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No. 77 Autumn 2013 ISSN 1472-048X

Inside ...

FEATURE - FAITH LINKS

Reports of York and Birmingham Conferences

ONE WORLD LINKING

Magazine Committed to supporting mutually beneficial partnership links between communities in

the UK and other parts of the world

Students at the Frontline Institute, Zimbabwe

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Contents and Editorial 2

UKOWLA Update 3

Linking Conference ”Whither Linking”

Birmingham 4

Noticeboard 5

Helping out in Paradise 6-7

FEATURE— Faith Focussed Linking

From Little Acorns ... 8-9

Some Reflective Thoughts 9

Berega Hospital, Tanzania 10-11

Sharing Our Stories 12-14

Why Link? 14-15

UKOWLA York Conference

Report 16-17

Olympic Project—Photographic

Reflection 18

Looking for Partners 19

Diary 20

CONTENTS

E D I T O R I A L

This is, I’m afraid, a long awaited

OWL—hopefully you will forgive me for

such a gap! Things have become fairly

frantic with a family and two jobs!

It has been wonderful to read the

stories from some of our Faith link

members—we very much hope that our

Community members will take up the

opportunity to tell the membership

about their work in the next edition.

A plea—if you love reading OWL then

please consider sending a thought, an

article, a photo or perhaps suggest it to

a colleague, friend or fellow linker.

Have you read an interesting paper or

found a great website? Share it with

us! Holding an event? We would love

to know. It’s only with articles that

OWL can exist.

Enjoy!

Sharon

Sharon Leftwich-Lloyd

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UKOWLA as volunteers.

UKOWLA's address continues to be : -

UKOWLA,

The GLADE Centre,

Resources for Learning,

Parkway,

Bridgwater,

Somerset. TA6 4RL.

However, whilst our telephone number

remains as 01278 439 347, please note that

this will not be manned at all times. We

would therefore ask members to make good

use of the UKOWLA website

www.ukowla.org.uk and communicate with

us via email where possible on

info@ukowla.org.uk, making it more efficient

for us to log, handle and respond to your

enquiries.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts,

ideas and suggestions.

Kind regards,

Averil Newsam

UKOWLA Completes Transition to Voluntary

After many years as a voluntary

organisation, UKOWLA enjoyed a significant

period of grant support and funded

projects, requiring a paid (part time)

Director and administrator, together with a

full time worker on the Global Schools

programme (GSP), supported by a board of

voluntary Trustees.

However, with the end of GSP last year and

a big drop in funding opportunities,

UKOWLA has (like other charities), had to

reduce costs , meaning that we no longer

have any paid staff at all and are very

grateful to our Trustees, without whose

voluntary efforts we would be unable to

provide UKOWLA's services.

If you, or someone you know has an

interest in UKOWLA's work, together

with skills and experience to offer and

a little time, we would like to hear

from you. Please contact

info@ukowla.org.uk

Over the summer (since 1st April), Trustees

have been settling into their new

(voluntary) roles and have been pleased to

maintain ‘business as usual’ at UKOWLA,

albeit with a few delays initially. Going

forward, we intend to continue to publish

the OWL magazine and OWLET electronic

newsletter, together with relevant

workshops, conferences and access to

support from a wide range of linking

expertise.

We are grateful to GLADE (Somerset

Development Education Centre) who

provided our paid resources ( Lynn Cutler -

Director and Sandra Aldworth - Accountant)

over recent years and to Lynn and Sandra

specifically, who are now supporting

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This conference , jointly organised by BUILD

and UKOWLA, following discussions with the

Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council, was

organised to examine the climate in which all

kinds of linking communities’ organisations are

currently operating.

As the invitation letter said, “The currently ad-

verse social, political climate will, and in some

cases already has, led to the demise of many

community organisations whose members

have done extraordinary work over many

years – work that has changed many people’s

lives for the better and contributed to a safer,

more prosperous and just world for the next

generation.” We are very familiar with the

effects on UKOWLA.

