Letter from Eshowe Community Action Group

Rural Self Help Classroom Project

19th June 2006

Dear Dr. Haworth,

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the ECAG, I write to thank the Staff and especially the children of Wallington for raising an amount of £8,285.97 for Madidima School.

I understand from Mrs. Ferguson that a great amount of time and effort was put into raising these funds and that the children worked very hard and this can surely be seen by the great effort of rasising over £8,000 which I know is not an easy task.

As you all know education is the pathway to the future.  Adequate education for both sexes at all levels is one of the foundations for sustatinable development.  However, thousands of rural children do not progress any further than the primary school level putting them at a grave disadvantage in the world of technology, international commerce and research and development.  The school buildings themselves are often over-crowded with a hundred children in one classroom, sitting directly on the floor, sharing a few precious textbooks.  These young children need more schools, with improved teaching methods, techniques and materials, focusing on their real needs and it is in this context that through education these underprivileged children can be given the chance to a positive difference in their society.  Wallington County Grammar School can be proud of the way in which they have been committed to improving the lives of these rural children by extending their resources to benefit others.

By helping to educate these young rural zulu children they are better placed to gain paid employment, have healthier children and are more likely to send their own children to school.  They also have the skills and the motivation to effect positive change in their communities.

The new classrooms and facilities mean so much more than just a roofed square construction of bricks and cement.  It represents the hope of an education, better learning conditions, protection from the elements and pride in a permanent classroom of their own.  This project's success is owed to the committed joint effort between the children of Wallington County Grammar School, Teachers and ourselves the ECAG - without whom, such a project would not be possible.

Thank you for making the difference.  We hope that you will be able to return to the school one day to see the efforts of your hard work.  Gary Janks will be visiting soon and I am sure that the children will send many happy greetings and messages with him on his return.

Our schools are presently on winter vacation and re-open at the end of July when we will share the news with them of this donation.  Mrs. Ferguson has asked me if it is possible to set up links between Wallington and Madidima so that the children can write to each other, and hopefully I can organise the first connection while Gary is here.  This school does not have computers so writing with have to take place in the form of letters and cards from the learners but I know your children will appreciate this.

Thank you once again for your continued support of this project.

Yours sincerely,

Melanie Brown

Secretary ECAG