The work continues.....

It’s been a very long time and as can be imagined, so much has happened.  We will try to fill the gaps as best as possible.

December 2012 was very busy for our family.  Joelle celebrated her 7^th birthday, Michael got nearer to being 3 score and 10 years, Janelle was preparing for her 3^rd birthday and we celebrated our 9th  year wedding anniversary.  In addition, we decided to spend Christmas and New Year in Ghana.  This would have been Janelle’s first visit, and also her first meeting with her Ghanaian family.  It was a very special time and it was lovely to see her get along with Uncles, Aunties and cousins.  The family has grown since we last saw them more than 3 years ago with now a few cousins about the same age as (and younger than) Joelle and Janelle.  It was a noisy affair on many occasions as they got to know each other – as children do.

Visitors

Since the beginning of the year we have received a number of visitors to Sierra Leone on various missions.

1)      Lancashire District – Methodist Church of Great Britain

The first to arrive was the team of 12 from Lancashire District of the Methodist Church Great Britain led by Rev. Stephen Poxon.  A team from the district (formerly North Lancashire) has been visiting since 2007 to assist with a number of development projects mainly in the Kailahun District of MCSL. There are two main projects receiving support from the team – The Red Rose Skill Centre in Kailahun and Nixon Memorial Methodist Hospital in Segbwema. The team added a third project – the reconstruction of a hostel/guest house in Kailahun to form part of the skills centre. The guest house would serve as focus for training of the youth in hospitality management. 

 Prayer Points

 – Please pray that the teams who come will be strengthened and not be overwhelmed by the scale of the need in this part of the Lord’s vineyard.

Also thank God for the work of the team who consistently support us here in Sierra Leone.

 Synods

The first quarter of the year is usually filled with Synods of the three Districts and this year was no different. The first – Western District Synod – was held at John the Maroon Church in Freetown.

This was followed by Synods at Bo/Kenema District and the Kailahun /Kono respectively. The Kailahun Kono Synod was particularly significant because the ground breaking ceremony for a new primary school in memory of Rev. Frank Himsworth took place on the Synod Sunday in Segbwema. The school is to be built with donations

 SUNDAY HEALTH CLINIC

The new Health section of the MCSL had its first Sunday Service Health talk and clinic at Ebenezer Methodist Church in Murray Town, in the Wilberforce Circuit.  It was well received, and the plan is to roll out this programme in most of the societies in Freetown. 

 Prayer Points:

Please pray that the new initiative to bring health services closer to the congregation will be a success and more ‘workers’ will join the team. Also there would be resources – especially financial & drugs to support the programme.

NEWS FROM SIERRA LEONE AND UK

We left Freetown on 22^nd June to start our furlough which we planned to coincide with the beginning of Joelle’s summer holidays. It was a welcome break for us as a family after two years in Freetown.

Our first task was to visit Interhealth for medical checks and a visit to World Church Office for debriefing with the Africa desk Co-ordinator and other members of staff. We are grateful to Jan Deakin for all the hard work she did in organising our visits to Interhealth, the meetings at Church office and most especially for organising the baby sitters for Joelle and Janelle.

After three weeks in the UK we went to Jamaica where we stayed for almost 5 weeks.

Whilst on furlough in the UK we visited a number of churches to talk about our work with the Methodist Church Sierra Leone.

The churches visited were

1. BGMC – Bethnal Green Mission Church
2. Chalkwell Park Methodist Church in Westcliff on Sea, in Essex.
3. Sunfields Methodist Church, Blackheath. London.

We attended BGMC and Chalkwell Park Methodist Church on 8^th July and 28^th August respectively to talk about our work in Sierra Leone. Both churches have supported us materially, financially and spiritually with prayers so it was a pleasure to update the congregation on our activities over the past four years. Chalkwell Park organises an annual model train exhibition to raise funds for the work at Nixon. We were presented with a cheque for £1180 during the service. We are really grateful to both churches for their support, especially to Dr Gillian Webster and Reverend Mike Houston (BGMC) and John and Linda Wilson (Chalkwell Park)  for spearheading these efforts at their respective churches.

