to fill up a bucket.
I am still trying to fundraise for Jimiyke to get him to the UK. We are sorting out all the paperwork and found out that the treatment will cost in the region of £12,000 to £20,000 so please go on the just giving website and give what you can.
www.justgiving.com/abkappeal

I just wanted to say thankyou to everyone that has donated so far towards Jimiykes appeal and EducAid, it has had a big impact on the charity which means now that they do not have to cut back on staff/students.
Also i want to say thankyou to everyone that donated software and hardware, i wouldn't of been able to set up the IT room without the donations i had.

Branching out!

2009-06-18T01:29:00.003+01:00

Will and I started an after school football competition today. We put up a notice about it and talked to all the classes and we were quite shocked when it came to the first session to find that 150 had signed up!

It was mad! Sierra Leoneans love football like no-one else and they take it more seriously than anyone else too! There were no fights but it seemed like it might come close. We had to stop one match but in general it went really well.

We tried to get the girls involved but that is quite a new idea in Sierra Leone - girl footballers. We have four teams of girls though so we have decided to have a girls' league separately from the boys. The boys are too rough by far.

I am knackered now but it was great fun.

I don't think we will give up the day job though!

a day in school

2009-06-15T12:42:00.000+01:00

I saw this video on YouTube from December 2007 and thought it might be of interest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26JaowQRi6A

hair update!

2009-06-09T22:33:00.016+01:00

I keep getting messages about putting photos up on the blog of me doing stuff here, so everyone can believe I am really here!

So..... here it is. This is me with Jimiyke [my most diligent and enthusiastic student!] in the IT room. As you can see the hair is coming back gradually. In fact while I am here it is quite convenient because of the heat, but I don't think I will be doing it again like that in a hurry! Unless anyone pays me of course!

Will, some friends and I have just finished putting a short fundraising film together. To view it, simply click on this link (if your computer doesn't have Quicktime, you will be prompted to download it - don't worry, it's safe) http://www.schedule2.com/educaid/educaid.mov

the day to day ups and downs.........

2009-06-05T22:35:00.003+01:00

Pictures of Number 2 River and beach and........... the EducAid kitchen!

Had a great weekend away at the beach last weekend for half term. Fantastic beach but not really available to most Sierra Leoneans as it is quite expensive. We couldn’t stay as long as we wanted to for that reason but it was great while it lasted. It will make swimming in the cold grey English sea not seem the treat it once was!

Now back at the office…….the multitude of viruses that we managed to get onto all the computers while downloading the network software have now been cleared and we have the firewalls up and running again. It does seem like an endless battle.

Proper IT classes started again yesterday!

Meanwhile the day-to-day challenges carry on – I still can’t eat the pepper sauce that goes on everything! So I am living on bread and pasta. I’m going to look like a packet of spaghetti soon.

We are working hard on the visa for Jimiyke now. He has finished his exams and knows what the score is. Because of his condition, he has been living up with us so I have really got to know him. I am teaching him to use the computer and telling him about life in the UK. We are really desperate for him to get the visa. It would be terrible if he doesn’t. We have submitted the online application and are just collecting the support documents from the doctors etc for his interview on 15th June.

Further back up for the appeal on You Tube!

2009-05-29T23:24:00.003+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOirYSBwyE0.

Friends of EducAid, Huw and Ollie have made a film and posted this link on You tube in support of our ABK appeal.

I can't view it from here because the connection is so slow but I am told it is good.

Feel free to let me know what you think!

The past week

2009-05-25T12:08:00.007+01:00

The view to the front of the school and sunrise to the back. This is the view I get up to when I am up in time!

Living in Sierra Leone is a bit like being on a roller coaster - I find myself going up and down all the time - it has been an extraordinary week...

My friends in Magbeni saw a minibus bang into a 8 year old boy - it did not even brake to see if he was ok. Unfortunately he was in a bad way and there are no ambulances - they did what they could to help, paying for a taxi to a hospital and for some treatment, but do not think they managed to save his life. On the way back from Magbeni Moses and I saw another injured young boy lying at the side of the road with a crowd of people around him, but if we had decided to stop and help, if something had gone wrong, they were likely to blame us.

