A favourite story of mine.
When the original Primary school, which was built largely by the local community, was under construction, there was a dispute between two families who lived nearby. They both wanted the school to be named after them. They were both involved in the building, both had children attending from day one. As neither would give way, the families eventually came to a typical Zimbabwean compromise, and decided to call it Pakati, which in the Shona language means ‘in between’.
Author: Why did you decide to join your dad on the recent walk from Bradford to Scunthorpe?
Dan: I wanted to make sure my dad didn’t have to do it alone, not least because he is nearly 62!
A: How did you prepare for the walk?
D: I had done some hiking before, and didn’t suffer too much. Being only 17, I am fairly fit due to playing a lot of sport, such as football and rugby. I also went walking with my dad to help him get ready for the walk himself.
A: How did Alice (your girlfriend) get involved with the walk?
D: It was Alice who actually persuaded me to do the walk, to support my dad. She also came with us on some of dad’s preparation walks. She took many of the photos of the walk for us.
A: Sum up your experiences on the walk – what did you enjoy most? The biggest challenge? How did you feel afterwards?
D: I most enjoyed completing it as I got a feeling of satisfaction from knowing I was helping raise money for Pakati schools. Biggest challenge – getting out of bed each of the days! Afterwards I felt both tired and happy, but also proud of what all of us (including dad’s friends Karen & Brian) had accomplished together.
Next week I am going to pick up the donation of 4 computers and 1 Laptop from a company called The Stephenson Group based in Horsforth near Leeds. I am hoping to help them with any publicity they might wish to arrange.
Current total showing on the fundraising page is £880 with a number of other promises of further donations, largely from the selling of collectors items – football shirts in particular.
I have messaged a number of other football clubs, and had a positive response from one so far. Match worn shirts seem to have the highest value, especially if they are signed by the player(s) concerned.
I have a contact for shipping the computers, so am in contact with him about getting them transported to Zimbabwe & then to the schools.
We still need more donations in cash, in kind and/or online. If you can help…
Lorraine is a former student at Pakati from the time I was teaching there. Please take the time to read her 3-part profile on here.
One of several former Pakati students, she messaged me saying she was visting her family home close to the schools. She also delivered on her promise to take some photos around the area. These are some of those she sent…
This project has always been about helping Pakati Primary and Secondary schools IT equipment, to bring the education of their students into the modern, internet age.
Several schools in the area have computers already, so Pakati staff feel they and their students are being disadvantaged, left behind. Many have access to mobile devices even out in the rural areas, but would benefit greatly from greater knowledge of computers, not least as a medium for learning.
Access to better educational methods, ways of teaching and learning, and to information are things we in the developed world take for granted (along with clean water and free education for example).
WHAT DO WE NEED?
We need computers and/or laptops but ones which been cleaned up and with at least Windows 7 software on it. Please let me know through here or any of the links below:
http://facebook.com/Friends-of-pakati
http://twitter.com/friendsofpakati
Dont forget to donate at http://gofundme.com/friends-of-pakati
With many thanks to John from the Iron Trust, a supporters group for Scunthorpe United, for the superb donation from the members and passed on to me by John this weekend.
There are 9 more Scunthorpe shirts, 18 Liverpool, 5 England, plus some from Barcelona, Bayern Munich & Belgium. There are a few pairs of shorts, plus 4 small childrens size tops. See the attached photos for samples.
There are some football shirt collectors associated with the Iron, in particular Simon and Glenys, who are helping me sell as many of these shirts as they can, for as much as they can, all proceeds to be donated to this project.
More donations of potentially valuable shirts are promised. Any which are unsold by mid-september will be sent to Pakati, along with the shirts from the club and those from some Iron fans I know.
These are just a few of the donations for sale. I am advised by the collectors there is a good market for them all, and it is likely to raise a few hundred pounds towards the project, a total which will double thanks to the promise made by Scunthorpe United chairman, Mr Swann.
I would like to express my thanks to our hosts in Ackworth during last weeks walk between Bradford and Scunthorpe – my brother-in-law Dave, his wife Sharon and their daughter Liz (aka Elizabeth or Lilley). A typically warm African welcome which was very much appreciated by us all.
I also have to say how much we enjoyed our stay at the Fair Green Hotel in Thorne, our accommodation for our second night. The staff were very helpful and put themselves out on the Saturday morning by coming in early to cook breakfast for us. The rooms were clean, pleasant and comfortable.
Following contact with local Iron fans and avid shirt collectors, 4 out of the 9 donated are already sold for a total of £150, and the remaining 5 are also likely to sell soon & could reach another £100+.
I have now taken another donation of more shirts, some of which are collectable, many will be shipped to Pakati along with other shirts, including those given to me by Rob Noble (Head of Marketing, Ticketing and Retail/Supportes Liaison Officer).
Following the success of the walk between Bradford and Scunthorpe a week ago, I am now in the process of gathering the promised donations of money, then I can work out what I can afford to send to Pakati.
All through the walk, particularly during the hardest parts, I always reminded myself why I had set the challenge up in the first place – my promise to Mr Chifaka, Head of Pakati Secondary school, to try and help get much-needed IT equipment there. Other better funded local schools are at an advantage, so I want to give Pakati students the same chances.
I want to carry on with different fundraising activities, large or small, to add to the pot. Please let me know if you have any bright ideas or suggestions I can consider. Email friendsofpakati@gmail.com ormessage us on http://twitter.com/friendsofpakati or http://facebook.com/Friends-of-pakati with your thoughts.
Next I am looking for donations on IT equipment – PC’s, laptops etc – that companies or individuals no longer want. Please clean them up but leave basic usable software on them. Stephenson Group Ltd of Horsforth, Leeds, have already said I can have 4 PC’s and a laptop….can anyone else help? Either businesses or individuals? Same links as above please.
This weekend sees me back in Scunthorpe to collect more donations, this time from football shirt collectors who are offering money for those shirts donated last Saturday. Should be a decent sum by the sound of it.
There are also more football shirts being donated for me to ship to Pakati too, on top of those given directly by the club. I am collecting more of those this weekend. There is quite a good number apparently. Once I have them I will take photos and publish them on here.
Below are some of the comments which I have received regarding the walk. Feeling a little humble to be honest…
“….I am one of those who feel and see how much determination you have towards this project..you just denied yourself because of this project. God bless you Chris”
“…well done big man…you gave it a good go, really good”
“…that’s brillant Chris, well done all who walked”
“….I’m so sorry I never got the chance to congratulate you on the walk. Amazing stuff!”
The walk gave me the chance to talk at length to my son Daniel, and his girlfriend Alice who took most of the pictures, but also to reflect on what we were doing and why…
It all came about from this meeting in September 2018 between myself and the Head of Pakati Secondary school in Zimbabwe, where I once worked 30 years ago.
The idea of raising funds to help the school with IT equipment came from that day. So far we have raised around £800, with more in the pipeline to come, plus the bonus offer from Scunthorpe United chairman Peter Swann to match whatever we raise.
The walk has given me renewed determination to continue raising funds for the schools, and I am looking for more ideas of what else might /can be done – see yesterday’s blog ‘The walk….what next?
I have some follow up work going on including publicity, collecting funds, collecting IT equipment, shipping & delivering, but also football shirts… quite a few are being collected & passed on to me. I just need to organise for them to be delivered too.
Some things have changed in the last 30 years at Pakati….lets try & make more beneficial changes to Pakati students at both schools.