In addition to the above churches we also talked at our home church – Sunfields Methodist Church in Blackheath, London. We have again received tremendous support from the congregation and want to thank especially Rev. Joseph, Andrew and Juliet Gibbs, Paddy and Madge Booth, Jean and the rest of the congregation for their support and encouragement in various ways.

Our work in Sierra Leone has been going very well despite the challenges. Joanna’s work with the Nursing school, has entered another phase. Two Nurses from Nixon Hospital have now completed their midwifery training at the Makeni midwifery school and have now taken over the teaching of the midwifery module at Nixon Memorial Hospital. This is in line with the plans for the hospital when we first went and this was done with the help of a local charity.

We are grateful to God for some of the notable achievements we achieved with the module. This included:

-          The placement of students in surrounding villages as part of their practical training;

-          The development of a teaching plan for the midwifery module – based on the national curriculum.

Joanna will still have the responsibility to oversee (if necessary) the teaching of the midwifery module in addition to assuming responsibilities for Women and children’s health in the Health and Wholeness department. This will include MCSL’s work with some NGOs to develop a project for Mothers and Children suffering from HIV/AIDs enhancing MCSL’s work in the health and wholeness sector.

Michael still has responsibility for the Health and Wholeness desk and in addition he would be taking on the health sector component of the work currently done by the Development Desk.  This would include a Mother and Child project sponsored by World Vision. He will still have oversight responsibility for Nixon Memorial Hospital, among other things.

During the last two years there was work done with the Methodist Church Ghana (MCG) with a view to setting up co-operative work between Nixon Hospital and MCG’s hospital in Wenchi. The plan was for some medical staff from Nixon Hospital to visit Ghana to undergo on the job training at the hospital. Due to administrative and financial issues, MCSL is yet to take advantage of this opportunity but we hope that this opportunity would used in the coming months.

The Health & Wholeness desk has also established collaborative links with Tearfund, (a Christian charity based in the UK but with extensive presence across most the developing world). MCSL would like to work with Tearfund to train church workers in the principles of Church Community Mobilisation (CCM) 

The Health and Wholeness desk worked with friends in the US to secure a container load of medical consumables, together with some basic medical equipment, from a charity Medical Bridges  for use at Nixon Memorial Hospital. Work is already underway for another container to be donated to Nixon Hospital. The charity supplies medical equipments and consumables to hospitals in mostly Latin America and Asia and a few hospitals in Africa.

We are especially grateful to the Methodist Church of Ireland for a substantial donation towards the work of the Methodist Church clinic in Kenema.

The furlough also gave us the opportunity to visit various places of interest in both UK and abroad, and to visit our friends and family. We travelled to Jamaica to spend time with family. Whilst in Jamaica we had the opportunity to various places of interest on the island and one such place was the Dolphin Cove where the children had the occasion to ‘swim’ with the dolphins, go kayaking etc. 

  

      Amidst it all we underwent a number of medical checks and assessments to ensure that we were in good health. Janelle completed her immunisation regime to stand her on good footing for school. This meant a number of trips to the Nurse at Interhealth and the GP for injections – not a pleasant experience for her. She was a brave little girl through it all.

      We are grateful to God for the opportunity to take time to see friends and colleagues. We are also thankful for travelling mercies, good health and the opportunity given us to talk about our work and pray that the name of the Lord will be lifted up and glorified as a result of his work here in Sierra Leone.

   

      Prayer Points:

Please Pray

v  To give thanks to God for travelling mercies and good health during our furlough;

v  That the work here in Sierra Leone will continue to bear fruits and for the name of the Lord to glorified.

v  That the next two years will be fruitful and our work with Methodist Church Sierra Leone for those disadvantaged and marginalised by society would be successful. 

