Interviews coming up...

That's right.... time for interviewing again.

The ~Enable the Children~ team in Sierra Leone are on the look out for a new Rehab Assistant to train up.

A large part of our aim is to pass on therapy skills to national Sierra Leoneans by having them work practically with us as well as more formal study.

However finding people who are willing to work hard and study hard, work with children who are often outcast due to their severe disability as well as crossing other cultural boundries like getting on the dirt floor to play with these children and sometimes being dribbled (or worse!) over.... it's not an easy person to come by.

So please pray with us that we find the right person.

~Enable the Children~ WEBSITE LAUNCH :o)

It has been a while coming, but I'm pleased to announce the launching of
our NEW WEBSITE:

www.enablethechildren.org

It's a great read and looks amazing thanks to the same guy who designed
our logo Huw Briscoe (www.unfoldstudio.com). He and I have worked hard
on the content and you'll even recognise some of the faces!

It would be great if you CHECK US OUT and send in comments/thoughts on what you see!!
I'd love to hear from you.

Abu and Sarah continue visiting our families out in Sierra Leone as the rainy season starts. Please keep them and their safety in mind at this time. More updates to follow....

Thanks to you all

Vez

~Enable the Children~ BLOGGING...

For the past few months, most of you will know that I have been settling back to life in the UK, while the work of ~Enable the Children~ has continued in Sierra Leone.

My exciting news is that a few weeks ago the lovely Rob proposed to me and I said yes! So we're now happily engaged and looking forward to the rest of our lives together. Wedding planning should be a doddle after trying to organise a project in Sierra Leone, but I'll let you know if that is the case after October, by which point we should hopefully be married!

Sarah, however, has been faithfully plodding along in the heat and now rains with Abu in Sierra Leone, visiting our families and working with our disabled children.

Till now, this blog has been a personal blog, mostly updating supporters with the news from Sierra Leone. Now that I have returned to the UK, I have decided that the blog will become a news update place for ~Enable the Children~. Sarah's newsletters from Sierra Leone will be posted here, as well as any news from ~Enable the Children~ generally.

I have back posted Sarah's newsletters from

Jan http://vez-in-sierraleone.blogspot.com/2010/01/sarahs-news-jan-2010.html,

Feb/March http://vez-in-sierraleone.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html,

and April/May http://vez-in-sierraleone.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html

So have a read

and

continue to watch this space for all ~Enable the children~ updates.

Thank you for your support. If there is any other info you would like to contact me about or you are interested in supporting us further, please do not hesitate to email me vez@junglephysio.co.uk

SARAH's news.... April / May 2010

Hi everyone,
I hope you are all well and enjoying the Spring!

The last month and a half here in Freetown has been lots of fun. The main event has been our Beach Gathering on 24th April...this is an annual get together on the beach organised by Enable the Children, which all the children and their families we work with are invited to. For families and carers it's a fantastic opportunity to meet others in a similar situation to themselves and to support each other. For the children it's a chance to have fun playing in the sand and sea - this might be their only trip to the beach within the year.

Around 85 people came (picture above under the shade of a tree) and we spent the morning with a mixture of playing, chatting together, singing, and sharing food and drink.
The biggest highlights for me were the smiles on the children's faces and hearing some of
conversations between the mums particularly one lady when she discovered her child was
not the only one unable to walk at 2 years old.
The photos above show the children playing in the water, Abu playing in the sand with Zainab (a girl with cerebral palsy) and her sister and myself holding Ramatu (a 17 month old with hydrocephalus, poor eyesight and hearing).

You may remember from previous newsletters that we gave Ramatu's mum, Fatmata (pictured left with Ramatu), a small loan to start a business. I'm really happy to report that this is going well and she has already started re-paying the loan and she seems much more positive about life and caring for Ramatu.

You may also remember reading about Kadija, a little girl who acquired her neurological problems after being abducted. We have now done a follow up visit to deliver and fit the gaiters (leg splints) and a stranding frame, as photographed. We also reviewed her exercise program, which the carers have been doing brilliantly with since out initial visit.

Other updates:

· It has been fab to have my friend Becky Harris to visit for a month. She divided her time between Enable the Children and my housemate's organisation, called Word Made Flesh (working in one of the slum areas of Freetown). We also had a chance to get some very relaxing and entertaining beach visits in.

