Sarah
Brown welcomed four Bradford schoolgirls to Downing Street to
congratulate them on turning a school project into £40,000 to help
combat maternal mortality in Africa.The flight back to the UK was eventful, there was a young man who insisted that he was booked into one of our seats, however, we were in the correct places and we were not prepared to budge. We sat tight. On the flight out from Heathrow British Airways had tried to divert Margaret onto the next flight that would have ruined all of our travel plans and was unacceptable. In spite of our strenuous protestations and brandishing the risk assessment, it took an hour of negotiation to ensure that we all travelled together. Apparently the flights are regularly overbooked. The highlight of the journey back for me was the 1 hour and 45 minutes it took to fly over the Sahara desert in a direct line from south to north. This was truly splendid.
We all managed to get some sleep at some point and then it was time to disembark. Kimi’s maternal grand-parents were there to meet us as we landed at Terminal 5. There were lots of symmetrical events associated with this journey, grand-parents were a special part of this. Unfortunately, we could only spend a short time with these lovely people who had travelled to Heathrow from the other side of London to welcome us all safely back to the UK. We had booked taxis to take us to Kings Cross and they arrived promptly, the journey across London was surprisingly swift so we had some time to spare before our train was due to depart. We spent this time in St. Pancras station where we enjoyed a coffee and a sandwich. As soon as we landed at Heathrow Tim’s phone had started to ring and so began the “media frenzy”. It was non stop and soon became clear that the next day was going to be packed with interviews. The interest from the BBC was quite intense and we realised that we had finally broken the barrier that seems to surround national coverage. The news that Woman’s Hour wanted to interview the girls came with mixed blessings, first of all the BBC insisted that the interview would take place in London and they also insisted that we had to choose only two of the girls to take part in an interview with Martha Carney. Tim was brilliant and skilful in his negotiations, we really needed this national coverage but their requests were unreasonable. By the time we left St. Pancras, the interview for Woman’s Hour was rescheduled by the BBC to take place in the Leeds Studios the next morning and the girls were also asked to give an interview with a team from the World Service. They also insisted on just two girls taking part. The girls didn’t like this, they had always been a team of four and had handled every previous interview either on TV or radio as a group of four. They had proved that they could conduct themselves very well. Grudgingly, in order to reach the larger audience that the BBC could provide they agreed that Kimi and Isabella would take on the World Service and Katie and Megan would do the Woman’s Hour interview. We had to be at the BBC Leeds studios by 9.00am the next morning. Tim travelled north with us to oversee the interviews, I was glad of his help. On the train back to Leeds/ Bradford we took some time to reflect on all that had happened, we knew it would take longer than the journey allowed but it was good to make a start and helped the girls to prepare for the interviews. When Margaret and Tim left the train in Leeds, the four of them told me they had decided that we would all wear our African outfits provided by Sister Bridget and the Ankpa community for our arrival at Bradford Forster Square station. To the amusement of the remaining train passengers we donned our African dresses and head scarves and together joining hands and dragging our luggage that was how we walked down the platform to meet our families. What a welcome we all received. My brother and the Mums, Dads, Casey, Kimi’s brother , Dario, Izzy’s brother and Olivia Katie’s sister were all there gathered as one group to greet us. It was an emotional home coming and we were gathered for a while with no one dashing off as these were special moments to savour. We made the arrangements for the next day and all set off home thanking God that we had come through this incredible journey safe and well together. For me the relief I felt returning these remarkable young women to their parents and families was also a feeling of profound gratitude and joy. It was about 9.00pm on Monday night when we left the station and headed in five different directions, we had been travelling for 15 hours. When I finally opened my front door and entered my home the feeling of gratitude entered a new dimension. I realised just how much I had, it was the bathroom that brought the greatest feeling of sadness to me. The fact that the light worked, the hot water ran, the drains worked and I had so much “stuff”. I really felt for the people I had left 24 hours previously and the reality of their lives compared to mine. Then the text messages started to arrive, one from each of the girls, all echoing the thoughts that I had just experienced. We were all counting our blessings. I’d had similar feelings after a short trip to Romania with Joanna and Debbie in 2004 but they were minimal compared to the weight of responsibility I felt after Nigeria.
The next day began early meeting at 8.00am at the Interchange to head to the BBC in Leeds. We met Margaret and Tim at 9.00am and headed into the studios. The first people to greet us were Georgie and Andrew from the Radio Leeds Breakfast show. They had been very generous in the coverage they had given us and they were thrilled to see the girls again. Almost immediately they arranged to interview the four of them together and record the session for the programme to go out the next morning. This was one of the best interviews out of all the recordings, live or otherwise that the four of them have given. Kimi, Katie, Izzy and Megan feel relaxed with the two Radio Leeds presenters and I have to compliment the Radio Leeds team for always having their facts right. The Woman’s Hour interview was quite tough and I think Katie and Megan handled the probing questions from Jane Garvey very well. Everyone in the Leeds studio was very pleased with them and said they coped far better than many adults under pressure. Tim who was also interviewed agreed and he is very used to facing the press and the media. It was also difficult as they could see her on a monitor but there was a delay between the visual and the sound on the headphones, so it was best not to look at her but just to listen. Kimi and Izzy gave their interview for the World Service in a broom cupboard and this was supposed to link with Peter Nanle in Jos. So it was tough for them too as the connection kept failing. By about 12.00 we were all reunited and the interview with Andrew and Georgie was recorded. We then had a discussion with the Head of Religious programming at BBC Leeds and we hope that in the future we will get a slot on the Sunday morning programme.
