Day 10: A long way home

Our final day in Sierra leone started with a quick three hour packing session. Then after that we went for one final meal at Papaya where mostly everyone had about half a pizza. When we had finished, our travelling began and in a spectacularly stressful way we quickly found out that the boat tickets we had bought were the wrong ones. After roughly an hour of solid arguing, threatening and pleading, Mr Bowen, Mrs Nash and Mrs Ralls finally managed to convince the seamen that we had actually bought tickets and we were allowed on the ferry. Special mentions go to Mrs Ralls and Mrs Nash who both later told me they were ready to throw hands. During this aggressive confrontation, Mrs Nash's face changed colour from white to burgundy and visible signs of frustration were seen as she almost vibrated with anger. However, everything was slowly sorted and the boat ride to the next bus calmed everyone down as we were given spectacular views of Freetown. The bus journey from the boat to the airport felt like we were in a kiln whilst being in a severe earthquake at the same time. Nevertheless we all made it in one piece and got through airport security fairly quickly. The downside to this speedy process was the ‘random security checks’ in which most of us felt the uncomfortable gloves of security pat us down at least a couple of times. After coming through this traumatic event we patiently waited the many hours it took for the plane to arrive and set off feeling confident we'd not have to have rice again for several months. This dream was quickly squandered as we found out that dinner that night would be chicken curry, but in true Sierra Leone form we pushed through and made it out of the other side of that long 9 hour flight with most of us getting about a quarter of the sleep we wanted. We arrived in Brussels very early and with four hours to kill before we needed to board the plane, most of us got some food and well needed rest. Boarding was on time and we were all finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. That is until the Pilot became ill and we had to wait another hour before we took off for a new one to come. The flight was nice and short however and when we finally entered Heathrow we all felt cheerful if not a bit tired. Mr Bowen didn't snore once (which was good as I was somehow sat next to him for all of the flights). Mrs Nash's and Mrs Ralls’ pet chimpanzees made it through the journey with no scrapes or stains and Mrs Deans was one of the only people who looked like she had fully slept. Finally, I just want to say a big thank you to Mrs Nash, Mr Bowen, Mrs Deans, Mrs Ralls and Mrs Williams for making this trip so amazing and for being with us when we weren't all feeling amazing. This trip really couldn't of functioned without them and we all grateful for the amount of hard work and support they have all given us throughout this once in a lifetime opportunity. Thank you. Written by Gabriel

Day 9: Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary

Today we started off with the 18th birthday of Will! He had a special treat today as we went to the chimpansee sanctuary. The sanctuary was a little away as we had to go to the rainforest. Going up the mountain was interesting as the road was very bumpy and steep. The last bit was so steep that we had to walk up until we arrived at the sanctuary. We did the tour through the sanctuary and we were taught all about the individual chimpanzees and how the sanctuary works. We first passed the babies, they were all enclosed and were getting used to life at the sanctuary. Then the older ones, they were 4-8 years old. We saw them get fed potatoes and they were pretty good at catching! They were all huddling together hugging each other and picking flees. Then we got to the teenage chimpanzees and they were a lot bigger and stronger. Their sanctuary was more like the wild and they got fed less times a day than the smaller ones. We also saw them get fed, and the leader got the most potatoes. There was one with a baby! We then moved on to the biggest sanctuary with the oldest chimpanzees and you couldn’t really see all of them so well as they were up in the trees and they had a sanctuary that was 7 acres big. We were lucky though as they were also almost being fed so we got to see a few of them quite well. Written by Hannah

After lunch, we had a short break and then, unbeknownst to him, we had a surprise in the form of a birthday cake for Will. After this, it was back to the minibus for a quick trip to our final concert of the trip. This concert featured a few local choirs, and some solo organ pieces, aswell as Hannah singing with Adelaide accompanying and Revekka, Gabe, Myself and Morgan playing some hymns. Before we left, we received a gift of some jewellery each from Ballanta and then it was back to Papaya for dinner. We ended the night with another cake from the owner of the hotel to wrap up the final full day here. Written by Guy

Day 8: The Football Match

Today we started as usual with our breakfast in the hotel before all 16 of us piled into the minibuses to travel to JTR together. This was my first time properly at JTR as I’ve spent the rest of the week teaching brass instruments at Ballanta so the bombardment of hundreds of excited children was a new experience for me. Today at JTR was a different kind of day as the plan was for two football games to take place. The first being between two classes of students and the second between the Wells lot and the JTR first team. After watching an entertaining match close with a score of 4-1 it was our turn to take to the concrete. Our immense levels of skill and physicality however weren’t enough and we found ourselves in a 3-1 loss. A stellar performance from Guy in goal saved us from it being more like a 10-1 loss. To top it off we finished the game with numerous possibly career ending injuries, putting Sean’s, Billy’s and my Premier League dreams in the bin. We said our goodbyes and departed the school for the final time before heading off to the market. We spent an hour or so wandering through getting pulled from stall to stall collectively buying lots of trousers, football shirts and jewellery. To finish our day we took a short walk which also somehow caused an injury to meet Musa and Kitty at a nearby restaurant for us to say our unofficial thank you’s and goodbye before our final full day. Written by Morgan.

