Tomorrow I am returning to Pakati for the first time since 2022, and very much looking forward to it! The welcome I have had from the community each time has been both wonderful & humbling.
So ‘Thank You’ to the following: at Tronox – Sarah, Mike, Alice & Triston. At Coedma Freight Int Ltd – Cordelia. At Scunthorpe United – the Board, staff & too many fans to mention!
Even though we may not get the IT delivered at the school as we hoped by this Tuesday, we know they will arrive not long after.
I will endeavor to return to the school if I can before returning home to take more pictures showing the handover & set-up of the items once deluvered. If not, then a representative of Friends if Pakati will do the honours.
Thankfully we do have some other items to deliver, and they are already packed to go to.the schools tomorrow.
Friends of Pakati t-shirts
So, in the meantime, I took another trip to Domboshawa caves…
Great to be able to report that Friends of Pakati have, for the third time, been able to use Coedma Air Freight Int Ltd to transport our goods to Zimbabwe.
They are a Leicester-based shipping company, run by Zimbabweans, & they have an office at Harare International Airport.
Back in 2019 we used them for our first instalment of donated computers & sports gear.
2019 – at Coedma offices in Leicester
Tbis year we are sending more goods, & they are already in transit. We believe they will arrive in Harare around the same date as I do.
Vari Mayez, the founder of our partner organisation VaTonatsa Foundation, has agreed to give our goods a temporary home as they will be delivered to her by Coedma. We will jointly arrange to get them to Pakati on the Monday 7th October as that is when Friends of Pakati are arriving at the schools.
This year’s donations are now in transitto Harare
I am able to track progress every day. All being well the goods should arrive around Thursday/Friday next week.
Friends of Pakati on our previous visit in 2022
It is an exciting time for Friends of Pakati right now, with the goods on their way, and the prospect of further co-operation with the donors Tronox. We are looking forward to visiting the two Pakati schools again, & hope we can continue to support them.
You will hear more from us in the next 3 weeks as we tell the tale of our trip to Zimbabwe & Pakati in more detail, backed by more pictures, short videos, interviews & stories. Can’t wait!
Here below is why we are doing what we do – the students of Pakati Primary, who are also future students of the Secondary school.
The IT suite at Pakati Secondary school has been ready for some time, now we are preparing to send more computers out there, so they can start to have formal IT lessons.
So, thanks to Sarah Dent who set this donation in motion – she spoke with us recently about it here: https://friendsofpakati.com/2024/09/13/new-podcast-sarah-dent/ – and now herself & her colleagues at Tronox have done us a great service by organising the transport of the goods to our shippers, Coedma Freight International Ltd in Leicester.
Triston, an apprentice IT technician, loading the van with our donated goods from Tronox
They arrived safely at Coedma, and are being prepared for the next part of their journey by air.
So next, fundraising….
We started out with £763 in our bank account. The estimate for shipping the goods was higher than anticipated, due to the weight of the goods at over 240kg. It came to around £2700. So, almost £2000 short…I put in £500, two others have added another £200. Next, a couple if smaller donations totalling £30, followed by another £200, and £100, brought our figure up to almost £1800 – leaving us a little over £900 short!
Who we are trying to help…
That is a huge leap forward for us, and we are extremely grateful to all who donate, no matter how small or large the amount. We genuinely appreciate every penny. If you or anyone you know would like to donate further, the links are at the top of the page.
Sarah at Tronox has very kindly published this on their internal newsletter:
Great stuff Sarah!
Friends of Pakati is hoping we can work together with Tronox again in the future, it may develop into a longer term partnership, who knows?
Pakati Secondary school staff in 1989 (most of them..)
More to come in the next few weeks, as we track the goods to Harare, then all being well, deliver them to Pakati schools in October! As in 2019 & 2022, we will post more about our visit to show what happens to the computers, & in future the schools will send us more pictures, videos & information as the students progress with IT lessons – thus helping to meet our original goal as set out from when Mr Chifaka, then Head of Pakati Secondary school said to me in 2018, when I asked what development he would like to see there, & he said one word:
Greetings everyone! We need additional funds as soon as possible. Find out how much, why we need it, and how to help below.
Well we have got the pictures from our donors, Tronox, of them boxing up the IT equipment ready to begin being transported to Zimbabwwe.
Alice & Triston of Tronox
The plan is to get them to our shippers in Leicester as early as tbis week. That gives them time to prepare everything for the next available flight. Usually it takes several days to get a connecting flight to Harare but they should arrive just before I do.
