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


















">


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.

Sky scrapers vs Mudhuts

The other night whilst preparing Joelle's lunch for the following day, I kinda of started reflecting on our lifestyle here in Freetown as compared to when we were in Segbwema two years ago. Life these days may have got a bit better; in terms of access to provisions and other material things. For instance we drove to the beach front that night so the kids could have ice cream - and for those who know our 'ice cream'stories from Segbwema, this is a very big deal. When we lived in Segbwema we usually had to make a special journey to the nearest big town with a cool box to buy ice cream. That was the extent we had to go when Joelle wanted ice
cream - which thankfully was not a regular thing - so driving out tonight
after work to get one for her was just great. Actually we could have got one
from the nearest supermarket but we preferred the ice cream bar on the sea front. I know, I digress but it brought home to me the transformation that
has taken place but then that transformation has a price tag attached to it.



A quick 'back of an envelope' calculation tells me that we are spending
nearly 5 times what we used to spend at Segbwema. Avocado pears which we
used to buy 4-5 for the equivalent of 50 cents (30p) costs nearly $1.40 (£1)
here in Freetown - so yes you guessed it - we've stopped buying them.
Thankfully I still travel out so only buys them when in the provinces.
My other disappointment is the availability (or rather unavailability) supply of electricity. I thought moving to Freetown would make the use of generators a thing of the past but my oh my - was I wrong? big time!!! I am writing this with the 'buzz' of the generator in the background. The difficulty with the electricity supply is the inconsistency and fitful supply - there is no pattern to its availability or otherwise and worse of all - no prewarnings. One has to be careful how we stock the freezer & with what. We had the unfortunate experience of throwing away some fish and mince meat because we were without electricity for a considerable number of days and eventually they went off because of the heat. Terrible waste. These days we buy only 1 small bottle of milk at a time - just in case. At least when we were in Segbwema we knew where we stood with the electricity - total dependency on the hospital's generator - available every other night- so we planned
accordingly. Life was sooooo simple then.




So would I go back to the previous lifestyle - probably not. Life is about moving on, facing new challenges and not about hankering for the past - I believe it is
making the best of the present. The Israelites hankered after their past and
even considered slavery better option - compared to their time in the desert -
though they had free meals and had no need to buy new footwear. What
happened to them - of course God's anger was roused against them. There is always comfort in the past and the tendency would be to run towarsd the familiar but what
makes life exciting and challenging for me is dealing with the now and then. Finding my way with God's help and leading, through the 'minefield of life' and coming out either victorious or otehrwise at the other end. No experience is wasted in life if
we learn from them so even our failures could be the stepping stones that lead us
to the greater victories ahead provided we learn from them.

Skyscraper or mudhouse - which one would it be - if you were to ask me I
would say both - they all have a part to play in our lives - to mold us and
build us up for greater heights. God bless u.

Touching Base

Our sincerest apologies, it has been a while since we sent an update on our work in Sierra Leone since we returned there in October 2010. We returned to Freetown instead of Nixon Hospital in Segbwema as Joelle, who turned five last December, needed to attend a school that would enable her re-enter the education system on our return to the UK. Our move to Freetown was made possible as the Church in Sierra Leone also wanted Michael to undertake a bigger role to develop the health facilities they own and which would also include overseeing the work at Nixon Hospital.
Our first few weeks in Freetown were challenging especially with regard to accommodation for the family and work. Thankfully these issues have now been resolved as we moved to a two bedroom flat just before Christmas. In addition Michael was allocated an office at Conference Office in January – which was great!!

Joelle started her new school soon after we arrived in Freetown and has settled in quite well. She has made lots of friends from her swimming and ballet classes.
Janelle has also taken quite well to the weather in SL and even though we took her before she could completed all her immunizations she has been healthy. Thanks be to God!

Michael’s role has changed significantly and is still evolving but his responsibilities include overseeing Nixon Hospital in Segbwema and putting together a business plan with the hope of turning the hospital around. The hospital has now been renovated with funds from the government of Sierra Leone and the focus has now turned towards securing partners to secure its long-term future. We are presently in discussions with a number of international NGOs including the Voluntary Service Organisation (VSO) and Save the Children of Sierra Leone in this regard.
Please pray these discussions would prove successful and that the church would be able to identify partners to work which would secure the future of Nixon Hospital.