24 people from 15 organisations attended the

meeting to hear presentations from BUILD,

UKOWLA (by our Chair Averil Newsam), Scot-

land-Malawi Partnership, Wales Africa Com-

munity Links, THET (Health Links), Common-

wealth Youth Exchange Council and the Brit-

ish Council and to discuss the themes, sug-

gested in the invitation, in the afternoon ses-

sion chaired by Steve Curtis and Mike Smith of

UKOWLA. The themes were:

Where the community linking movement is

at the moment

What are the constraints – social, eco-

nomic, political?

Where we would like the movement to be

in 5 year’s time

How we might get there

What resources will be required?

Who will be our key allies?

Nick Maurice of BUILD introduced the day’s

work and themes and John Whittaker, Chair of

BUILD, summed up at the end.

In the presentations it was clear that there

were quite stark differences in perceptions of

support and prospects, with Scotland and

Wales prospering and effective because of ac-

tual and tacit government support for their

work and the building of a national linking in-

frastructure. THET described a growing pro-

gramme and the British Council, despite finan-

cial constraints, was maintaining a range of

programmes, some of them newly developed,

to take account of Government policies. It ap-

pears that general linking support organisa-

tions such as BUILD, UKOWLA, CYEC as well

as others, including more local bodies, have

been the worst hit.

Whilst agreeing that more inter-organisational

cooperation would be beneficial to all and the

“cause”, the benefits of linking in the world as

it is now (UKOWLA was founded over 25

years ago), needed to be made plainer to Gov-

ernment and to other potential funders and

contributors so evidence of impact was

needed.

It was agreed that the linking movement

needs clarity of view, a single goal for all, a

‘manifesto’ to convince anyone. The manifesto

is being prepared, with contributions from oth-

ers, by Nick Maurice and a full report is in

preparation. A strategy for their use needs to

be worked out.

(Acknowledgement: Administration of

the conference was carried out by

BUILD)

Linking Conference “Whither Linking” -Birmingham 6th September 2013

Mike Smith is a Deputy Chair of

UKOWLA

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NOTICEBOARD

New Research paper from Institute of London

2013 sees The Development Education Research Centre (DERC) at The Institute of Education, London (IOE) publish their tenth research report —’School Linking—Where Next? Partnership Models between Schools in Europe and Africa by Doug Bourne and Olga Cara. All papers are available for download online at—http://www.ioe.ac.uk/research/4502.html#ResearchPapers

Winter 2014 Owl

The next edition of Owl will have a special feature about COMMUNITY links or

community projects within links. Please email us your news on this topic.

GUIDE TO LINKING: a Practical Guide to Establishing and Sustaining International

Links

York One World Linking Association (YOWLA) produced this 37-page A5 booklet in

2012, with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The purpose was to

help people from in and around York, who are interested in international under-

standing and co-operation, learn how YOWLA’s partnership organisations devel-

oped their links with various communities overseas. The advice contained in the

booklet is based on consultations with these groups, and the final section consists

of case studies of these organisations.

The booklet was on display at the UKOWLA conference in York on 16th March, for delegates to take away. Further copies are available for any member of UKOWLA at a token price of £1 plus postage. Please email yowlasec@hotmail.co.uk. Cheques should be made out to YOWLA, and posted to Mary Machen, 21 Neville Street, York YO31 8NP.

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White sands, palm trees, waves lapping the

shore, tropical forests with families of vervet

monkeys and a multitude of exotic birds and

butterflies – paradise! This is one side of the

Ssese Islands of Uganda’s Lake Victoria.

But there is a darker side. The fishing

communities are made up of young men from

all parts of the country, away from the taboos

and restrictions of family life, and young

women earning a living through prostitution.

The men move around the 84 islands with the

fish shoals and often leave a pregnant girl

behind. HIV/AIDS is rife and many children

are born with the virus. Surveys show that

prevalence is 27%, nearly 5 times the national

average. Locally it is claimed to be much

higher. Health care is inadequate with no

hospital and only health centres to serve the

entire District. The islands are one of the

neglected areas when it comes to Government

services.

