Published on Tuesday, 1 January 2013 at 12:00:00 AM
By Pannawonica resident, Kirrily Donoghoe
Well after nearly 12 months in the planning, the 15th November FINALLY arrived and Rochelle & I took off for our ‘trip of a lifetime’ to AFRICA!!!
We arrived at the school after midnight so when we awoke the next morning we had to pinch ourselves that we were actually in AFRICA! A dream I have had since childhood. Soon after breakfast we were met by the very vibrant Deputy Director of St Judes, Kim Saville. Who, on finding out who we were, welcomed us both with huge hugs & thanked us profusely for our very generous $10,000 donation.
As it was Saturday morning, we were surprised to hear the sound of children and we tried to contain our excitement as we made our way to the front of the school to witness hundreds of kids lining up to be assessed for entrance into St Jude’s for next year. Each child must be already performing in the top 10% of their Government school in Standard 1(Year 1) so theycan cope with learning English at a young age & have a better chance of academic success. The children go through a series of brief academic assessments & if they pass they will be asked to return with all appropriate documentation to assess that they are the correct age & academic level & then they are assessed at home to see that they really do legitimately come from an underprivileged background. While watching the children being assessed on reading, I noticed they were then going to the right for a writing test. But then I saw a child get sent to the left so I asked why?
“Oh that child has been unsuccessful at reading so they will be going home with a letter of non-acceptance”. My heart nearly broke, but they were only the first of many that day that were not accepted. The teachers may see over 300 children every Saturday from August to December in the hope of accepting 150 new students into Standard 1 and each of these students need to be sponsored. So far this year they have not made their 150 students.
What unfolded over the next two and a half weeks can only be summed up as “WOW”!!!!!!!
Meeting the gorgeous ‘always smiling’ kids of St Jude’s was very special. Playing in the playground with them or accidentally sitting on the detention table with them was all fantastic! Then the Tanzanian and Volunteer were all the most awesome people that were an absolute pleasure to meet and get to know. We also met the rest of the group who were going to climb Mt Kilimanjaro and they were also a great bunch of people that we instantly connected with.
During our stay we got to soak up the atmosphere and way of life in Africa, visiting orphanages, ‘The Plaster House’ (a rehabilitation place for the underprivileged), Masai markets, riding on overcrowded local transport, visited traditional Masai Boma’s (the family groupings of handmade mud huts), going to visit one of the school kids in their home, meeting & having a great chat with founder of ‘St Judes’ – Gemma Sisia, and finally finishing with the ‘must do’ Safari in the Serengeti!
All in all, this is just a snapshot of what really was an AMAZING experience and all I can say is WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
It felt like we had been in Africa for a lot longer and the friendships we made will stay with us for a long time. I felt a strong pang of sadness in missing it all when eventually it was our time to leave.
However, being true to our promise to help as much as we can back here in Australia, I will continue to spread the word of the FANTASTIC things they are doing at St Jude’s and it is clear that all the monies donated really does go into everything that benefits the kids.
Kim Saville will be touring Australia in April this year and will be coming as close as Geraldton. She considered visiting Pannawonica but unfortunately the distances were just too far to fit into her tight schedule. So I will be meeting up with her in Perth instead.
I do urge anyone who believes that any small donation CAN make a difference, please consider donating to the ‘School of St Jude’. And I would again like to thank EVERYONE in Pannawonica because so many small acts (spare change in our tins, buying a coffee from our very casual ‘Panna Perk Café’, buying our shirts, attending our fundraising dinner, fun run team, bike ride & triathlon) have all contributed to our massive (and updated).
GRAND TOTAL effort of $12,000!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU!!
Read the full article in Inside Ashburton
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