Speaking to this medium, Pastor Jeremiah Swarray further disclosed that, the orphanage was established in 2014,following the world’s deadliest Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone, which claimed the lives of over three thousand people, thus leaving many children homeless, motherless, fatherless with nowhere to call for help.
He went on to state that, during those turbulent nightmare and distressing moments, the Mission Bethel Ministry together with friends and philanthropists went to donate food and non food items at a particular quarantined community in some part of Freetown, adding that after the donation, the children were shown to them by their relatives that they lost their parents to the Ebola scourge and pleaded with them to take them along, as they are virtually poor and cannot afford to care for them.
According to the evangelist Jeremiah Swarray, the members of the Mission Bethel Ministry including him became devastated and downtrodden by the statements of relatives of the abandoned children, and as a result, they wasted no time to the children along and subsequently rented a house where Gigi’s Children’s orphanage home is located at 28 Old Sand Sand Ground, Kissy Town at Waterloo in the outskirt of Freetown.
As a Christian who undoubtedly believed in the church’s vision, evangelizing God’s ministry across the universe and serving humanity, he said the project has a human face and it is one that is settled and compacted meaningful programmes and policies aimed at shaping the lives, restoring renewed hopes and aspirations to the children that all is not lost, and that the Ministry will firmly stand them in the hit of the sun and chill of the night.
He maintained that, the children now have access to education, housing, food, toilet facility to name a few at the orphanage, stating that the Ministry has a great role to play in the lives of the children, as they been have undeniably deprived of their motherly and fatherly love, caring, guidance, and direction ahead of the great future.
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, according to Pastor Jeremiah Swarray is currently working on documents presented to officials of the ministry for the regularization and certification of the Orphanage, as mandated by the country ’s law books with regards to the establishment and management of an orphanage.
He also disclosed that, the orphanage school has been promoted to nursery two and seized the opportunity to commended his wife, Mrs Joice Swarray, who he referred to as the strong backbone of orphanage, as she always allocates ample time, energy and courage to teach, direct, guide and explain to them about God’s world and the love of Jesus Christ towards mankind.
‘The Mission is presently paying rent for the orphanage, but that it has identified a vast portion of land in the same Newton community that will accommodate cafeteria, clinic, vocational and skills training Resource centre for the children and vowed that, the Mission Bethel Ministry will never relent in transforming and making sure that the children have access and better standard of education, so as to make them become productive, useful and responsible citizens of Sierra Leone.’ Pastor Jeremiah asserted.
Concluding, Pastor Jeremiah Swarray stated that the orphanage presently has five teachers, but that there are numerous challenges ahead that require the full cooperation, commitment, love, and assistance of all organizations and people with keen interest to the plight of children caught in such an unfortunate and dangerous situation to reconsider and give the children of Gigi’s Orphanage home helping hand.
