Red-nosed students and staff at St Peter’s School, Huntingdon, have given a rural community in Malawi a helping hand out of poverty after a fund-raising bonanza that smashed their original target. Instead of raising cash for the general Comic Relief fund, they decided to donate money to Pump Aid to fund a specific project.
They pulled out all the stops with sponsored walks, car wash, sponsored silence, sporting events and a mini-fete with stalls and sideshows to hit their target of £1,200 which will give residents of a village in the Mzimba district, in the north of Malawi, access for the first time to three basic essentials of life – clean water, adequate toilets and seeds to grow nutritious fruit and vegetables.
Teacher Jules Williams, along with her colleagues in the ASDAN department, co-ordinated the campaign as part of the school’s ‘Working With Others’ challenge. ASDAN develops key life skills, such as oral presentation and problem solving, to prepare students for life after school, in further education or work.
She said: “As part of the course we’ve been looking at the impact the lack of clean water and sanitation has on millions of people in Africa. We were impressed with Pump Aid’s simple and cost-effective solution to these problems and our goal was to get one village in Africa on the first step out of poverty.
“The students really threw themselves into the fund-raising. They had some fantastic ideas and were great at getting everything organised, not to mention persuading family and friends to dig deep into their pockets.”
While the final amount is still being totted up, it looks as though there will be an additional £500 going to Pump Aid, which will pay for a water pump that will give a community of 250 a constant supply of clean and disease-free water for drinking, washing and irrigating vegetable gardens.
Jade Ward, a year 11 student at St Peter’s, said, “It was really good working together. Our group organised a sponsored walk around Sewell’s Farm Lake in Brampton. It was a good day and everyone encouraged each other on the walk. We were surprised how much money we raised for such a good cause”, while her classmate Jaime-Leigh Murgatroyd was part of group that baked and sold cakes. “It was a confidence boost for me and I really enjoyed it. We sold out in 12 minutes. It’s great to know that the money we raised will change people’s lives,” she said.
Kathryn Llewellyn, international director of Pump Aid, said: “Our thanks go to everyone at St Peter’s who took part in the fund raising. Their generosity is greatly appreciated. Their donation will change life for the better for hundreds of people in their adopted village, now and for future generations.”
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Article provided by NexNet PR
Photo by St Peters School
