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I will begin the story from when I met my Sierra Leonean friend Emmanuel Sajor Shaw while volunteering on the Anastasis Mercy Ship in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. We worked side by side for 3 months in the galley cooking for the ship's staff. He became a dear friend who showed me around the capital of Freetown and acquainted me with his family and culture. While slaving away in the hot kitchen one day he told me about a the dream he had to run an orphanage to help his war-torn, impoverished country.
Galley on the Mercy Ship: Emmanuel and I are on far right
His life story was fascinating to me, being raised in a Muslim home in diamond country, his father died at a young age leaving his 3 wives and 20+ children unsupported and having to fend for themselves. Emmanuel was basically an orphan himself, and as a young boy took a bus to neighboring country Guinea to stay with extended family. Along the journey he was drawn to a Christian family who ended up taking him in and raising him. He decided to renounce his Muslim faith and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Life would never be the same. His name was no longer "Sajor," but he chose to go by the Christian name Emmanuel. He comes from an extremely Muslim tribe called the Fula people who would end up rejecting him and would think of him as a lunatic for choosing to become a follower of Jesus. He continued in his faith and even had a job for awhile in the Anglican Church. He also received YWAM DTS training and went to chef school prior to joining the ship.
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With the support of a few friends in the States and in Europe, he opened up Mercy Children's Orphanage in the Fall 2005. In fact, he called me on my September birthday to tell me, "Happy birthday, the orphanage is open!" He started out with 5 orphans and a small, very basic rented house without any furniture or electricity. The kids were referred to Emmanuel through the government run ministry of children's social welfare. The kids came from various tribes, tongues, and reasons for being orphaned- such as abandonment or their parents being lost to war or illness.
My role during the first year was to do a few fundraisers to pay for school fees, beds, and Christmas gifts. Emmanuel would take a 45+ minute bus ride to town periodically in order to stay in touch through phone calls and emails.
The first house on Hill Street in Waterloo, S.L.
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The orphanage grew to 10 children, and Emmanuel moved the orphanage to a larger home. The home was registered with the government as a legitimate children's home, and all the kids continued to attend school and receive proper medical care. Emmanuel struggled to find good staff to help care for the kids. He saw a few house mothers come and go as it is difficult to find trustworthy and competent staff. I continued to support Emmanuel financially along with a handful of other friends from the Mercy Ship.
Registration with the Government
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My Dad and I went to visit in February of 2007. We saw the dilapidated house they were renting and took an opportunity to purchase about an acre of farmland to develop a new orphanage and business site. A sharp and Godly woman known as "Mama Quee" told God during their civil war (1992-2002) that if he spared her life she would return to her native land to serve Him there. Being in her mid-sixties, she returned to a rural area called Batima just outside the town of Waterloo. She owned property there and decided to found a Christian agricultural school for underprivileged children. When we met her she had approximately 300 children and mud brick school houses that were under construction. Classes were being held under the trees. A partnership was arranged that we would purchase a parcel of her land for Mercy Orphanage so that she could have money to roof her classroom structures, and in turn, the orphans would have a school next door to attend. She had prayed for God to show her how she was going to finish these school buildings, and our arrangement was God's response to her even that came to her even by the date that had been put on her heart. We saw the Lord working in our midst constantly on this trip. We were told that to survey and sign papers for a land purchase can take YEARS, and we saw it take place in our 10-day trip!
Dad Teaching how to Purify Water with Solar Power
When I returned to work back in the States, I got permission to use the drafting software at my job to draw a plan for the first building to go on the land. My dad and I brainstormed what would be a wise layout for the building. It would be a house where the director could have an office and living quarters, and could be storage for tools and materials during any future farming or construction projects. I drew up a basic plan for a 24' x 36' house and emailed it over for a local contractor to build.
New House/Office on New Property
In June of 2007, the construction was still in full swing, and another friend from Mercy Ships, Vangie Austin, was able to spend about 6 weeks at MCO. She was able to get to know the kids more and teach Emmanuel and his fiancee how to manage the budgets and finances in an organaized way. She learned a lot more about the culture of the community and was able to share many stories with me during a visit I made to her home in California in August of 2007.
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Dad & I decided to return to Sierra Leone a year later for another visit. There were several purposes of this trip, to visit the kids and our friends, to see the completion of the house, and to develop businesses at the orphanage to help it head toward being self-sustaining. They proposed an idea to me to start a chicken farm. It seemed to make sense, since we have a knowledgable friend near the orphanage who has been doing it successfully for years and was willing to guide us. They sent me plans and a rough estimate for what it would cost. I chose to step out in faith and fundraise with a goal of $15,000 for the project. It was an intimidating thing to send out letters and emails requesting money, but what a fun blessing it was to see the funds pour in. My roommates enjoyed getting the mail those days and opening another envelope with a kind note and check. There were frequent screams, "Another $500!!!" My faith in how the Lord provides was bolstered.
We had some set backs getting there; Dad and I missed a flight and spent 4 days in Georgia. Then once in Sierra Leone, the bulk of the funds did not hit the MCO bank account until the day I went home. However, with what we had, a lot of work was done. It actually looked like a poultry barn in just the 3 weeks I spent there.
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Construction of a new dorm began so the kids could leave the dilapidated rental home and move to the farm. The kids moved in mid-2009 to the farm, and for many months, all 10 children stayed in the 3-bedroom house with the director's family until the dorm was completed.
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| April 2009 |
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A huge additional was added to the family in January 2010. Emmanuel Shaw had a new partner in life and at the orphanage. He married his lovely wife, Sholade Shaw.
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| Shola, Emmanuel, & son Steven (named after Steve Dryden) |
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Improvements continued to happen around the property. Another ship full of aid and volunteers, called "The Logos" came to Sierra Leone in June 2010. Volunteers came from the ship to build a stick perimeter fence.
The dorm was complete enough for some children to move into the bottom floor.
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| August 2010 |
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| A typical bedroom in the dormitory |
Now with more living space, 6 new children, each with tragic stories, were refered by the Ministry of Social Welfare by a case worker and friend named "Auntie Alice." The kids joined the family in September.
A new venture was started. The kids received 6 pigs for Christmas.
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The Mercy Ship returned for the first time since 2004.
17 piglets are born in May.
Rachel Shaw is born! It is the custom to announce the name of a child 2-weeks into their life. The picture below is from Rachel's naming ceremony.
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The Director's Family:
Shola, Emmanuel, and children Steven and Rachel Shaw |
