Youth Project from SOS CV Freetown (Sierra Leone)…
Do you want to read about a fabulous love story? It's all "SOS Children's Villages made" and just so romantic!
- Lisa
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Youth Project from SOS CV Freetown (Sierra Leone)
Do you want to read about a fabulous love story? It's all "SOS Children's Villages made" and just so romantic!
Finally Together, for Life
Back to The Gambia after a few weeks of holidays spent in Liberia, 33-year-old Emmanuel, a former SOS youth from Sierra Leone, is looking as usual except for one little thing. He did not put on weight, did not change his hair style, still smiles and dresses the same way, but now proudly wears a golden ring on his left hand. He finally got married! Emmanuel is one of the happiest men in the world and you will understand why.
It all began like this...
Emmanuel grew up at SOS Children's Village Freetown in Sierra Leone. At the age of 24, he came to The Gambia in 1997 to pursue his studies as a mechanics apprentice at the SOS Vocational Training Centre of Bakoteh. He stayed at the SOS Youth Facility, just next door from his new training school.
That same year, a girl named Cecelia (at that time 18 years old) came from SOS Children's Village Monrovia in Liberia to receive treatment at the SOS Medical Centre in Bakoteh for a serious hearing deficiency that she developed during the war in Liberia. She was accomodated at SOS Children's Village Bakoteh.
Soon after Cecelia had arrived, Emmanuel was introduced to her by one of her Liberian SOS brothers who was also staying at the youth facility. Due to her infirmity - she could not (and still cannot) hear -, the girl was very shy and spent most of the time alone; Emmanuel wanted to give her back self-confidence and make her feel happy. As he says, "Every SOS child should feel at home in any SOS Children's Village; that's what I wanted for Cecelia".
He started visiting her almost every day at the SOS Children's Village. "I used to make jokes, dance, buy her presents to make her feel special", recalls Emmanuel with a smile. Communicating was of course not easy for them at first. "I bought myself a little notebook where I used to communicate with Cecelia by writing. She was able to reply speaking and I became very good in writing", he explains. "We communicated like this for three months until she got used to read my lips."
They became very good friends, and soon they fell in love - secretly, because it was (and still is) against the rules in a children's village. Nevertheless, everyone at the village eventually discovered the love they had for each other. The village director could not believe it! He had thought Emmanuel was coming every day to visit Cecelia as any SOS brother would do. Their feelings were just too strong...
Far from the eyes, but still very close to the heart
In 2000, Cecelia had to go back to Liberia. Her hearing problem could not be solved and nothing else could be done for her in The Gambia. She returned to SOS Children's Village Monrovia and started working there as an "SOS aunt", helping the SOS mothers to take care of the children.
Emmanuel stayed to finish his mechanics training, and soon after was employed by the SOS Vocational Training Centre of Bakoteh as a tutor. He felt sad and lonely, but knew that their love was strong enough to last. "We could only communicate through letters. With the support of some SOS Children's Villages staff travelling between the two countries, we managed to keep in touch, but sometimes with only one or two letters a year", Emmanuel explains.
She is the one!
With all these complications and lack of possibilities to communicate as often as needed, Emmanuel and Cecelia's relationship could easily have gone down the drain. However, when Cecelia once came back to The Gambia in March 2005 to attend the three-month training for all SOS mothers and aunts in the region, Emmanuel 'jumped' on the opportunity to show Cecelia she was the love of his life and proposed to her. "I still asked for the permission from Josef Kittl, the regional director of SOS Children's Villages North West Africa, to be sure SOS Children's Villages was supporting me!", Emmanuel adds.
Of course, Cecelia said "yes"! The engagement party took place at the SOS Mother and Adult Training Centre in Bakoteh [where Cecelia and other SOS mothers and aunts from Liberia and Sierra Leone were staying], in a very joyful atmosphere, with all SOS mothers, aunts and staff.
A dream comes true
Emmanuel left The Gambia on 25 August 2006, a little anxious and very excited, as all future grooms can be. The wedding took place on 9 September 2006 in the village chapel at SOS Children's Village Monrovia. Sitting in the chapel, he only had to wait a short time before he saw Cecilia arriving, in her beautiful long white dress. "I had tears in my eyes", he confesses. "All I had dreamt for years was finally becoming true!". They exchanged their vows, and from this moment knew they could finally live happily ever after - together.
- Mary
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A section of the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Lower Basic School garden - SL Bakoteh, The Gambia
The "SOS Community Outreach School" in Bakoteh
What the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Technical Senior Secondary School in Bakoteh started as little drops of water by way of community outreach programmes, is like a river flowing out to refresh the community in several ways today. Activities range from literacy programmes to tree planting and fundraising and, now, to a "Peer Health Education" programme raising awareness regarding HIV/AIDS.
The beginnings: literacy programmes
It all began in 1996 when a group of student volunteers came together under the guidance of the English teachers to write short stories which they read to other pupils attending schools in the neighbourhood. This was meant to inculcate the spirit of service to others and also to encourage students and pupils to develop good reading habits.
This literacy programme became very popular and school principals in the neighbourhood became keenly interested in it. Regular weekly visits were organized usually on Fridays and students participated by roster to give each member of the team a chance to give a helping hand.
With time, the stories were put together in the form of books spiced up with nice illustrations courtesy of the arts and craft department. The books, which were read during these visits, were donated to the schools visited afterwards.
Other activities
In addition to the literacy programmes, student volunteers also participated in periodic tree planting and cleaning of the environment. They also organised fundraising by selling their art exhibits as well as produce from the school farm to help the needy and destitute students among them. These activities continued through the years as the occasion demanded.
HIV/AIDS programmes
In April 2005, the community service programme took a slightly different approach. The school had organized a seminar on "Vocational Awareness" which brought in five guest speakers. One of them was Mr Saidou Jallow from the National Aids Secretariat. He furnished the students with vital statistics on HIV/AIDS in The Gambia and pointed out that in spite of the low prevalence rate in HIV/AIDS infection a lot of sensitization needs to be done to avert a national disaster.
The students' interest was greatly aroused after this seminar and together with the School's Counsellor, a group of them set up a "Peer Health Education Team" made up of 35 members to sensitize their peers on health-related issues especially on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. A training workshop was held in the school on 6 May 2005 to equip the team with the essential tools to rightly disseminate information.
Highly motivated, the team visited three schools in June and July 2005 to pass on information and basic facts on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Cholera:
At the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Lower and Upper Basic School, the team spent two hours to share information and teach 70 students in Grades 7 and 8 on issues relating to HIV/AIDS. In Bakoteh Upper Basic School, a community school, a total of 500 students in Grades 7 and 8 benefited from 30 minutes of information sharing on HIV/AIDS. Afterwards, the school's drama club staged a short but relevant sketch to reinforce what the Team had shared with them. Kotu Primary, another community school had a 90-minute interactive session with the team. Altogether, 60 Pupils in Grades 5 and 6 participated.
The responses from these schools have been positive. Students and pupils have been very open and shared their thoughts freely. They also asked questions which they would probably hesitate to ask their parents at home. Many of them expressed how enlightened they felt after the sessions with the Peer Health Education Team. The principals and teachers in these schools were also very appreciative.
One parent expressed appreciation to the principal of the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Technical Senior Secondary School concerning the work of the team. According to the parent, his ward had shared with him what information the pupils and students had received on HIV/AIDS.
These responses were real boosters to the Peer Health Education Team. The team members were looking forward to visiting more schools in September 2005 when schools resumed. With these strides, everyone is hopeful that this programme will have the desired multiplier effect.
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