US Shale Wells Are Losing Oil Output Faster Than Expected, Study Says

Mitchell Ferman
Tue, August 15, 2023


(Bloomberg) -- The steep drop in output from US shale wells is turning out to be worse than expected, forcing oil drillers to work even harder to keep production from slipping, research firm Enverus said in its latest report.

The firm’s conclusion that there won’t be a surge of American oil production comes after the amount of crude extracted from US shale wells doubled in the past decade. The falling output rate over time highlights a fact of life for US shale explorers: oil wells are most prolific in early months of production, with gushers quickly turning to trickles. That reality is why oil output boomed during the shale revolution of the 2010s as companies chased production growth at all costs.

Now, however, most of the land is already owned or leased, offering few opportunities to drill new areas with vast oil reserves. Companies are considering a range of drilling and production strategies to maximize what they get out of each well such as drilling wells closer together, which makes the shale patch a more dense and difficult place to increase the rate of production.

“Summed up, the industry’s treadmill is speeding up and this will make production growth more difficult than it was in the past,” said Dane Gregoris, managing director at Enverus Intelligence Research and author of the report published Tuesday.

In the Permian Basin of west Texas and southeast New Mexico, North America’s most productive oil field, the rate of well production in the Midland area has declined by 0.5% each year since 2014. Well production at the nearby Delaware region has fallen by even more since that time.

--With assistance from David Wethe.

Prospect of Kenyan troops in Haiti has sparked concerns – but may also prompt soul-searching across the Americas over lack of action

Jorge Heine, 

Interim Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, 

Boston University

Wed, August 16, 2023 

THE CONVERSATION

Haitian authorities are fighting a losing battle against organized gangs. Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images


The kidnapping and subsequent release of U.S. nurse Alix Dorsainvil and her young daughter in Haiti in early August 2023 drew brief international attention to crime in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

But the truth is that such kidnappings are commonplace for Haitians, and they rarely receive attention from outside the country itself. Indeed, Haiti has become a forgotten crisis to many international bodies and foreign governments. News that Kenya has offered to lead an international effort to bring order to the country only underscores the lack of action by other nations closer to Haiti.

As someone who has written a book, “Fixing Haiti,” on the last concerted outside intervention – the United Nations’ stabilizing mission (MINUSTAH) – I fear the lack of action by countries in the Americas could increase the risk of Haiti transitioning from a fragile state to a failed one. MINUSTAH was the first U.N. mission formed by a majority of Latin American troops, with Chile and Brazil taking the lead. The prospect of outsourcing that role now to Kenya may have sparked concerns from human rights groups, but it might also lead to soul-searching questions in capitals from Washington to Brasília, as well as at United Nations headquarters in New York.
At the mercy of gangs

Haiti has been falling into chaos for the last two years, ever since the murder of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. A subsequent earthquake that struck the southern part of the country only further worsened the plight of Haitians.

Today, the country is not only the poorest in the Americas, but is also among the most destitute in the world. Some 87.6% of the population is estimated to be living in poverty, with 30% in extreme poverty. Life expectancy is just 63 years, compared with 76 in the United States and 72 in Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole.

Meanwhile, crime is so pervasive that it makes it almost impossible to move from one city to another due to the risk of being attacked by gangs, which control almost two-thirds of the country. Things have gotten so bad that the U.S. State Department has evacuated all nonessential personnel and recommended that U.S. citizens leave the country as soon as possible.
Recipe for disaster

International intervention in Haiti has been long overdue. Yet, until now, the attitude of the international community has, from my perspective, been largely to look away.

From a humanitarian perspective and in terms of regional security, to allow a country in the Americas to drift into the condition of a failed state controlled by a fluid network of criminal gangs is a recipe for disaster. Yet governments and transnational bodies in the region are unwilling to step up to confront the crisis directly despite pleas from Haiti and the U.N..

The Organization of American States – which in the past played an important role in Haiti and for which I served as an observer to the country’s 1990 presidential elections – and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States have been criticized over their slow response to the Haitian crisis. The Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, has held a number of meetings on the Haitian crisis. But that bloc is bound by a strict noninterference policy.

