As no-one has posted in this section yet, I thought I'd kick things off.

I had planned to go back to the orphanage in Sri Lanka in this month (I should have been there now :( ), but due to an increase in violence in the area we were based the charity have had to pull out for now. I am hoping that I'll be able to go back either later this year, or next year.

Rather than not go away I'm going to Sierra Leone in May on a mission trip with the same charity that I went to Sri Lanka with.

We will be based mostly at a cottage hospital, the project we'll be working on is building accomodation for short term medics. At the hospital the charity have already built a well (before that there were times that the doctor had to bring water to the hospital in buckets from his home!) and a 12 bed ward extention.

We'll stay at a hotel near the hospital and take our meals at a local home for the eldery.

While we're there we'll also visit a school, a hospital for disabled kids and a place for rehabilitating street kids back into society, and a place for women with polio.

We get some time off to go to the beach and we also visit a chimp sanctuary.

I went to an orientation day a couple of weeks ago...but because I was late signing up I didn't get to meet anyone that'll be on the same trip as me. I'm a little nervous as Mr M isn't coming and the first time I meet the group will be at the airport the day we go!!

The people I met on the last trip were great, so I'm hoping that this time will be the same.

I'm excited and nervous....but really looking forward to it :D

Best of luck Mink! TBH Sierra Leone sounds even more dangerous than Sri Lanka to me...

Can't you wangle a missionary trip to Bermuda or somesuch? :)

Minks I have one word for you and that is - intrepid! [ooo I hope that is a nice word???]

Your a gal and a half!:)

Where is Sierra Leone - gosh I am ashamed to admit - but my geog is pants, I don't even know where Hampshire is???

Good luck Mink. Without wishing to sound gushing, I really admire what you're doing.

Thanks guys :)

Flip, Sierra Leone is in West Africa, it borders Guinea and Liberia. It was in the news a lot in the late 90's and early 2000's because there was long civil war......but I wasn't up on current affairs in those days so it pretty much passed me by. I've learnt more about it now though.....the life expectancy there is only 42 for women and 39 for men!!

Fair play Minklemar...can I ask who is organizing it?What group?
Is it on a sponsorship basis,etc?Do you need to raise money yourself?
I've always been tempted to do something like this...but the sponsorship runs into thousands.Maybe one day.........

The charity is Mission Direct, this is a link to their homepage:
www.missiondirect.org

They also go to Sri Lanka (these trips are suspended at the moment though), Dominican Republic (working helping to build houses for Haitian refugees) and this year they are starting a new project in Uganda helping building works at a vocational training center for children orphaned by AIDS (if the Sri Lanka trips aren't restarted I will probably go to Uganda with them next year).

The cost of the trips is from £1260 to £1300ish. That includes flights, insurance, accomodation, meals, transport and incountry costs.
They also ask that you fundraise for the project, any money raised goes into the project you are working on.
I have paid for my trip, but some people fundraise to cover the cost of their trip.

If you can do a trip like this I'd highly recommend it - the trip I did to Sri Lanka last year was one of the best experiances of my life.

If you want to know more drop me a PM - I'm part of the speakers network for the charity, so I have quite a lot of information about them.
Or, if you would prefer a non-Christian group I have the names of a couple of other groups who organise similar trips......although, I only know about them from word of mouth - not from personal experiance.

Thanks for that.
One of the guys in my football club did something like that last year.Himself and some well know footballers/hurlers brought sports equipment to kids in Malawi who basically had NOTHING, no recreation or the like.They brought over equipment and jerseys and set up a camp in conjunction with some Irish aid workers who were over there already, setting up a school and basic hospital.It was a big success and they are going back this year.We will be organizing some fundraisers.A documentary about it was made and show on tv and he said he received lots of enquiries and donations after the broadcast.I know that amount you quoted in in stg...but it is actually less than I had thought.I really admire people who do this......

What a lovely thing to be involved in.....
....one of the groups who went to Sierra Leone last year took some football kits donated by Leciester City for a school football team :)

Oh.....all this talking about it is getting me excited!!

In todays news: a third of the Sierra Leone Commonwealth Games team have 'gone missing' in Melbourne.

Minks is getting a missionary position......Pfffftt







<c'mon someone had to say it!>

:D you couldn't resist could you Slipper? Thanks for that......you made me chuckle!

SF - I have a lot to learn....I didn't know there was a team from Sierra Leone in the Commonwealth games!!

:excl: Minks...my freind was due to go to the Ivory Coast last weekend to pick up a patient from a hospital and return him to his home country. Before she went she had a look at the foreign and commonwealth office advise on the country...although Sierra Leon looked like a holiday park compared to the Ivory Coast it was still the only other country tha the F&CO said not to visit under any circumstances! :wacko:

If you do go...just make sure you are fully covered for all eventualites! :unsure:

That said...what an adventure it would be...I know I would find it very hard to resist such an opportunity...so proceed with caution!

oh dear! Thanks for the warning Coastie!