With no electricity and running water outside

the main town (and those are somewhat

sporadic), employment is problematic and the

main source of income, fishing, is facing a

crisis from overfishing. The islands’ forests

have been decimated by an illegal timber trade

and the advent of the palm oil industry which

has taken 16,000 acres of forest in the last 6

years. Out-growers have given up farm land to

plant oil palm and are finding themselves

without the expected income and without land

to grow food.

The majority of the islands’ schools are

government schools and grossly underfunded.

Central government provides less than $1 per

child per year. Teachers are reluctant to come

to such a remote area where transport is

unreliable and the cost of living is higher than

elsewhere because of transport costs. Schools

are usually understaffed and staff are

frequently absent, seeing to families on the

mainland or supplementing their small salaries

with other businesses. Parents sending

children to such schools have often had no

education themselves and do not see the value

of education. Teachers can feel unsupported

by the communities they serve.

Help for Children in Uganda was set up in

2003 to assist the most vulnerable children of

the islands to access education. Selected in

primary school by the local councils and

schools, they stay on the programme until

they are able to earn a living. There are

currently two at University and two at college.

In the past they have graduated as

hairdressers, tailors, caterers and mechanics.

These are all children who would not have

Liz Humphreys is Director of Help

for Children in Uganda

Helping out in Paradise – Uganda’s Ssese Islands

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received more than a very basic education at

best.

Initially, we had a residential facility, but

children now board during the term and go to

relatives in the holidays. During the term we

keep in close contact with the schools and the

students visiting frequently. Two girls, who

have no known relatives, stay with the Director

or a married member of staff.

For the last 3 years, we have worked with two

schools to try to improve their facilities. We

have brought volunteers from UK and US to

work in the classrooms and a UK organization

has built playgrounds in both schools.

Bringing the wider world to these children has

proved immensely rewarding on both sides.

We hope to establish schools links and possibly

other links and are planning a study tour

towards the end of 2013.

Anyone interested in finding out more:

lizhumphreys2005@yahoo.co.uk

www.helpuganda.org.uk

Global Learning Programme

The GLP is a ground-breaking new programme which will create a national network of like-

minded schools, committed to equipping their students to succeed in a globalised world by

helping them to deliver effective teaching and learning about international development and

global issues at Key Stages 2 and 3.

Schools with outstanding practice in development education can apply for accreditation as GLP

Expert Centres that will act as hubs for good practice to provide local, peer-led training and

support for teachers. Each Expert Centre will establish a local network of between 15 and 23

partner schools and will host half-termly support meetings to help them to identify each school’s

particular training priorities and access the most appropriate funded professional development

through the GLP website to meet their needs.

Funding available for Expert Centre and their Partner Schools. Find out more -

http://globaldimension.org.uk/glp

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Don’t undervalue the chance that brief meetings through links can bring!

Several years ago I was a volunteer promoting Inter-Faith work in Swindon. I used to be invited to a group meeting in Marlborough led by the Marlborough Brandt Group.

MBG had been challenged by the Bishop of Salisbury, David Stancliffe to get some Inter-Faith activity going in Marlborough and its surroundings, given their relationship with the Muslim community of Gunjur in West Africa. MBG was also beginning to establish relationships with Muslims in Swindon by taking friends from Gunjur to Friday prayers in the Mosque there. MBG invited people they thought could help, including a few from Swindon. I sat by Imran, an English Muslim convert whom I had never met.

I am not sure whether those meetings had any lasting result in the Marlborough area – but some of us in Swindon have been very grateful for them. When I discovered how extensive Imran’s knowledge and understanding of Islam was, I began to send all my queries about Islam to him. (I remember my very hesitant emails – I was a woman, writing to a Muslim man! Would my questions offend such a devout Muslim? How should I greet him and how sign off?)