The United States, in turn, having left Afghanistan in 2021 after a tumultuous 20-year occupation, appears reluctant to send troops anywhere.

Rather, Washington would prefer that others take up the role of peacekeeper this time. In response to the offer from Kenya, the State Department said it “commends” the African nation for “responding to Haiti’s call.”

Part of this reluctance in the Americas could also be related to the perception – in my view, a misperception – of how past interventions have played out. The United Nations mission from 2004 initially managed to stabilize Haiti after another rocky period. In fact, the country made significant strides before it was hit by a devastating earthquake in 2010.

There were bad missteps, for sure, after 2010. A cholera outbreak brought to Haiti by infected troops from Nepal resulted in more than 800,000 infections and 10,000 deaths. Sexual misconduct by some of the U.N.‘s blue helmets further tarnished the mission.

But the notion that MINUSTAH was a failure is, in my view, quite wrong. And the end of the mission in 2017 certainly didn’t see improved conditions in Haiti. Indeed, after the mission ended, criminal gangs had the run of the country once again, and proceeded accordingly.

A U.N. mission car is burned by demonstrators in Haiti on Dec. 20, 2006. Thony Belizaire/AFP via Getty Images

Yet the perceived failure of the U.N. mission has become the basis of a view held by some Haiti watchers that international interventions are not only unsuccessful or misconceived, but also counterproductive.

Such a view forms the backbone of the notion of Haiti as an “aid state” – as opposed to a “failed state.” In this view, international interventions and the inflow of foreign funds have created a condition of dependency in which the country gets used to having foreigners make key decisions. This, the argument goes, fosters a cycle of corruption and mismanagement.

There is no doubt that some previous interventions left much to be desired, and that any new initiative would have to be conducted in close cooperation with Haitian civil society to avoid such pitfalls.

But I believe the notion that Haiti, in its current state, would be able to lift itself up without the help of the international community is wishful thinking. The nation has moved too far down the direction of gang control, and what remains of the Haitian state lacks the capacity to change that trajectory.
A duty to intervene?

Moreover, there is an argument to be made that the international community bears responsibility for the Haitian tragedy and is duty-bound to try to fix it.

To use one example from the relatively recent past: Haiti, until the early 1980s, was self-sufficient in the production of rice – a key staple there. Yet, pressured by the United States in the 1990s, the country lowered its agricultural tariffs to the bare minimum and, in so doing, destroyed local rice production. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton later apologized for the policy, but its legacy still lasts.

Haiti today has to import most of the rice it consumes, largely from the United States. And there isn’t enough of it to go around for all Haitians – the U.N. estimates that nearly half of Haiti’s population of 11.5 million is food-insecure.

Indeed, from its very beginning as an independent nation in 1804, Haiti has suffered the consequences of its unique place in history: It was simply too much for white colonial powers to see Haiti thrive as the first Black republic resulting from a successful slave rebellion.

France retaliated to the loss of what was once considered the world’s wealthiest colony by exacting reparations for a century and a half. Payments from Haiti flowed until 1947 — to the tune of US$21 billion in today’s dollars. The United States took 60 years to recognize Haiti, and invaded and occupied the nation from 1915 to 1934.

However, any thoughts of atoning for past actions seem far from the minds of those looking on as the chaos in Haiti spirals. Rather, many appear to have the kind of mindset expressed in 1994 by current U.S. President Joe Biden when, as a senator discussing the rationale for various interventions, he noted: “If Haiti just quietly sunk into the Caribbean, or rose 300 feet, it wouldn’t matter a whole lot for our interests.”

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

It was written by: Jorge Heine, Boston University.

Read more:


Haiti’s president assassinated: 5 essential reads to give you key history and insight


In Haiti, climate aid comes with strings attached

Jorge Heine is a founder and sits on the board of Diplomats Without Borders and is a member of Chile's Party for Democracy, the International Political Science Association, the International Studies Association and of the Foro Permanente de Política Exterior, a Chilean foreign policy think.
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WORKERS CAPITAL

CANADA / US investor group clinches tax credit deal for $1.5 bln renewable power acquisition


Wed, August 16, 2023 
By Isla Binnie

NEW YORK, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Invenergy Renewables, Blackstone and Canada's second-largest pension fund said on Wednesday they struck a deal with Bank of America to help buy wind and solar plants worth $1.5 billion, capitalising on a new tax structure included in President Joe Biden's landmark climate law.

