As of: February 29, 2024, 11:00 a.m
By: Veronika Ahn-Tauchnitz
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Henning Reuter was received in a good mood by the hospital staff at the rehabilitation center.
© private
Dr.
Henning Reuter from Benediktbeuern has been supporting the Salesians in Sierra Leone for years.
Now it was Freetown again - perhaps for the last time.
Benediktbeuern/Freetown – Dr. has been supporting and accompanying me for years.
Henning Reuter and his wife Dr.
Jutta Reuter from Benediktbeuern describes the work of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Sierra Leone.
It wasn't until November and December that the 76-year-old general practitioner was back in the West African country to help - and found himself caught in the middle of a prison revolt.
Suddenly at night shots were fired in the streets outside Freetown
For Reuters, service in the prisons of the capital Freetown was actually part of every visit.
During previous stays in the central prison in particular, they described the conditions as infernal.
Built for 300 prisoners, up to 2,000 prisoners were held there.
“The conditions were terrible,” says Henning Reuter, who this time traveled to Sierra Leone without his wife.
This time too, he actually wanted to take care of the prisoners' medical care, but things turned out differently.
During the night, shots suddenly rang out on the streets of Freetown.
Unidentified people not only attacked a military weapons depot, but also stormed the prisons.
1,900 prisoners were released, says the Benediktbeuren resident.
“Gunshots were heard all night long.
“It became different then,” says Reuter.
Many prisoners have been in prison for years - without a trial
However, the Benedictine resident has mixed feelings about the prisoners being freed.
Because many prisoners have been stuck there for years - without conclusive evidence, without charges, without a trial.
“For some of them I thought to myself: It’s great that they’re free,” says Reuter.
“New Fambul” from the air: The round building in the foreground is the therapy center.
The children and young people are accommodated in the four long buildings.
You can see the clinic on the edge of the football field, which is still poorly greened.
On the left in the picture are the residential buildings of the Salesians of Don Bosco.
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Reuters has been to Sierra Leona on and off since 2015.
The contact came about through the Benedictine monk Lothar Wagner, who led the “Don Bosco Fambul” in Freetown for eight years.
The center gives children and young people who previously lived on the streets a home and, above all, a future perspective through school education and training in skilled trades.
In Freetown, the facility has now been opened to children from the neighborhood, reports Reuter.
One of the big attractions is the center's football pitch in the city.
“Up to 100 children play together here and then go home in the evening,” says Reuter.
“And they really enjoy playing football.”
The “New Fambul” rehabilitation center offers a home for 200 children and young people
By expanding the center, a place was found about 60 kilometers away for targeted rehabilitation work.
The rehabilitation center “New Fambul” (German: new family) was built on 2.7 hectares that were previously just steppe.
200 children and young people live on the site.
There is a house there for underage girls who have previously only been able to survive on the streets of Freetown through prostitution.
Street boys between the ages of 9 and 16 are housed in another building.
The Salesians try to establish contact with the families so that the boys can return home.
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Girls who have been victims of abuse or sexual violence live in the third house.
And House Four provides a home for older boys who have had trouble with the law.
“It was often about drugs,” says Reuter.
After school, they should be given a perspective through vocational training – for example as a metalworker or carpenter.
That's what it's all about for the girls who learn to cook and tailor so that they can build a future for themselves.
Young doctor in the clinic: “He is like a father to the many children”
There is also a clinic, a church, a logistics center with a kitchen, a bakery and a car repair shop, a school and a football field on the site.
Reuter actively helped with the planning of the clinic.
“That’s why my heart is attached to the project,” he says.
This time, too, his journey took him to the new rehabilitation center to see what progress had been made since his last stay.
All facilities have grown: the bakery supplies “New Fambul” and also customers in the city of Freetown.
A young doctor from Sierra Leone works in the clinic, with whom Reuter is in regular contact.
“He is like a father to the many children, they love him,” says the Benediktbeuren resident about Dr.
Joseph Moses Lake.
Since doctors in the country earn very little, Reuter would like regular donations to increase their salary and ensure the supply of medication.
“In addition, a Spanish surgical team comes two to three times a year for four weeks and carries out cataract operations and ophthalmological treatments,” reports the general practitioner.
The training of girls and boys in metal construction is also in full swing.
Henning Reuter doesn't yet know whether he will come back again
On the last weekend of Reuters' stay there was a big celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the Salesian institution in Sierra Leone.
The German and Spanish ambassadors were also guests.
He doesn't yet know whether Reuter will return to Sierra Leone.
He is now 76 years old and he and his wife have experienced “difficult things” during their stays in recent years.
There are also eight grandchildren here in Upper Bavaria who want the attention of their grandparents.
“It could be that it was the last time for me,” says Reuter.
But he doesn't completely rule out a return to Freetown.
Support
: Anyone who would like to support the work of the Salesians in Sierra Leone can do so with a donation, namely to the “Don Bosco Mission Bonn”, IBAN: DE 92 3706 0193 0022 3780 15, intended use: Don Bosco Fambul Freetown.