​The times in which we are living may feel very strange to most Americans.  We got a good taste of how it feels to be quarantined for months at a time back in 2014 and 2015 during the Ebola Virus outbreak in Sierra Leone.  When many international volunteers, NGOs, as well as some Sierra Leoneans themselves were leaving the country in fear of Ebola, we felt we could not desert our Child Rescue Centre family in Bo.  We made a very prayerful and conscious decision to stay in Sierra Leone.  In August 2014 with the blessing of the Sierra Leone UMC Bishop John Yambasu and Helping Children Worldwide, we went into lockdown with 44 Child Rescue Centre resident children, and 9 CRC staff plus 5 security guards, all who volunteered and committed to live inside the compound 24 hours per day, not knowing how long the Ebola Virus might be active in Sierra Leone.  

How did the CRC keep 60 people in lockdown for eight months safe and healthy, keep up everyone’s spirits, as well as prevent boredom?  It was accomplished in ten very intentional ways.

1. Safety First    “The wise man looks ahead.” Proverbs 14:8   The CRC clinic was enhanced with supplies, medicines, and malaria test kits.  Physical contact with people outside was not allowed.  Temperature checks of every child and adult were done each morning and recorded by the CRC nurse.  Hand washing stations were always kept full throughout the compound.  Anyone who came down with a fever was isolated until it could be determined that he/she had malaria or another malady – not Ebola.  We ensured everyone got plenty of sleep under bed nets, ate well balanced meals, and had lots of opportunities for exercise. 
   
   
2. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work   “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function  . . . each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:4  Everyone was divided into five different family groups that shared chores including preparing, serving, and cleaning up after meals, working in the garden, keeping the buildings and compound clean, leading devotions and vespers, and so much more.  The CRC staff members who could not commit to living inside the compound were key to providing supplies, food, and support, doing errands, as well as keeping in touch with three hundred CRC children and their families who lived in the community.
   
   
3. Regular Schedule and Routine  “He made the moon to mark the months, and the sun sets according to a regular schedule”  Psalm 104:19   It was really important to stick to a regular schedule with opportunities for the children to participate in some elective activities, and for the adults to lead activities in their own areas of interest.  It was also necessary for the adults to get at least one day off each week, even though they had to stay inside the compound.  CRC Aunties were given the option to spend time at the Missionary Training Centre next door on their days off where there were special treats for them and plenty of comfy beds.  (MTC staff were outside the walls.)
   
   
4. Continually Learning  “Practice these things.  Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress.”  1 Timothy 4:15    When schools closed all over the country due to the virus, the CRC created the School of Champions, which included an Electronic Classroom.  Classes focused on math, language arts, phonics, and reading, with electives in the afternoons.  During Advent the Language Arts Classes for grades 5, 6 and JSS participated in daily devotions called “Adverbs of Advent.”  There were many opportunities to bake cakes with the children.  Reading, math, and science were integrated into this fun class.  The cakes were shared with all 60 people on special occasions.  All of the children took part in small group counseling activities once a week and more often as needed.  Saturday night was designated Game Night when staff and children could do puzzles, play cards, play familiar board games, or learn new ones. 
   
   
5. Frequent Celebrations “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18   There were daily celebrations, some days more special than others.  Every School of Champions day began with celebratory singing and dancing.  Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy” became the theme song during the lockdown.  One of the younger CRC boys was dubbed, “Kid President” after inspirational American child actor, Robby Novak.  Awards and small prizes were given out for fitness achievements each week at Friday Film Show Night. Those who celebrated birthdays that week passed out sweets to the audience.  There were extra special activities to intentionally mark milestones like 100 and 200 Days in Lock-Down.  And of course, there were meaningful ways to spend the season of Advent, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Palm Sunday and Easter.  The kids were so excited about Christmas!  It was a simple, yet unforgettable Christmas, focused entirely on the birth of Jesus.  Children hand made lovely decorations, acted in pageants, sang beautiful Christmas songs and hymns, created a nativity scene, and kept us all entertained.  
   
   
6. Sharing Space with Non-humans   “But ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the air they will tell you.” Job 12:7   This kept things interesting, and kept us humans alert:  puppies and kittens were born; learning firsthand how to attend to a scorpion bite; bats in the attic; competing with rats for rice; security guards always on the lookout at night for snakes; and beautiful actual night owls watching over us while we slept.
   
   
7. Staying Connected   “I am eager to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.  In this way, each of us will be a blessing to the other.”  Romans 1:12   We were intentional about staying connected to the outside world.  The children reached out to friends in the community by calling them on a shared CRC mobile phone on a rotational schedule so that everyone had their turn.  Staff spoke with their families.  On Wednesday nights before bedtime we all met in the Great Hall in pj’s to watch and listen to prerecorded Bedtime Stories read by friends from partner churches in the US.  Everyone looked forward to that special time!  
   
