Hanan presenting her gift
By Mabinty M Kamara
A 10-year girl has celebrated her birthday in a unique style with calls for consideration for the needy.
Hanan Tommy, daughter of human rights activist and Executive Director of the Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), Ibrahim Tommy, decided it’s best to spend her tenth birth day with people in need rather than people like her who have enough in life. Ms Tommy and her family chose the ‘God’s Will’ orphanage in Grafton Village in the outskirt of Freetown, which is home to children orphaned by war and disease.
‘God’s Will’ children’s home is one of the many care centers catering for needy people which are struggling to meet their basic needs.
The orphanage, established in 2004 by a Catholic priest, father John Benthon, was meant to house kids orphaned by the 1991-2002 civil war. The home incorporated Ebola orphans at the end of the epidemic which ravaged the country between 2014 and 2015.
Ms. Margret Turker, care giver at the home, told Politico that since the death of the founder, it had been going through severe financial constraint which has prevented the effective running of the facility. She said currently most of the support they get come from two couples, one based in Sierra Leone and the other in England.
“Sometimes I have to loan [money] from people to upkeep this home,” she said.
Three weeks before the arrival of the Tommys, the building housing the facility was in bad shape, explained Mrs Turker, noting that she lived in fear for the safety of the kids before it was rebuilt with the help of some poeple. She said the persistent accommodation problem has even forced her to relocate the Ebola orphans to the home of the Ward Counselor.
The orphanage is home to 21 war orphans and 23 Ebola orphans, with just four bed rooms.
“Some have to sleep with me on the floor. That’s why some are staying with the Ward Counselor. When I get anything, I share with them,” the care giver said.
These kinds of experiences faced by orphans and their care givers are what inspired young Hanan to appeal to her parents to be accorded the opportunity to celebrate her natal day in a way different from what it used to be, she said.
It used to be partying with rich people’s kids, she said in an interview with Politico.
The celebrant presented 20 bags of rice, a total of 25 gallons of oil, some bags of salt and other food items, all amounting to Le6 million Leones.
During the presentation, Hanan urged the beneficiaries to work hard and persevere.
“Life is not all about where you begin. It’s about where or how you end,”she said, sounding philosophical. She added that if they all worked hard in school and listen to their guidance or parents, “we will all become great leaders and our ending will be greater than our beginning.”
Mr Tommy later told Politico that he gave it a thought to do something big when her daughter suggested that she wanted to celebrate her birthday with Ebola orphans.
“During Ebola, a lot of people donated to the president in order to combat the disease and there was this discussion about Ebola orphans. But after Ebola, many people seem to have forgotten so quickly about the orphans. If each Sierra Leonean who is better off can do a thing like this to the needy, at least even once a year, it will mean the world to them knowing that they have no reason to worry about food,” Tommy said.
According to Hanan, little did she know that her parents were going to make the celebration as big as it turned out.
“I thought they will just prepare food and drinks as the previous birthdays so that they too can enjoy and have fun with us on this day. But I am glad that my parents thought of providing food for them (orphans) not just for today but for other days,” she said.
Ms. Turker expressed gratitude to the Tommys for their thoughts towards the orphans. She said since the establishment of the home, this donation has been the largest single they’d ever received.
© Politico 27/07/16