The entire donation has been boxed up by the Tronox team
So now we need to get them on the move!
What do we need?
Well the weight of the donation turns out to be quite a bit higher than I expected, at close to 250kg. That means the cost of shipping the goods out to Zimbanwe has gone up to around £2700…. I had thought it would have beem maybe £1500.
Friends of Pakati have just over £760 in its account, & I will put a chunk of money in myself to make it up to around £1300, leaving a ‘black hole’ of around £1400 to raise in a short space of time…
So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can you help us? Please SHARE this widely across your online platforms & encourage people you know to give whatever they can, no mattee how little. Here us how you can givr to us:
Or please contact me via DM (Twitter), IM (facebook), or via email at friendsofpakati@gmail.com & I will give the bank details of our account for larger amounts..
Let’s help get the computers out to Pakati & allow their students to learn in the digital age!
We are delighted to have Sarah Dent on this latest podcast episode, along with our host Bradley Mell and myself. Sarah is the HR Business Partner at Tronox, the company who is donating computers to Friends of Pakati.
Sarah Dent (left) with the Author, and with her colleagues Mike & Alice
Friends of Pakati are delighted to be able to report on developments regarding the IT donation.
Mike from our donors Tronox sent me the above picture of the first 5 Dell desktop computers which have been prepared for use at Pakati schools. These are the first of a total of 20 machines which we are hoping to ship out before I visit Zimbabwe & Pakati schools in October.
In addition to the desktop PC’s there will be monitors, mouse, keyboard & relevant cables to go with them. I am also sending a number of t-shirts alongside the IT equupment.
Triston, an apprentice at Tronox, seen working on one of the Dell computers destined for Pakati
A new message came in from Mike with good news: “Hi Chris, we have all the PCs built and the monitors tested. We’re waiting on the delivery of the keyboard, mice, and the monitor cables, we expect these within the next few days….”
I am also in the process of organising the transport of donated goods to the shipping company I have used before – https://coedmafreight.com/air-freight/ – just waiting to confirm details & get a rough idea of the price. My own estimate is somewhere between £1200 & £1500.
Sarah & the Author recently
Good news for Friends of Pakati – Sarah Dent from Tronox (& fellow football fan of Scunthorpe United FC) has kindly agreed to do a podcast with our host, Bradley Mell, and myself. We are due to record this week, & will publish it when it is ready.
Sarah also sent me a picture of some things on her desk….
Friends of Pakati merchandisei
This is all positive news for Friends of Pakati, and the Heads of both schools – Mr Chizenta (secondary) & Mr Mahachi (primary) – have warmly welcomed the news!
Will keep you updated, & keep an eye out for the podcast….
Sarah, Chris, Mike & Alice at Tronox, Mike holding on of the computers being donated
I arrived at the company’s base in North-East Lincolnshire around 1.15pm, & was met by Sarah, her colleagues Alice & Mike. After a short induction, with my visitor’s badge, they accompanied me to the store-room where they keep computers which the company no longer use for various reasons.
Some of the 20 computers being donated to Friends of Pakati
Mike explained that usually they are given to other companies or charities, either to be destroyed or wiped clean for re-use in local schools, but Sarah’s intervention means they are happy to release what they can to us at Friends of Pakati. They will first wipe all sensitive data currently held, then install a new operating system for us, before downloading some free software for Pakati students to use/learn about.
Cables & keyboards will not be a problem!
I was informed that they can have 20 desktop computers ready within a couple of weeks, complete with monitors, keyboards & mice (mouses?). In addition, all relevant cables will be there, along with a network block to link several computers together.
It is possible to link a number of computers together via a network block like the one above
They can also pack the whole lot together onto a pallet, & I am contacting the same shipping company to find out how much the transport will cost, including collection from North-East Lincolnshire to Leicester where the shipping company is based.
I have some additional items I can add to the package, such as t-shirts & maybe some football shirts too if it can be arranged in time. All of this should be delivered to my contact in Harare, just in time for Friends of Pakati to deliver them in person to the schools in October…
IT Suite at Pakati Secondary school
…so hopefully both the Primary & Secondary schools at Pakati will be able to teach IT formally, especially at the IT suite recently completed at Pakati Secondary school!
If you can help us with funds that would be great, as the cost of shipping them out at a rough guess to be somewhere between £1200-1500. We currently have £764 in the bank account I use for Friends of Pakati. http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati or http://gofundme.com/friends-of-pakati
As I mentioned in the previous blog, Sarah is also a fan of Scunthorpe United like myself, and we briefly met up for a chat & update on the IT situation.
