Developing the Health Link

Following her visit to Bo, Dr Nnedi Dede-Konkwo met Warwick Rotary to present the findings of her needs assessment (see her report). Local Rotary clubs have a long history of providing assistance to Sierra Leone, with some projects in association with One World Link including improving sanitation and water supplies.

Owl has also had discussions with South Warwickshire Health Trust and Warwick University and there is potential for co-operation with Njala University in Sierra Leone. We are still at the planning stage but there is great potential in the link.

Meanwhile we have received a generous donation of £1,000 from SPAN (St Peters Aid for the Needy) as a starter for a fund to be used specifically for the health programme.

Health Visit to Bo, February 2025

Dr Nnedi Dede-Konkwo visited Bo to continue the development of our Health Link This was her first visit to Bo and as a representative of OWL. The purpose was to build upon the previous work and to explore the possibilities for the future of the Health link. We are grateful to Nnedi for stepping into this role and to take on such an onerous task.

Reasons for the visit

• It was primarily a scoping visit to identify and establish the important areas and health needs of the people in Bo District for possible collaboration and facilitation by OWL Health Link.
• To connect with key stakeholders in health in Bo on behalf of the health link.
• To visit the peripheral health centres and community health centers in Bo and try to understand the issues they face.
• To establish strong communication links between the Health Link and the District Council.
• To make contact with the women groups, particularly those involved in providing support to vulnerable groups and victims of Gender Based Violence.
• To connect with World Vision and discuss areas for possible collaborations in the future.
• To connect with stakeholders in the area of health research in Bo to indentify research gaps and to discuss future public health research collaborations.
• To meet with the youths in Bo District in order to build a friendship network, to understand their challenges and encourage partnership with the Health link.

Travel 7^th-22nd February, 2025

Road trip to London with the Education team.. Arrived Lungi Airport on the 8^th and paid 25USD security payment. I had the ECOWAS passport and did not pay the 80USD charge. Paid 20USD for Africell simcard and 15GB data. Paid 45USD for Sea Coach travel to Freetown. Paid 25USD and 45USD on the way back for security and Sea Coach. Other travelling in Bo was done using a Honda. Mr Saidu was very helpful in driving the team around Freetown and Bo as well.

Meetings in Freetown.

• World Vision: I met with Amos James, whom I had already established contact with prior to my visit. He introduced me to the Strategic Programs Director (Mannah Josiah) and the Resources Acquisition and Management Director (Amara). Our discussions were based on the present focus of the Health Link, the health projects of World Vision in Freetown and Bo and the possibility for future partnership/collaborations.
• World Health Organization(WHO): I made contact with a WHO Rep (Dr Nkwogu) in charge of Polio erradication Program in Sierra Leone. We discussed the Health Link Project and ideas for possible future collaborations, especially in the area of research.
• Informal Meeting with Doris Bah: Who through her expertise and office as the Director of Environmental Health advised on key strategies to employ during the stakeholders meeting. She also introduced me to her brother in-law, Abraham Bah, who is a public health supritendent with expertise in epidemiology and research methods of enquiry. He is a native of Bo and quite keen on supporting the Health Link.

Meetings in Bo

• Wusu at the OWL Centre.
• Visit to the PHCs and CHCs : Samuel Dauda and I met with the District Medical Officer (Dr Ngegbai),  prior to the visits and he gave us his approval. We discussed the purpose of our visits and he highlighted the current health issues in Bo. At the PHCs, we met the midwives and nurses. They told us the health issues affecting their towns and the healthcare facilities in general.  Government inputs, as well as support from private institutions,  charities and NGOs were also discussed. We also noted areas for possible facilitation by OWL Health such as health education, maternal and child health, environmental health and sanitation, and the laboratory services support.
• Stakeholders meeting: This was the highlight of the conversations for the Health Link.It was an interactive meeting chaired by Dr Wusu, all our invited guests and groups were well represented. Key issues discussed at the level of the PHCs and CHCs were further highlighted. A thorough health needs assessment was done and ideas on improving the current health situation were discussed.
• Meeting with the women groups: I met with women from the Civil Society from two departments; the domestic violence support group (led by Jarrai Barriz) and the disabled women support group. They receive support from UNDP and the government but are still faced with challenges in financing projects, accessing justice, and raising public awareness on issues like rape, social injustice and domestic violence against the women and young girls in Bo.
• Meeting with Prof Rasheed Asamanu, an important figure at the Public Health Department at the Njala University Campus: Dr Wusu, Samuel and I met with him in his office. We explored the gaps in public health research in Bo, explored possible research areas (the new malaria vaccine) as well as the potential for a future research collaboration with Warwick University.  Youth meeting: I made contact with Bo youths with the help of Samuel Dauda. They told me about the common issues faced by the youths in Bo such as rape, drug abuse and misuse, unemployment and high prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases. Some of the youths were motivated to join the Bo health link team as members.

