The internet is a marvellous, ingenious way of spreading news across the globe.
Unfortunately sometimes the information placed on to the internet is not only incorrect, but sometimes outlandish lies resulting in defamation of character.
“SHAME ON THOSE PEOPLE”
Freedom of speech is freedom to TELL THE TRUTH.
In most cases it is virtually impossible to bring to account the people that hide behind the internet spreading malicious lies. In this case the culprit was caught and arrested after an official complaint was made to the Sierra Leone Police Force.
I read a story about me, saying I was a dubious Latvian business man and smuggler, and that I was smuggling mining equipment in aid containers with the assistance of my two partners the Vice President of Sierra Leone and the Minister of mines. Not only is this completely untrue, it has led me to tell my story about this part of my life in Sierra Leone, the wonderful people I have met along the way, and how I am now trying to bring awareness to the hardship still being faced there every day.
Prompted by statistics I had read prior to my first visit- 1in 8 mothers die in child birth-the average life span is 28 years- and 50% of all children don’t become teenagers.( Disease and Malaria are widespread and the biggest killers )
Until recent times this beautiful country has been involved in a terrible civil war spanning approximately 10 years. The population have, first hand, witnessed death and destruction on a gigantic scale leaving most people in dire poverty. I decided in my own small way to try to make a difference.
Approximately 3 years ago I met a young Latvian businessman by the name of Janis who told me his family lived and worked in Sierra Leone and were involved in the diamond business. He said he was going to visit them in the near future and that I was invited to join him. I agreed and we set our departure date and left for Freetown. We had a good flight and were met at the airport in Lunge by his father. The second leg of the journey was by helicopter to Freetown, arriving late at night in a very dimly lit airport, his car and driver were waiting for us, and we checked into a local hotel for the night.
The next morning we woke early to the hustle and bustle of Freetown life and set off to explore one of the most interesting cities I have ever seen.
Along the way I saw some of the less fortunate survivors of the civil war. During that terrible time the ensuing militia caught many people and chopped off hands and feet to frighten the population and to cripple some of those more able bodied people to stop them fighting back. Over the next 2 years I got to know a great many of those less fortunate, and made some great friends. Although very poor, my friends were very generous offering to share their sometimes very small food rations with me. The first trip to Sierra opened my eyes to a part of the world I knew little about, but a part I would never forget.
Since that first time I have been back many times and now feel part of life in Sierra.
My friend Janis and I have travelled many thousands of miles around the country and witnessed some spectacular events He has now moved to Sierra and joined the family business.
During our travels we visited the town of Koidu, in the region of Kono, where the war first started. This area is world famous for its Diamond mining.
The diamonds from here are among the best in the world, but the war has taken a huge toll here. Although the area is very rich in natural resources, the people are not. Most of the houses were burnt down and all possessions lost.
Pictured Above ~ A grim reminder of the war. People STILL live in these ruins. Photo taken at the rear of our house.
It is virtually impossible to rebuild the past when so poor. I decided that this was the place for me to start trying to make a difference.
My friend Janis and I leased a very large run down house on the edge of town overlooking the diamond fields where many thousands of people dig in hope of a better life for themselves and their families.
The large derelict house that we leased was full of bullet holes, even the water tank had taken several rounds. Steel plates were bolted to the windows and a large steel door on the entrance, which had also taken several hits, but the house appeared very strong and able to withstand the attack it must have suffered.
Many local tradesmen were employed and the house was re built very quickly. It stands on concrete pillars approximately 20 feet in the air with a bridge to the main road. It is a very secure house and now employs armed police 24 hours a day for protection.
Janis set up a diamond buying station in the house, and I agreed to invest in the station on one condition. Some of the profit we would make from diamond trading would be invested back into the local community.( Up to now I have not received one leon, it has all gone back). The town and its close vicinity is home to many hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom are very poor and living in humble conditions.
I noticed that the majority of children in the area did not go to school and were sat most of the day helpless and neglected.
We had a caller in the early days of re building the house, a young lady by the name of Isata Vandy, the daughter of a local chief.
A young lady with an incredible vision of what life could be like in Sierra. She had put together a group of 25 students to start a club and asked me for a little sponsorship. I immediately agreed. I asked her how long she had been collecting for her club, she answered 3 months, I asked how much she had raised, she answered , a little over 5000 leons, the equivalent of $2 or £1 sterling. I gave her 50,000 leons, there were a few tears of joy, and asked her to come back later in the day with her 25 friends.
That night I agreed to help support the school fees of the entire group on one condition. That they would become teachers in a new school I was preparing to set up in our house. My friend Janis was taken completely by surprise and asked how long I had planned to open a school, I replied oh a long time, about 10 minutes, he laughed, and of course agreed. We started preparations straight away.