Developers and investors are working on ways to take advantage of a provision in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act(IRA) which gives companies tax breaks for funding the clean energy projects which can help wean the world off fossil fuels.

Invenergy said in a statement it agreed to sell tax credits worth $580 million to Bank of America, and put those funds towards buying 14 projects from American Electric Power.

Policymakers hope the new system will bring more money from fresh sources into renewables projects which have long relied on a limited group of large banks which can handle the process of buying equity stakes and taking the associated tax breaks.

This is the first large-scale transaction of its kind to be publicly announced, Bank of America's global head of sustainable finance Karen Fang said in the statement.

It "creates a financeable transferability product that will be used to scale the growth of renewable energy," Fang said.

Around $4 trillion will need to be spent on clean energy development globally each year by 2030 to allow the world's economies to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, meaning no more than can be captured by natural sinks like forests or using technology, the International Energy Agency said.

Analysts at investment bank Credit Suisse have estimated the IRA could lead to the generation of tax credits worth $576 billion by 2031.

Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service published rules on how to regulate tax credit transfers in June, and they are expected to launch an online registry by the end of 2023.

Private equity firm Blackstone has invested around $4 billion in Invenergy. Its fellow investors include Canada's Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec.

 (Reporting by Isla Binnie Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Ontario college faculty get salary boost after Bill 124 struck down


Wed, August 16, 2023 at 8:25 a.m. MDT

TORONTO — College faculty members represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union will be receiving an additional 6.5 per cent in salary increases over three years.

They are the latest group of public sector workers to see their pay boosted due to an Ontario court finding a provincial wage restraint law known as Bill 124 unconstitutional.

The Progressive Conservative government's 2019 law capped salary increases for broader public sector workers' next set of contracts at one per cent a year for three years.

The government appealed after the court declared the law unconstitutional last year, but in the meantime many workers have been awarded additional wages due to "reopener" clauses in their contracts that were triggered when the law was struck down.

The 16,000 full-time and partial-load college faculty represented by OPSEU will now be receiving wage increases of three per cent in each of the first two years of their 2021-2024 contract and 3.5 per cent in the third year, after the union and the College Employer Council reached a mediated settlement.

Other workers to have received higher wage increases after Bill 124 was overturned include hospital registered nurses, other hospital workers such as dietary aides and personal support workers, and paramedics at the Ornge air ambulance service.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2023.

The Canadian Press

ALBERTA/MONTANA
International study examining water apportionment between St. Mary and Milk Rivers


Local Journalism Initiative
Wed, August 16, 2023 

“For over a century, the United States and Canada have shared the waters of the St. Mary and Milk Rivers through agreements negotiated by both countries,” Carole Smith, Policy, Programs, and Communications for the International Joint Commission, said. “Over time, many things have changed.”

Smith says that factors including changes to climate, the growing season, and the adequacy of canals and other structures that are used to store and move water have impacted water apportionment since the International Joint Commission issued its initial Order more than 100 years ago in 1921. An example of things that have affected apportionment, Smith says, include an incident in May 2020 when a portion of the St. Mary Canal in Montana temporarily stopped the flow of water into the Milk River. Fortunately, Smith says, due to the hard work of many stakeholders, the structure was repaired, and the canal was reopened in October 2020.

The Government of Alberta website explains that the 1921 Order established the St. Mary River at the international boundary and the Milk River at the eastern crossing as the places where apportionment happens. The roles for Accredited Officers for both the St. Mary and Milk Rivers were also established and clearly outlined along with the treaty. Both Canada and the U.S. appointed one officer to measure and apportion water, including the flow volumes and shares for each country.

