Methodist leader set to speak in Norwich
 A leader of the Methodist Church in Sierra Leone, West Africa, will be in Norwich to help raise funds for a health project in his country. Eldred Willey reports.
Joseph Ndanema, Development Secretary of the Methodist Church in Sierra Leone, will be preaching at Chapelfield Road church, 6.30pm on Sunday 6 November.
He was born in the southern region of Sierra Leone, Bonthe District, and went to the University of Sierra Leone where he did a degree in Agricultural Education. After working in a rural-based private-sector financed Oil Palm Project in eastern Sierra Leone, he took another Bachelor and a Masters Degree in Germany as an Agricultural Economist and Development Consultant.
Mr Ndanema is in England at the invitation of Christian Aid. He is promoting a partnership between British churches and the Methodist Church in Sierra Leone, to raise money for development projects.
Money raised in Norfolk will be channelled to a health project in Kailahun, in the forested north-eastern area of the country. The project will refurbish a hospital which is currently without reliable water and electricity supplies. It also lacks sufficient trained nurses and has no ambulance.
The project has attracted quadruple matched funding from the European Union, which means that one pound raised by churches will be matched with £3 by the EU.
 Mr Ndamena’s colleague, Eustace Mensah, will be speaking at the same time (6.30pm, Sunday 6 November) at Holy Trinity Church in Norwich. Mr Mensah is Christian Aid’s programme officer for Sierra Leone, and has been responsible for planning projects.
Joseph Ndanema was last in the city in 2006, when he spoke at an event jointly organised by Transforming Norwich and Christian Aid as part of the Act Justly series.
Sierra Leone is a beautiful country rich in climate and natural resources, with its capital Freetown set on an attractive coastline. However, it is also one of the poorest countries on earth. It was torn apart by a brutal civil war that ended in 2002 and left tens of thousands dead or mutilated by rebel forces. The country is only slowly rebuilding itself.
Life expectancy is only 47. Almost 1 in 10 children die before their first birthday. A third of five-year-old children are underweight. Only half the population has access to safe drinking water, and more than half the population live on less than $1.25 a day.
| 