Other activities:

• Health workshop: I conducted a health workshop on adult and pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation for the midwives and nurses from the PHCs and CHCs. It was held at the OWL Centre. The aim was to boost the motivation and confidence of the healthcare workers. The turnout and level of participation was impressive despite not being an initial part of my itinerary.
• Sightseeing and relaxation at the beach with Liz and team.       

         

Teachers visit to Bo – Sports and Big Plans

The overarching aims for this visit in February 2025 were to Listen to what is going on in primary education, visiting a number of stake-holders and projects, in order to re-imagine how OWL can play a role in supporting education and working alongside our current schools. It was also hoped that a new venture could begin working with vulnerable young women in Bo.

Liz Garrett, Education Coordinator

1. Meeting with Director of EducAid -Dr Miriam Mason

Context – EducAid’s website is very impressive https://www.educaid.org.uk/ They have 30 years experience working in SL.  EducAid’s vision is a democratic, dignified and globally-engaged Sierra Leone, where poverty is eliminated by educated citizens. EducAid runs a free network of schools and projects focused on improving education, social inclusion, gender equality, and community resilience in Sierra Leone.

They have 5 model schools based at 3 sites (Lumley and Port Loko) and they have projects using their Top 10 Strategies offering teachers practical ways to best support their students – working with the Ministry for Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE)

Liz had several email discussions with Miriam (who is from UK but has lived in FT since 2000) prior to Feb visit to establish that we might be able to learn from them and a meeting was organised for our first Sunday afternoon/evening at Roy’s Bar, Lumley beach.

John Sandi and Serah Tucker from Bo joined us and we chatted with Miriam giving her a bit more detail about our link school work in Bo. We soon established that a partnership could be achievable! The collaboration is timely because she was starting to look for ways to take EducAid’s work into Bo district. She proposed running a pilot teacher training project with 5 Bo link schools for the academic year 2025-26, where an EducAid trainer will live in Bo, visiting each school every week to deliver training and mentoring. We agreed to discuss this during our week in Bo. The challenge is that UK OWL would need to provide the funding for the trainer (approx. £12,500).

Miriam has developed good relationships with the TSC (Teaching Service Commission) who are responsible for teacher training. Miriam explained that the TSC has 134 professional standards which schools are supposed to use to train teachers – this is not easy to use or effective. Most primary teachers don’t read well enough to be able to follow these and they are usually working with English as their 3^rd or 4^th language.

EducAid has developed training materials: Top 10 Strategies: which are practical and use training videos  to ‘show’ how to do things

• Meeting with Deputy Director of MBSSE, Hon Mamasu Murana.

Serah Tucker had set up our Monday morning meeting at the Ministry. Again, Serah and John joined Sally, Paula and myself.  Mamasu had studied for her MSc at Kings College London and worked as a Deputy Headteacher in Croyden. She explained that she was always exploring ways of improving teaching and learning through getting partners involved and welcomed the endeavours of OWL to connect with schools in Bo. Fundamentally teachers need more training in Foundational Learning (core subjects-reading, writing and maths) Most teachers don’t read – they need to be shown.

“Teacher training is the heartbeat of education” – the most impact can be created by improving the quality of teaching – this is what will improve outcomes for students. She also spoke about the need for all Heads to become Computer Literate. We spoke about the IT Hub at the OWL centre.

This backed the message Liz had gained through discussion with Kate Jefferies at FCDO by Zoom – a recent assessment of Class 4 revealed a 20% pass in basic Literacy skills. The government is focussing training in grades 1-4.