In April 2003, the website says, the Government of Alberta requested that the International Joint Commission conduct a review of the 1921 order and in response, the International Joint Commission held four public information sessions in 2004 to gather information about water sharing associated with the Milk River and St. Mary River. As a result of those meetings, the International St. Mary/ Milk Rivers Administrative Measures Task Force, with four members from Canada and four members from the U.S., was established. The task’s force first report was released on the International Joint Commission’s website in 2004 and 2006. Their 2004 submission included contributions from Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and Alberta Environment. More information about those reports can be found on the Government of Alberta website under the ‘Water Management’ section.

Smith states that all of these events, as well as other factors, resulted in the International St. Mary and Milk Rivers study being launched in the fall of 2021. The study, Smith says, was launched with the support of the governments of Canada and the United States who are also helping to fund the work. Smith states that the study is a four-year effort (2021-2025) to assess whether options are available to enhance each country’s access to their share of the water.

Smith says that the technical working groups who are involved in the study started their work by gathering and analyzing existing data about the basin including climate, hydrology, irrigation infrastructure, water rights, water use, and ecology, among other relevant baseline information.

“They are now evaluating and configuring the models that will be used to evaluate different structural and administrative options,” Smith said. “They are also working to define indicators that can be used to assess the performance and impact of different modelling scenarios.”

Since the study is focused on ways of improving each country’s access to their share of water from the St. Mary and Milk Rivers, Smith says, the findings and recommendations may ultimately benefit water users in the Municipal District of Taber and other municipalities along the watershed, which includes irrigation farmers and municipal users.

The study’s first annual progress report was actually published by the study board in September 2022, and another one is anticipated in the fall of 2023.

The study involves not only communication with the IJC, Smith says, but also Advisory Groups including a Public Advisory Group and Indigenous Advisory Group, Smith says.

“They are kept informed about the study and its progress, and their input and assistance are invited to guide its work, particularly with respect to the identification and development of performance indicators,” Smith said.

A newsletter, Smith says, is also associated with the study and is published by the International St. Mary and Milk Rivers Study Board. It publishes this semi-annual newsletter to help keep the public informed about the International St. Mary and Milk Rivers Study. The first newsletter was published in June, Smith says, and is available for viewing in the International St. Mary and Milk Rivers Study Board website’s Library. The public can also subscribe to future newsletters through the International St. Mary and Milk Rivers Study Board’s website.

“The study board’s newsletter is a valuable tool for communicating with people involved directly and indirectly with the study, including the public,” Smith said.

According to the Board’s website, the whole idea for the project originated in 2019 when the accredited officers of St. Mary and Milk Rivers communicated with the International Joint Commission about a proposed study regarding administrative procedural changes and structural options that could potentially improve the access to the St. Mary and Milk Rivers by Canada and the U.S. The communication from the accredited officers included providing documents to the International Joint Commission that outlined details associated with a four-year study of the rivers and surrounding areas. In June 2021, the U.S. and Canadian governments wrote a letter supporting the creation of the study.

“The study will present its final report to the International Joint Commission in June 2025,” Smith said. ““The Commission will then review the report and make recommendations to the governments of both countries for their consideration. Until then, water apportionment will continue to occur under the existing framework.”

Heather Cameron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Taber Times

https://ijc.org/en/watersheds/oldman-milk-rivers

St. Mary and Milk Rivers | International Joint Commission 

Mary Canal was constructed in 1917 and is used to divert water through a series of syphons from the St. Mary River to the North Milk River for use in the lower ..

https://ablawg.ca/2022/08/24/the-milk-and-st-mary-apportionment-a-next-step

The Milk and St. Mary Apportionment: A Next Step? - ABlawg 

Aug 24, 2022 ... The Milk River is part of the Mississippi Basin. It rises in Montana, flows north and east into Alberta, and then crosses the border again ...

UK

Third of migrants quit asylum camp at former RAF base


Charles Hymas
Tue, 15 August 2023

The development at RAF Wethersfield is a fresh blow to the Government’s plans to move migrants onto larger sites and out of asylum hotels - David Rose for the Telegraph

A third of the migrants in an asylum camp at a former RAF base have quit the site, claiming to be potential victims of modern slavery or turning their back on the conditions.

