London School Mixes Business with Charity

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 today (Wednesday 18 July).

"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/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. It's really inspiring for both students and staff to think of our old chairs, white boards and text books making a tangible difference to other children's lives. We're really looking forward to fostering relations with Almond School for our mutual learning benefit."

Also keen to help those in developing countries is Costain Construction, the firm building the new Greenford High School, which will be providing heavy lifting gear to help get the containers loaded.

In northern Uganda the 18 year conflict between the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) and Ugandan Government has uprooted an estimated 1.8 million people, most of which have been forced to seek refuge in IDP camps.

WER has been supporting children, families and communities in northern Uganda for a number of years by donating aid, equipment and cash grants through its local partner All Nations Christian Care. At Almond School WER has funded the drilling of a water borehole and, in the past year, the construction of a girls' dormitory with 120 beds, creating opportunity for more girls to receive senior level education. WER also funds the boarding and school costs of more than 50 orphan girls at Almond School.

"The Greenford High School donation will make a huge difference to the children at Almond School," says Alex Haxton, director of operations at WER. "We delivered a few desks and chairs to the school last year, but otherwise its resources are very limited.

Education is the only route out of poverty for most of these youngsters, which makes the importance of donations like this all the more tangible. We have direct contact with the schools and communities which will benefit from these donations so know they will make a significant difference to the education and lives of many children."

As well as shipping equipment to Almond School in northern Uganda, WER will also be distributing some of the Greenford High School resources to schools in Zambia and South Africa.