The new Health Centre was officially opened on Friday 9 December with a dedication service of prayer and thanks led by Magnus Bendu. The service was well attended by local villagers and school children, and was followed by a tour of the new building.

The Health Centre is to be named the Ralph O'Shea Hospital, in honour and memory of Ralph's tireless work in supporting communities in Sierra Leone.

A video of the dedication was filmed on Friday. Click on the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, Sierra Leone Facebook Page to access.

 
At the beginning

The idea for the new centre grew from a Connexion visit to Brama, Sierra Leone in November 2018 by Janet O’Shea, Bethany and Esther Green. They were introduced to a church service congregation, where they noticed a young boy. Sitting next to his mother, he was in pain, whimpering quietly to himself, and it soon became obvious that there was something seriously wrong. His mother explained that two weeks earlier her son had been playing football when he fell and broke his leg - in two places. She could not afford medical help and could not raise the money for transport to reach a clinic where he could be treated.

At Mabang, the team also met a young man with his two small children. He had just buried his wife because she had not been able to reach the hospital quickly enough.

In addition, at Brama School during a two-week visit in the summer, at least six children were taken ill with malaria, while at Bethesda two children needed treatment for malaria and one for typhoid.  

Help was given to those mentioned, but it left no doubt of a great need for health facilities. 

Magnus expressed his great concern to the Connexion team for the necessity of cheap, available medical support, and raised the consideration for funding to build and equip a local Health Centre. 

Prayer

Prayer followed these visits and Magnus’ request, and in June 2019 Zion Community Church prayed as a whole community for confirmation that this was a project that the church should support. 

God provided their answer with speed. That very evening a generous cheque was received (from a donor outside of the church community) for £5,000, which enabled the purchase of land, and this was followed in December by a donation from a Connexion church member for £30,000 to cover the costs of the build. Confirmation indeed!

Since that time, more donations were received from Connexion members, including a generous legacy from Ralph O'Shea, enabling completion of the Hospital. Currently new work is starting on the additional build of a maternity ward, which has the potential to save many lives.

Donate

Money will still be needed to assist with the running of the Ralph O'Shea Hospital and to complete the new maternity ward. If you would like to make a donation to help SLM's work in Sierra Leone, just click on the Donations button, located at the top of each website page. Please also state if you would like your donation to go towards a particular project.

Alternatively donate by Bank Transfer:

Barclays Bank
Sort code: 20-16-08, Account number: 30799076, Account name: Sierra Leone Mission 

(NB We are very grateful to receive anonymous donations, but when making a bank transfer donation, the donor's name is needed for auditing purposes. Please be assured this information will remain private.)

Or send a cheque to:

Sierra Leone Mission. Postal address: Janet Foord, 2 Cheyne Close, Church Milton, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 2SQ

Together we thank God for His amazing answer to prayer!