· City of Rest: We are starting to explore making paper beads with the ladies as an income generating project, as inspired by Sue Smith's project with ladies in Uganda. I have also been running an art group for anyone who wants to come. What I love about this group is that some of the most keen participants are individuals who aren't able to engage in a lucid conversation because of their state of mental health.

· Mercy Ships: Their birthing centre now is now officially opened. I continue to go there one day a week to assess children referred by the outpatient clinic and to make cards with the ladies.

· We now have a room for some office space to have meetings, training and store the equipment. I am very pleased that I will no longer have to share my room with boxes of toys, walking aids and many other random items.

I am very thankful to God for a fantastic month and for how he has brought all the things together for the work in a way I could never have done in my own strength.

Thank you for your continued prayers, and if you get a chance I would love if you could pray for:
· New work colleagues to join the team (both Sierra Leonian and professional expats) to increase our capacity to see the many children that are referred to us.

· Someone to live in my house while I'm away over the summer, as my housemate will also be away and it would be good to have someone in the house.

· We would like to start some group work after the summer to provide an ongoing type of support group for the families we work with. Please pray that we can get this from an "ideas" stage to this being a practical reality.

Extremes and Website, on it's way...

The last few months have been somewhat busy.

My transition back into the UK has had it's ups and downs. There have been such special times with friends and family with many events like Christmas, birthday's and Easter. And settling down into working in NHS hospitals and with patients in the community in the UK has been a huge adjustment too - the diagnostic facilities here are amazing, as are the medicines, the wide range of highly skilled professionals, even access to equipment, bathrooms and clean running water are alien to our children and their families in Sierra Leone.

Why are there such extremes in this world?

No-one can answer that, but we all can live in a way that is respectful and caring of others around us, both near and far. And those of us living in such priveledged societies, make sure we are thankful and appreciative of those blessings.

The news from ~Enable the Children~ is that we have been working hard on a new short film clip and website (http://www.enablethechildren.org/).

Watch this space, but they are going to be amazing!

SARAH's news.... Feb / March 2010

Greetings from sunny Sierra Leone...
I hope the above photos, taken by my sister on her visit here in February, will convey to you some of the colour and beauty of this lively city I now call my home.

Time is flying by here, so here is just a quick overview of the last couple of months:

· Amara, the boy who was paralysed from the waist down after contracting TB spine, continues to do well. He is now walking without his crutches, able to kick a football, and, as the photo, shows he is riding a bike!

· One of our 24 new community assessments since January was Emmanuella (photographed left), a 7 year old girl, had no therapy prior to our visit. We set up a home exercise program so family can continue therapy in between our visits, working on developing her muscle strength and balance, tongue control (for slurred speech)
& pre-writing skills. We hope she will be accepted to SOS school for the physically disabled, as she has never been to school.

· As a Team we found a practical way to help Ramatu's mum, Fatmata, who was struggling financially we have given her a small loan to enable – her to start a portable business (selling cosmetics from a basket on top of her head).
Another family we are hoping to help in a similar way is that of Daniel, age 9, who was unable to get medical attention for his meningitis in time and as a result has severe learning difficulties and epilepsy. His mum has been unable to continue working and is now his full-time carer. We are sending him to the epilepsy centre for an assessment and medication and talking with the mum about any business opportunities we may be able to support her with setting up.

· We ventured up-line (out of Freetown) to do a one off assessment with Kadija, pictured left, who was abducted and used in a traditional medicine rite. It's unclear exactly what happened but as a result she has a significant neurological impairment. We are assisting the charity working with her by arranging to have gaiters and a standing frame made, and training their staff on how to best to work with her.

The Team:
Unfortunately Josephine has left the team in order to have more time to develop her
own business. This has made the work load a bit more demanding and we will need to think about looking for another Sierra Leonian to join the team and train as a rehabilitation assistant.

February has been my most challenging month here yet. In all of it God has given me the necessary strength to walk an often uncertain path, growing my trust in Him and teaching me the importance of listening to his heart for this place, the team, the children and their families that we see. He has also provided me with many supportive, lovely people here, which has been an amazing help!

