Recently the Child Rescue Centre hired a gardener named Kinnie Ernest to oversee the revitalization of the CRC garden.  After consulting with Professor Roland Suluku of Njala University, the garden was laid out and crops were planted, including groundnuts, okra, yams, lettuce, onions, cassava, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes. 

The produce of the garden will supplement the diet of the residential children, and the CRC hopes to grow enough to send produce home with the students in the microfinance class.  The residential children and staff will be largely responsible for maintaining the garden under Kinnie's direction. 

CRC Director Mohamed Nabieu sees this as a part of the Outreach program, using the garden to bless some of the families in the Child Support and Family Care programs.  "Everyone wants to own the garden," Director Nabieu says.  "The CRC garden is everyone's business!"

Over the Easter holiday, the kids from the Residential Program who are being reunified in 2017 got to spend one or two nights at their FCP family's homes.  The smaller kids were feeling a bit bummed and left out, so the staff and Kim took them to the pool to go swimming.  swimming is a rare treat for kids in Sierra Leone!

This past Saturday Helping Children Worldwide was blessed to host a Sip & Shop fashion benefit event at Lord and Taylor in Dulles Town Center. We are so thankful to each and every one of you who braved the rain to join us and we hope you had a fabulous time! Check out the pictures from the event! (A special thank you to Babette Arnold)

The Child Rescue Centre has welcomed five new members to the staff who will assist our growing outreach to families in the community and help manage operations.

Emmanuel Lamin has been hired for the newly created role of Family Care and Child Support Program Counselor. Victor S. Kanu will be supporting the Family Care and Child Support programs as FCP/CSP Assistant. Henry Kebbie, a former Promise Scholar, will assist Joseph Junisa as Sponsor A Child Assistant Coordinator. ​

Two new members were added to the Residential Centre staff as well: Dorothy Rogers will serve as Temporal Reserve Auntie, to substitute for aunties who are on leave.  Kinnie Ernest is the new Child Rescue Centre gardener.

Emmanuel Lamin, Family Care and Child Support Program Counselor

• ​Ambition or Dream: To contribute to the organisation to help empower the vulnerable children to be better people in the future.
• What interests you about the CRC? I see and believe that the needy children in the society are their priorities and their education in particular. 

Victor Kanu, FCP & CSP Assistant

• Ambition or Dream: Seeing the children of CRC taking major leadership roles in and out of CRC, Transforming Sierra Leone to a better society and the world at large by the grace of God Almighty.
• What interests you about the CRC? Yesterday the children of CRC took lead in the Wednesday evening devotion.  They conducted the service well.

Henry Kebbie, Sponsor A Child Assistant Coordinator

• Ambition or Dream: Seek the interest of the CRC family until it becomes bigger and bigger more than the way it is right now.
• What interests you about the CRC? The admirable leadership strategies that the present young director has. I am so impressed because he is very capable.

​

by Kim Sprout, Director of Medical Projects

​In anticipation of increased water needs at Mercy with the addition of the Operating Suite, Mercy Hospital's well was recently re-dug.  Around 37 feet deep originally, workers dug by hand to add another 5 feet for a total of 42 feet. This depth is equivalent to the height of a 4-story building!  As with most construction projects in the region, all work was done by hand.  Workers deepened the well by sending a man down to the bottom without even a ladder or footholds, and then sent up the mud bucket by bucket, using a pulley system. 

This project included the addition of a more powerful 2 HP pump.  Combined with a deeper well, Mercy now has a reliable source of water sufficient for the anticipated increase in demand once the OR is up and running.  This will also ensure a consistent water supply, as Mercy suffers from lack of water in the dry season.

Mercy Hospital well provides all the water needed for hospital functions. The well was deepened five feet (by hand) and more powerful pump was installed.

Kadie, Jitta, Aminata, Lansana and Saidu are studying leadership under the tutelage of CRC Director Mohamed Nabieu.