|
NEWSLETTER NO. 119 & 120
Hello!
Hello! How are you? NEWSLETTER NO. 119 from Barbara in Sierra Leone FEBRUARY 2010 I hope you are all in good health. First of all I ask you to join me in wishing Happy Birthday to my brother Stephen (57) and my great-niece Bethan (2). I pray for their continued good health and happiness.
Have not received any school subvention for this year yet. The problem of the ex-pupils has still not been resolved and it seems the Ministry is not interested in supporting us or resolving the matter. We shall however for the time being continue to run the school as best we can. Peter Penfold and Ibrahim Suma are going to have a ‘last ditch effort’ whilst they are here on a visit to get a positive response from the Ministry.
We had a lovely visit from Ben Quant and Tim Wells from the UK Countess of Huntingdon Connexion. We showed them around the school – it was Tim’s first visit – and they asked questions about our work. They were impressed by what we were doing.
Apart from the usual services at St. George’s Cathedral, we had a great Africana Service which was organised by the Cathedral Youth Fellowship. The service was all in Krio and was so enjoyable. Afterwards, they provided a very ‘yummy’ lunch which of course everyone enjoyed!
Rather a quiet month news-wise so I will finish as always by sending best wishes to those celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and any other happy event. I also send goodwill messages and solicitations/condolences to those who are not well or have a bereavement or have received any sad news.
From all the children and staff here at the School and myself, I send all our love and prayers to you and your families and friends.
Take care and may God richly bless you all. Barbara. NEWSLETTER NO. 120 from Barbara in Sierra Leone MARCH 2010 Hello, Kushe, Buwa, Seke! My greetings to you all! How the months are flying by.
Firstly I would like you to join me in wishing Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Jean and my niece-in-law Claire (38) and my great-niece Isabel (3). I hope you are able to keep up with all my family as there’s lots of them – I love it! I pray they may continue to enjoy good health and happiness. I also want to wish my Mum a very Happy Mother’s Day and to say ‘Mum I love you and thank you for everything!’ I pray for my Mum and all mothers everywhere – what would we do without them.
It is with much heartfelt sadness that we heard about the death (on 24th February) of ‘Aunty’ Mary Hovenden at the grand age of 94 years. When we stayed at Gordonstoun in Scotland as part of our 2003 Tour, she was so kind and energetic and had a wonderful sense of humour. She became a very dear and important person to us and we love her. Although Mary is no longer with us physically, but yet she will always be with us in our hearts and prayers and thoughts and memories. We pray her soul may rest in perfect peace. We pray for courage and comfort for all the family and send our most heartfelt condolences.
After we had the 2nd tests of the 2nd term, school closed on 19th for the Easter holiday.
Peter Penfold and Ibrahim Suma returned to the UK having spent a few weeks here. We did not see very much of them at the school as they spent a lot of their time with two projects with which they have become involved. The first is a training programme being co-ordinated and set up by Dr Abs Dumbuya (originally from Sierra Leone but who has lived in the UK for most of his adult life) which is being funded by the Dorothy Springer Trust (UK) of which Peter is a patron. The second is a primary school which has been started by the village people themselves in Matosar in Samu Chiefdom, which lies about 18½ miles (30 kms) south west of Kambia, which is where Ibrahim Suma was born (he also has lived in the UK for a good number of years). It is good to see these young people trying to do something positive for their country.
On a less positive note, it was unfortunate that, after promises to Peter that, before he left, a meeting would be convened with the Ministry of Education to sort out the problem of some ex-pupils disturbing the smooth running and spoiling the name and reputation of the school, no meeting was arranged and so Peter left with a heavy heart. It is very unfortunate that this situation seems to have become somewhat political and that after two years no support is being given in our direction. However, we shall continue to pray that the situation will be resolved.
We said farewell to Clarice Beoku-Betts and her Dad who had been on a month’s visit to visit family and friends. Clarice enjoyed spending a couple of weeks each visiting our school, School for the Deaf, SOS School and Murray Deen Prep School. We wish Clarice and her Dad well for the future.
We also had a brief but nice visit from Christine, Ken, Ann and Patrick from the UK Countess of Huntingdon Connexion. Although they didn’t see any of the children because they had already gone on holiday, we did have an interesting discussion about the school.
Apart from the usual services at St. George’s, there was a 20th Thanksgiving service for the Girls Friendly Society (similar to the Girl Guides) which was really nice. There was also the Palm Sunday service where we carried (real! No need for imitation) palm leaves in procession round the Cathedral. On the last day of the month, there was a performance by the Cathedral Choir of Handel’s Messiah Part 2. What a superb performance!! Everyone was so impressed, there was a stunned silence before the thunderous applause.
A brilliant way to end the month and I will finish as always by sending best wishes to those celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and any other happy event. I also send goodwill messages and solicitations/condolences to those who are not well or have a bereavement or have received any sad news.
From all the children and staff here at the School and myself, I send all our love and prayers to you and your families and friends.
Take care and may God richly
bless you all. |