I can't say enough how much I value your prayers they are – much like the roots of a tree giving us a stable foundation from which to reach out to the children and families of Sierra Leone.

Please pray for:
· Our Team: for God's perfect timing re increasing the team again and the right person for the job. Please pray for Abu and myself as we continue the work and try to juggle the demands of our heavy workload.

· Fatmata as she starts her new business and also Daniels family as we explore how best to help them

· Those of you who know Becky Harris (Mercy Vineyard) will know she is coming to visit me for a month to work with our team & another organisation called Word made Flesh. Please pray for her to have a safe journey, good health and an amazing time while she is here!

A long overdue update...

Dear Friends,

It's seems far too long since I wrote to you all last, and I apologise for the silence. As you know in the last few months I have been transitioning back to life in the UK, and it's certainly been a bumpy ride (though the roads are notably smoother over here!). It's not until you return to your supposedly 'normal' culture that you realise quite how much you have adjusted to your 'foreign' culture. Still, slowly life is becoming more 'normal' – grey skies and freezing winds are as miserable as I ever remember! Christmas and New Year has been full of wonderful times with friends and family, and Rob and I are fuzzy with excitement of being able to spend as much time as we like together (and he's not sick of me yet!).
From my last month in Sierra Leone, there were some encouraging moments that just left me with smiles.

Minkalu Junior – the police lady's son with quadriplegic cerebral palsy started school. He sits proudly at the front of his class in the chair we provided, and participates well verbally. We are yet to see how he manages with written tasks along with his peers. Abu and Sarah will continue to work with him on that, and will also advise the teacher. It was a privilege to see him amongst his classmates and since he is well know in the community he seems to have plenty of friends in the playground too.

Then there is Mamasu, a teenage girl with Cerebral Palsy who gave up on school last year as she was never passing Class 1 (with 6 yr olds). We have over the months been trying to get her into various vocational training placements, but since she is wheelchair bound it was difficult to find somewhere she could travel to by being pushed and once there could actually get inside. Finally Abu and Mamasu's mum found a kind tailor in the area who agreed to have Mamasu help him in the mornings. We watched to see his commitment to teaching her and we were happy to see that after a month the sessions were still going. Thanks to a kind donation from Mercy Ships, we were then able to present Mamasu with her own hand sewing machine and a box of threads and equipment. And as you can see she is thrilled with this. Pray with us that Mamasu will utilise this opportunity to be what she can be and that the tailor will continue patiently with her.

Before I left Sierra Leone in December, still so much more was happening than I could ever report back to you. If you want to see the real busyness of life out there, you really have to go and experience it for yourself. Sarah is finding that out, and since being there alone she has done a wonderful job of learning to juggle it all. I am supporting her with regular Skype calls, and she reports back that Abu is helping make some of the decisions as they go along. It's a joy to hear the work going on so well. Josephine too is continuing to work with Sarah twice a week and for both assistants, training in more Occupational Therapy skills continues.

Other current news from out in SL, Sarah has moved to a new apartment in Freetown with some American friends of ours running another Christ-centred programme with vulnerable children. It is a great move to be more central and will cut out much traffic time and has space for teaching. It may also lead on to having a more permanent office base there, which I dream might be utilised for theraplay groups offering support for the mums and a safe play space for the children with disability. It has been a real blessing to be helped along with wisdom, advice and encouragement from other similar organisations, and we give God thanks for them, whom without, ~Enable the Children~ would not be in existence.

Having now returned to the UK, ~Enable the Children~ work continues here for me and it's certainly keeping me on my toes. The biggest change you should know about is that we have come under the registered charity Links International (http://www.linksinternational.org.uk/). They act as an umbrella organisation and represent many smaller projects around the world. They will handle the finances and send it across to Sierra Leone when we request it (providing it's there!). The main reason we have done this, is that now we are officially recognised in Sierra Leone, we also want to have a more official front here in the UK.