Sarah & Chris at the Scuntborpe United match on 24th August at Glanford Park/Attis Arena
I started the match day by talking to a number of people at the club & they have been very helpful & supportive – as they always have been I must say.
In those discussions the club has agreed to storing whatever IT the donor company – Tronox – are able to donate to Friends of Pakati somewhere under the stands at the ground.
They also mentioned other ways to support us, such as a football shirt ‘amnesty’ where fans can come & donate old shirts at the club, either to send or maybe sell/auction for funds.
I am now in talks with Tronox to see exactly what they are willing to donate, & about going to collect at least some of it as early as next week. Tronox being an international company, they need to confirm any such arrangememts with their US-based Head Office.
So, keep an eye out for future posts!
If you can donate football shirts or other IT equipment, please let me know via email friendsofpakati@gmail.com
Greetings all, Friends of Pakati has some wonderful news to report….have a read below to find out more.
At the end of July I was contacted by someone who, like me, is a fan of Scunthorpe United FC. Her name is Sarah Dent, the HR Business Partner of Tronox Pigment UK Ltd, a company based in Grimsby, North Lincolnshire. Sarah sent me a Direct Message on X (or Twitter):
“Hi Chris, I work for a company called Tronox and we have some IT equipment available that works, but is considered not to be up to the standard required for roles on site, where we have upgraded IT etc….. do you have any more information for someone who doesn’t know about what you do, what the IT is for etc (I know the amazing work you do and I think it’s amazing by the way!! ) would that be ok? I can’t make any promises but will do my best!”
Company logo
Not surprisingly I responded positively, explaining about Friends of Pakati, asking for more information, pictures, permission to share the news, and to use their logo (which they agreed to as you can see).
Sarah messaged back, saying we should have more details of what they are willing to donate soon, along with photos & how we can share publicity on both our various social media platforms. We will post a follow-up blog once we get more from Tronox in the coming days.
Just this weekend, Sarah recognised me during the football match at Scunthorpe, & introduced herelf. We talked for a few minutes & confirmed we would work together to get this new donation out to Pakati, hopefully soon. I am planning to visit again this year & all being well, will be able to deliver more IT & other items to the two Pakati schools in person!
So look out for the next few blogs as we keep you all updated.
Firstly, let me give my thanks to a number of people involved yesterday: Kelvin Stanford & Glyn Sparks at Scunthorpe United for organising the day.
Kelvin Stanford with Chris Walker
Next, the following people who helped me with the stall: Bradley Mell, Brian & Jane Smith, and Simon Faulkner.
Brian (right) & Jane (centre)Bradley Mell
Not to mention all those fans, staff & players from the club who attended, whether they came to our stall or not.
Throughout the Open Day, which ran from 10.00am to 2.00pm, We had a good number of visitors to our stall. Many of them already knew about Friends of Pakati, others were introduced to our work.
We had a number of merchandise items to sell , including mugs, t-shirts, coasters, key rings & pin badges. In addition, we had a bucket which was there for any cash donations on the day.
Plus thanks to Simon Faulkner, we had a framed match-worn shirt from one of the players in the later game (Iron legends v Iron fans) to raffle off.
The frame was signed by a number of players at the Iron Legends v Iron Fans, including….….(the match-worn shirt) from Iron legend Nathan Stanton, seen above on the left of the 3 players.
This was a particularly lucrative item & was responsible for about 75% of our takings on the day. We had a small number of other shirts donated which were sold on the day. This one was taken as the boy took a shne to it….
Of those who came to the stall, there were some notable visitors, including two of the club’s Joint owners, Michelle Harness & Ian Sharp, plus one of the First team players, Will Evans.
One of the Iron co-owners Ian Sharp (left) talking to our podcast host Bradley MellFirst team playerWill Evans came with his family & bought some raffle tickets👍
After a long day in the sun (in Sunny Scunny…) we managed to raise a very good amount of £160 in total! So well done to the Friends of Pakati team, and a huge THANK YOU!!!! To all who bought goods or raffle tickets, or just donated cash. We did also get a monitor & a couple of keyboards donated too as requested. I am sure we will get more things donated in the next few weeks as we publicise our efforts over the weekend.
Legends v Fans was very enjoyablePeople were leaving after the day in a very positive frame of mind, helped by the lovely weather🌞
Donate old IT if you can – Laptops, keyboards, mouse & mats, monitors if you have them. I will be at the first home game of the season on 17th August….Also any football tops please! We aim to send everything we get around mid-September.