The next day one of the teachers lost his 1 month old baby and we were so hit by the reality of the poverty here - he had been so proud of his son, born on Independence Day, and then to lose him like that left us feeling so helpless. Also, his wife is now seriously ill, and if anything happens to her, I am worried he will fall to pieces.

The next day one of the other teachers had his house broken into by armed robbers and they cleared it of everything!

The same day we heard from Magbeni that the women's project classroom had been blown off by a very serious storm that had blown up - that is what happens at the beginning of the rainy season it seems!

The vice president's driver met Moses and me in a bar on Saturday and offered to take us to his house to meet the vice presidents mother - I found myself wondering whatever I was doing there and also why he was interested in taking some 16 year old foreigner to his home - he was very friendly though and we had a nice enough time

On Saturday though, someone I had started to think of as a real friend and whose story had shocked me beyond belief, seemed to have stolen my camera - now the investigation is on and he is denying it all and I so hope he is proved innocent. Moses has been talking to me about being able to forgive him, even if he did do it and I am finding it so hard because of the trust I thought was there. On the other hand, as Moses has been saying to me, his life has been so bad that he sometimes still struggles to do the right thing and maybe I should have not put temptation in his way. At the moment though I really do not know what to think.......

Boarding school with a difference!

2009-05-24T21:35:00.006+01:00

Here are some pictures of the classrooms which are multi-purpose, also serving as bedrooms.

Across the 4 schools there are over 200 students that live in the schools. For them, even free school is not accessible without them living in because either they live too far away or their families can't afford for them not to be working or because the families don't actually want them to come to school and make life too difficult for them so they would otherwise drop out.

This is a key part of the school's work.

We realised how much this is home to so many of the students when the senior students finished their final exams. Even though they had officially finished school, many of them do not want to leave as they do not really have anywhere to go to. It made us really sad for them.

Stories from Magbeni

2009-05-19T23:04:00.007+01:00

My name is James Burnford, I'm a friend of Luke's out here in Sierra Leone. Luke and I started the trip together in Freetown but after one and a half weeks I was sent to a tiny jungle village to the south of Freetown where EducAid has another school. The village was called Magbeni.
As far as comfort and technology goes, Magbeni is in the Ice Age! There's no mobile or internet signal whatsoever and the nearest town is a 40 minute motorbike ride down a dirt track. However, after an initial few days of getting used to the hole-in-the-floor-toilet and showering by dumping a bucket of cold river water on your head, you begin to appreciate the amazing qualities of the people there. They live in total harmony with each other - all chipping in to make the community work. They were only to happy to get us (for there where three other English students in Magbeni) involved; teaching me to chop wood in the proper Sierra Leonean fashion and how to cook their favourite fish stew.
The main reason for us being in Magbeni though was to teach, and within two days I had been assigned my class (an intermediate class of about 20 which I shared with another boy) and was teaching them English language in the morning and maths in the evening. The students were very commited but it was difficult occasionally for them to fully understand my instructions, just as it is extremely difficult for me to understand Kryol.
Our task was made even more difficult when, after the first day on the job, our class was merged with a neighbouring primary school's class of Intermediate students which brought the total up to 45!
It wasn't all work though and the people of Magbeni are football crazy, especially the head teacher AA who is a huge Manchester Utd fan. In fact there was an EducAid vs the next village (I can't remember the name) and George and I were honourary players for 20 minutes of the second half after we were losing 3-0! I think we did ok, they certainly seemed pleased with us and we didn't concede any more goals.
Magbeni is an amazing place and I really enjoyed my time there.

Last couple of days (Sunday - Tuesday)

2009-05-19T22:36:00.007+01:00

All the students have been accessing their work fine and they are enjoying the lessons. We have now started a new project setting up a business. They are all learning to do Powerpoint presentations, to use Microsoft Word to a certain extent, and Micrsoft Excel, setting up a spreadsheet for their 'business'.