The next day a group of about 6 of us drove into town and purchased some pencils and paper in order to make a start. I told the students to bring 25 children on the first day of school and each day after another 5 until we lost control. On the first day of school 93 children turned up, it was total chaos. The smallest were crying the older ones were bewildered having never been to school before.
The first few days were hard but the children soon learned that I was a friend and soon warmed to me.
During those early days of school we were very short of furniture and equipment, but nothing could stop our group. I was told that some of the children were not eating properly, maybe not even every day so we purchased large sacks of rice , and asked Isatas mother to become the cook, and made sure the children were fed every day before they went home. This in itself was a difficult undertaking but we managed.
I returned home to the UK again and spoke to my Consulate co-ordinator, a good friend for more than 25 years by the name of Brian Twist. Brian agreed immediately to help and we both decided to try and encourage local people in our area to make donations of clothes, shoes and any books and educational equipment they could spare.
A miracle happened, the local schools all decided to help equip our school, we received calls to collect everything we needed, desks, tables, chairs, books, clothes, shoes, etc, etc. In fact everything we would need to make our school a success.
A huge thankyou to St Mary’s School Eccleston, Chorley, Lancashire, United Kingdom and all the children that took part in collecting for our very worthy cause in Sierra Leone. (pictured above)
Thankyou to the teacher’s and pupils of Heskin School Eccleston, Chorley, Lancashire, United Kingdom for helping with our much needed cause in Sierra Leone. (pictured above)
A massive thankyou to Albany Science College, Chorley, Lancashire, United Kingdom and all the children that took part in collecting for our very worthy cause in Sierra Leone. (pictured above)
I would also like to this opportunity to give a HUGE thankyou to Runshaw college and Croston School for their kind generosity and donations of school chairs, desks and books etc. My only regret is that I do not have a photograph to include in this report.
We soon learned that several thousand children were collecting for us. Brian and I started to give talks in schools across the north west of England, showing photos of the life that the people of Sierra Leone have to endure. We soon collected enough items to fill a container.
Pictured above is myself with the Incredible Brian Twist………………..
My closest friend and companion in my quest to secure a better future for hundreds of children in Sierra Leone, is Mr Brian Twist, without whom this project would never have existed. He is my closest friend of 25 years and the most upstanding and trustworthy person I have ever met.
THANKYOU Brian!
Which now brings me to the reason for telling my story;
The container that I was supposed to have smuggled mining equipment in was packed by a group of very kind students from Albany Science College, one of their teachers (Mrs Belinda Babut), hotel staff at the Mawdsley Hotel, Mr Brian Twist ( Consulate co-ordinator for the North West of England ) and me.
After the container was packed we all waived it off on its long journey to Koidu Town Sierra Leone. The container made the ship that same day and set sail two days later.
The container was met by customs at the Queen Elizabeth II Quay in the port of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The container was transhipped the same day by truck. The journey took 23 hours and the clutch on the truck was almost burned out by the time it arrived with the students in Koidu Town.
The unloading was witnessed by members of the New Sembehun City Council, officers of customs and NRA, the Chief of Police, 25 students, the press, representatives of the Ministry of Mines and a large group of public supporters. We put some bottles of lemonade in the back of the container, donated by a local firm so that our workforce could have refreshments during the unloading.
Our school now has hundreds of pupils, is talked about locally as being the best school in town, and the only one where each student has their own pens pencils and books, and wear lovely new uniforms. Also included were clothes, children’s shoes and toys which were distributed by our student club. It was reported that our container contained the largest amount of aid ever received in Koidu Town.
The chairs in the pictures above and below were donated by Runshaw College, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
Ps. The Library does exist, it was built by the United Nations Peace Keeping Force (UNAMSIL), sometime ago, but unfortunately there was not enough money to buy books with, it is a wonderful sight, and our container carried more than two thousand books, which were delivered in boxes to the Koidu New Sembehun City Council, who I am sure would confirm this statement as true. I have also never been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Angola as the article states.
Again I repeat;- SHAME ON YOU freedom of speech is FREEDOM TO TELL THE TRUTH NOT LIES!
The writer of the published article should think very carefully before writing any more lies, as he might have stopped any further aid containers from being sent to Sierra from the schools in the North West of England. The people of the UK that have helped to collect all the goods in the container and have read his article are so very disappointed. How could a Sierra Leone citizen do such a thing to his own countrymen in such a time of need?
(You are lucky we do not publish your name, address, and photograph, as we do have it.)
Howard Pym (author)
PPS. Now the story really begins! Isata said to me one day, “Mr howard, you cannot help everybody!” My reply was “Maybe not, but I can TRY!”
Pictured above ~ The Sierra Leone British Students Club inside the empty container, after unloading!
Now the story is just beginning, we hope to help many thousands of children over the next few years in our new childrens education centre.
Pictured above~ The Sierra Leone British Student Club, Koidu Town, Kono, Sierra Leone.
We will keep you informed of our progress. From acorns to oak trees, plant a seed and watch it grow!
