Our team in Sierra Leone

Sylvanus French 

Sylvanus French was born and raised in Mattru Jong, but the war moved him to Freetown. God has given him a heart of compassion for the poor and vulnerable, leading him to work with children at risk in the city (street children, children in juvenile detention centres) and young people struggling with mental health disorders and addiction issues. In 2006 he participated in a Discipleship Training School of Youth with a Mission in Ghana, an experience which deeply shaped his relationship with God. In 2019, Sylvanus returned to his birth place where he met Heleen Yoder, with whom he had been working together in Freetown for many years. In March 2020 Sylvanus took over the leadership of the Mattru office as Programme Manager. He recently graduated from Teachers College and has completed a Summer School in Special Education at the University of Makeni. In his free time he enjoys reading, listening to music, and taking long walks.

Esther Sopay 

Esther Sopay is the mother of four beautiful children: Emmanuel, Blessing, Favour and Jeremiah. Emmanuel was born with cerebral palsy. Throughout the years, Esther has faced the stigma attached to giving birth to a child with disabilities, followed by a stillborn child. Many people suspected she was a witch, or that she had committed some terrible sin. Despite all that she went through, Esther is a joyful woman who loves singing. One of her favorites is the song “Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God!” We see the hope in parents’ eyes when Esther shares her testimony with them. She has a natural gift for encouragement and counselling and has served from the beginning as a Community Worker. Esther also comes alongside some of our older children and parents who want to start small businesses, sharing with them what she has learned in her many years of experience as a business woman.

Abdulai
Jengbe Jr. 

Abdulai is a nurse who joined the Nyandengoh! team in 2020 as a Community Worker / Health Care Liaison. He loves children and travels many miles on his motor bike to visit them in distant villages. Abdulai makes sure our children have access to healthcare and every month he distributes epilepsy medication to children living with epilepsy. He also teaches health care workers in the villages about childhood disabilities and encourages them to refer children with disabilities to Nyandengoh!. Abdulai enjoys being out in nature, which serves him well on his many travels.

Elizabeth Tommy

Elizabeth Tommy joined the Nyandengoh! team in August 2021 as a teacher. When asked why she wanted to work for Nyandengoh! she answered: “Because I want to tell the children that Jesus loves them!” Elizabeth has about 7 years of experience teaching in a private school. She is currently completing her teachers certificate and is eager to learn about teaching children with special educational needs. So far she is doing well! Elizabeth is married with two children.

Lucy Yanguba

Since September 2021, Lucy Yanguba is the teacher for the Nyandengoh! Preschool and Daycare children. Lucy loves children and the children love her! In her free time, when she is not working hard to on her degree in education, Lucy likes to sing in her church choir and go to service on Sundays.

Mary Aruna

Mary joined the Nyandengoh! team in May 2022 as a Child Care Worker. Her bright and warm, Godly character, her experience as a sibling of a deaf sister and a blind brother, and her many years of serving as a house help and nanny for missionary families make her a perfect fit for the Nyandengoh! team. Mary takes care of the children in our Day Care. With much patience she feeds them, keeps them clean and stimulates them with fun activities. In the afternoons Mary visits children with disabilities in her community.

International volunteers

Heleen Yoder

Heleen is the founder and Executive Director of Nyandengoh! She first arrived to live and work in Sierra Leone in 2003. With a Masters (1995) and PhD (2021) in child and adolescent mental health, she served in various positions, working with children affected by the armed conflict, children in conflict with the law, people living with addiction and mental illness, children affected by the Ebola crisis, child-survivors of sexual violence, and children with disabilities. She has been deeply blessed by the beauty she has found in the children of Nyandengoh! and is passionate about helping the Nyandengoh! team serve the children to the best of their abilities. In 2015 she married Dr. Jonathan Yoder and is now an “Omie” to ten delightful grandchildren.

 Janet Millward

Janet Millward is a new Grandma, retired after 40+ years as a Physiotherapist, with a lifelong passion for helping others. Growing up in the UK, her grandfather (who had polio as a child) showed her by example that someone with a disability can live a full life. After graduating as a Physiotherapist in the UK, her work took her to Australia, the USA, and to the West Coast as well as Central Canada where she now lives in the small farming community of Ayr, Ontario.  As a member of many committees, often in the role of Chair, she has helped organize campaigns to promote the building of a school in Ayr, started new group programs for children with disabilities through KidsAbility and cooking programs for those who attend a foodbank. With an underlying belief in a God who also has a plan for her, she put all these skills to use during her first encounter with Nyandengoh! as a medical missionary through EMM (Eastern Mennonite Missions) in 2019. She is committed to continue to support this program to develop the potential of the children with disabilities and their families to be contributing members of the communities in which they live.  

Sarah Martin

Born and raised in Alabama, Sarah spent part of her childhood in Central America where her family worked as missionaries.  This sparked a love for travel and an interest in the wider world outside of the USA.  After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Accounting Sarah has worked for both nonprofit organizations and small businesses, where she endeavors to transform messy stacks of paper into clear financial information.  Sarah had the privilege to meet Heleen when she moved to Alabama, and was excited to learn about the mission of Nyandengoh! when the organization first began.  Now as part of the team Sarah works with the Sierra Leonean team members to keep accurate financial records for Nyandengo!   

Hanna Oosse

At 9 years of age, Hanna Oosse moved to Guinea (a neighboring country of Sierra Leone) with her parents and siblings. She spent 10 of her growing up years there. At the age of 19 she returned to the Netherlands to continue her studies. After having graduated with a bachelor in applied theology, she worked with an organisation that trains and equips churches and individuals in reaching out to refugees in the Netherlands. She now works as a teacher, teaching Dutch as a second language to illiterate migrants and refugees. Her passion is for those marginalized by society, her desire is for them to grow in their potential and abilities as well as to feel love and valued for who they are. Hanna helps keep the Nyandengoh! website up to date. Hanna and her husband Leo are blessed with two beautiful children, Jubilee and Justice.