Well, it's looking promising.... Hope might finally be receiving the long-promised land in John Obey to build a permanent foster village for vulnerable children. On the highway and with Sugar Loaf mountain as a backdrop and a short walk to another of Sierra Leone's beautiful beaches the foster village will have a perfect setting. And thanks to the most generous donation from the District Grand Lodge of Sierra Leone and the Gambia and the United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Lodge of Ireland the money to pay 5 million Leones for the Lease and put in some more substantial marker posts required by the lease.So what's been going on since November 2015?
Long-time readers will recall the first delay involved 3 months of negotiating with the local community and Ministry after our request for an adjustment to avoid cutting down trees and impacting the environment in a protected area. And then another 8 months to get the new land marked out. And after that? Well, after that, despite 2 years of repeated visits and requests to the Ministry, no deed was forthcoming tho the promise tantalizingly remained. The land was ours but not ours and therein lies a tale for another time..
In the meantime, we're extremely grateful for the new direction demonstrated by the new administration in the prompt attention from the Ministry of Lands, Planning and Environment and for re-surveying the land without requiring any further inducement!
The saga doesn't stop there tho... On this most recent site visit to confirm the land's boundaries Mr Williams and Mama Mayila found some else claiming the land was there. Fortuitously the Ministry Surveyor was able to resolve the matter, calling the former surveyor who admitted selling the land that had been granted to Hope! Which we think probably explains the delay....
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