Two weeks ago, we found out that a student who has been a great help to James and I whilst we have been here and who we have become quite close too, has Hepatitis C. Doctors can't give a time for him to live. It could be from 1 year up to 10. The worst of it all is he doesn't know how ill he is. This boy is now the head boy of the EducAid school in Freetown, and will sit his last exam (equivalent to A levels)tomorrow afternoon. This boy has so much potential and is aiming for all A's in his 8exams.
It is so upsetting to think that this boy, aged 20, has such high hopes for now and for the future, and that they are in serious danger of not being fulfilled. So I please ask that you click on this link to a Just Giving site, and donate, no matter how little, and help us try and get ABK to the UK for treatment.

www.justgiving.com/abkappeal

More info is on the link.Thankyou

Two weeks

2009-05-19T22:22:00.008+01:00

For the last two weeks I have been working with tutor groups and in the IT room.
I now currently have 6 student classes which add up to about 100 students, and one teachers class of 22. Most of these students have never used a computer in their life and it is hard for me to teach such basic skills when they can hardly control the mouse! However, Will, the IT techer (Ndola) and I are working together and the student's skills are slowly improving.

In all the classes, they have been producing a basic letter to a family member/friend/teacher using Word, and a lot of the students have written letters about their past, which I find upsetting to read.

Recently we have had a problem with the server that networks all the computers together, but talking with my IT expert, Uncle Dom, it looks like it cannot be fixed.

Since then we have found some new software which allows the students to access all their own files in a folder on the network. This doesn't involve the server so is a lot better.

Friday Evening

2009-05-03T20:37:00.003+01:00

Friday evening Will and I went out to Pasa Pasa (a bar) with a couple of guys, but after 40 minutes I wasn't feeling too good so we came back and went to bed. At 7 in the morning I woke up, throwing up everywhere and kept being sick every 20 minutes.
Everyone thought it was food poisoning and that I would get over it in a couple of days. But Saturday evening it got a lot worse and I got a fever and my arms and legs were going numb.
I was about to be taken to hospital but I didn't want to go in the taxi all the way to Freetown so I was given some medication here in the school, after which I was sick a couple of times that night. But by the morning I felt a lot better and am still taking medication to get rid of the virus, and I haven't been sick all of today (Sunday)

Monday

2009-05-03T20:28:00.002+01:00

Monday was a busy day because we found out the switch was faulty and so the lesson that evening was a lot different because we didn't have the server.
Tuesday we carried on the lessons as usual, but again without the server.
Wednesday evening Will and Harriet arrived and we got them something to eat and showed them around.
Thursday we went to Freetown with Yayah for them to exchange money and get phones etc. Will didn't like Freetown because of the amount of people asking you for stuff.
Friday morning at 5am James and Harriet travelled out to Magbeni (one of the schools upcountry). So then there was just me and Will left in Lumley.

Sunday At The Lantern Parade

2009-05-01T20:54:00.003+01:00

Sunday we spent the morning helping people with studying, then in the afternoon we went off to the beach and played football. Once we got back we went to the lantern parade in the capital. There were a number of lanterns placed around the city all with a big stereo system on the back. These lanterns joined up in the middle and went down the main roads. Everyone was dancing and singing down the road. And everyroad you could see was flooded with people either watching or dancing. There was tens of thousands of people there. When we got to a certain point in the march, it turned into a riot because the police turned up and started badly controlling the crowd with battons. And we were right in the middle of it all. Everyone started charging at us, but 3 guys from the school acted as our bodyguards and tried to get us out of it. So many people were trying to mug us so we were lucky they were there. Me and James despite them, still got pickpocketed and thrown about in the crowd.
We eventually got out and went for a drink down a quiet road.
Transport back was almost impossible, so the 3 bodyguards made a barrier to stop people geting on the bus whilst me and James snuck on. We got to the back but these buses are actually little camper vans with seats in. There was about 25 people in the bus all cramped in, 6 people sitting on top of the bus, and 2 people holding onto the back. Me and James think that one of the guys on the back fell off because we were going about 40mph and one second he was on there and the next he had gone.
These buses are really unsafe and yesterday our friend Moses who goes to the university but lives in the school, was on the bus coming back from the Uni. He was invited to a party in Freetown but he said no because he wanted to come back to see James off as it was his last night for a while. On his way back he was going over a bridge on the bus and the driver lost control. the bus rolled over twice and almost went over the edge. He had a massive lump on the side of his head, a big cut on his back and a dislocated shoulder. He has to go back to hospital on Monday for an x-ray on his head.
Lots of the people in the school feel alot more comfortable with me and are starting to tell me their stories of the war and what happened to them.

