Sierra Leone - Kamakwie Wesleyan Hospital

What We Can Do . . .

Crosswinds would like to partner financially with the National Wesleyan Church of Sierra Leone and provide scholarships for students from the Kamakwie Wesleyan Hospital.  Scholarships will enable them to receive an education in Freetown and be in a financial position to return to serve at Kamakwie.  Tuition for a student to study for one year is $3,000.

We are currently collecting the following items that will be shipped to help the hospital:
1. Prescription pill bottles, any height or color,  labels and adhesive removed, and bases being only 1-1/4”  in diameter
2. Rolled bandages made from sheets that have been torn lengthwise into strips three inches wide and three sheet lengths long, sewn end-to-end
3. Medical text books , no matter how old, written in English

To donate any of these three items, please put them in the bin in the Chapel lobby labeled Sierra Leone.

What You Can Do . . .

First, please pray that God will provide for the needs of the doctors and nurses in training and in the ministry at Kamakwie Wesleyan Hospital.  They are our brothers and sisters in Christ and God loves them dearly, just as He loves us.

Secondly, ask the Lord if you should partner financially and if so, what He would want you to give to help provide scholarships for the doctors and nurses in training.

If you feel God is calling you to give a financial gift, please make your check out to Crosswinds and write Sierra Leone—Kamakwie in the memo line.  Your financial gifts will be forwarded to Global Partners, the missionary organization of the Wesleyan Church, and sent to the National Wesleyan Church of Sierra Leone for scholarships at Kamakwie.

For More Information

Steve Gardner
(585) 394-5857 x119
sgardner@crosswindsonline.org

Background

Missionaries from the United States began a medical mission in 1919 that came to be known as the Kamakwie Wesleyan Hospital.  Over the years, many doctors and nurses from the United States have served there.  Two of them were actually honored by Queen Elizabeth with honorary membership into the British Empire for their work at this humble hospital.  Amazingly, there is even a Crosswinds connection at Kamakwie: Dr. Charles Paine, who served there in the ‘70s and ‘80s is the brother of our own Sam Paine!

In 1959 new facilities were completed, making Kamakwie Wesleyan Hospital the primary hospital in the northwest portion of Sierra Leone.  The closest hospital is three hours away.

During the ten-year civil war, the hospital was taken over by rebels.  Though most of the staff was able to safely flee, one of the doctors was captured and forced to work at the hospital for the rebels in order to protect his family from being killed.
Since the end of the war the cost of operating the hospital has continued to rise dramatically.  As a result, some of the doctors and nurses, who must continue their training in the capital city of Freetown, have found the expense to be too much.  They sometimes return to practice with limited education, or they leave the hospital entirely, getting more lucrative jobs in Freetown or in Europe, leaving Kamakwie in need.