The King's Village

Ann & Terry returned once again to The King’s Village. This time with their daughter Charlotte, her husband Shane and their sons Archie & Monty.

Ann says…

I am overwhelmed by the incredible blessing it is to be returning to the King’s Village after two years. This time the previous year Terry was still weak from the chemotherapy and the recovery from the surgery, and at that time we had no idea if he was clear of the cancer or not.

The family have never been to Africa before and definitely never to an area so remote and under developed. They soon slotted right in with the environment and they chose not to see the dirt, dust and minimal facilities. Like us, they fell in love with the people, seeing their struggle and their fortitude and amongst all that their happy personalities and their appreciation for the help you give them. This was our 22nd trip to the King’s Village and even though we had a two year gap it’s so strange how easily you slot back into the way of life and the little routines you set up to manage the lack of facilities.

We had the privilege of taking the family on the adventure across the Volta River to the area known as the ‘overseas’ where we had rebuilt the dilapidated clinic for the town, we also visited the Chief in his palace, quite an experience for them all!

We crossed the river on the local boat and then went into the village in a truck! Only Terry and Marion travelled inside, the rest of us sat on benches in the open rear of the truck, having to bob down every time we went under a tree! As the day went on it got hotter and hotter, dustier and dustier and I have to say they all coped amazingly well and we were so proud of them. The dirt, the dust, the limited facilities and of course the heat are not for everyone but it certainly showed them how a large part of the world live.

While we were there we were taken by the Imam to see a one-week old baby whose mother had died during child birth. It was tiny and fragile and in need of feeding properly, the grandmother was feeding him on the traditional ‘tea’ type substance. The Imam has become our friend as we saved his remaining two triplets four years ago. He is often on the lookout for children that are malnourished and refers them to us. In this case he was coming to the opening of the new unit so he made sure the baby was brought across for admission. He is now named Abdullai Archie Monty!

The school this year is going to undertake some education about the worldwide problems of the use of plastics. Hopefully if we can educate this young generation going forward there will be some major improvements certainly in the northern region in their environment, and that in turn will impact the health of the communities.

At the point that I paused this letter on the Sunday little did I know what the next few days would bring? On the Tuesday morning as we were out in one of the very remote areas traveling round the communities encouraging them on the sanitation we had a call from Terry’s brother, even now I can’t understand how we even got signal as the area has no electricity or any facilities. Terry’s Mum had passed away very suddenly early on the Tuesday morning having been taken ill on the Sunday night. It was a real shock as we had spoken to her on the Saturday morning and she was fine. For Terry he struggled being so far away and not being able to get in the car and drive down.

We therefore felt we should go home early to assist with the practicalities. Thankfully BA were very accommodating and allowed us to change our flights free of charge, so exactly a week early we arrived home.

We are so grateful to Mum as it was her generosity right from the start that had kick started the Nutrition Centre and without her ongoing support we would have struggled. What a legacy she has left having established a centre that has saved over 5000 children.

So it remains for me to say again a huge thank you to you all for supporting us and helping save 5000 children’s lives.

Ann & Terry