• Visiting OWL Link Schools in Bo.

Sally spent Weds am with Rev Ann Peachey (Vicar at Holy Trinity Hatton- Ferncumbe’s church) at her link school – UBC Lower, also visiting UBC Upper  and meeting the pastor. Paula and Sally visited St Joseph’s link, UMC New Site, so that Sally could facilitate Paul’s Live Link Assembly. Liz also did a Live Link Assembly for All Saints Warwick from BDEC New Gerihun Rd.  Over three days, all 15 schools were visited by one of us or a Sports Day attended to meet staff and present certificates. Four schools held Sports Events; Holy Rosary School and RC Model at the Stadium and BDEC Messima and RC Madonna Pre-school at Centenary Field. These were exciting, noisy and joyful community events which must have taken schools a huge amount of organising.

St Mary’s VOC (Vocational College) at HRS campus.

I had spoken at length with Sr Pauline Ohalla (a Sister of the Holy Rosary, from Kenya, previously worked in Nigeria.) As the Principal of the college, she gave us a very warm welcome and summary of the background, purpose and aims of the college. There are currently 58 young women aged 18-26, studying 2 year courses in Tailoring, Catering, Hairdressing, Computing and basic English and Maths. She explained that one of their main challenges is the drop-out rate of students. Another is that of recruitment of good trainers but she is well staffed at present. They always value visits which provide a real lift and encouragement to the women. We enjoyed a tour of each classroom, chatting with staff and students and ending with all the students meeting with us in the hall. We were each asked to say some words and were presented with a piece of bespoke red/white/blue tie-dye fabric. Some students sang and danced for us. We had a wonderful lunch and very enjoyable conversation over in the nun’s accommodation building. Sr Pauline is very keen for the Self-Worth materials (such as the Inspire Course) to be delivered to the students in the future and really welcomed the collaboration with OWL Education.   Resources to potentially use: https://self-worth.co.uk/

• Big Schools Meeting at OWL Centre – attended by Heads and teacher Reps from all 15 schools.

Each school was given a pack containing: updated list of schools/staff, summary page of EducAid Top 10 Strategies, some Phonics teaching aids, instructions about using ecobricks for building (further info on past project).

John Sandi presented the Purposes and Aims of OWL, reminding and educating new members.

Finally, we sang our link song You are My Brother and presented each school with a fabric bag (re-use message) full of school materials as gifts from UK schools – a football, pump, pens, chalk etc.

Successful visit to Bo – November 2024

Four members of OWL UK, Paul Atkins, Chris King, Anthony Wood and Phil Clarke, have returned from a successful visit to Bo. 

The visit had several purposes; to renew old friendships and make new ones, to work alongside the Youth Group and meet with the Bo OWL Committee, to continue to support the urban planning work and to reach out to other partners and contacts in Bo and more widely.

A key focus was to understand more of the work being done by the Youth Group to invest in, and refresh, the life of the OWL Centre. Part of the money raised through the 2023 pantomime in Leamington Spa was used to support initiatives in the OWL Centre, many of which are being led by the Youth Group.  See the other news article for more about this work.

The urban planning support was building on foundations laid over several years with Bo City & District Councils.  OWL, together with the Prince’s (now the King’s) Foundation has been working with both councils on this project since 2017, and Bo was used as a trial location for developing a “rapid planning toolkit” by the Prince’s Foundation in 2020. Since then, local elections in Bo have brought in new councillors to both councils.  The visit was a chance to meet the new councillors and reaffirm the relevance of the toolkit.  We visited a demonstration site from the 2020 trial and worked with the City Council to lead a workshop to explore new opportunities to apply the toolkit as Bo continues to grow. 

In this we worked closely with Haja Lukay, the Development Planning Officer for Bo City Council.  Since we last met Haja in 2020, she has not only been championing the toolkit in Bo but has also spent two years in China where she was funded to complete a master’s degree in urban planning.  (She is now one of very few qualified urban planners in the whole of Sierra Leone.) She only completed this and retuned to Bo in summer 2024 and has been an important contact and much valued friend of OWL in taking this work forward.

