Objectives
1. Conduct Primary Care medical clinic in Mo Charles. Mo Charles is a community located in the Bonthe district of Sierra Leone in the southern province, roughly 30 minutes from the Atlantic coast and 45 minutes from the Sierra Rutile Mine. Mo Charles is in a cluster of about three villages that have never had any type of primary care. The literacy rate in the community is roughly 80%.

Customs
We were able to get our medication through customs without incident. This is credited largely to the efforts of Chad Courtney, in-country director. We were met at the airport with a representative from the Board of Pharmacy who took three samples of our medications for analysis. We were also visited during the clinic by representatives from the Ministry of Health, who asked questions about the type of patients that we were seeing and provided some assistance in the pharmacy.

We saw 970 patients in clinic who registered with a card. In addition, we saw roughly 200 school children who were screened to be evaluated in the clinic and were treated for intestinal parasites. On the last day of clinic, when it became evident that we were not able to see all of the patients who were waiting to be seen, we dispensed vitamins to mitigate some of the disappointment for not having been seen.

Special Cases
We saw three patients who were identified with tuberculosis. These patients were referred to the Health Ministry.

Fracture
We saw a young man, roughly 18yrs old, who had a comminuted fracture of left tibia and fibula. We attempted to splint with the materials on hand without success. Subsequently we transferred the patient to a hospital in the north for x-ray, traction, closed reduction and splinting. Our reports since leaving the country are that the patient is recovering nicely.

We saw one patient with fairly advanced level malaria that we were able to infuse and rehydrate and she responded quite well.

Mo Charles Community
One of the conditions placed upon the community for operation of the clinic on Mo Charles was placement of a latrine facility. We were able to advance funds to the community and both Christian and Muslim representatives worked to put the latrine together. It will be available to the community to be used after the team left. In addition, the church facility where the community in Mo Charles had been meeting was not completed. Residents from the community, including Muslim folks, came to the church to help finish the walls and structure with bamboo.

When the clinic was completed, we stayed in the community and worshiped with the Mo Charles church for Sunday services. The chief for the community, a Muslim gentleman, was in attendance at the service and extended his compliments to the church for the conduct of the clinic. They were particularly noteworthy of the fact that all persons were seen without prejudice and that patients were treated with kindness and compassion.

This team was a bit unusual for us in that we had several team members who were down with illness, including kidney stones, vertigo and intestinal disturbances.

2. Connect water system to solar power including erecting a water tank to distribute water to the Kissy Town community.
Bruce Bevington went in advance of the team to assist John Campbell in the advancement of this project. In addition, Larry Payne worked with the water tower quite extensively and was assisted by Brad Sackrider, a representative from the Fort Yuma Rotary Club which funded the water project. It had been our intention to complete construction of the water pedestal on which to erect the tank. However, when the team conferred together regarding the pace with which the concrete was curing, it was agreed that we defer placement of the water tank on the tower until a week or so, giving the concrete sufficient time to set. Thus, Mr. Bevington will be working with Chad after the team leaves to place the water tank on the pedestal to complete this phase of the project. In the mean time, the team was able to assemble the solar panels and connect the panels to the pump, which pumped water to the existing tanks, presently located at the school in Waterloo and at the airstrip. It was most gratifying to build upon the work that had been previously done in burying pipes and erecting pedestals to see water actually moving from the dam to the designated sites.

Next Steps
Once the concrete had cured on the pedestal, it would be the intention of John and his team to place the tank on the pedestal and distribute water from the dam to this singular tank which would then be distributed to the subsequent tanks via gravity flow. Thus, it would be possible
for us to extract water from its source at the dam and distribute it to the community using only solar power, assisted by gravity flow.

John has also expressed interest in drawing taps for each of the existing water tanks so that water could be distributed more conveniently in various points in the community. A subsequent phase will also include erection of an ultraviolet water purification system to treat the water at the elevated pedestal prior to distribution to the community. Additional components of water management system will include acquisition of a water testing system that will enable us to assess the quality of water both at the source as well as at the distribution points throughout the system. Additional next step will be to establish security at the dam site. This will include three components.

a. We have agreed to place an armed guard at the dam site to be available particularly at night and during the rainy season to ensure security of the valuable components placed in the solar powered distribution system.
b. We need to elevate the perimeter wall and add serpentine wire as well as a steel gate to the front entrance to discourage contamination at the water site. This will also include repair of several breaches in the wall that were noticed since my last visit.
c. We need to place a cyclone fence at a distance of roughly 3/4 of a mile around the perimeter of the dam to discourage trespass on the aquifer where the water is sourced out of the ground.

