Two huge containers full of redundant educational equipment will soon be on their way to under-resourced schools in northern Uganda, Zambia and South Africa thanks to an enterprising group of sixth form students at Greenford High School in Ealing, London.
Due to an impending move to new premises in August, Greenford High School found itself with an abundance of 'old' equipment to dispose of. The task was given to the sixth form Enterprise Group, which decided it would like to see the equipment put to good use in developing countries rather than risk it ending up in landfill here in the UK.
One of the students, 18 year old Ishtar Saleh, found international development charity World Emergency Relief (WER) on the internet and arrangements were soon made to ship the equipment. The sixth form students started loading the containers yesterday.
"The equipment would have had limited use or value here in the UK," says Ishtar Saleh. "It seemed like it would be such a waste, so I thought I'd see if children somewhere else in the world might be able to benefit from it. I looked at a few different charities online, but WER's website was really focused on children so I figured they might be able to help - and I was right."
The equipment being donated by Greenford High School includes reading and text books, classroom furniture and technical equipment such as drills and lathes.
Most of this will be shipped to Almond School and its associated technical college in Lira, northern Uganda, where many of the students are from Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps due to 18 years of brutal conflict in the region.
Many have also been affected by HIV and Aids and are orphans or living with extended family. At Almond School classroom and educational equipment is sparse with often only one or two text books per class.
"We're so proud of Ishtar and the Enterprise Group," says Tony Heaps, assistant head teacher at Greenford High School. "This exercise has really raised our collective consciousness at the school about the importance of recycling and taking actions that will benefit children in need elsewhere.