Day 7: Concert at the High Commissioner's

Today was our last day of teaching at Ballanta, which was bittersweet as we got to see the amazing progress of all the students, but meant we were leaving them. I was lucky to have some very keen and enthusiastic students wanting to learn violin which made teaching for me such an honour. They came back each day having pracitsed and remembered what I'd told them the day before and by the end of the week, they pretty much got the hang of playing violin. What impressed me the most were my two blind students who so naturally and easily could play the violin after only 20 minutes. Sadly we lost our guitarist, bass guitarist and pianists but when walking around the school I saw their students practising when they'd been taught earlier in the week which was really encouraging. We then returned to our hotel to get ready for our concert at the British High Commission. This was a fantastic concert with a good variety of classical and pop music. By the end of the night everyone was dancing, including the High Commissioner herself! Written by Revekka />

Day 6: Further updates from Ballanta and JTR

Ballanta : Interesting start to the day as we discover 4 of our us are feeling under the weather. Having checked they were okay and after a quiet breakfast, the rest of us we head off to Balanta where some of us had to teach new people who have had to migrate over instruments. We carried on with lots of jazz in the piano room where I had the pleasure of meeting more people with bags of talent. It’s amazing how quickly people pick up different scales and melodies - one person even managed to move on to some improvisation. Only one concert to finish the day today, but this time with the addition of Revekka on the bass. Not quite Lil Weatt’s prowess but a great performance nonetheless. Of course Gabe had to get mobbed by the girls again to round off the night. We’re all wishing the best for our less fortunate friends and hoping they get well soon. written by George

JTR: Today was day six of our Sierra Leone trip and although it was amazing it did a few hiccups. These started this morning among finding 4 of us had an eventful night, and were feeling pretty sick. This meant that it would be less of us teaching at JTRR, although this didn’t hold us back. Our lessons all went well though, and as always the kids were very sweet and excited to see us. The walk to Balanta was boiling today, although it’s always interesting to see the exciting streets of Freetown. Back at our hotel we heard that those who have been poorly were feeling much better, which we are all relieved about. We finished at Papaya for another serving of rice, and now we’re heading to bed as are very tired. Written by Theo

One of Mr Bowen's pupils retelling part of the story he was teaching them.

Drama Lessons with Mrs Deans

Day 5: Milton Margarita School for the blind and SOS children’s orphanage

Ballanta Teaching - Today was our second day of teaching at the Academy of Music. Pretty shortly after we arrived at the school (around 10) we started teaching. It was mainly the same students as yesterday but there were also some people we hadn’t met before. We were able to get more comfortable with teaching and with the students themselves, and sometimes hear that our teaching had helped. After teaching we did two outreach concerts: one at Milton Margai school for the blind and one at the SOS children’s orphanage. The children were all so enthusiastic, there was dancing all around and lots of singing along with the band. I think it was a moving experience for everyone, especially the first concert at the school for the blind. When the children sang as a thank you after our performance there were tears from some of us. It was incredible to witness the determination and talent of these children in a place where there’s not much reward available for having it. We were all grateful for the opportunity to share our music and hear theirs. Today will be one of the most important memories of our lives, and that’s because of the generosity and kindness of the people here. Being able to teach and learn from the people of Sierra Leone is meaningful for all of us, and we’re happy to be able to play our music as thanks. Written by Adelaide

JTR Teaching - The day began with the end of a huge storm, which had kept Monty up the previous night and made him grouchy in the morning! In torrential rain, we went straight to JTR, this time with a bit more confidence in our teaching. We received another warm welcome from the pupils, despite great disappointment from his princess that Gabe had gone to Ballanta. The lessons ran more smoothly overall, despite the high humidity, and from there we moved on to Ballanta where we enjoyed the end of a concert by the musicians and had lunch. Our concert at the School for the Blind was the highlight of today, as the children danced and sung passionately to our music. It proved very moving as well, as a lot of the Wells group were left in tears. Finally, we moved on to the orphanage, where the crowd were equally interactive, particularly to the song ‘Blame it on the Boogie’. On returning to our hotel, everyone was shattered and ready for another great meal out at ‘Papaya’. Written by Buck

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