A true record of the author's trip to West Africa to visit the School which he helps to fund and to meet his good friend, the Headteacher, Edward de Sesay, a refugee from Sierra Leone.
"By the end of the week we had got to know Njogu the driver and guide well and for some reason on one of the return journeys back to Serrakunda he made a diversion and took us to see where he lived. It was very moving. It was little more than a shack built from the normal blocks with tin roof and no windows. He slept on the floor on a blanket. It was very neat and tidy with his cassette player and collection of tapes in the corner. Although to us it was very sad to see how this young man who we had got to know well and laughed and joked with as if we had known him years he was undoubtedly proud of his home and few possessions proud enough for him to want us to see it. The surprise silenced us for a while"
"By the end of the week we had got to know Njogu the driver and guide well and for some reason on one of the return journeys back to Serrakunda he made a diversion and took us to see where he lived. It was very moving. It was little more than a shack built from the normal blocks with tin roof and no windows. He slept on the floor on a blanket. It was very neat and tidy with his cassette player and collection of tapes in the corner. Although to us it was very sad to see how this young man who we had got to know well and laughed and joked with as if we had known him years he was undoubtedly proud of his home and few possessions proud enough for him to want us to see it. The surprise silenced us for a while"
Used availability for Roger Weston's A Smile on Their Faces and Hope in Their Hearts