Now, some years later, our family and Imran’s have built a lasting friendship and trust. Swindon’s Inter-Faith group has been enriched by Imran’s whole family’s participation. Above

From Little Acorns ... Linking and Inter-Faith work

all, for a couple of winters, we had a study group of 11 Muslims and Christians, sharing our beliefs and practices in deep trust. We worked with Hans Kung’s book: ‘Islam, Past, Present and Future’, all doing our preparation faithfully, using the book’s index to study stories common to the Qur’an and the Bible.

*After an introductory session on ‘No world peace without peace between the religions,’ we started with our common ancestor Abraham, where we discovered that the Muslim story of Abraham’s ‘obedience test’ relates to Ishmael, but draws lessons familiar to us. Moving to the Trinity, and the position of Jesus, we came to a central difficulty of Muslims – are Christians really monotheistic? ‘Do you pray to Jesus or God?’ was a leading question.

We really recommend this kind of study group if a small number can commit to meeting regularly and doing their homework. Once real trust is established, people can speak honestly without fear of giving offence. At this level, asking and accepting searching questions can result in increased mutual understanding and a deeper personal faith.

We have been sad to see Imran and his family move to USA – but we know that they will share their Inter-faith experiences with their new friends. Just before leaving, Imran’s wife Irzana found time to write the following:

from Irzana

I met Margaret and Vernon through my husband. I was instantly drawn to their sincere desire to build bridges between faiths, but nervous that I would be preached to sooner or later! I had a few bad experiences with some very excitable Christian

Margaret Griffiths lives in

Swindon; she worked as a

volunteer promoting inter-faith

work

FEATURE—FAITH LINKS

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evangelicals many years prior when I was a student at Swindon College. I could not be more wrong and we have met many wonderful people through the Swindon Inter-faith (group). Margaret and Vernon have become our close friends and my children love to see them.

Initially, I was a little worried about studying a book about Islam written by a Christian. However, Hans Kung’s, ‘Islam’ was a joy to read, both with the group

and also on a personal level. I learnt more about Christianity than Islam! It made me more appreciative of my Christian brothers and sisters. The fact that I already knew the other Christians and Muslims in our study group made it easier and I doubt a study group like ours could stay together without the mutual trust and friendship we had developed over the years.

Some Reflective Thoughts

I think that I might not be the best person anyway to write about faith links, though it is interesting that our own parish link (within the Birmingham Diocesan Malawi Partnership) has just taken-off again after a couple of years when it's been difficult to keep in close contact. The reason was a new appointment and then loss on email at the Mpondas end. I know from previous experience that it's really good (of course) for there to be a multiplicity of people involved in writing, emailing and keeping in touch. Sending little gifts and developing an interest in families is really good. But if the link between me and the priest at Mpondas (the Dean of the Cathedral, as it happens) doesn't keep at 'full strength', the whole thing starts to fade. Regular emails are really important for this to happen. Fortunately, emailing has started to be possible again with Mpondas and presently Fr Chilomba and I correspond a couple of times a week. We really keep up with one another and with what's going on at both ends. I find it really supportive, and know that he does too. We talk about the financial arrangement between Polesworth and Mpondas, but that isn't the primary focus. I think that the friendship aspect keeps the worry of dependency in check.

It's now four years since I last took people from the Abbey to Mpondas, and Fr Chilomba and I are agreed that with the inflationary state of the currency in Malawi, we are best at the moment to try to increase our monthly payment, rather than fund visits either to Polesworth or to Mpondas. We hope that things change and make that possible again. Curiously, one of the three priorities that we identified 10 years ago, when Fr Chilomba's predecessor visited Polesworth, was to make sure that they had good internet access. Our hope to sort that practically failed. But time has shown that was a good priority, together with a monthly contribution towards the parish' share and visits when possible. I like the email link. It enables me to bring into other conversations what's happening in Mpondas and I'm sure this is strengthening and inspirational for people here. Really there are so many similarities...

