Things were going well for
Man City Sierra Leone up until June 2014 when the team bus was involved in a
crash on the streets of Freetown.
The damage, as can been seen,
was extensive but more importantly the driver sustained a serious foot injury
and spent a week in hospital, that was not only painful for him but expensive
to fund. Although it was not our drivers fault there is no insurance scheme out
there as we have over here. I am pleased to say that the driver has since made
a full recovery.
The bus remained off the road
for several weeks and the cost of the repair depleted our funds considerably.
Of course being off the road for so long meant that the bus was not earning an
income for the club and yet again we had to raise finds to keep them afloat.
Eventually the bus was back
on the road and all seemed looked well, but this was short lived. Almost
immediately after the bus was back the terrible tragedy of Ebola hit West
Africa and Sierra Leone in particular. Quite soon into the disaster we received
the sad news that Dr. Mohammed Korma had died from the disease. He was the
Chair of the largest Sierra Leone supporters club outside of the capital
Freetown and had contracted the disease through his work with the afflicted. We
were able to send his family a little money to help them through the loss of
their only breadwinner.
The next tragedy struck in
October 2014 when the club medic Allie Turay died. As well as the Man City
Sierra Leone Medic he was a nurse at the local hospital which is where he
contracted the disease.
Allie Turay
He left behind a wife and two
young children. His death caught the interest of City Fans throughout the world
and we are proud to say that City fans being City fans they came together to
aid his family financially with the New York Branch holding a fund raising
event for the family and raising $1000.
By January 2014 there were
signs that the Ebola Crisis was beginning to wain having killed more than 2,500
people in Sierra Leone. However it was on 28th January that we were
informed of the death of our 19 year old defender Dura Kanu
Dura’s father died from Ebola the week before and as we
write this article his remaining family are still isolated in their home under
quarantine regulations. Dura was the player who scored the winning goal to get
the club promotion into the first division. Again we have been able to help his
family financially.
The outbreak of Ebola has seen the suspension of all
football, schooling and people are not allowed to gather, so they cannot even
go out to watch a City game on television. We all hope for end of this terrible
plight on innocent people who have little in life anyway.
That the recent bad news. Let’s look at some good news:
In November, with the ongoing Ebola crisis in mind, City
fans started collecting anti-bacterial hand gel to ship out. Whilst this was no
cure for the disease it was thought to help. Before the serval hundred bottles
collected were shipped the effort came to the attention of British Telecom, who
are the employers of Howard Burr. Through Howard they donated several thousand
anti-flu kits they had in stock. The kits consisted of face masks and
ant-bacterial wipes. Not only did they donate the kits but they also paid for
the shipment, which included our bottles of gel along with various items
donated toward Armani’s new house which is in the process of being built
The items were delivered by
Armani to various health establishments in Sierra Leone and were gratefully
received, re-enforcing their already fond views and MCFC and its supporters.
Simple donations like this actually save lives.
loading up for the Ebola crisis
Armani distributing hand gel - flue kits etc
Good news item 2:
During Arman’s visits to the
UK people have donated to him personally in order that he could build a house
for him and his family. Along with Paul Lake, Howards Burr, Phil Holme and Alex
Channon I witnessed the conditions that Armani is currently living in. To say
they are desperate is an understatement. A man who works so hard to promote Man
City in his country deserves more and I am pleased to say that the photo below
is how Arman’s new house stands now (February 2015)
It is not finished yet but is
not far off. Anytime he can earn money he buys more materials but it is a slow,
expensive project.
Armani's house as yet unfinished
We
should be very clear that none of the money donated for Sierra Leone has been spent on
Armani’s house. The money has come from individuals who have specifically
donated towards the house itself.
We can continue to grow Man
City Sierra Leone, hopefully into a Premier League club, but only with the help
from City fans worldwide, that having been said we recently received a very
generous donation from somebody who, as far as we know, is not a City fan.
Please visit the ‘How to Help’ page of this website and please tell as many people as you can
to visit the website.
