Christmas Day

Christmas day was amazing. We went to church in the morning and then had lunch together as a team. In the afternoon we went to a comunity of ladies who live just outside Freetown in a place call Hastings. All the ladies, many with children have polio and have been excluded from their communities because of their illness. Many have been raped. In order to make money they are able to tie-dye material, make garments and sell them in the ciy. However, such is the prejudice that an able-bodied person must do the selling outherwise people won't buy their goods as this country perceives that these ladies must be cursed. We spent the afternoon digging some ground to enable them to grow some of their own vegetables (someone from the UK had brought seeds), playing with the children and doing art & craft. We took them some rice, a rail to hang the completed garments and a long mirror. All this cost us less than £20 - they were delighted and did not have the words to thyank us - we did not need the words, we could see their joy at such simple gifts. I said to one of the directors of Mission Direct - everyone should experiance Christmas with the poor.............