Superintendant’s House
A related function to increase the security of the dam is to place one of our employees in the superintendant’s house at the Newton Dam. This would necessitate minor repairs to the walls, painting, tiling, etc.; as well as fixing plumbing and electrical fixtures to make the house habitable. This will also include an addition of steel doors at both entrances to the home. Details for analysis will be coming by our team members from SL.

3. Make repairs and maintenance to the tractor in anticipation of the rice planting season.
Weldon Burkholder and Howard Ropp partnered together with our tractor driver, John Barry, to make repairs to the tractor. They came prepared to replace fuel lines and fuel injectors as well as the fuel pump. It was only necessary to replace the fuel lines and injectors to effect reasonable repairs to the tractor. They noticed additional minor repairs that could be made in the wiring and to repair fuel leaks. They will be submitting parts with the Canada team to make these repairs to the tractor as well. Weldon and Howard also spent time with John coaching him on the use of the machine. Based upon their recommendation, we have agreed to limit rice planting in the Waterloo area to preclude the need for transferring the tractor on a trailer. This will significantly reduce the cost of farming operations in the upcoming year.

4. Convey the love of Christ to the local churches and encourage the in-country team.
It was our privilege to have several lengthy conversations with the in-country team members to talk about of the ministry thus far and to make plans for the future. Details of the vision for WMT in SL will be addressed under separate cover. It was noteworthy to experience the effect of the medical team on persons in Mo Charles. On Saturday, we ran a half day clinic and had lunch together prior to organizing the medicines for storage for the April team. The chief of the community came and shared lunch with us and made several observations about the impact of the team on the community. He expressed his appreciation for the love of the team, as expressed by members of his community. He observed his appreciation for the Christian faith was significantly enhanced because the team had followed through on the commitment that they had made to the community. In addition, our prayer warriors report there were at least five persons who made a profession of faith while waiting for visits at he clinic and we had an additional four persons baptized by Bruce Bevington at the dam.

5. Visit JBC churches and encourage local congregations.
Pastor Dee Duke spent the majority of his time touring the country with Saah Joseph and visiting the various ministries of JBC and ministry partners throughout SL. He reported his pleasure at seeing the progress of the ministry development at the various churches and his plans to bring an additional six pastors (or more) to SL in the month of November to continue the church planning efforts.

Dr. Gary McKean and I left Salt Lake City airport on Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 8:30am and arrived in Sierra Leone at 9 PM on Sunday, December 5, 2010. We were greeted by a Police Chaplain escort. We retrieved our luggage (all of it arrived and in good condition) including a Honda 1000 watt generator.

Highlights of the trip included:

4-day training seminar for approximately 180 Chaplains from the Police, Army, Prisons, Fire Department, OSD (special branch of police; Operational Support Division), and the Metro Police. The seminar topics were “Who I Am in Christ”, “Godly Christian Marriages”, “The Role of the Minister”, “Christ in the Old Testament”, “Where in the Bible?” and “The New Testament Church.”

While we were in the Freetown area we met with Herbert A. George Williams, Mayor of Freetown and Chief Al Gbsowa (Bumpeh Chiefdom Moyamba District).  The Chief requested that we begin a Christian Church in the village called Pendeh.

After Freetown we began our journey to First Baptist Church-Gbangbatoke. This work is sponsored by First Baptist Church, Roy, Utah. While in Gbangbatoke we conducted seminars on the topics of “Who I Am in Christ” and “Godly Christian Marriage.”  We met with Paramount Chief Russell and informed him that a pump water well was going to be dug on the church property within the next two weeks. He requested help to determine what crops could be grown in the region to offset the problem of starvation. We are in process of compiling that data. He also asked that we consider starting a training center for adults. He asked for 6-sewing machines (non-electric), Ty-Dye kits, and soap making equipment.

From Gbangbatoke we headed to Mochas to visit the Lighthouse Ministries Christian Church in Mochas. The “forgotten people” are no longer forgotten. The village is so remote that representatives of the government have not visited there. But God is gracious and we now have a church there sponsored by Lighthouse Ministries Christian Center of South Ogden, Utah. The people of the village gave the church approximately 600 acres of prime land for growing rice. They requested help in developing a plan to do so. They would like to build a church building and have given the church 3 acres to put it on. The church also requested help in starting a new church in the village called Naagohun, which is about 16 miles away.

