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British National Rescues Sierra Leonean Disabled

Author: SEM Contributor

Eighteen-year old Salifu Kamara, severely disabled and war-orphaned, is no longer the unhappy boy he used to be. After years and years of suffering on the street with no parents, no relatives, no shelter, no proper food or medication, Salifu started breathing a sigh of relief in 2005, when he met a stranger from a far away country, who has helped him off the street, into school and a new home. (Photo: Salifu Kamara and his Good Samaritan James Tyrrell)

“He took me from the point of death and has brought me back into a new life”, said Kamara, referring to 25-year old British national, James Tyrrell. “James let me know that I am a human being; that I’m human like other people. I now have hope for a brighter future, and I’ll like to become a musician or a lawyer.”

According to Kamara, he was three years old when he developed a boil on his left leg. The boil was later opened by a medical practitioner who, according to Kamara, tampered with one of his main veins.

The leg on which the operation was conducted did not heal and eventually the problem transferred to the other leg, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down and unable to walk, so that he had to propel himself along the ground using his elbows.

Kamara’s situation became even worse when his father, of Guinean birth, and his mother, a Sierra Leonean from Kono, were both brutally murdered reportedly by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), right in front of him, their only child.

He says the only reason his own life was spared was because he was handicapped.

With no trace of a single family member, Salifu had absolutely no one to turn to and was left with no option but to turn to life on the street in Bo, where he managed to survive with great hardship and suffering for three years.Â

Without access to crutches or a wheelchair, Salifu dragged himself around on his elbows, as he moved from one place to another looking for help. It was on one of such occasions that he had the good fortune of meeting a Good Samaritan — a young British man named James Tyrrell.

Tyrrell says, “I was reaching out to street children in Bo, southern Sierra Leone, when I came across Salifu crawling on the street with his elbows and I developed a strong affection to assist him”.

Tyrrell immediately helped Salifu gain admission into an orphanage operated by Christian Brothers in Bo.

Kamara was one of twenty street children admitted at the orphanage at the time. All, except Kamara, were later reunited with their parents. No family member of his was tracked down, despite all efforts.

Before departing for England on completion of his assignment, Tyrrell gave his phone number to Kamara, asking him to contact him anytime, in case there was need for urgent help.

Following the closure of the orphanage, Kamara had nowhere to stay, and was forced back onto the street.

After another four years of suffering including sustaining a stab wound in the head, Kamara was in desperate need for help when he managed to raise money through cobbling to call Tyrrell on his UK phone line, and was fortunate enough to reach him.

The exchange between them touched Tyrrell to an extent that he sent some money to Kamara for immediate use, despite his own financial limitations, paid his way all the way from England just to come and see what he could do for Salifu Kamara.

James Tyrrell and Salifu Kamara

Tyrrell arrived in Sierra Leone on October 27, 2009, and has spent close to one month trying to tackle the numerous challenges confronting Kamara, including obtaining for him from Handicap International a new wheelchair.

Amongst the assistance he has so far rendered to his new found Sierra Leonean friend and brother, are: (1) enrolling him at the Supreme Islamic Secondary School in Bumpeh, Kono, with full payment of fees for three academic years (2) paying a room rent of three years, furnishing the rented room with bed, sponge mattress and mosquito net etc. (3) buying essential clothes, uniforms and books for him and (4) putting mechanisms in place to ensure that he does not run short of anything whilst he is away.

Before departing for his native Liverpool in England on Thursday 19^th November 2009, Tyrrell obtained a mobile phone number for Kamara, and has assured him that he shall be making monthly phone calls to have monthly updates on his welfare.

Tyrrell, the only son to his parents, both of whom are in their retirement age, has worked for 30 humanitarian organizations in England, South Africa and Sierra Leone, since age 16.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in community and youth work, and a master’s degree in international development, with focus on conflict, reconstruction and poverty.

Moved by the situation of Kamara and coming himself from a humble middle class background, Tyrrell’s vision has become establishing a charity organization that will have as its main focus, restoring hope for the hopeless, with Africa being his priority. His dream is to start a charity that would put up a welcoming orphanage for marginalized and disabled youth in every country on the African continent.

Meanwhile, Tyrrell says, “I am ready to assist Salifu for the rest of his life”.

By Theophilus S. Gbenda, UK

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