Update from Freetown - Week 3
Greetings from West Africa with some black magic, late arrivals and a
short paddle in the sea!
Ibrahim Fatimah was an excellent head of 'Modern Secondary School',
Freetown. Pupils and staff alike loved the man. So, when he died,
suddenly, last year, there was great sadness and surprise. Otherwise
healthy and at 47 years old, his life hardly spent; his death raised
many questions. During the following year the school standards slipped
alarmingly under the leadership of the deputy. Discipline ceased and a
new head was called in to rescue this once prestigious institution.
Within a month the new head was taken seriously ill with a stroke at
51. Not surprisingly the Ministry is not finding it easy to find a
second replacement, especially with a very strong suspicion that black
magic is at work here and with the deputy thought to be the leading
suspect. Meanwhile the school continues to decline. Not sure if that
circumstance figures in the Ofsted inspection manual! Read More...
short paddle in the sea!
Ibrahim Fatimah was an excellent head of 'Modern Secondary School',
Freetown. Pupils and staff alike loved the man. So, when he died,
suddenly, last year, there was great sadness and surprise. Otherwise
healthy and at 47 years old, his life hardly spent; his death raised
many questions. During the following year the school standards slipped
alarmingly under the leadership of the deputy. Discipline ceased and a
new head was called in to rescue this once prestigious institution.
Within a month the new head was taken seriously ill with a stroke at
51. Not surprisingly the Ministry is not finding it easy to find a
second replacement, especially with a very strong suspicion that black
magic is at work here and with the deputy thought to be the leading
suspect. Meanwhile the school continues to decline. Not sure if that
circumstance figures in the Ofsted inspection manual! Read More...
Update from Freetown - Week 2
Greetings from a very hot and very dusty Sierra Leone with a petrol baby, wheel clamping and a case of mistaken identity.
Running on empty as usual last Sunday hoping to find an open filling station. There, lined up were four amber, plastic, gallon bottles of petrol, the pumps behind long-since ceased to dispense. A young dreadlock rasta with a tiny baby in his arms trying to pour. 'A de fo hold de picken?' I ask. 'Sure maan'. So cuddling a tiny, four month old baby, limp in my arms whilst he filled the tank. 'She no well?' I ask, seeing her grey, bloodshot eyes which should have been sparkling ebony and white. 'Malaria and typhoid'. he said as he poured the last bottle. 'A sorrio'. This is so common for young babies, most of whom do not survive their first year without treatment. I pay the petrol and return the child with a few thousand leones for treatment. 'God greet you maan'. 'And you both too'. I say as I depart. Poverty stills kills here in Sierra Leone. Read More...
Running on empty as usual last Sunday hoping to find an open filling station. There, lined up were four amber, plastic, gallon bottles of petrol, the pumps behind long-since ceased to dispense. A young dreadlock rasta with a tiny baby in his arms trying to pour. 'A de fo hold de picken?' I ask. 'Sure maan'. So cuddling a tiny, four month old baby, limp in my arms whilst he filled the tank. 'She no well?' I ask, seeing her grey, bloodshot eyes which should have been sparkling ebony and white. 'Malaria and typhoid'. he said as he poured the last bottle. 'A sorrio'. This is so common for young babies, most of whom do not survive their first year without treatment. I pay the petrol and return the child with a few thousand leones for treatment. 'God greet you maan'. 'And you both too'. I say as I depart. Poverty stills kills here in Sierra Leone. Read More...
Extra Mile in the Coventry Telegraph
Extra Mile were in the news this week with an article featuring the very kind donation we recieved from St John’s Church of England Primary School. We thank them with all our hearts for the great work they did in the name of Extra Mile!
Read the full article here.
Two students from St Johns presenting a cheque to Mike.
Photo courtesy of the Coventry Telegraph
Read the full article here.
Two students from St Johns presenting a cheque to Mike.
Photo courtesy of the Coventry Telegraph
Update from Freetown - Week 1
Hi Everyone,
Just catching up with you from Sierra Leone; with a small crash, yet another puncture and a two hour traffic jam.
On a day when the searing heat drains every drop from your body I slow down and grab a roadside drink. Before I could pay her my glasses are thrown off and the money spills out of the car. A passing vehicle has ploughed into the back of the jeep. Another dent; I've stopped counting now. The whole front wing 'stove in' of the other jeep, no blame, I don't ask for compensation unless its really serious and nobody's insurance gives any payback.
Earlier this week as I returned to Freetown in the red dust cloud of a massive excavation truck a herd of 20 young goats, Read More...
Just catching up with you from Sierra Leone; with a small crash, yet another puncture and a two hour traffic jam.
On a day when the searing heat drains every drop from your body I slow down and grab a roadside drink. Before I could pay her my glasses are thrown off and the money spills out of the car. A passing vehicle has ploughed into the back of the jeep. Another dent; I've stopped counting now. The whole front wing 'stove in' of the other jeep, no blame, I don't ask for compensation unless its really serious and nobody's insurance gives any payback.
Earlier this week as I returned to Freetown in the red dust cloud of a massive excavation truck a herd of 20 young goats, Read More...