We then moved on to Moriba Town where we conducted seminars on the topics of “The Role of the Minister”, “Godly Christian Marriage”, and “Where in the Bible?” These seminars were attended by 40 people (20 was the original plan).  We held a crusade in Moriba Town where approximately 55 accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  From here we headed to Bo. 

In Bo we conducted 4-days of seminars, attended the JBC church there and visited the Maple Leaf Army Base. We then met with the members of Jah Section Christian Fellowship, a new church in Pujehun. From there it was on to the village of Gboyama. There is no Christian church in the village and the Christians and Muslims agreed that there should be one. Met with the leaders of the village and committed a new church work. The people of the village gave the church 6-acres of land to build their building on. The leaders of the village also presented to me a bowl of rice and two chickens in public as well as a new name: “Momoh Moiguah” which means “First Son.” I am officially a member of the village and have been extended all of the benefits.

I returned to the Maple Leaf Army Base and met with the Base Commander, Lt. Col. Koroma and preached to the entire battalion. We then left for Jendema where we held more seminars.  After Jendema we drove to Kenema and then on to Waterloo (after some vehicle repairs in Kenema).   While in the Waterloo area we preached at Philomath Community Church in Lumpa on Christmas Day and Pastor Elisha Turray’s church the day after Christmas.  Christmas in Sierra Leone is quite different than the U.S.A.  They do not exchange gifts, no Christmas trees and “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Christmas” is only said on Christmas Day.

Two days after Christmas we left for the Kono District. We conducted four days of seminars in this area and were anticipating 120 people, but 280 showed up.  During are time in this area we also met with members of Mercy Ship as their advance team was in the area. They shared all of their information and we passed that on to the pastors who attended the seminars. After the seminars we headed back to Waterloo for New Years Eve. 

Over the next several days after New Year’s Day we conducted more seminars in the Waterloo area at the JBC church in the refugee camp.  We also met with Chief Gbsowa in Jui. He wants a “Baptist” church by his home. Want to give us 5-lots for us to build our compound on. That would include a concrete brick 7-foot fence, a church building, a guest house, parsonage, house for Ben & Kuya, a training center, house for driver and garage for vehicle, and a pump water-well.

I left for London at midnight on the 8^th of January and arrived back home in Utah at 9pm the same day.  Things that I will address for the next trip: (1) Allow a day in between seminar locations to travel and rest (2) Avoid the last two weeks of December and the first week of January as this is the Christmas-New Year Season (3) Allow time for counseling sessions for Pastors and Chaplains.

In His Service and Through His Love,

Dr. Paul G. Paquin

International Ministry Director

The Light of the World Ministry                                                        John 12:26    

The last days of April and into May we were encouraged by the visit of some friends from Yuma, AZ. It was a full week but we were able to get them around the country to see all of the projects for the purpose of building a vision for their future involvement. The plan and hope is that next year they will be able to form a group to come and support the work.

Clinics: Unfortunately the clinic we had sched-uled for April was not able to happen due to the flight disruptions over European airspace. We thought it might happen when the team was able to reschedule after the first cancellation—however as time got closer, their rescheduled flight was also cancelled.

Rice: April and May have kept us occupied with planting rice. We have finished planting with one community and are in the finishing stages of the second community. We have received several more requests from other community groups but we will have to evaluate these based on how long the seasonal rains hold off. Relationships with these communities are being formed that will allow us to affect their lives in many more ways. We have been asked by the Ministry of Agriculture to consider a community vegetable garden project in the communities we are currently working in. Next month we will be assisting a local pastor to relo-cate to one of these communities to begin speak-ing spiritually into the lives of the people.

Water: This week a series of meetings will take place with the government to continue discussing a contract that will allow us to occupy and rehabili-tate a government-owned dilapidated water delivery site (there are 42 such dilapidated sites throughout the country). We are hoping for an outcome soon as the people of this country desperately need clean water. In addition to providing water, the property will also afford us a place from which to launch the other health and development initiatives that WMT is involved in.

Thank you for your interest and support of the people of Sierra Leone.

Chad E. Courtney