Sixteen of the first 46 Channel migrants to be moved to the camp at RAF Wethersfield, near Braintree in Essex, last month have been transferred to hotels by the Home Office or decided to leave so they can live with relatives.

Those who have left to stay with relatives are required to provide evidence of addresses and answer to immigration bail.

It is understood that up to a dozen of the migrants were from Eritrea and are said to have been potential victims of modern slavery, which made them “unsuitable” for the camp under the Home Office’s rules.

The Home Office could have been left open to legal challenge if it had kept them on the 800-acre site, with officials understood to have decided to move them into hotels.

It is a fresh blow to the Government’s plans to move migrants onto larger sites and out of asylum hotels, which are costing taxpayers £6 million a day.

It follows last week’s evacuation of 39 asylum seekers from the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, after the discovery of Legionella bacteria, which can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially fatal form of pneumonia.


Wethersfield is one of two disused RAF bases being converted by the Home Office into the UK’s first dedicated asylum camps. It is expected to hold up to 1,700 adult male migrants. RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire, is due to take its first residents in October and will house up to 2,000 men.

Both have been designated by the Home Office to take migrants directly after their arrival on small boats across the Channel, but are subject to High Court legal challenges by local councils seeking to shut them. The councils claim they are in remote, inappropriate locations that place unsustainable pressure on local services.

The rules for determining who is housed in former Ministry of Defence bases, barges or other vessels could open up the Home Office to more modern slavery claims.

They advise Home Office officials that migrants are unsuitable for such sites or room sharing if they may be a victim of modern slavery, torture, rape or physical violence, or if they are disabled or elderly.
‘Slapdash approach’

Steve Smith, the chief executive of Care4Calais, which supported more than 50 asylum seekers who refused to go onto the Bibby Stockholm, said: “We understand that several of those seeking asylum who are housed at Wethersfield have suffered from torture, modern slavery and trafficking.

“Even the Government’s own guidelines state that individuals who have experienced such horrors are not suitable for housing in barracks and barges. This slapdash approach is shameful.”

It is understood that a further 50 migrants have been moved onto the camp in the past week, with numbers expected to pass 100 in the coming week.

Senior Tory MPs said there was no reason why victims of modern slavery should not be housed on the former airbases. On said: “They are safe, secure and protected, with police available for any interviews.”

A Home Office spokesman said the £6 million a day spent on housing 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels was unacceptable. “We continue to ensure the accommodation provided is safe, secure, leaves no one destitute and is appropriate for an individual’s needs,” they said.

UK

SNP TO THE LEFT OF LABOUR

'Disgrace': Fury as Keir Starmer says Labour will use rape clause 'more fairly

Xander Elliards
Tue, 15 August 2023 

Keir Starmer (left) and Anas Sarwar appearing at Rutherglen Town Hall (Image: PA)

SIR KEIR Starmer’s claim that a UK Labour government would implement the two-child benefit cap and the associated rape clause “more fairly” than the Tories has been met with outrage.

Katy Loudon, the SNP’s candidate in Rutherglen and Hamilton West – where Starmer was campaigning when he made the comment - called it a “disgrace”.

Loudon said: “There is no world in which a policy that makes a woman prove if a child was conceived through rape is fair – and for Keir Starmer to say so proves that Labour is just as cruel and out-of-touch as the Tories.

READ MORE: Mhairi Black: Keir Starmer should be 'embarrassed' to campaign in Scotland

“Saying they will implement the evil Tory policy more fairly seems to be the compromise UK Labour and their Scottish branch office have reached in their desperation to hide the growing list of divisions within the party. It's a disgrace.”

Speaking at a Q&A session at Rutherglen Town Hall, where the majority of the pre-selected questions were asked by Labour councillor Kirsty Williams, Starmer had insisted that economic growth had to come before anything else.

“We’ve picked very carefully and number one is growth,” the Labour leader said of his party’s priorities. “Economic growth, everywhere across the United Kingdom, the highest sustained growth in the G7.”

Starmer said that a Labour government’s anti-poverty strategy would focus on this economic growth rather than “specific arguments about this benefit or that benefit”.