The meetings with the Bo City & District Councils had a wider purpose of renewing our links with key partners and friends and exploring new opportunities for OWL.  We also visited the District Medical Officer at Bo Government Hospital, Mohammed Conti and the St Paul’s School for the Blind, the Assistant Inspector General of Police in Bo, Bo Children’s Hospital, and several of our linked schools.  In Freetown we also had a rare opportunity to meet the Tamba Lamina, the Minister for Local Government & Rural Development, and also met Josephine Gauld, the recently appointed UK High Commissioner to Sierra Leone.  At all these meetings we were warmly welcomed and were able to develop some fresh ideas and connections.

Alongside all these meetings and workshops, we were also able to visit the beautiful Tiwai Island for a night.  Tiwai lies in southern Sierra Leone, about 90 miles south of Bo.  A small island lying in the middle of the Moa River, it has been designated as a nature reserve and protected by the government. It is famous for its (sadly very elusive!) pygmy hippos but also for its monkeys and abundant bird life.  A night spent in the forest in eco lodges as part of a low-impact eco-tourism initiative, and a fascinating forest walk with a local guide, provided a perfect antidote to the bustle and noise of Bo and Freetown.

Most importantly, the visit was about renewing and establishing friendships, and we were overwhelmed by the welcome we received from out friends in Bo.  From a wild and noisy “cultural” welcome when we arrived (complete with musicians, dancers and a “Sierra Leonean devil”) to a dinner and party when we left a week later, we were treated both as honoured guests and also as old friends. 

It was good to be back in Bo.

Leamington pantomime fundraising supports revitalised community centre in Bo

Money raised by local people has enabled a community centre in Sierra Leone to get a vital new lease of life.

One World Link was the nominated charity at the 2023 pantomime “Jack & the Beanstalk” which took place at the Spa Centre in Leamington Spa during December 2023 and January 2024.  Support from local people, including through audience collections every night, contributed to us raising a grand total of £9,572.50.

Earlier this month, a group from One World Link, Paul Atkins, Chris King, Anthony Wood and Philip Clarke, were able to visit Sierra Leone to see how the money had been spent.

Paul Atkins, Chair of One World Link said: “One World Link (OWL) owns a community centre in Bo, the city in Sierra Leone with which we have had a local friendship link for over 40 years.  The centre needed some vital investment, and the money raised through the 2023 pantomime provided a lifeline to allow us to support it.

“There is a new group of young people in Bo who had some exciting ideas for how to breathe new life into the OWL Centre.  With the support of local people here in Warwick District, and the generosity of Warwick District Council and the staff at the Spa Centre, we were able to provide the funding to kick start this project. 

“When we visited Bo earlier this month, we were blown away by the enthusiasm and energy that these young people have brought to the centre, and the results they have achieved.  In a few short months, they have invested in basic equipment and have funded an advertising campaign to increase the use of the Centre.  There was a real buzz about the place. In the week we were there, there were workshops on supporting mental health and wellbeing and on town planning, as well as a graduation ceremony from a local college.  Sierra Leoneans love their football, and the Centre has also become a safe place for young people for people to watch matches, with games being screened most nights. It also provides a convenient meeting place for the teachers from the 15 primary schools in Bo that are linked with those here in Warwick District to share curriculum ideas and good practice. OWL is also looking to continue to develop a health link in the Bo district and the Centre gives a focus for that work.

“The money donated by local people has helping to give the One World Link Centre a new lease of life and a sustainable future.  I would like to take this opportunity to again thank local people for their generosity.”

Two visits to Bo coming up

We are arranging two visits to Bo to maintain our friendship link and arrange our busy programme of forthcoming activities:

Most immediately, four members of the UK OWL Committee (Paul Atkins, Chris King, Anthony Wood and Phil Clarke) will be visiting Bo for ten days in early November. The most important aspect of any visit is to link up with OWL friends in Bo, but we will also have a packed programme of meetings and visits. These will include with the “youth group” within OWL who have been investing in improvements to the OWL Centre, with a number of schools and the teachers’ group in Bo, and with the City and District Councils as we continue to support urban planning initiatives in the city and beyond. We will also spend a short time in Freetown where we hope to meet up with the High Commissioner and with friends there before flying home.

