The horror this boy has faced is a world away from Ambridge

Actor Tom Graham – eco warrior-turned-sausage manufacturer Tom Archer in Radio 4’s ever-popular series - travelled to a farming community in Sierra Leone to meet the boy he has been sponsoring for the past year.

Picture by Fabio de Paola

Dozens of children grab at his hands, sing and cheer in the harsh West African sun as they welcome their British benefactor. The actor has travelled to Port Loko, a rural community in Sierra Leone, to meet 10-year-old Sheka Koroma, the boy he has been sponsoring for the past year through Plan.

Farming life in Ambridge and the rural community of Port Loko couldn’t be more different and Tom’s – albeit fictional – experiences of rural life are severely challenged.

Sheka’s parents are farmers but they can barely afford to grow enough food to feed their family and keep back a little to sell at a weekly market, where they earn the equivalent of £1.50 per month, to buy clothes and rice.

The poverty Tom is seeing is a result of Sierra Leone’s bloody 10-year civil war. In 2000 the UN, led by Britain, defeated the rebels but it wasn’t until two years later that the war was officially declared over. By then a third of the population was displaced. About 90,000 were killed or maimed by rebel forces and others were forcefully conscripted, many of them children.

When rebel forces ransacked their village, Sheka and his family fled to the bush. Houses were razed to the ground and the only grocery store was looted. Villagers were murdered indiscriminately and women gang-raped.

As village chief, Sheka’s father Pa Koroma knew he would be their prime target. Two of his brothers were killed before they could escape. He recalls: “When the soldiers came I grabbed my family and we ran to the bush. We managed to exist on cassava leaves.

His wife Amie adds: “Sheka would cry because he was hungry but we had to keep him quiet, otherwise we would be found by the soldiers and killed.

“We had no shelter and were cold so Sheka became sick and cried more but we had no medicine to give him and were afraid for his health. We kept moving and slept on the ground when we were tired. Now there is peace and we can sleep well, without fear.”

Tom, 28, says: “When I realised how Sheka’s family had been affected by the conflict, I tried to put myself in their position and ask myself whether I could endure what they did. That they have raised Sheka to be a happy, content little boy, despite all he has been through, speaks volumes about their dignity and stoicism.”

Picture by Fabio de Paola

Tom is one of the cast of Britain’s longest-running radio institutions but the facelessness of radio renders him largely anonymous. “It is all new to me,” he laughs about his mob welcome in Sheka’s village. “I don’t usually get recognised in the street, never mind cheered.”

The village has a primary school but no running water or sanitation. The nearest rudimentary health facilities are five miles away and must be reached on foot.

Tom says: “A friend of mine works at the charity and helped me start sponsoring Sheka. I picked Sierra Leone because it needs enormous help. Before we met, Sheka and I had exchanged letters and photographs so we knew a little about each other.

“But when I arrived, it quickly became apparent that the whole community were aware I was coming and everyone came out to welcome me. There were about 200 people. It was very kind but a bit overwhelming, both for me and Sheka.”

After the pair had shared a lunch of beef, rice and fruit, Tom gave Sheka some gifts – a Notts County team shirt, as he is a football fan, and some chalk for his school. “He was shy at first but after a while, he’d smile and we’d hold hands,” says Tom.

“Part of the reason for my visit was to witness the fallout of the war and understand what the country needs. Meeting Sheka and his family leaves me in no doubt that I want to continue to help. I’m committed to them indefinitely now.”

Article by Paula Kerr. Originally published in the Sunday Express on 15 June 2008 and reproduced with permission.