There was only time to go for a quick coffee before Tim had to leave to catch his train back to London. We said our farewells, knowing that we would be meeting up again very soon in order to keep the momentum going for the packs for Mums and Babies. The publicity both local and national has brought tremendous benefits in fund raising. Over the Christmas period the World Gift programme enjoys it’s most productive period and the work we did after the trip to Nigeria really boosted the market. Every week thousands of pounds were added to the total. Tim worked tirelessly to link with Sarah Brown’s office and half way through December we got the call. Sarah Brown is patron of the White Ribbon Alliance an umbrella organisation that campaigns for the rights and the care of mothers and babies world wide. The visit to Downing Street on Thursday 17th December was yet another amazing experience. Sarah Brown was delightful and genuinely keen to learn from the girls’ experience. She gave us all a copy of “Stories of mothers lost” a beautiful book containing very moving accounts of mothers who have died needlessly in childbirth.
Here is the account of our visit published on the Downing Street website.
Friday 18 December 2009
Sarah Brown meets life-saving schoolgirls
Sarah
Brown welcomed four Bradford schoolgirls to Downing Street to
congratulate them on turning a school project into £40,000 to help
combat maternal mortality in Africa.
Last year, Isabella Ricordo, Katie Dearden, Kimi Omolokun and Megan Crowley entered a national business competition to find a ‘Solution For The Planet’, having chosen to focus on the problem of childbirth or pregnancy-related problems in developing countries.
Sarah Brown said of their project:
“I am very pleased to be welcoming Isabella, Katie, Kimi and Megan to Downing Street to celebrate their outstanding fundraising to stop women dying needlessly in childbirth. I am incredibly impressed by the determination, commitment and compassion each of these girls has shown and pleased their actions are already making a real difference to women’s lives.
“Tackling maternal mortality is an issue that is very close to my heart and the packs these girls have devised are a simple, effective way for anyone to show their support for Mums and babies this Christmas.”
They came up with the idea of a ‘Pack for Mums and Babies’, a virtual pack which could be bought as an ethical gift from charities with the money raised going towards ante-natal and post-natal healthcare in Africa.
The girls, from St. Joseph’s College in Bradford, won the competition and put their idea to international aid agency CAFOD who chose to use the pack as part of their range of ethnical ‘World Gifts’ for 2009.
For £30, a pack could contain all the essential life-saving items, dependent on each individual woman’s requirements. Examples of ‘items’ in the virtual pack include the training of a traditional birth attendant, a water filtration kit, essential medicines, and a mosquito net.
The girls discovered just how important these items are when they visited Nigeria earlier in the year, visiting villages and primary health-care clinics.
Peter Nanle, CAFOD’s programme manager in Nigeria said:
“The work they are doing, their commitment to this cause is amazing. Through their idea we could save thousands of lives in Nigeria alone.”
Every minute, a woman dies through childbirth or pregnancy-related problems, the vast majority in the developing world. Sarah Brown is the Global Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood which aims to help reduce maternal mortality by 75% by 2015.Kimi Omolokun said of the girls’ visit:
“It was really hard to meet young girls like us, who instead of having their exams to worry about, were scared because if they got pregnant there’s a one in ninety chance they might die, and it’s totally preventable. I think we realised that we can’t really change their whole lives but we can make a difference which I think will help a lot. We want to get their life expectancy up.”
Following Mother’s Day when CAFOD gave another big boost to the publicity for the packs I can tell you that the total raised as I write has reached £90.000.
On the Saturday before Mothering Sunday the girls and I were guests of the Hallam Diocese and Bishop John. CAFOD invited us to present at their celebrations of their 50th Anniversary. CAFOD began life when a group of Mums decided to fund raise for mothers and babies in Dominica so it was fitting to see that women were still trying to help mums and babies on the Golden Jubilee. We were given a warm welcome and gave a very similar presentation to the one we had prepared for the Solutions for the Planet Young Peoples’ Conference at the Royal Armouries on Friday 5th March. At this event the girls were given the Partners in Innovation Award for Global Entrepreneurship. In Sheffield we received £70 for mums and babies, I met my Latin teacher, Miss Buckley and Sister Eileen C.P. came all the way from Liverpool to meet Kimi, Katie, Isabella and Megan and to see and hear their presentation.
The work for Mums and Babies continues and we can now be certain that it is sustainable. Those who attended the Into Africa Celebration evening will know that we also have a new campaign. We want to help Sister Bridget complete the Delivery Unit. This will save even more mothers and babies as it will serve the outlying areas as well as Ankpa. CAFOD do not fund capital projects, so we are working with the Holy Rosary Sisters, Sister Bridget’s congregation to help to pay for this vital resource. We also have the support of Father Simeon Omale who is in charge of health care for the Idah Diocese. Mr Chris Simpson of Fast Signs, Leeds donated £1000 to this campaign at the celebration evening. This money has now reached Nigeria and every penny (now naira) is in Sister Bridget’s safe, it is being used to pay for the roof. Sister Bridget has been able to get the roof sealed before the rainy season. This was a major concern; if it had been delayed parts of the existing construction would have been damaged. I learned that building schedules are somewhat haphazard in Nigeria; this partly explains CAFOD’s policy on capital projects.
I am delighted to tell you that one of the Year 9 teams who are entering the Solutions for the Planet competition this year have decided to take on the challenge of helping to raise funds to complete building and equipping the Delivery Unit. Their name is Building Futures- Saving Lives and it is great to see that we can structure some continuity into our efforts for Solutions for the Planet.
Thanks again for your help and support. I hope you have enjoyed reading these articles as much as I have enjoyed writing them.
There will be updates in the future as this wonderful story continues. Please remember the people of Jos in your prayers and of course the mums and babies.
With Love
Elaine
Final Page - Some photos of the trip
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