A Good start

We start another year with the resolutions to be better in
what we do; stop bad habits; take on new challenges etc. etc. Usually these resolutions are coupled with high expectations but sadly like most people we
have already broken some of them. We can however, as a family say the Lord has been good to us as we continue to experience God's favour with regards to our health, supportive and caring friends and the happiness of the children.

Little Janelle celebrated her birthday at the beginning of
the year and we thank God for her life and the joy she brings us as a family - she is such a blessing. Her birthday celebration was a low key affair but still great - we 'rounded' up the children in the block and presto! we enjoyed a fantastic celebration.

Janelle's Birthday Cake

On the work front we received a very large donation of medical equipments and consumables from a supporting partner in the United States. We are grateful to Medical Bridges in Texas for their continuous support to our medical work here in Sierra
Leone. The donation from Medical Bridges was made possible as they worked with us at all the stages of the process and did an even tremendous job finding sponsors in the US for Nixon Hospital. Words cannot express our thanks to the team and all those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes (the unsung heroes) to make it happen.




Loading of the items received from Medical Bridges



Yet more items from Medical Bridges

Workers from Methodist Church stores loading yet more items on the truck heading for Nixon Memorial Hospital.

We are also grateful to Ryan Kelly who sponsored the freight cost for a shipment of essential drugs bought in the UK for Nixon Hospital. This we hope, will go a long way to alleviate our drugs supply problem at the hospital.

As Joanna looks forward to handing over her post fully to the newly trained midwives she prays for guidance as to the next 'project' best suited to her skills. We are now in the process of discussing with the head of the church the best way forward. In the meantime Joanna is preparing to co- teach the next batch of nursing students in March - this time over 120 students!

Prayer Points:

Help us to praise God for ;

- our relatively good health; relative happiness of the children; our extended family's and friends' well being

- successful project outcomes

Help us to pray for:

- our health to not falter; our children to remain relatively happy; our extended family and friends to remain well

- a smooth handing over of the obstetrics module to the staff of the school

- God's direction for Joanna's career path within the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone

- more successful project outcomes as they improve the life and health of the people of Sierra Leone

END OF YEAR

As the year draws to an end, like most of us, it is time for us to take stock of 2011 and of our work here in Sierra Leone. 2011 has been a great year for us despite the challenges we've faced both at work and in our personal lives.

The year started with Michael starting his new role as the Co-ordinator of Health and Wholeness (H&W) desk with Methodist Church Sierra Leone - a new role with lots of opportunities and challenges.
The unit has scored some notable successes;
- with a little help from our friends we have received a donation of 40 ft container of medical equipment from Medical Bridges in USA
- secured the purchase of drugs from UK for Nixon Hospital
- organised scholarships for over 20 nursing students and 2 senior nurses to undertake a post graduate course in midwifery;
- with help of friends secured the placement of VSO volunteers to work at Nixon Hospital
-Started collaborative work with Methodist Church Ghana's Mission Hospital to help develop the capacity of the staff at Nixon hospital.

These are just a few projects that the H & W has achieved over the past year but the year has not been without the major challenge of lack of funds to run the desk. We hope this will be solved very early in the new year.

The church received a number of visitors during the year and amongst them was Rev. Stephen Poxon, who launched in February the celebrations of the Bi-centenary of the arrival of the first Methodist Missionary from the UK to Sierra Leone. The celebration climaxed in November with a church service and fund raising dinner. We were privileged to have in attendance the President designate of Methodist Church UK Dr Mark Wakelin and Dr Bunmi Olayisade Partnership Co-ordinator of the Africa Desk at World Church Office in UK, Rev. Christine Gillespie (from Leeds district) and Rev. Dr Wendy Kilworth-Mason.