I will be putting pictures on a different website i think because i have quite a lot. Lots are on the other guys cameras and they are now up-country so i will get them on Wednesday when i go to drop some laptops off there for the teachers to use.
Mum could you please set up a site for me to use for the pictures. I dont really have much time here to do it and the internet is too slow.
Thanks

Saturday at the University

2009-05-01T19:44:00.002+01:00

Saturday we went to one of the two universities in Sierra Leone which is in Freetown. Its on the top of a mountain and we had to change taxis about 4-5 times. We went with 3 of the guys who stay in the school but go to the university. That saturday it was a big sports day with all the houses in the uni. There must of been over 3000 people there. It lasted about 6hours. Afterwards me and two of the guys went back to the school and James stayed with the 3rd guy for the Jam afterwards.

Friday

2009-04-30T10:28:00.002+01:00

Friday morning at 5am: Me and James got woken up by George and Josh getting up to go upcountry to one of the other secondary schools, Magbeni.
About 4 hours later me and James got up. We went to go and get the local breakfast, which the lady was trying to tell us what was in it. We worked out its was a bread roll with these balls, made from rice sugar and something else. They are surprisingly quite nice.
During the rest of the day Me, James and the 'IT specialist' (Ndola) revamped the IT room, cutting and making new network cables, running them around the room, and trunking them. We set up the server and got the domain running. We had our first lesson with a tutor group and everything was working fine with the internet.
Power is limited here so they turn the generator on from 1830-10, which is when we do our lessons.
That night Ndola took us out to the local bar for a drink to celebrate the lesson, and James met a local woman called Ester that took a liking to him. :)

Thursday in Freetown

2009-04-30T00:51:00.000+01:00

On the thursday we went to Freetown with Yayah, the deputy head boy. We exchanged our money and James had to buy a new phone because he forgot to unlock the one he bought out.
Yayah showed us a big warehouse which is used as a market. The warehouse was next to 'the community' which is a shanty town right on the coast. He told us that in the rainy season the community floods and many people live on the streets during this time.

We dont have any pictures because its risky to take our cameras out due to pickpockets.

Safe Journey

2009-04-24T09:36:00.004+01:00

George, James and Luke left Heathrow on Monday and arrived safely in Freetown. The plane arrived late, but someone was there to meet them, get them and the luggage onto the helicopter to Freetown, where Miriam met them.

Preparations continue ....

2009-04-20T14:43:00.003+01:00

Finally got all the IT stuff together on our kitchen table - many thanks to CSC in Aldershot, the Margaret Beaufort Institute and various indivduals for the laptops and Dominic B for all his help teaching Luke how to fix and set up the laptops, networking equipment and projector. Now it just needs to get weighed, packed up and distributed amongst the six young volunteers who are going out to help in the school this term.

The things he'll do for money!

2009-04-08T16:23:00.005+01:00

He has sold £500 worth of raffle tickets and the winner gets to shave his head tomorrow - the thatch will be gone! He will definitely need a good sun hat now, but at least he wont take as much time in the shower each morning. Know of any girls who would buy a lock of hair?

(Photo one week after 'the shave' and he was trying hard to look mean!)

12 Days to go!

2009-04-08T13:33:00.003+01:00

Welcome to my blog! I hope to be able to make regular postings here to let everyone know how I am getting on, both before I go and whilst I am out in Sierra Leone. In the meantime, I still have lots of things to do....

If you would like to see how much has been raised for Educaid so far or would like to make a donation yourself, please visit www.justgiving.com/lukeeducaid.

Thanks