So what will this mean for you as supporters?
We would love you to continue your support of our work in Sierra Leone if you still feel able to do so. The money you give pays for Abu, Josephine and Abdul's salary, the on-going costs of running Bertie the Landrover so we can get around, the specialist equipment we design and make with local craftsmen, donations to families in particular need, contributions to medical expenses of our disabled children if they go to other institutes for treatment, occasional sponsorship of our children into schools and many other day to day costs. We keep accurate records of our expenditure and are thankful for every penny that goes towards meeting these costs, without your generous provision we would not be able to continue this much needed work.

How can you give now?
For those who are already supporting I will contact you shortly about transferring your donation to Links International.
For those who want to start giving it's easy. All you need to do it send a cheque to Links International Trust, PO Box 198, Littlehampton, W.Sussex, BN16 3UQ. Make the cheque out to Links International Trust but clearly identify that it's for ~Enable the Children~ Acct No. 3507. However, if you pay tax we can also reclaim the gift aid if you sign a declaration, (can be found at www.linksinternational.org.uk/Give) or please do drop me an email, and I'd be glad to show you the way.

What else is new?
- Well, I hope to get a website up and running in the near future. This is a task I feel overwhelmed by, but one that once running will really advertise our work positively.
- Sarah's sister is currently out in SL, and she is gathering film footage of our day to day work. We hope she will then be able to turn this into a short presentation of our beautiful kids and our wonderful team doing their stuff.
- Having visited Church Mission Society (http://www.cms-uk.org/) my sending organisation last week, they continue to want to be linked with ~Enable the Children~ and support us with the HR of sending more people out. I hope to be getting involved in training more qualified therapists in this country in how to adapt their skills to work in poorly-resourced countries such as SL.
- We are also urgently looking for another qualified Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist to go out to Sierra Leone and work alongside our team. If any one knows of someone who might be interested, please do let me know.
- As life settles for me, I'd also like to make myself available to come and visit different groups, both contacts of old and new places. There is so much I can report back on, and as most of you will know, my enthusiasm and love for these children best comes across when I tell their stories. If that might interest you, then please do get in touch, though beware it will not be for a while yet, too much job hunting to be done.

We'd still like to keep you in touch with what is going on in Sierra Leone, and so I will send on Sarah's newsletter instead of mine. You will however also hear from me from time to time. If you would no longer like to receive these emails please do reply me and I will 'unsubscribe' you! We will not be offended and in fact it's a privilege to have had you on board till now. We are so thankful for all who have given of time and money, prayers and encouragement, clothes, toys and chocolate! I want to personally say it has been true honour to me to have been able to do and see and achieve all that ~Enable the Children~ is now, thank you for helping me along, and let's give the glory and credit to our faithful Father in heaven.

My goodbyes in Sierra Leone were as you can imagine extremely difficult. I stumble even now as I think back to the many great friends I had made. The families were humbly grateful for what we do for them, and the children's courage and determination is nothing short of incredibly inspiring. Many tears flowed and many prayers prayed. Out of their little they gave a lot – a lot of love and life and hope. With so much despair in the world, and so much 'aid' being given, sometimes we can wonder where is it all going and is it all worth it. There are people in Sierra Leone who have the will to change their future, many of those are the children and families served by ~Enable the Children~ and of course people like Abu, Josephine and Sarah. As Mother Teresa once said 'In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.' And it has been with that great love that has been shown to me by Jesus, that I have indeed tried to be the gentle and devoted hands and feet of Jesus in the desperate places I found myself.

The memories will go on with me forever, and having founded ~Enable the Children~ not only will the work develop, but I'll have the privilege of being involved from the sidelines, most probably forever too. I am very sure that my feet will reach the red soils of Sierra Leone again, but for now I hand on the baton to the ~Enable~ team.

On this note, I will leave you to the joys of the SOS children at my farewell. We had an afternoon of fun and madness, they sang songs they had written for me, we shared soft drinks and presents.... an incredibly moving afternoon. All was well until Jeneba (see on my back) often a stubborn and difficult girl started the tears and begging me to stay, then Hawanatu, then Abu, Ishmael and Kadiatu, Isatu, Mohammed and Emmanuel.... before I knew it all the rest were all crying too. Such a sad day for me – and those cheeky rascals still managed to jump on Bertie and barricade my exit route!! One day I will return to see those beautiful faces again!
With love from Vez

matthew 19:14

Jesus said “let the little child come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these”