   ​To stay connected to the CRC students who lived in the community, the CRC started a radio program called CARES.  This program also benefited all students in the Bo region.  The content consisted of all good news with school lessons for primary school, junior secondary, and senior secondary school students.  There were always academic contest questions during the radio program.  The CRC staff living in town made sure that the contest winners received their prizes.  
   
   
8. Having Fun  “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 8:15   While we may have been in lock down, we were not locked up!  It was very busy inside the CRC compound and we always tried to have fun.  On Friday Fitness Days the final activity was a race among the Aunties, including Patty.  One time the women planned a walking race while carrying buckets of water on their heads.  The kids could hardly contain their excitement!  On your mark, get set, GO!  As the women got about one third of the way to the finish line, they stopped, took the buckets off their heads, and quickly threw the water at the children.  There were screams of surprise and delight!  
   
   There were also times when we would give all of the Aunties the afternoon off from cooking and instead we would cook with some of the older kids.  One time we decided to introduce gumbo to the CRC since Sierra Leoneans seem to like all of the ingredients, especially okra.  We had great fun cooking dinner with the older children.  After we ate, we went around to each table in the CRC dining hall and asked the children how they liked the gumbo.  At one table one of the youngest boys gave this review.  “I didn’t love it.  Please don’t make it again.”  (When we were preparing to leave the country months later, some of the children waved to us and said, “Goodbye Gumbo!”) 
   
   
9. Focusing on Others   “The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”  Matthew 25:40   On a daily basis we were all intentionally praying for: those who were sick, those who were grieving, the community outside the walls of the CRC, the country, and the end of Ebola.  The CRC children participated in outreach by putting together baskets containing homemade cards, small Bibles, rice, spices, soap, toothpaste, candles, and other essentials.  Recipients of the baskets were identified by local church pastors who delivered the baskets.  
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10. Staying Strong in Body and Faith  “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.”  Acts 3:16    The children and staff helped plan daily devotions and prayers, evening vespers, Wednesday Afternoon Devotions, Sunday Church with a well-practiced CRC choir, and Sunday Evening Bible studies.  There were sports competitions for football (soccer), volleyball, and stone ball.  Jump roping and bike riding were favorite outdoor activities.  There was a Fitness Program every Friday afternoon where children and staff were encouraged to improve on their personal best.  There were fun races and even a race for the security guards.

When the lock down ended on April 22nd, 2015, after the entire country had gone through 42 consecutive days (2 cycles) of no new cases of Ebola, the CRC gates were enthusiastically opened and all of the staff returned that day for Wednesday Afternoon Devotions.  Together we celebrated this joyous, long anticipated occasion!  We all sang a song called, “Together Again.”  There was not a dry eye in the Great Hall.  The next day all of the CRC Aunties left the compound for the first time in eight months, to go home to their own families.  Other CRC women staff volunteered to stay with the children that night.  

The commitment of the devoted CRC staff and security guards was remarkable and totally selfless.  The CRC children and staff, and all Sierra Leoneans who lived through the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and 2015, have an amazing testimony to share.  While the Ebola crisis was tragic on so many levels, we will always remember that time spent with our CRC family with great fondness.

​This article originally appeared in the HCW December 2020 magazine. ​

In Abdulai Sumaila’s home village of Bumpeh,a small town in the southern province of Sierra Leone, most families survive on subsistence farming, as they have for decades. Farming is the mainstay of rural families who mostly grow rice and cassava for their own consumption (Source: USAID.)  In Bumpeh, school was not a high priority for children, who are needed to help in the fields.  Abdulai and his five siblings enjoyed a simple life with their parents, who augmented their meager farming income by teaching and petty trading.  

When the chaos of the civil war came to Bumpeh, Abdulai and his siblings were separated from their parents, leaving them to be raised by various relatives who used them for farm labor.  “I would wake up at 4 AM and go to the farm,” Abdulai remembers, “I could only return back home in the evening.” During that desperate time, the family was focused solely on survival. School was out of the question for the children.  Eventually the siblings learned that their parents had died, and their uncle and grandmother took sole responsibility for them.

When the war finally ended in 2002, a field supervisor from the newly launched Child Rescue Centre (CRC) who had an affiliation with Bumpeh came there to investigate the welfare of the children. Most of the villagers were desperately poor and wanted their children to go to the CRC, where they believed they would have a chance at a better life and the opportunity to go to school.  “In the village there were a lot of children in need.  The only chance I had over the rest of the children is that they saw potential in me,” Abdulai says.
After many meetings with the village chieftains, it was decided that seven children from the neediest families would go live in the CRC’s residential program, including 10-year-old Abdulai, who was the youngest in his family.    

