EDUCATING OTHERS - supporting child education in Africa

 

This wonderful and futuristic project is the 'brainchild' of my wife Brenda, me and Phithizela Ngcobo, a Zimbabwean national. A separate newsletter introducing us is available as a Portable Document File (PDF). It is aimed at educating others, those who need financial and moral support to be able to attain a decent education. One of the founders, Brenda is a retired teacher who has seen the impact that education has on children for better. This venture will mean she remains touching the lives of children, or “teaching from the other side of the classroom”. I sum up the whole project as a “God-given venture to do in our old age” and Phithi adds that it is, “our opportunity to reach others for a better future”. Although the founders are Christians, we do not use religious affiliation as a criterion to give help.

As with many voluntary groups our group came about by accident - I have for many years been corresponding over the internet with a young Zimbabwean scientist, Kudakwashe Lionel Kupara, who is now researching for his PhD in Texas, USA.  We have invited Kuda twice to spend a holiday with us in the UK, but both times his Visa was refused. It was at this time that I saw Phithi commiserating with Kuda on a chat line. As Phithi was already in UK and studing for his Masters Degree, I contacted him and we invited him to come and stay for a few days (this was in May 2009) - since then he has been several times, and during his stay with us over Christmas 2009, we discussed and formed EDUCATING OTHERS.

We are however a small venture, and have decided to limit our support to just two projects in Africa. One is the Gua Africa Emma Academy in the Southern Sudan founded by Emmanuel Jal.  This ambitious project is a school being set up for children scarred by years of warfare.

Our other beneficiary is the Rose of Sharon Welfare Organisation in Harare, Zimbabwe, founded by Mrs Fatima Maruta. This is a small educational organisation which cares for orphan children from birth to 18, many of whom are effected by HIV/AIDS.

100% of all monies collected is shared equally between our two beneficiaries and no administration costs or expenses will be deducted from collected funds and printing will be kept as minimal. Most communication will be done on email to minimise printing, and where there is a need to print, the trustees will bear the cost.

Who are we?

Phithizela Ngcobo

 

Phithizela Ngcobo is a Zimbabwean national and a young book publisher., with a Master's Degree in Publishing. At the moment he is resident in Oxford. His main area of interest is in Children’s publishing, and his future dream is to start a publishing house that publishes books that focus on children and help them to become responsible adults who will mould our world for the better.

Brenda Yates

 

Brenda Yates comes from a teaching family and spent all her active teaching career in and around Burton on Trent. She, like her husband, has always been involved in music. She was a member of several church choirs, Burton Operatic Society and also Lichfield Cathedral Special Choir.

David Yates

David Yates spent his working life in Architecture. He has also been heavily involved with music, having been an Organist and Choirmaster for over 55 years.  David has been the organist for the St. Wystan's Chapter of the Guild of the Servants of the Sanctuary for the last 20 years. He has composed music for the Church and also some secular pieces for his friend Chen Jie in China. He founded the Rolleston Music Circle and Choral Society. He was for many years a member of both the Lichfield Cathedral Chamber Choir and Special Choir. In 1966 he founded and was Director of the Rolleston Festivals of Music and the Arts, in which many international artists took part. 

Kudakwashe Lionel Kupara

Kudakwashe Lionel Kupara is also a Zimbabwean national with Degrees in Biochemistry and is now researching for his PhD at A&M University in Texas. David has corresponded with Kuda for many years and through him met Phithi in 2009. Without David’s friendship with Kuda, Educating Others would never have come into being. 

Regular up-dates about EDUCATING OTHERS now appear on:-

http://dave-educatingothers.blogspot.com/

  

 

Guild of the Servants of the Sanctuary

I am the Honorary organist for the Saint Wystan's Chapter of the GSS and play once a month in the Burton/Derby area, once a year I assist with the Midlands Festivals and play in various Churches in the area for this. So far I have played for major services each September in, and if you click on the link below you will find photographs from each venue.

2006 - Worksop Priory, Nottinghamshire
2007 - Holy Trinity, Much Wenlock, Shropshire
2008 - The Collegiate Church of St. Peter, Wolverhampton
2009 - St. Mary de Castro, Leicester

Guild of the Servants of the Sanctuary 

Up-dates to this blog will in future appear at:-
http://dave-stwystanschaptergss.blogspot.com/

PHOTOGRAPHS by Hawksley Yates

This is a selection  of monochrome pictures taken mostly by my father between 1925 and 1939.  Some are of very poor quality, but I have included them for the historical and social interest.

SCOTLAND - Camping Holiday, August 1959

I had been camping in Scotland before 1959 with my parents, and also my two brothers, but this was the first time I had been as far as the north coast (Durness) not far from Cape Wrath. My travelling companion was a very dear friend called Andy, who though younger than me, sadly died in about 1976.

Fifty years ago, motoring in Scotland especially in the north-west, was a real adventure. All single track roads, with grass growing up the middle even on main roads.

The series starts off with the chairlift in Glen Coe, followed by camping and walking in Glen Nevis. The pictures on Ben Nevis show quite alot of snow even on 24 August!

Then a shot of the then notorious road over the Beallach na ba and a picture of the Falls of Measach in the Corrieshalloch Gorge near Ullapool. The final shots are at Balnakeil (Durness) ~ me in the grey swimshorts and Andy in the dark ones!

Oh, and in case you wonder who took the pictures of Andy and me together ~  the camera, a Kodak Retinette 1B had a ten second delay on it!

The film used was 35mm Slide film  ~ ILFORD DAYLIGHT.

SWITZERLAND - February 1963

In February 1963 I went on a winter holiday with my parents and youngest brother Chris, to Wengen near Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland, in Switzerland. We travelled by train from Burton on Trent to Dover, then ferry to Calais where we connected with a sleeper train across France to Interlaken. There we changed to a local train which took us up the Lauterbrunnen Valley to Wengen. While there we went by train to the top of the Jungfrau and also to Grindelwald. Most of the photos are on colour negative film or 35mm colour slides.

TWO RAILWAYS IN WALES

Visits to the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway.

VINDOLANDA - Museum & Roman Fort - 2006 

Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (castrum) located at Chesterholm, just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, near the modern border with Scotland; it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. It is noted for the Vindolanda Tablets, among the most important finds of military and private correspondence (written on wooden tablets) found anywhere in the Roman Empire.