Father Philip , Polesworth Abbey,

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high maternal mortality statistics for

Tanzania and our heartfelt desire to

equip the local assistant medical officers

with the skills to give expectant mothers

the best chance of having their babies

delivered safely into this world. To this

end, we are sending out a young doctor

at the beginning of his career, who will

spend about twelve months at the

hospital in the first instance; he will be

joined by a recently retired consultant

obstetrician, who will spend some

months mentoring the young doctor as

well as the local medical officers. We

hope to introduce the most recent

advances and equipment to Berega

Hospital as part of this process.

The second development from our

parish visit in April of last year, is that

the ten of us who visited Berega

Hospital in April 2012 have formed

ourselves into a proactive task group,

which we have called ‘Mission

Morogoro’,which has raised significant

money to equip a clinic related to the

hospital with solar heating for its wards.

As this article goes to press, ‘Mission

Morogoro’ is taking the steps to form

itself into an independent charity which

will, nonetheless, work closely with the

Diocese and other organisations and

charities, with the aim of serving the

Berega Hospital, Tanzania

John H. Green is The Reverend

Canon John Green and Chair of

The Worcester Diocese World

Church Task Group.

Berega Hospital is a Church hospital, set

within the Diocese of Morogoro, which

now has an official friendship link with

the Diocese of Worcester. As part of this

friendship link, the hospital director,

Isaac Mgego, paid a visit to this area,

which led to ten of us from the

Bowbrook Group of Parishes making a

special visit to the hospital in April 2012.

During this visit, we were stunned by

the significant needs of the hospital and

this has led to developments in two

important areas.

In the first place, the Diocese of

Worcester, represented by me as Chair

of the Diocesan World Church Task

Group, together with the Royal College

of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, has

begun to do some real work on setting

up what we hope will become an

enduring maternal health mentorship

scheme, initially for Berega Hospital,

then hopefully, rolling this out to other

church and state hospitals in Morogoro

and Tanzania. The need to provide

mentorship in this area comes from the

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And that concludes our ‘FAITH’ feature. Have you interviewed your part-

ner? Could you ask them to write for Owl? We would be delighted to

hear from you.

owl@ukowla.org.uk

Next edition our special feature will invite articles on the theme of

‘Community’.

Do you have a story to share?

A favourite photograph?

Perhaps a phrase or saying that is important within your link?

Long or short we’d love to hear from you!

staff and patients of a wonderful hospital, working valiantly to care for others in

such difficult circumstances.

John H. Green

The Reverend Canon John Green

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The Zimbabwe Association’s first visit to Zimbabwe (made possible by Scurrah Wainwright Charity) took place from 15-27 July 2012. Sarah Harland (ZA coordinator), Margaret Ling (ZA trustee) and Patrick Sibanda (chairperson, Zimbabwe Association Manchester) visited for 8 days. As well as spending a significant amount of time in Harare, the group made short visits out to Chitungwiza, Shamva and Mvurwi, and spent three days in Gweru and Bulawayo.

The group met and held in-depth discussions and conversations with over 120 individuals representing a wide range of organisations. They took part in two half-day workshops on culture in the diaspora and attended a public meeting on human rights issues.

Objectives

To fact-find the situation in Zimbabwe from the perspective of the Zimbabwe Association, in particular on the opportunities and threats for returning refugees.

To present the situation of refugees in the UK through the experiences of ZA members.

To build trusting relationships with prospective partner organisations.

To network and make contacts at all relevant levels.

To examine and develop working relationships with current pilot projects and identify other possibilities.

Outcomes in practice

Re-engagement – each member of the group personally reconnected with friends, family and former contacts after over 10 years of absence.

Profile-raising – a wide range of organisations and individual contacts

were introduced to the purpose and aims of the ZA.

Relationships – contacts were established with key organisations as a basis for potential ongoing collaboration.

Learning – all learned an enormous amount about the complexities, challenges and opportunities of the situation in Zimbabwe and the practical, day-to-day realities for individuals and local communities.

Direction – discussions helped to clarify some potential future directions for the ZA’s work, with regard to healing and reconciliation, information services for those thinking of returning, and cultural linkages in particular.

Organisations identified for potential future collaboration

Pamberi Trust (Harare, umbrella body for the Book Cafe), Dance Trust (Harare), Nhimbe Trust (Bulawayo).