The insurance the charity have organised is with a company that specialise in insurance to potentially unsafe areas. It includes evacuation and repatriation just in case anything does go wrong.

When I agreed to go I was quite unaware of the situation and the conflict in Sierra Leone - I thought the Westside Boys were a pop group.
I am looking forward to going somewhere that otherwise I wouldn't have the chance to visit, but I'm also expecting some very difficult times there too.

oh dear! Thanks for the warning Coastie!

The insurance the charity have organised is with a company that specialise in insurance to potentially unsafe areas. It includes evacuation and repatriation just in case anything does go wrong.

When I agreed to go I was quite unaware of the situation and the conflict in Sierra Leone - I thought the Westside Boys were a pop group.
I am looking forward to going somewhere that otherwise I wouldn't have the chance to visit, but I'm also expecting some very difficult times there too.

Minks...

When are you going?

Oph's got a friend in the FCO - Africa Dept !!

http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618386406

I go on 26th May....

I'll have a read of your link - thanks :)

oh dear! Thanks for the warning Coastie!

The insurance the charity have organised is with a company that specialise in insurance to potentially unsafe areas. It includes evacuation and repatriation just in case anything does go wrong.

When I agreed to go I was quite unaware of the situation and the conflict in Sierra Leone - I thought the Westside Boys were a pop group.
I am looking forward to going somewhere that otherwise I wouldn't have the chance to visit, but I'm also expecting some very difficult times there too.

It is indeed an oportunity of a lifetime Minks and I'm sure, if the charity you are going with are used to operating in this area, they will see that all goes as well as it can...just keep your witts about you and stay safe so you can tell us all about it on your return! :thumbsup:

I got back from my trip to Sierra Leone a couple of weeks ago....so thought it was about time I posted to let you know how I got on.

There were 10 of that travelled together from the UK, plus 2 women who are based in Sierra Leone - so quite a nice sized group.
We stayed in a hotel, which was basic but ok. Although they ran out of water for the first 3 days or so.....we got buckets of water delivered to our rooms to washing in an then flushing the loo!! I was in a room on my own, so it didn't matter to much for me.

I learnt how to plaster and between us we plastered the outside of a new building that will be accomodation for medics, that will allow the hospital to take emergency cases as they'll be able to have doctors on hand at all times.

We painted the day room at a vocational center for single mothers with polio - that was fun as we got to spend a lot of time with the ladies and their kids, and we were able to order some made to measure clothes from then that they made up for us.

We visited to a home for ex-street kids.....which moved me so much I cried on and off for 2 days after visiting there (I still can't talk about it without getting choked up).

We spent quite a lot of time at a home for the elderly as that's where the 2 ladies based in SL live. One poor guy there got shot by the rebels and the bullets can't be removed, as that would kill him.....but he's in a lot of pain all the time - I think he's only late 20's - he's in a wheelchair and eventually the bullets will kill him.

We were'nt able to visit the chimp sanctuary as just before we went the chimps escaped and killed someone! They are still at large!

All in all it was a fantastic trip - I met some lovely people and it was easier to build relationships than it was in Sri Lanka as we didn't have such a language barrier.

The next project the charity will work on is to build new accomodation for the ex-street kids......so I'm planning on going back in October or November!

I'm in awe of you Mink.

I knew you were going to SL but didn't realise you've been and come back already!

Well done you, and it sounds like you've had a fantastic, albeit emotional, time there.

Good luck with all your future ventures.

Thanks Andrea :)

It was a fantastic place to be able to visit, I woudln't have had the chance to visit there if it hadn't been for the charity, and I'm very grateful that I was given the chance to go.

I was thinking about going to Uganda next to help out at an orphanage for kids who lost their parents to AIDS......but that's had to go on the back burner for now as I'm set on going back to Sierra Leone.


I have a bit of sad news though......the town I went to in Sri Lanka last year (Kilinochchi) has been bombed by the Sri Lankan government forces.....so I'm praying the orphanage wasn't hit. I got some letters through from them a couple of weeks ago...but there's been, I think, 3 bombing raids on Kilinochchi since then.

Well done Minks...it's tough when you have to say goodbye and you kinda feel a bit guilty about retruning home to the luxuries of the UK but it's also good to know that you have made a huge impact on not just a few but, given the project you have completed, a vast numer of peoples lives! :thumbsup:

There was an Orphanage just down the road from the special needs school my freind worked at for a year in Uganda. The orphanage was for those who had lost parents through Aids so i wonder if it's the same one...is the one you are going to in Kampala? I never got a chance to visit during my month over there but one of my freinds freinds had just adopted a baby from there...she lived out there...probably still does!