Liz Garrett, our Schools Coordinator, is looking to arrange a teachers’ visit to Bo in early 2025. She will be leading a group with three other teachers, where they will work in linked schools and arranging training for teachers in Bo. Linked schools in Warwick and Leamington are also preparing some project work from local children which Paul, Chris, Anthony and Phil will be taking to Bo next month.

OWL at the Leamington Ecofest

The Day of the African Child, June 2024, at St Paul’s Primary School, Leamington

St Paul’s Primary School was a noisy place on 7^th June as some five hundred children participated in the Day of the African Child. The day started with the sound of African drums as the children from fourteen local schools paraded around the school field holding up banners proclaiming their links with schools in Bo, Sierra Leone.

After the parade the children gathered in a large marquee and heard about the origin of the Day of the African Child as a commemoration of the tragic day in 1976 when school children were killed in Soweto when protesting about their poor education. The marquee was completely silent as the children sat for a minute’s reflection. They were told how the day also serves to celebrate children of Africa and this was the theme for the rest of the day as the children went off to workshops with an African flavour.

The sound of enthusiastic drumming came from two classrooms where they learnt basic techniques and rhythms on djembes. There was music in the hall where they were learning African dance moves. The marquee was filled with the sound of singing as the children practised the three songs for the day: “Tel am tenki”, “Today is the African Child Day” and “You are my brother”. There were drama workshops in two other classrooms where the children walked, crawled and slithered as African wild animals. In the field they kicked footballs, did jumps and threw bean bags; activities that may be found in African schools. Finally, in the quiet corner of the forest school, they listened to traditional African stories about Anansi, a very smart but mischievous spider who always got into trouble.

The day ended with a grand finale in the marquee with the happy sound of the children singing at the top of their voices and dancing energetically. One of the groups performed a drum routine. St Paul’s Year 6 children spoke about the 222 million children in the world whose education has been disrupted or prevented by emergencies. St Paul’s School have been studying UN Global Goal 12 – Sustainable Consumption and Production – and a group explained practical steps we should all be taking at home. Representatives of all our linked schools presented petitions to Cllr Jess Harrison asking the government to support foundational education in Africa which she will present to our MP after the general election.  We were fortunate to have the Mayor of Leamington (Cllr Judith Clarke) and our former MP (Matt Western) to witness the event. They spoke of the joy of the occasion and the importance of education and the link.

One World Link is very grateful to Leamington Town Council for a generous grant that enabled this event to take place. We also thank our workshop leaders in dance (Aida Diop), drumming (Vieux Bakayoko and Ronnie Kirya of Beatfeet Drumming), storytelling (Jason Buck), drama (Lizzie of The Little People Drama Company and Helen Newbold of St Paul’s) and sports (Pete Hawkins and Ava Barnes of St Paul’s). This is the second time that St Paul’s has hosted the Day of the African Child and their collaboration with Liz Garrett, our Education Coordinator, in the organisation and management of this complex event have been exceptional, for which we thank the Dep[uty Head, Caroline Newell.

Thank you Leamington! Pantomime-goers donate over £9,000 to OWL

Pantomime crowds were in generous mood as they encountered One World Link volunteers with collecting donations. They donated some £9,000 at the thirty seven performances of Jack and the Beanstalk at the Leamington Spa Centre.

OWL volunteers, wearing blue tabards and holding buckets decorated by school children, stood in the gangways and collected money from the audience as they left. In addition to allowing us to collect these donations, Warwick District Council donated over £700 from the sale of tickets to an invited audience, taking the grand total to £9,571. We are very grateful to them, the Spa Centre and the cast.

This income is particularly welcome in view of our programme for the coming year, including the Day of the Africa Child in June and possible exchange visits by teachers.

Members and Friends are invited to our AGM on the 27th January 2024 at St Paul’s church hall, Leicester St, Leamington Spa. We do look forward to meeting as many members and friends as possible in person at this event. The meeting will start at 2.00pm

We will aim to keep the formal part of the meeting to a minimum and then review both recent activities and also look back at 40+ years of the friendship link.

For more information please contact secretary@oneworldlink.org.uk