At the time Out of Afrika first had the idea of creating a skills training centre, David McMillen a Barrister in Northern Ireland happened to be thinking along the same lines after visiting poor rural schools while on his travels in Tanzania.
David had first emailed Out of Afrika in
2003 when he mentioned about the idea of setting up a school in Africa
and his plan to raise funds through the Bar of Northern Ireland.
To read David's story click here>>>>
Several years later after talking to Dorcas Crawford, a friend and
colleague who is a partner in Edwards & Co. a Solicitors in Belfast
about his dream of building a school, Dorcas agreed to take on the
task of fund raising for what would become International Centre of
Technology.
With Dorcas's commitment and that of the employees of Edwards, they have continued to support the charity by various fund raising events. For more information visit http://www.edwardsandcompany.co.uk/html/charity.htm
Fund-raising has ranged from weekly efforts such as home baking and
raffles. The biggest event so far has been the 5k Fun-run which took
place in May 2006. The event was well attended, despite the inclement
weather and we raised over £5,000.
One of the events was a Pimms & Popcorn night at a local cinema which was
also well attended, raising around £1000. To date a total of around
£35,000 has been raised.
Nov 2006 Belfast Trip
Dorcas Crawford a solicitor and partner in Edwards & Co. Solicitors
are making the dreams and aspirations of the skills training centre to
become reality.
A year ago OOA had never thought they would have even a college
building completed and today, with the help of Edwards & Co.
Solicitors, we have achieved that goal of completing the first floor
of the college and the hostels ready for January 2007 opening.
The Centre will provide training in practical and technical skills
such as agriculture, tailoring, plumbing, vehicle mechanics, carpentry
and metalwork and use of information communication Technology (I.C.T.)
to bridge the digital divide, food nutrition, basic HIV/AIDS education
and advocacy work, shoe making/repair, dressmaking, car mechanic,
plumbing, building, carpentry etc The project is providing training in
practical and technical skills that are creating and proving the
beneficiaries the opportunity to become self-reliant and fully
utilize their talents and strengths and be recognized in the
community.
The aim of this project is to empower the students and the community with the right skills that will improve the lives of the poorest people in Kenya, and turn the vicious circle of poverty into a virtuous cycle free of poverty.
For more information on the college please keep a look out on the OOA news pageor the college website here www.ictcollege.org
Asante Sana
Edwards & Co. Just Giving page >>>.
February 2009 saw Julie and Des re-visit Belfast to meet Dorcas Crawford from Edwards and Co. and David Mc Millen from the Bar in Northern Ireland for an update on ICT and to visit their fundraisers and be presented with cheques.
The Northern Ireland Bar had agreed to fund a proposal for one of our projects and had been organising several fund raising events over a year.
It was a hectic shedule as we first made a morning visit to Movila High School in Newtonards for an assembly meeting with Year 10 (third year) led by Julie Quinn and to be presented with a cheque for £693.05.
Movila is a co educational state run secondary school of 540 pupils. The primary aim is to develop a well ordered school community, promoting concern and respect for the welfare of others and thereby fostering the maximum development of the whole individual. This primary aim is reinforced by our school mission statement which is – “TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WHOLE INDIVIDUAL
They held a fortnight called MAD – with the posters saying Year 10 are MAD can you help?
This lead up to the fortnight in June where they arranged school based fund raising. They had gained their interest due to a local man’s visit to Kenya and his involvement in the cause. David had sent in photos which he had taken on his trip and these inspired the children to Make A Difference.
The students worked on a Campaign title – they decided to call it Give to Live. They then worked on a concept of what they wanted to do – different classes decided on different things depending on what they were prepared to do. A variety of fund raising events were held – sponsored silences, some made buns at home and sold them in the staff room, some brought in sweets and created a tuck shop, a guy from Hong Kong made origami models and sold them too!
The staff, Mrs J Quinn, Miss Ivery and Mrs Rea were very proud of their empathy and desire to make a difference which encompasses the school ethos. They hope to make this an annual event and continue to support OOA in all their good work.
From Movila school we headed to the Bar Library where they had organised lunch for us, David and his fellow Baristers.
Julie and Des gave an update on the college progress since opening in January 2007 and were presented with a cheque for £11,042.88 for continuation of our work in Kenya.
The day ended with an evening presentation at Nicks Warehouse organised by Dorcas with around 40 clients and friends of Edwards.
We all enjoyed wine and snacks while chatting and an amazing £900 was raised through holding a draw with some great donated prizes and donations from kind clients.
Edwards have been supporting us since 2005 and raised over £50,000 pounds in support of the college, International Centre of Technology.
We are so grateful to Dorcas, David and everyone at Edwards who continue to encourage with their enthusiasm and commitment to Out of Afrika and make possible the continuing work to improve and expand facilities at the college.
Employees of Edwards and Co contribute to a GAYE scheme at the company. This is a valuable way to give as the donation is paid direct from the employee’s salary meaning the charity benefits more from the donation as it is paid without tax being deducted.
Edwards are planning further fund raising events, one of them being a
sponsored run in the Dublin Marathon with several employees taking part and
followed by a picnic for the runners and other staff who are not quite as
fit to run but want to be included
in the fun.
For more information please visit
http://www.edwardsandcompany.co.uk/html/charity.htm
www.outofafrika.org
www.ictcollege.org
From Belfast..................
In keeping with our general ethos of putting people first, we decided in 2005 to commit ourselves to a particular charity project. Several years ago a friend and colleague had a holiday in Africa. As he was travelling around the country he visited a local primary school which was primitive to say the least. Outside the school some children were playing football, but on closer inspection it turned out that the children were improvising with a "ball" made out of leaves tied together in a bundle. Our friend, fascinated by the innovation of these children and the contrast with a similar scene at home, stopped for a while to watch and chat to them. He asked them if they could have anything for their school what would it be? The answer was a football!
The pure simplicity of this request sparked a lasting interest and as a result we in Edwards and Co. have embarked on our project - building a college in the Thika province in Kenya through a small charity known as Out of Afrika. The cost of the building will be in the region of £48,000. In Northern Irish terms this is a ridiculously small sum of money to build a school. The equivalent cost here for an average primary school would be £2m. Nonetheless, the £48,000 will require some fund-raising and some major team effort.
Our staff are also committed to Payroll Giving, a government tax free scheme for charity donations taken directly from salary.
If you would like to make a donation to this excellent cause, please send cheques to our office address, made payable to Out Of Afrika. You can also find out more details about the charity at its own website - www.outofafrika.org
http://www.edwardsandcompany.co.uk/html/charity.htm
Click here
to see the pictures of the college
Edward & Co
ICT College
Thank you.