These three arts and cultural organisations comprise SCAZIM, the Steering Committee of Africalia in Zimbabwe. Africalia is a Belgian funder largely supported by Belgian Development Cooperation which believes that ‘art and culture are essential elements in

Margaret Ling contributed this report to OWL. She is a trustee of the Zimbabwe

Association

Tree of Life ‘big circle’ of community-based facilitators

Sharing our Stories

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a sustainable human development process’.

Outcome: Proposal to explore the feasibility of a partnership between SCAZIM and the ZA to develop a structured Cultural Diaspora Linkage programme. This would comprise an information website jointly managed by Pamberi Trust and ZA, and two-way exchanges by artists. Funding proposal to Africalia being prepared by Pamberi Trust.

PAOMAC (Protect AIDS Orphans in Mabvuku Community), Harare

PAOMAC is a community-based initiative to enable AIDS orphans and other children in need to access primary education in Mabvuku, one of the poorest high-density areas in Harare. ZA has given an initial donation towards school fees via Tom and Edwina Spicer, from the HIV/AIDS Legacy funding, and some further funding has been committed. Our discussion with PAOMAC committee members revolved around the need to develop long-term sustainable funding sources once the ZA’s one-off donations ended.

Outcome: Proposal from PAOMAC to develop a community-based income generating project on the principle of ‘Education for Work’; members of the community to work voluntarily in return for profits being used to pay primary school fees. Candle-making is the first activity planned.

Development Aid from People to People (DAPP)

DAPP are one of the longest-established development NGOs in Zimbabwe, with long-term projects in education, agriculture, HIV/AIDS, community development and environmental conservation in Mashonaland, Manicaland, Masvingo and Harare. It grew out of the Danish solidarity movement’s support for Zimbabwean refugees in Mozambique during the liberation struggle and has maintained good working relations with government ministries and local officials. DAPP Zimbabwe is one of 43 community-based NGOs affiliated to the Madrid-based Humana People to People, which provide

funding and support and has a strong emphasis on self-reliance and developing its own income streams e.g. from second-hand clothing sales.

At the follow-up meeting with David Karingamupembe and Matthias Paradzai in Harare, and during a visit with David to DAPP’s Frontline Training Institute in Shamva, we discussed the possibility of a pilot project for returnees to work on DAPP projects. The British Embassy in Harare, with whom DAPP have a good relationship, has responded positively to this idea.

Outcome: In principle agreement to explore possibility of a joint project for returnees to work on DAPP projects, in collaboration with the British Embassy.

CARITAS/Choices Assisted Voluntary Return Programme

Caritas Zimbabwe, the development arm of the Catholic church, in partnership with Refugee Action in the UK, took over the administration of the Choices Assisted Voluntary Return Programme (AVRP) from the IOM in October 2011. Since then they have handled the cases of 65-70 returnees. Numbers are slowly increasing.

At the initial meeting in Harare, Charmaine gave us an overview of the assistance available to returnees, the difficulties faced and the limitations of the programme. These include the limited scale of the funding available (does not allow for any significant capital investment), its restrictions (does not cover transport and communications or the import of capital assets), and the bureaucratic and technical obstacles faced by returnees (onerous customs duties on personal property).

The Olympic winners at Mabvuku primary school

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Laura Tilling is a long standing member of UKOWLA and has been a strong

advocate of linking through the Cary-Mufulira link since 1994. Laura runs 'IntroZambia' with UKOWLA Trustee,

Steve Curtis, to provide ethical holidays.

Charmaine arranged for the group to meet four returnees, whose varied experiences and perspectives on return, both positive and negative, provided a wealth of useful information for ZA members in considering the AVRP and the possibility of return in general.

Outcome: Good relations established with Caritas and agreement to keep in touch; clearer understanding of how the Choices programme works, its benefits and limitations.