The National: Anas Sarwar and Sir Keir Starmer

The Labour leader repeatedly refused to commit to scrapping the two-child limit, suggesting that doing so without costing it beforehand would lead to economic turmoil similar to that which followed in the wake of Liz Truss’s mini-budget.

Asked why Labour did not simply calculate the cost of scrapping the benefit cap, Starmer said that any money created by taxation changes had already been allocated.

Appearing alongside Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar, Starmer also looked to play down any talk of division within the Labour party.

Starmer claimed he and Sarwar were “welded” together on key issues, despite Scottish Labour opposing the two-child cap on benefits brought in by the Conservative UK Government.

Confusion has surrounded the campaign from Michael Shanks – the Labour candidate in Rutherglen and Hamilton West – who has insisted he will both join Starmer’s Westminster group and oppose it on issues such as the two-child cap.

Loudon said: “The two-child cap and rape clause is a heinous and inhumane policy – and the Labour party agreed with us on that until they started to get a sniff of power. The Labour candidate in Rutherglen and Hamilton West knows this, which is why he has attempted to distance himself by saying he will vote against it.

“The SNP is clear that the only way to make the two-child cap and rape clause fair is to scrap it immediately.

“A vote for the SNP means real opposition to cruel Tory policies, cost-of-living support and real change with independence.”

N.B. child advocate says LGBTQ policy in schools violates Charter rights of kids

The Canadian Press
Tue, August 15, 2023 



FREDERICTON — New Brunswick's child and youth advocate says changes to the province's policy on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools violate the Charter rights of children.

Kelly Lamrock released his findings today, saying the Education Department did not seriously consider the legal consequences of its changes to Policy 713.

One of the changes requires children under 16 to have parental consent before they can officially change their preferred first names or pronouns at school.

Lamrock says that refusing to use the preferred names and pronouns of students is a violation of their rights under the Human Rights Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Premier Blaine Higgs has defended the changes, arguing that parents have the right to know whether their children are questioning their gender identity.

But Higgs's government has faced strong criticism for the policy, including within his own cabinet and from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2023.

The Canadian Press

Florida students and professors say a new law censors academic freedom. They're suing to stop it

Tue, August 15, 2023 



College students and professors in Florida are suing education officials over a new law spurred by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' war on “woke," saying it violates their constitutional rights by censoring academic freedom.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court Monday by students and professors at New College, a progressive school with a prominent LGBTQ+ community that was taken over earlier this year by DeSantis and his allies, who claimed it was indoctrinating students with leftist ideology.

Florida now leads the United States “in efforts to censor academic freedom and instruction in its college classrooms,” according to the lawsuit, which is seeking a court order to block the law from being enforced.

The measure, passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature this year, outlaws spending on diversity programs, curbs professors’ tenure security and prohibits the teaching of “identity politics” in Florida public schools.

The new law also directs university leaders to monitor against programs that are based on theories “that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.”

The suit alleges that the law is unconstitutional because it is overly broad and chills free speech. Specifically, it says the law jeopardizes courses at the honors college on gender studies, queer studies, race, sociology, feminist philosophy and other subjects that affect the school’s curriculum, textbooks, classroom teachings, research and students’ educational experiences.

“In dictating to faculty and students what ideas are true and false, Florida runs headlong into the Bill of Rights,” the complaint states.

The suit names as defendants Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz; the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state's universities; and the trustees at New College, which is located in Sarasota. The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment to the education commissioner's office and the Board of Governors' office.

When DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, and his allies took over the school earlier this year, they placed conservative trustees on its board and appointed an interim president who was a former Republican speaker of the Florida State House and DeSantis’ first commissioner of education.

Mike Schneider, The Associated Press

Pioneering coach thanks Sierra Leone boss Keister after leg amputation


Mohamed Fajah Barrie - BBC Sport Africa, Sierra Leone
Tue, August 15, 2023 

The first woman to coach an elite men's football club in Sierra Leone has thanked national team boss John Keister after he funded a life-saving operation to amputate her leg.

