A donor's project visit
A major donor sees first hand how the Red Cross is helping the battle-scarred children of Sierra Leone | |
.JPG)  |  | My understanding, appreciation and admiration for the Red Cross has deepened and broadened. The people we met were not only dedicated, motivated and with real skills to bring to their immense task, but they were imbued at all levels with the spirit of the Red Cross and deeply proud to be a part of it. That is one of the abiding impressions I have taken with me from Sierra Leone. |  | | Lord Portsmouth | | |
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| Lord Portsmouth has been a generous supporter of the Red Cross for the past 12 years. Earlier this year, he went to Sierra Leone with Paul Marvell, Head of Major Donors and Events. They spent five days in the small country on the west coast of Africa whose inhabitants are slowly recovering from 11 years of civil war.
Lord Portsmouth, also a supporter and patron of the Hampshire Branch, was keen to see Red Cross projects first hand. He said: “I have seen a good deal of its work in the UK, but, the Movement is better known for its overseas role and I was naturally curious to see how donors’ money is spent overseas.” | |
| The Sierra Leone Red Cross has 207 members of paid staff and thousands of volunteers. Disaster preparedness, first aid and disease prevention projects are just a few of those in operation across the country.
During his trip, Lord Portsmouth visited Branches, offices and projects, and met volunteers, staff and beneficiaries. One of the projects they visited was a Child Advocacy and Rehabilitation (CAR) project based in Kailahun, a small town in the east of the country. | |
| During the war, tens of thousands of children were abducted and forced into a life of fighting and slavery, so the CAR project was set up to help them rebuild their lives and confidence, learn new skills and reintegrate them into society. | |
| Lord Portsmouth said: “The project was ably and lovingly directed and run by the principal, Nancy Bockery, and the children in its charge all looked happy and healthy. There was an all-pervading positive atmosphere and one felt that these children and young people were being given not only life-skills but just as importantly they were being given their self-respect.” | | | %235%23.JPG) | |
| During the ten-month programme, younger children are integrated back into mainstream education and older children are taught a new trade, such as tailoring, soap-making, carpentry or horticulture, and are given advice and equipment to help them put their new skills to use when they leave.
Paul Marvell added: “Considering the unimaginable horrors that these young people had encountered in their short lives to date, the spirit and enthusiasm, not to mention the natural flair and talent, was quite incredible.” | |
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