Florence and Abdulai 

On our recent trip to Sierra Leone we met two young children who were in a dreadful state. They are ebola orphans and no one even knows their names. They have been taken in by the kitchen staff at the Freetown Cheshire Home. They have been given the names Florence and Abdulai. Abdulai is visually impaired and Florence has been so traumatised by her experiences that when we met her she was floating in and out of a trance like state. No one knows exactly how old they are but they must be around two or three years old. For more background you can read the blog I did about them when I was in Sierra Leone...click here to read it.

  
I have been really keen that we do something to help these two children. We are already doing a lot of things in Sierra Leone, but helping these two children would seem like another great thing to do. We left some finances for them before we left and in the last couple of weeks since we have been back our friend Abs and his team have been working on a full needs assessment for Florence and Abdulai. They have sent that assessment through to me and it is fantastic. It contains plans for the children's health, educational and social needs. It includes things like school uniforms (you can't go to school in Sierra Leone unless you have a uniform), beds, toys, doctors visits as well as funding for people to interact with the children socially.

Some of the costs are one off, some are regularly monthly payments. The bottom line is that if we could raise between £4,500 and £5,000 we could cover the entire needs assessment plan for the next two years.

I plan to be giving to this amazing venture and if you would like to join me you can do so by making payments to Easthampstead Baptist Church. You can do that by sending a cheque or cash to Easthampstead Baptist Church, South Hill Road, Bracknell. RG12 7NS. Please clearly indicate that your gift is for Florence and Abdulai. Alternatively you can pay directly into the EBC bank account using the account number: 65137934 and sort code: 08-92-99. Please ensure that in the reference field of your electronic payment you put F&A so we know what the gift is for. If you are a UK taxpayer and happy to gift aid your gift please let Kat Morling know by emailing her at treasurer@ebc-bracknell.org.

The money will be sent from EBC to the Freetown Cheshire Home account in Sierra Leone where it will be put aside for the work with Florence and Abdulai. Both the money and the needs assessment plan will be overseen and implemented by our friend and colleague Abs Dumbuya so we know it will get to where it needs to go. Abs and his team will provide us with regular updates on the progress of the children which we will pass on to you via this blog. Every penny that you give will go directly to supporting Florence and Abdulai.

If you want more information or would like to see the full needs assessment plan or have any other questions, please do contact me by emailing me at chrisp@ebc-bracknell.org or calling me via the church office on 01344 487744. Thank you for your help!

God bless
Chris