Joanna prepares for the teaching assignment in Segbwema in the summer. It is planned the whole family be relocated for nine weeks in the end of June to August when she is scheduled to teach 106 students the obstetrics module of the SECHN course. In addition, she has made arrangements with the Christian Health Association of Sierra Leone (CHASL) which is sponsored by the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone to help with their Mother and Child Health programmes by supporting the midwife in charge there. Joanna is also in discussion with the Aberdeen Women’s Centre (AWC) - formerly owned by Mercy Ship in Freetown. The plan would be for students at Nixon Memorial Nursing School to undertake practical training at AWC as their facilities and training programmes are believed to be at international standards.

Bi-Centenary Celebrations
This year marks 200 years since the first Methodist Ministers, led by Rev. George Warren from the UK, arrived in Freetown. MCSL is celebrating the milestone with a series of activities which would climax in a big celebration in November 2011. It is hoped, that as part of the bi-centenary celebrations Methodists in Liverpool and Freetown (cities of origin and destination) might contribute prayers of thanksgiving. These, it is hoped, may be used collectively in the different locations during the months of September to November 2011.
The celebrations were launched by Rev. Stephen Poxon when he visited Sierra Leone in February and the service was appropriately in the George Warren Memorial Church in Freetown.




Rev. Poxon launching the Bi-Centenary Celebrations at Warren Church - Freetown. With him is Rev. Peter Clarke - Chair of the Planning Committee


Please pray that these celebrations would be successful and most importantly that they will focus the church’s attention on work done by the pioneers who helped spread the Christian gospel all over the world at such great risk to themselves as we remember Rev. George Warren who sadly died six months after his arrival in Freetown.

Visitors

During the month of February we had a number of visitors specifically Nixon Hospital.
The first visitor was Dr John Cochrane on the 4th to 21st February 2011. Dr Cochrane was instrumental in the setting up of the Community Based Health programme at Nixon. Through his untiring effort, funds were raised to commence the programme and his church in the UK also sponsored the project for three years to the tune of nearly £40,000. The visit was to enable Dr Cochrane assess the impact of the Community project and its sustainability now that his church’s sponsorship has come to an end.



Dr Cochrane (m) with President of Conference Rt. Rev. Arnold Temple (r) and Rev. Musa Jambawai - Sectretary of Conference.

Dr Cochrane, in his debriefing session with the President and Secretary of Conference, expressed satisfaction at the work done by the Church and Nixon Hospital in particular, the community projects. He was pleased the work, which started over three years ago, was still ongoing and making a difference to the lives of the communities in which it operates. He cited specifically the impact of the outreach clinics to the villages and the placement of students of the Nursing School in the community for their practical training. He noted all these initiatives - in addition to the other health promotion activities - were making a difference in the villages.

The second group of visitors (12 in all), was led by Rev. Stephen Poxon, the Chair of the Lancashire District and former President of the Methodist Church of the UK. The team visited from 18th February to 4th March 2011.
During their visit the group, which included 2 doctors and 5 nurses was based at Nixon Hospital for most of the time. At Nixon the two doctors and nurses conducted Life Saving Skills training sessions for the final year students of the Nixon Memorial Nursing School. This programmes dealt with the management of obstetric emergencies. The course was deemed relevant, appropriate and timely for the students. The group also brought with them a considerable number of equipment and drugs to assist the hospital, whilst the doctors and nurses assisted with some of the clinical work at the hospital.
The group has expressed an interest in assisting the hospital in the near future since the Lancashire District is now twinned with the Kono/Kailahun District of the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone.


The group also attend the graduation ceremony of the first group of students (12 in all) to graduate from the Red Rose Partnership Skills centre in Kailahun on 23rd February. The Skill centre is supported by the Lancashire District





Graduands of the Red Rose Partnership skills Training Centre - Kailahun







Prayer Points
1. Please pray that the Bi-centenary celebrations would draw people’s heart to God and would be an occasion to evangelise to spread the good news
2. Thank god for the blessing of accommodation for us.
3. Please pray to thank God for the work of all our partners – both here in Sierra Leone and abroad who work with us on diverse projects to bring the gospel to life in the lives of the disadvantaged and marginalised communities.