Prof Goodall with Rt. Rev. Temple

From Joanna's desk she has seen the end of one module of teaching 104 students and now is preparing to teach the next module in March. This group has over 120 students but this time there will be help in the form of two newly qualified post graduate midwives who received a scholarship from the H and W department of the Methodist Church. In addition, we have started a partnership of upgrading our post graduate midwives at a well known and reputable obstetric institution in Freetown. This we hope will be the start of something great. Prof. Goodall taught 'Life Saving skills - and essential Obstetrics' at Nixon Hospital Nursing school during early December

The Elles ( Jo and Jan) have been very happy and healthy. Now 6 and nearly 2 years old they have been having a ball in the sun. Joelle is learning fast, now reading, writing and starting arithmetic. Play dates are numerous and can get a little overwhelming but it means the girl is popular ( as popular as a 6 year old can be). Janelle is yet to make her own friends but she is also yet to start school and so the real party girl is yet to blossom.

President of Conference (Rt. Rev. A. Temple (l) with Dr Bunmi and Paramount Chief of Segbwema - Chief Jajua VI

Ms Honney Panes -the VSO Nurse (2nd l) with President of Conference & Dr Bunmi

FAREWELL

Rev. Peter and Janice Clarke left Sierra Leone for the UK via Spain after two years at the Theological Hall (College). We pray Peter and Janice would have a good break before returning to the UK.

Prayer Points

Please pray For:

• God's wisdom as we contemplate renewing our contract for another two years - We are scheduled to finish our tour of duty in June 2012;
• Our work in Sierra Leone to make a difference in the lives of those we are privileged to touch
• Good health for us and the children
• Our partners who support us and make it possible for us to make a difference
• Us to exercise patience, wisdom and discernment with all the projects (personal and professional) we are to be involved with for the rest of this tour, so the glory will go only to God

Celebrations!!!

December is a month of celebrations. Joey's brother Junior & his wife Janice kick it off with their wedding anniversary on the 2nd, followed by Junior's birthday on the 3rd, then Joelle celebrates hers on the 4th. More to come - Michael, Joey's cousin Dean(Prof) and joey's niece Ruth celebrate theirs on 7th Dec followed by our wedding anniversary on the 11th. Done? No!!! Our wedding anniversary is then followed by Joey's junior brother Mark's birthday on the 14th. Whew!!!! Hope I have not missed anybody's - but of course the Big One is 25th, that of our Lord's which we all join in to celebrate. Not to be outdone little Janelle crowns it all in January - on the 9th, by which time everybody may be a little exhausted but for us it is very special.




Joelle's birthday banner at School


Birthday Girl




The birthday cake


Birthday girl with Junior Sis





Junior Sis Janelle - looking good



On the beach - just relaxing
















Sunset on the beach - Freetown lumley beach


















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Joelle's Birthday Cake with a slice 'gone'






Joelle enjoying birthday pizza with fellow pupils

THE END OF ANOTHER TEST..

And so the last of the project for this year is at an end and it was gruelling. Imagine doing practical examinations for 104 students (20 to 21 students per day for 5 days and then an extra day for the resit examinations for 14 unfortunates).....very long hours. In the end I was pleased to present a gift to the first 10 students with the highest grade throughout the module. It was unexpected and greatly appreciated by the students and the school management. Hopefully it would be seen as precedence for the other groups to do their best at whatever level – they never know when they will be rewarded.
Michael and the girls did well with the long days without Mummy. Joelle had a holiday not too much to her liking but she has to learn ( if she hasn’t already) that her expectations will not always be met and whatever life throws at her she needs to make the best of it – find the best of and enjoy as much as possible. For Janelle it was great just to be able to go for long walks to see the butterflies, goats, sheep and birds.....so simple (for now).



We are at the point where we can look forward to going somewhere we all like (not sure where yet), but just having the opportunity to be at that point of your life is amazing. We’ll keep you posted. However, before we are due to go on furlough I have to coordinate the project again for the next set of students early next year. It will be different because the school is due to have 2 of their workers back from their post basic midwifery training – so for the first time since we have started helping the hospital and school I’ll have some help. I will be preparing to hand over the ‘baton’ to these colleagues.... a milestone I am really looking forward to.


