David Tennant visited Sierra Leone in West Africa last year for Sport Relief to see why our support of the charity is so important in changing the lives of people in need. Read his account here:
Day One – Bomeh dump, Freetown
I meet father-of-two Sheka, one of the 100 people living on
the dump. Since the last time I came to Africa, with Comic Relief in 2011, I
have become a father three times over, so meeting him was especially affecting.
He has lived there for 17 years now with his wife Kadiatu,
his 18-month-old daughter Fatmata and his six-year-old son Ibrahim, and
struggles every day to sell enough rubbish to provide for his family. He shares
with me his pain at not being able to give his family a better life and his
guilt at not being able to earn enough to send his son to school, which would
one day allow him to provide a better life for his family.
We had planned to film in their home but the thick, noxious
fumes made it impossible and unsafe. I watched him and his family disappear through
that smoke, feeling utterly helpless and brokenhearted for the dad who just
wants, like me and every other father, to do the best for his family.
Next I met Alusine (12) and Mohamed (10), two brothers who
work on the dump, “picking”. They work from morning to night sifting through
burning rubbish to try to find anything they can sell on to make enough money
to survive.
On a good day they can make 1,000–2,000 leones – about
15–30p. With both their parents dead, they live next to the dump with their
grandmother, who is too frail to work.
Without the project funded by Sport Relief, kids like this would have a bleak
future. But with the money raised by you, kids like Alusine and Mohammed could
one day soon go to the YMCA Kissy Primary School, which costs just £50 a
year.
Day Two – Ola During Children’s Hospital, Freetown
This is the only place where children can get specialised
treatment in Sierra Leone. I was shown all the wonderful changes that have
taken place thanks to all you brilliant people who have ever put your hand in
your pocket.
A project called Welbodi, funded by Sport Relief, provides trained nurses who can
make diagnoses without a doctor present. There is now a lab on site so the
process of diagnosing is made faster and more efficient, and the introduction
of an x-ray machine and its operators has been revolutionary. Daily vaccination
clinics are now held to try and prevent the children getting sick in the first
place.
All of these things are funded in some way by Sport Relief. Not only that, but the project
also works within communities to educate and encourage families to get
healthcare earlier to give them a better chance of recovery.
It was such an uplifting experience to see what an enormous
difference all that money we ask of you does. It changes the lives of so many
people and I truly believe that you have helped people live who otherwise
wouldn’t have. You have given a future to children who previously only had
survival, and given people hope when they had none.
If you have ever wondered if giving to Sport Relief really changes anything, here
is the proof that is does. Things are better here because of you.
Day Three – Isatu's home, Freetown
My final visit was to the home of an extraordinary woman
named Isatu. Early last year she found a 13-year-old boy called Saidu crying
near her village. The tears were for his mother, Sento, who was very ill with
an HIV-related illness.
He took Isatu to his mother and she decided that she had to
help. She moved them both into her home so she could care for these strangers
herself. What makes this already astonishing act of selflessness even more
extraordinary is that not only did she and her family not have much money but
she too is living with HIV.
For the past five months the two families have lived
together in two rooms in rural Freetown, where Isatu can help care for Sento
and her son. Money is tight, and sometimes Sento doesn’t have enough food to
take her medication, so must drink salt water to line her stomach.
Sento spends her days lying on a door that rests on the
floor as there is no other furniture. On a good day she can walk a little with
a stick in one hand and her son in the other, but is totally reliant on Isatu
and Saidu to stay alive. As a volunteer carer she is funded by a project sponsored by Sport Relief.
My time in Sierra Leone showed me the best and worst of
humanity. Whether it’s a father trying his hardest to give his kids a better
future, children smiling as they pick their way through burning rubbish or
doctors and nurses dedicating their lives to trying to save others, even when
they know they have come too late.
I know we go on at you to “pick up the phone” and “give what
you can” but I’m asking again. Please know that you are so important and what
you do is really quite miraculous.
The film of David's visit will feature on tonight's Sport Relief 2014 show on BBC One between 7pm - 10pm
Sport Relief and Comic Relief raise money to help transform the lives of some of the poorest and most
disadvantaged people both at home in the UK and across the world. Find out how you can support the 2014 appeal at www.sportrelief.com or donate from anywhere in the world here.
Source: Radio Times
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