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HRH visits a boys' school in Sierra Leone

28th November 2006

On his second day in Sierra Leone, The Prince of Wales visited the Methodist Boys’ School in Freetown to meet teachers and pupils and see the work of charity ActionAid first-hand.

The school, which was founded in 1874, is in the Kissy district of the capital city.

ActionAid, of which The Prince is Patron, helped to improve the facilities at the school, including renovating one of the school’s buildings and installing a new hand water pump.

Tennyson Williams, ActionAid’s Director in Sierra Leone, talked The Prince through the charity’s work at the school.

He said: "In 1998 this area saw some heavy fighting between the rebels and opposing forces and there was a lot of shelling. One of the school buildings was badly damaged and our first job was to get it back in a working condition.

"ActionAid spent about £10,000 rebuilding the roof and refurbishing the interior and providing furniture.

"The Prince's visit is important because it sends a message to the international community, non-governmental organisations and investors that Sierra Leone is safe and they can do business here.

"To have a member of the British Royal Family here to see what the country has been through and realise the assistance they need and also what the people are doing to help themselves is also important."

The Prince met the head boy, 18-year-old John Kallon, who showed him around the school. His Royal Highness visited an English language class and chatted to teacher James Fatoma and many of the pupils, who were aged between nine and 15-years-old.

The Prince then visited the school’s peaceful vegetable patch where students grow sweet potatoes, cassava, cucumber and maize plants.

The Prince and John, the head boy, walked through the rows of plants. The Prince also spent time examining the maize plots which grew to head height.

Afterwards John said: "The Prince was asking me about the botanical names of the plants and I told him what they were and the local ones too."

"He noticed some of the maize plants were dry and some of them were green and asked what the problem was and I said 'the patches of ground had different ph levels'."

As The Prince approached the piggery, a small collection of wooden huts covered with a corrugated iron roof, he heard the animals squealing and began to laugh.

The Prince keeps Tamworth pigs, a breed of pig native to the UK, at the Duchy Home Farm near his family home Highgrove.

Once inside the cramped buildings, Sanpha Kallon, head of agriculture at the school, described how the 20 pigs are raised by the pupils and their meat eventually sold.

Before leaving, The Prince planted a mango tree at the school and unveiled a plaque commemorating his visit.

Later in the day The Prince visited the Guma Valley Dam and flew into the interior of Sierra Leone to visit the Jungle Warfare School. 

British forces are playing a leading role at the school and are providing training for the Republic's army.

He watched as the International Ministry Advisory and Training Team (IMATT) put Sierra Leone forces through their paces.

The training team is made up of around 90 UK service personnel and 27 foreign colleagues.

The Prince walked into the rainforest where the Republic's soldiers were being taught tracking skills in the hot and humid conditions.

Staff from IMATT, led by British officer Brigadier Barry Le Grys, were teaching Sierra Leone soldiers how to spot the signs that reveal someone has been sleeping on the jungle floor.

Tomorrow His Royal Highness will visit Nigeria.