By Lynn Pelton | Executive Director
Dear Donor,
Greatest Goal Ministries USA now has three of the four containers of emergency relief items sailing to Sierra Leone. The first 20 foot container of hand sanitizer should arrive this week. The 20 foot container of gloves is estimated to arrive in early November. The 40 foot container of bleach will follow about two weeks later. In two weeks, the last container out of Seattle, WA will be loaded. This local shipment is now at Gateway Medical Alliance waiting for the last two pallets of a total 13 pallets of assorted Ebola related medical supplies.
In late July of this year, President of Sierra Leone, President Ernest Bai Koroma, issued a state of emergency in the country. There were several steps announced and among them was the restriction of all public meetings and gatherings. This restriction means that there are no soccer games or practices allowed in the country for any teams.
For Greatest Goal Ministries Disability Sports Association we normally supply soccer uniforms and equipment but the Ebola crisis has changed everything. With country borders closed and villages quarantined, life is difficult for most Sierra Leoneans, but even more so for the disabled population.
In an attempt to help ease some of the pressure of the quarantine, Greatest Goal Ministries USA arranged with our Sierra Leone staff to deliver food items to nine polio and amputee teams in 6 cities across Sierra Leone.
To coordinate an endeavor such as this during a state of emergency took plenty of planning. The Executive Director of GGM USA, Lynn Pelton, wrote a letter to the Emergency Command Center of Sierra Leone requesting special credentials which would allow six GGM Sierra Leone Staff members to travel through the check points to the amputee and polio centers located in the provinces with several of them in the “hot zone”. Those cities included Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Makeni, Kamakuye and Moyamba.
These teams are located in communities that are now very isolated. The food delivered was divided between community team members and their families. In addition to the delivery of food, Phillip Sesay, GGM Lady Deborah Berewa Outpatient Hospital nurse director, taught each community about Ebola and what they could do to help themselves and protect their families.
The Kenema Polio team said that they were extremely grateful for the love and sacrifice that was made on the part of Greatest Goal Ministries Sierra Leone staff. The GGM Sierra Leone staff had to drive over 6 hours one way to meet with the Kenema team. The Kenema soccer team said it was great that as an organization, Greatest Goal Ministries USA thought about them at a time like this when they needed people and organizations to help them. They want to thank everyone involved in the process.
The Bo amputee team headed by coach Darboh has been long time members of Greatest Goal Ministries Sierra Leone Disability Sports Association. They said they were grateful that we were there for them during this difficult time when the government has limited movement across the country due to the Ebola crisis. They said they were looking forward to Greatest Goal Ministries USA’s continued help and they trust that we would be there for them.
It was very difficult before the Ebola crisis for the amputees and disabled of Sierra Leone but it is even more difficult now. They need help. Together we can make a difference. Thank you for your continued support.
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