This journey reminds me of the first time we came to SL in 2007. The trip from Freetown to Segbwema was a long torturous 10 – 12 hours with mandatory stops at Moyaba Junction, possibly Bo and definitely Kenema before we even considered the ‘bone shaking’ session from Kenema to Segbwema. If one was very unaccustomed to this trip then an overnighter at Kenema was a definite must. We became very accustomed to this journey and could skip the’ Bo stop’ and didn’t need to overnight in Kenema. As young as Joelle was at the time she managed well with these long trips and even survived a midnight ‘break’ behind a broken down truck stuck in the mud. Now this same trip takes half the time. The roads are a relative ‘dream’ to travel on. We, of course, still have to dodge a pot hole or two on the Freetown to Kenema road but that’s paradise in comparison to what it was 4 years ago. So it is with the delivering of this module. With the first set it was a pioneering journey of discovery. The handouts were done over a shorter time and had to be at the literacy level of the students. It took a little time to work out the right level (and I’m still working at it) as the groups have been a mixture of some well read and some struggling to even read a sentence clearly.





Without this arrangement it would never have worked. This is more the reason I’m hoping the delivery of the module to the next set will even be easier as I hope the team will be enhanced by our 2 newly qualified post grad midwives. So, although I can say Set 36 is behind me, Set 37 (127 of them) awaits. I hope the report will be even better.

Revisiting Nixon Hospital

After nearly 5-6 months of preparation, Joanna taught the Obstetrics module of the nurses training programme between July and August 2011. There are 104 students in the class and presently all have been posted to various Peripheral Health Units (PHU)s - 28 in all - in the Eastern Province. They are expected to be there for 6 weeks to fulfil their practical experience, which is key to their ability to be effective Community Health Nurses. The task involved organizing and delivering the module to the standard set by the country’s SECHN syllabus and involved lectures, tutorials and practical sessions. Joanna delivered the majority of the theoretical and all the tutorials however the practical sessions required placements in the hospital ward and were facilitated by the midwife in charge.

As was done in July, the whole family will relocate again to Nixon hospital in Segbwema for the final week of the modul e in October.

We pray God will provide our old friends to take care of us (cooking and washing) and the children will adapt again to the differences in lifestyle which occur when living in a small town. When we all moved to Nixon Hospital at the end of June, soon after Joelle started her summer holidays, it also gave Michael the opportunity to get involved again with the managing of the hospital ( after an absence of nearly three years) in a different capacity rather than the business manager. It was exciting again to help (mainly in an advisory capacity) with the day to day operational issues of the hospital. He was able to get a feel of how things have changed since we left and this helped quite considerably in getting the preparations for putting together a business plan which was required for the hospital.






Joelle and Janelle








Joelle has started a new school year and is now in Kindergarten. She goes for a full day and seems to be enjoying every moment. Janelle continues to be ‘home tutored’ as much as a nearly 2 year old can. It’s a very challenging experience.








Volunteers

A piece of exciting news for the hospital is the allocation of a doctor and a nurse from the Philippines by Voluntary Services Organisation (VSO) to start in October 2011. The allocation of the doctor is especially important as it would help reduce the pressure on the only doctor currently at the hospital. The nurse would help primarily with the teaching and clinical training at the nursing school but would occasionally assist with theatre work as she has experience in that field.

Bi-Centenary Celebrations

This year marks 200 years ago when the first Missionaries from the UK set sail from Liverpool in September 1811 to arrive in Freetown on 12 Nov. 1811. Revd. George Warren, Jonathan Raynor and John Healey were the three missionaries and Thomas Hirst who was a teacher /preacher. A number of activities are planned for the celebrations including a church service scheduled for 21 Sept. commemorating the departure of the team from Liverpool for Sierra Leone. The whole celebration will climax on 12 November with a church service to mark their arrival here in Freetown.