After a long journey leaving Wells at 1 am on Friday, we finally made it to Aberdeen Ferry port around 7:30 pm that day… meeting Kitty and Musa, from the Ballanta after a 2 year hiatus was a relief after months of preparation and some worries about new airport fees, COVID regulations etc… Kitty had also brought for us some food, and even at this late hour, it was like feeding an hungry mob… the 2 chickens, 7 pizzas, rice and chips were demolished by us all!
Saturday saw our first “engagement” and our first glimpse of Ballanta- with the reassuring welcome poster on the wall of the academy.
When we arrived, we were immediately taken to the now completed new mini auditorium, partly funded by money raised by the project over the last 4 years. What a triumph it is! And it was great to see it being used, with a dance group rehearsing…and then our pupils joining in. A great and joyful start to this trip, and for me and the rest of the staff, it was really uplifting to see our pupils engage immediately and without reserve!
Later on, we had our first taste of the lovely pies from Salvone’s bakery before heading to Don Bosco orphanage where we were to have our first “engagement”: our musicians entertained a few of the young children from the streets, who come to the orphanage during the day to play, have lessons and receive counselling- some of them then go home at night, whilst other go to the other Don Bosco shelter to sleep. Again, I was in awe of the ease which which our pupils took everything in their stride, and it was not long before the children were on their laps, laughing and asking the usual “what is your name?”. Inevitably, after the music, we went to the playground for some football- first the girls and then the boys, a fiercely competitive game! Both teams drew, so our honour is intact! On the way back, some pupils and staff got their first taste of police corruption here- sadly rife- when their an was stopped under a false pretext, the driver’s licence taken and would only be returned to him in exchange of some money- they got away lightly with 10000 Leones ( less than a dollar), but it took them and Mr Walton by surprise. In the evening, we ended up eating at the nearby Papaya- chicken and Jollof rice was a big winner. A good day was had by all in the end… and today, we are off to BawBaw, an area south of Freetown, with a nice beach for an afternoon of relaxation before the hard work start tomorrow!
Let’s hope the current torrential rain stops… end of the rainy season though, and when it rains, it pours!