Tree of Life

Tree of Life are a community-based initiative in conflict resolution and reconciliation using ‘healing circles’ to heal and empower victims of torture. It brings victims and perpetrators together in intensive workshops to share personal stories and experience, using the metaphor of the tree as a living organism which can survive drought and the loss of branches and still grow and flourish. Tree of Life works mainly in the east and central provinces.

Tree of Life’s remit is strictly limited to healing and personal empowerment and to enabling communities that have been divided by conflict to live together again. However, there is evidence that communities where healing circles have been established gain the confidence to resist renewed attempts at assault and division.

The group attended the weekly meeting of Tree of Life’s trained community facilitators (the ‘small circle’) and the monthly meeting of volunteer extension workers from the healing circles established in the various provinces (the ‘big circle’). During a separate visit, they also met with Father Brian MacGarry, and

community worker Edward Tsango, himself a torture survivor, who use Tree of Life methods to heal victims of the Chipangano gang in Mbare.

Outcome: All were impressed by Tree of Life’s work and appreciated its potential for healing amongst ZA members who continue to suffer the after-effects of torture and trauma.

Conclusions and recommendations

The situation in Zimbabwe is complex and uncertain.

Zimbabwe is a very difficult, high risk, expensive country to live in, but there are opportunities for resourceful, resilient, enterprising people who are prepared for disappointments and able to be flexible.

Our visit confirmed the value of ZA’s work to date in supporting and nurturing the human resources of the refugee community with a view to their potential future return to Zimbabwe. We are perceived as a valuable entry point to the

diaspora and a channel for information to and from the UK.

There are few resources available to support the re-engagement and return of the diaspora and it appears that ZA is in the forefront in actively exploring the possibilities and initiating linkages.

Looking ahead, the issue is how to position ourselves strategically to make the most effective use of this capability with our very limited resources, and without raising false expectations about what we can deliver.

Why Link?

The Cary-Mufulira Community Partnership Trust was founded nearly 20 years ago. What a mouthful! We set ourselves up as a charity with one aim in mind – to raise funds for a student exchange between Ansford Academy in Castle Cary and Mufulira High School in the Zambian Copperbelt. We are still going strong

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with a much wider brief - we have brought primary, secondary and special schools, a university, churches, a Rotary Club and Guides under our very informal umbrella.

But why do we do it? Our charitable objectives still hold and fortunately we were wise enough, or lucky enough, at the start to make them cover all these links. We exist “to advance the public education of individuals (with a focus on young people in and around the area of Castle Cary and Mufulira) in particular, by the provision and organisation of expeditions, visits, tours and exchanges of an educational nature to Zambia and the UK.” Key to our ethos is reciprocity and equality – and although we could not put those words in – the Charity Commission centres on the concept of one-way help – they are implicit in our objectives, and very important indeed.

Do these key concepts stop us helping our friends and colleagues in Zambia in a multiplicity of ways? Of course not. Many parents of exchange students have quietly helped the young Zambians their children have partnered, with education costs - sometimes to the extent of seeing them through higher education. The Rotary Club of Mufulira and our local Rotary Club work together to draw down international funds for many projects in Mufulira. CMCPT has sent books and computers to schools in Zambia, taken art and sports resources and worked with our local churches to help them send resources over. Recently the Minor Metals Trade Association has supported us with funding that we have used both to help with linking visits and also to provide essential equipment for schools in Mufulira.

As far as the primary schools involved are concerned, “advancing education” is of course central. Teachers visiting Zambia have brought back resources, information, photographs etc which have been used to increase pupils' basic understanding of a wide range of global issues – environment, sustainability, human rights, cultural diversity – effectively using Zambia and its differences from and similarities to the UK as a case study. Teachers and students visiting from Zambia have also had a very strong impact on

pupils' understanding. Over the years, the development of mobile phones, email, and now Skype have made keeping in touch easier and brought pupils from the two countries closer together.

As pupils gain knowledge of Zambia, they soon not only understand that there are similarities and differences, but that poverty and disadvantage are in many ways vastly greater there than here. So they want to help, and many schools raise money for their link schools in Zambia – for books, for equipment, for school fees for the poorest students etc. This is charity with understanding rather than just “feel good” charity.