Pioneer Victoria Conteh, who played in Sierra Leone's first ever women's international in 1994, also made history when appointed coach of men's top-flight side East End Tigers ahead of the 2019-20 season.

Described by Keister as "like a sister" and a "trusted lieutenant", the 48-year-old first began experiencing an issue with her left foot in July 2022, going on to lose a considerable amount of weight as a result of the gradually developing pain.

"It started like a boil on two of my toes and was itching," Conteh tells BBC Sport Africa.

"I didn't take it seriously until I started feeling pain."

It was Keister who first advised Conteh, who is also a policewoman, to see a doctor.

"I went to the police hospital in Freetown and was treated After some time, I started feeling pain again and it got severe for close to four months," she added.

"Seeing that I had lost weight and was deteriorating, John took me to a doctor. After the diagnosis, the doctor told us the reason for the pain was because my foot had been badly infected by a poison I stepped on.

"I don't know where and when it happened but it was really painful."
'He's like a brother to me'

Surgeons amputated Conteh's leg in November last year. Once again, Keister was involved, breaking news of the decision to operate.

"It was John who the doctor first told about how severe my condition was," says a tearful Conteh.

"The best thing to do to save my life was to amputate my leg.

"When John called me on the phone and told me about it, I nearly collapsed. I can't even explain how I felt at that moment.

Sierra Leone men's national team head coach John Keister played a crucial role in Conteh seeking and receiving treatment on her left leg

"I was feeling pain inside. Even when my daughter brought me food, I wasn't able to eat.

"I didn't have the courage to break the news to her and my two sons. It was a sad moment for me.

"But it's the will of God, I have to accept it."

Keister says he funded Conteh's treatment because of the close bond the two have built up over the years.

"She's one of my trusted friends and a trusted lieutenant," says the 52-year-old, who guided Sierra Leone to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

"She's like a sister to me. It was difficult to absorb the news and to break it to her after the doctor told me about the amputation. I cried."

'I love challenges' - Keister on Afcon qualification


Keister reveals squad selection death threats

Now learning to live with her disability, Conteh, who has also coached Sierra Leone's women at under-20 level, remains grateful to Keister for his emotional and financial support.

"He's a good man. We are close friends and he's like a brother to me," she says.

"I was down and frustrated, even after the successful operation. But with encouraging calls from people and prayers, I calmed down.

"I'm thankful to God that I'm still alive and I'm also grateful to coach Keister for paying for my surgery."
A coaching pioneer

As a player, Conteh featured for top-flight side Ascentonians when Sierra Leone's women's league first began in the early 1990s, going on to also play for Prisons, Lioness and Soccer Angels, and earning six caps for her country.

Part of a footballing family living in the capital Freetown, she developed her love of the game at an early age - against the wishes of her mother.

"My father, uncle and two cousins played football," she explains.

"I started playing football during my primary school days. I usually hid my boots from my mum.

"She was totally against it because there was the belief at the time that football was meant for the men and not the women.

"But my elder brother pleaded with my mum, to persuade her by reminding her that football was in me because I came from a football family and I was born and raised in a football community.

"So my mum gave me the green light. That is how I became a player."

Decades later, Conteh became the only female coach in Sierra Leone to hold a top-level A Licence issued by the Confederation of African Football before East End Tigers added to the list of firsts by appointing her as their manager in the National Premier League.

Sadly for Conteh, fate intervened when her first season in charge was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic and she was subsequently ordered by her superiors with the police to take the reins with Police FC following their promotion to the top-flight in 2021.
A new role in football

Conteh's ordeal has affected her "emotionally, physiologically and physically".

"Sometimes, when I sit and look at my amputated leg, I feel bad," she says.

"I don't go out frequently nowadays as I spend most of my time in my house.

"I won't be on the touchline anymore giving instructions to players and I'm not happy about it because I like my coaching job. Nevertheless, I'll now serve as a technical adviser."

Keister, too, is coming to terms with what has happened to his good friend and is pleased to hear she has no plans to give up football entirely.

"I'm missing her a lot because we used to be together all the time. But I'm glad that she's coping."