Prepared by Joanna & Michael Tettey serving as mission Partners with the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone with support from Joelle & Janelle

We are still here

We apologize for our very long delay in sharing but we try to be as positive as possible even when things seem bleak around us. We, anyway, have decided to update our progress as follows;

The Elles (Jo and Jan)
We feel blessed in abundance. Just imagine them at their happiest ever, doing what kids should do – playing, making friends, exploring their environment and just loving every moment. This realization forces us to see the blessing in every situation as all our needs are met and Joelle seems to have just the right amount of friends to keep her happy. It’s even more amazing to know that before every change in accommodation we are always concerned because of the friendships she inevitably leaves behind, but God always provides. It makes us thank God for all His provisions even though it’s not yet revealed. She’s so happy in school and that makes her even happier for her sister to be around. Janelle is now on two legs- officially a toddler- and keeping us running. They are really a joy.

Michael
Remains challenged in his task of creating a department that envisions the change of direction for the church’s health service (Nixon hospital and clinics) as more efficient and manageable. It means brainstorming, creating workable solutions, preparing and going to meetings,traveling, sourcing other organizations for funding and hoping it all comes together. His job is HARD and SLOW, but with God’s help it will yield some fruit which will be long lasting, appreciated and used by the people who really need it.

Joanna
Remains very busy. In the day she’s on Kiddies’ duty and generally working with dear Mama S and her helper to maintain a smooth running of the house for the ever so happy, busy bunch of Tetteys. You need to remember that things taken for granted in the developed world – like 24/7 light and water – are not as easy and accessible. As I write we haven’t had electricity supply from our service provider for the last 14 days. So we get our electricity for a few hours every day from our generator which seems to need an overhaul (as do we all). Water is caught in the days (and sometimes very early in the morning – if it decides to come then) and stored in our very large containers which (we pray) will never run dry. Mama S and or helper have been instrumental in keeping us fed and watered and generally happy and we feel very blessed to have them. So the very busy Kiddies’ duty gives way to preparation for the delivery of the upcoming midwifery module at night. This DEPENDS on electricity since working by lamp/ candle light was never her strongest point and with the lack of this resource there has been very little preparation. She, however, plods on as she cannot imagine standing before Jesus on the day to say ‘I was unable to do the task because I had no electricity and the day duty of motherhood and house keeping was too much…..’ Yeah right!

So as we ask the prayer warriors to continue to remember us, please also thank God for revealing Himself as the parent God that He most definitely is to all of us, whether we want to accept Him or not.

New Year – Perseverance

Happy New year to all who read this blog!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s been interesting so far, with Janelle’s first birthday, new accommodation, new schedules and a new dose of perseverance needed to survive this mission. It is down right hard now.

We are happy to report we are now in our new accommodation, although it is temporary. It feels heavenly. At least we can unpack and arrange things to our liking. Even though the kids have been well and truly settled from the beginning, the adults are only just getting in that frame of mind. In addition to our accommodation being temporarily sorted, our nanny from Segbwema, Mama Sombo, has joined us and the effect is amazing. Not only can we go to Joelle’s school activities and other business meetings without having to take Janelle with us, or one of us missing the event, we can finally relax a little more than before as she is single handily in charge of cooking and running the household. We need to get an additional person to help, but at least we can do this in a less rushed manner.

We are reminded of the experience of the fishermen who have to get their boats off the land and into the ocean before they can even throw out their nets. The effort it takes just to reach the first laps of the waves takes sometimes 12 to 13 men pushing the boat over sticks in the sand. And even when they get the boat off the sand and onto the first waves, these same waves which will eventually help the boat out initially are the ones to push the boat back onto the sands. It takes the continued effort of the 12 or 13 men pushing the boat over these first waves before the boat is fully in the water and the waves start to help it out to sea. Jesus used the analogy of being fishers of men for a reason; this profession is one of the hardest, especially when the catch is nothing to show in relation to the effort needed. We are reassured though that the hardest and darkest time is just before the breakthrough or the dawn and we persevere on to the goal that God has made for us. Sometimes we lose sight of this goal and forget why we came, but God is here and at the forefront of our hearts and minds as He reminds us exactly why we’re here – so that in all things His name will be glorified, not ours and not the hospital’s. We’re here because He sent us and He will keep us.

Please pray for our health and to keep the reason of our mission in full focus, also that this tour will yield the desired fruits.