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Kevin Whately supporting APT on Radio 4

Stars place APT's work in the spotlight.

Kevin Whately and Jimmy Nail - stars of TV's 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet' visited APT's project in Sierra Leone as part of the run up to Comic Relief's Red Nose Day. The programme featured local blacksmiths using collected weapons - such as Kalashnikovs - to make farm implements.

Communities left a lasting impression on Kevin Whately: "The under-fives have ready smiles, which light up their faces, but we can see the war experience etched on everyone else. There is a shadow on their faces, a solemnity or a slight sadness in the eye if they do smile. Looking round the little compound with its pleasant garden, you are jolted into reality by a ragged poster near the door warning the children not to pick up old mortars or grenades."

"The under-fives have smiles, which light up their faces"

Kevin Whately supporting APT

Kevin Whately expressed their aims during their visit:

"We hope to build four clay forges in a blacksmith's shop, which will melt rusty old guns and rocket launchers collected from the rebels after the war, and beat them into sickles, hoes and rakes. These can be used to clear an acre of jungle and scrub just across the road, till it and plant a vegetable garden."

They were successful!

Later, visits to this project have showed that the women who took part have continued to develop their new garden.

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