Review of 2023 for Friends of Pakati

Greetings all! It is that time of year once again where we highlight what has been going on in the world of Friends of Pakati this year.

As the Author, I would say that we faced challenges, and have struggled in some areas during 2023, but I also see some bright spots shining through. I will show some of our ups & downs here in this Review of 2023.

For me personally there have been two real highlights, firstly being my visit to Bristol earlier this year to be part of a reunion between myself, Debbie Chadbon (another former teacher at Pakati Secondary), and Lorraine Mapuranga, a former student of both of us.

All three of us are involved with Friends of Pakati, and you can read more about it here:

https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/04/08/3-friends-of-pakati-re-united/

There are follow up posts about many of the photos Debbie shared with us, bringing back many memories!

https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/04/10/debbies-photos/ and https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/06/06/more-of-debbies-pakati-pictures/

*Author Chris Walker welcomes Bothwell Riside to his UK home in October this year*

The second personal highlight was the visit to the UK of another Friends of Pakati stalwart, Bothwell Riside. Find out more about it here:

https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/10/13/welcome-to-a-friend-of-pakati/ and https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/10/29/bothwells-visit-in-his-own-words/

My favourite thing Friends of Pakati did during the visit was the video in this post: https://friendsofpakati.com/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ffriendsofpakati.com%2F2023%2F10%2F21%2Fvlog-a-visiting-supporter-at-glanford-park%2F%3Fpreview%3Dtrue%26frame-nonce%3D276495814e

On the fundraising front, we have had limited success, but thanks largely to Debbie’s efforts & regular donors we have just managed to get to over £400 in the bank.

Here are some of the podcasts released this year:

https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/01/15/friends-of-pakati-podcast-episode-14/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/04/24/friends-of-pakati-podcast-episode-14-2/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/10/14/new-podcast/

We have seen two important departures from Pakati recently, one from the Secondary & one from the Primary:

https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/11/05/a-tribute-to-mr-chifaka-from-friends-of-pakati-as-he-moves-on/ and https://friendsofpakati.com/2023/11/24/a-departure-from-pakati-primary-school/

*Seeing Bothwell off at Manchester Airport*

We took a break in the lead-up to the elections in Zimbabwe in August, but we are now back in full swing…Onwards & upwards into 2024 soon, hopefully to deliver more IT to Pakati!