PASTORAL INTERLUDE: GRANDMA'S WISE WORDS!

GRANDMA'S WISDOM Meet the oldest and wisest lady in Manays, Mrs Adama Musket, wife of the Chief, co-chair and co-leader of the women’s co-op. This venerable lady explains how she was very was poorly in the morning of the event but managed to walk 600 yards to the meeting that afternoon and now felt like a young girl seeing so much activity and hope coming back to the village. Haja Musket has seen many generations of the Banguras. This wise Grandma tells her story of not doubting ones children and how children will always return when truly needed. This is an old story in Sierra Leone. A true tale of prodigal son(s) returning.

SO WHAT’S THE DEAL? Why's this lovely old lady so happy? It's because we're planting our 15 acres / 6 hectares with 30 bushels of rice seed. It’s going to cost around $900 which includes cleaning and scrubbing the land, planting and weeding, harvesting and cleaning the rice. It also includes a $150 contribution to the school.

To show the community how we mean to go on and to lead by example, we’re sharing our harvest three ways – 1/3 for seed to replant straightaway (split 50/50 with the community); a third for the village to choose whether to eat, keep or sell and 1/3 for us to feed 40 children in our Interim Care Centre the whole year round.

We found many Manays’ subsistence farmers wanting to join our programme, so if we can raise the money to plant more land, we’ve agreed to split the harvest the same three ways: - One third for seed split 50/50 between subsistence farmers and Hope to plant straightaway, enabling production to double for the next planting. - One third for the farmer to eat, to keep or to sell. - One third for us to feed Ebola orphans and other vulnerable children.

THE LADIES AGREE… This has been a tough year for Manays, Sanda Magbolonto Chiefdom, Port Loko. Like many villages in Sierra Leone this year has been hard. The first year in a long time when there is no seed to plant.

These ladies from the women’s co-op reply to Haja Musket and think Grandma right. They pick up her song and singjoyously of their salvation from suffering. God has sent family back as redeemers and that gives them joy and hope for relief from poverty and struggle, they were without hope but now are raised.

This is our joyous thanks for just suggesting a small project of 15 acres. Imagine the songs of thanks you will receive if you give Manays a hand up and help them become self-sufficient or help the ladies plant their peanuts.

So, we learnt a lot in Manays. We learnt that there’s lots of land, lots of people wanting to work and all this one village need to become self-sufficient in 3 planting seasons is some food for toil, some seed to plant, a tractor on day loan and some improvements to their community storage. Manays want a hand up not a hand out. We’re going to help in a small way with our 15 acres but will you help us plant more, help more people and more children more quickly?