Sailors from HMS Portland have spent their patrol rest period ashore helping orphans.
According to a Royal Navy press release:
“The frigate’s crew volunteered for two days at the Heaven Home and Saint Georges Foundation orphanages in Sierra Leone to help make life a little better for the youngsters as the ship visited the capital Freetown on her nine-month deployment.
Engineers re-wired one of the orphanages, mended the main generator which was broken for a year and completed basic plumbing jobs and fixed showers.”
Flight Commander Lieutenant Laura Cambrook, 30, in charge of the frigate’s Lynx helicopter, said:
“It’s been a really worthwhile couple of days.
Despite having already been through so much in their short lives the children are full of joy and were so much fun to be around – I don’t think anyone escaped without having a cuddle and reading a story.
It is easy to forget how lucky we are in the UK. These children have nothing, but they are just so happy. Much of this happiness is because of the fantastic work of the staff at the orphanages, many of whom are volunteers.”
Captain Stroude said:
“Our short stay in Freetown has been another successful visit. I know that volunteering at the orphanages is a memory that will stick with many of my ship’s company for the rest of their lives.
I was honoured to host so many distinguished diplomats aboard Portland; I hope that our experiences of delivering maritime security, and the challenges we highlighted, struck a chord with them.”
HMS Portland, last visited Sierra Leone in 2014.
BZ