Abdulai’s uncle vehemently opposed his admission to the CRC. But Abdulai’s grandmother wanted him to go to school and her will prevailed. Abdulai became one of the original 40 children taken in as residents at the CRC.

In spite of missing several years of school, he skipped ahead to Class 3, then skipped again to Class 5.  After passing the National Primary School Examination with a high score, Abdulai was admitted to the prestigious Christ the King College, an all-boys school near the CRC, along with several other CRC boys.  

In many ways, Abdulai loved his new life in the residential centre, and his memories are mostly happy. “Growing up at the CRC my life was full of curiosity and innovation,” Abdulai says.  But he missed his family and the warmth of the village community.  “The lifestyle [at the CRC] was very different,” he says.  “A lot of the things I enjoyed with my family weren’t available, like gari (cassava meal) and kanya (peanut sweets.)”  

More than anything or anyone else, he missed his grandmother, the one who always believed in him. “My grandma was the only one I felt close to and she couldn’t afford to come to the city,” he says regretfully.  Sadly, she died four years ago.  “I’m very sad that she’s not alive to enjoy the benefits of me going to the CRC.  What my family thought was evil turned out to be for good.”   

Abdulai is grateful for the opportunity he was given to get an education and pursue his dream, something he doesn’t feel would have been possible if he had stayed in Bumpeh village.  “If I stayed with my family, I would have had no opportunities.  My family lives far from civilization.  And at the CRC, I got the opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ.” 

Of the six children in his family, he is the only one that went to school beyond the primary grades.  “All of them quit by class 5 or 6 and ended up in farming or trading or mining,” he says. 

Growing up in the residential centre, Abdulai was aware that he was different from the other kids at his school, and he felt a keen obligation to become someone who could make a difference for his village of Bumpeh.  “I felt a lot of responsibility.  I got to visit my hometown and observed things that were very hurtful--the structure my family lived in, the famous bridge destroyed by the rebels in the civil war.  The beautiful houses burned down. It made me think ‘who is going to rebuild these?’ The bridge in my home town was so dilapidated, residents can only use the boats to cross the water, and I’m a person who is very afraid of water! I told my family I would become an engineer, so I could help rebuild.”  

Propelled by that dream, Abdulai earned a scholarship to study civil engineering at Fourah Bay College in Freetown.  Moving to the big city of Freetown was a major culture shock for Abdulai.  “I was not too acquainted with the lifestyle or location.  I had no clue where I was going.  Everything must be planned and executed by me alone.  Waking up early, cooking, doing laundry, and managing my own time.  I was forced to embrace hard living outside the CRC,” he says ruefully. 

Abdulai met his wife, Aminata, through Navigators Christian Club at university.  She graduated from Fourah Bay College with a degree in philosophy and law.  They were married in 2019 and this year welcomed a baby girl to their family. 

“After graduating university, in Sierra Leone culture I became the head of my family,” Abdulai says.  “I am holding to my dream to continue to provide quality professionalism in every task I am involved in, for the benefit of my country.  I have worked as a supervisor on construction projects like hospitals, schools, commercial and residential structures on both a voluntary and paid basis.  I hope one day I can be in a top national position, where I can use my technical skills and spiritual insights to transform the lives of others in Sierra Leone.”

Abdulai wants to be a role model for young Sierra Leoneans, with this advice for the next generation: “Young people should believe in their dreams and work hard to see those dreams fulfilled.  Know the Lord Jesus, be humble, and respect the older generation,”  he says. His grandmother would no doubt be very proud of her grandson the engineer, who is helping rebuild Sierra Leone. 

​This article originally appeared in the HCW December 2020 magazine. 

 Victor Kanu, Child Support and Family Care Programme Assistant

The CRC staff noticed that the children coming to Mercy Hospital for the monthly nutrition clinic were in need of clothes and other essentials.  The staff decided to complement Mercy Hospital’s work by providing toiletries and clothing for these vulnerable children.  Eighty children identified by Mercy Hospital as especially needy were provided with clothing, toilet soap and toothpaste.  Before the distribution, the director prayed for the mothers and children. She told them about the work the CRC does, and the number of lives they are touching in Bo, Kenema, Kono, Freetown, Moyamba, and other communities.

The mothers were very happy to receive the gifts.  “I am very grateful to CRC for these gifts. It is very difficult to have food, much more getting clothes, ” one mother told the staff.   “Thank you very much, especially for these toiletries. You have put smiles on our faces," another mother said. "We appreciate you greatly.  My child now has Christmas clothes."