For the community groups involved – the churches, Rotary Clubs etc - things are a little different. Their central aim can be aid-focussed – they want to help - while CMCPT's aim remains educational. However, by involving members of the these groups with visitors from Zambia, arranging talks and activities for the community (often in conjunction with GLADE, Somerset's Global Learning and Development Education Centre) CMCPT, and above all encouraging members of these groups to join our visits to Zambia, we can “educate” the adults just as we educate the children.

I don't encourage linking out of pity for other people's poverty; I don't visit Zambia out of a sense of adventure (I am not in the least intrepid!). I do it quite simply because I find it endlessly fascinating to see the differences between Zambia and UK, and how both countries constantly change and “develop”. I have many friends in Zambia and enjoy the opportunity to meet up with them again, and explore the everyday issues facing both them and us here.

Linking makes us think!

16

UKOWLA York Conference Report—

Enterprise in a time of Austerity

- Learning from Africa

York One Day Workshop, March 16th 2013

Averil Newsam is Chair of UKOWLA

This event was a partnership between

UKOWLA and the York One World

Linking Association, YOWLA, working

together with local suppliers and

entrepreneurs to develop a really memorable

day.

Hugh Bayley, MP, welcomed us to York

and talked about his work on the Cross Party

International Development Committee which

published its annual report in May this year.

He took questions from participants, which

reflected some of the issues our partners

face, and commented that the biggest

changes for the world’s poorest people will

be seen when world leaders begin to peer

review each other’s standards of governance.

Rob and Nikki Wilson’s book, ‘On the

Up’ (isbn: 978-0-9572027-0-2) was the result

of their ‘big trip’ after meeting and marrying

soon after University. In 2005 they set up

READ International, collecting school books

from the UK for schools in the Singida

province of Tanzania. They won Best New

Charity in 2007 and Best International Aid

and Development Charity in 2007 but after

sending the one millionth book to Tanzania

in 2011 they decided it was time to move on.

Their experiences, which we read in their

book, were the inspiration behind this event

and they were very keen to come to share

the stories with us. Like that of Betty

Makoni, founder of Girl Child Network in

Zimbabwe, set up in 1998, ten years after

Betty’s own experience of being raped and

seeing her mother beaten and killed by her

father. She has set up more than 700 girls

clubs across the country, empowering more

than 300,000 girls through story-telling,

leadership training and girls’ rights

education, with the result that she has

changed attitudes towards girls and women.

There are many more stories, from the Cape

to Cairo, in their book, which really is a good

17

and Mary Wood from the Burley-Tereli (Mali)

Friendship Trust (http://www.btft.org.uk)

and Val Wilson from Team Kenya, (http://

www.teamkenya.org.uk) as well as Fair

Trade crafts and produce from Fairer World

(84 Gillygate, York).

Despite the event being reduced from two

days to one day, to ensure a good turnout,

this did not affect its success. As a model for

working together, it showed how we all enjoy

the opportunity to meet and learn from each

other. This day just buzzed with ideas and

enthusiasm to keep in touch.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to

and attended this conference.

read.

Winfred Gelli is the founder and head of the

Elikem Organisation and Head Teacher of the

Elikem Youth Group and School. It all

started in 1998 when people from the Volta

region in Ghana were displaced to the city

when Lake Volta was created. A visit to the

UK in 2001 and The Jack Petchy Youth

Award led to support from the Brightlingsea

Woodcraft Folk. By 2007 a Farmer

Cooperative growing Fair Trade certified

cocoa beans, chillies and pineapples was in

operation. However, a memorable

discussion revealed the difficulty faced by the

organisation in finding outlets to sell their

produce in the UK, a problem not

encountered in other EU countries like

Switzerland, Belgium or Denmark.

The day enabled us to catch up with some of

the wonderful linking activities represented

through displays and stories displayed

around the room. Amongst them were John

Were you there? Tell us what you took

away from this conference.

Are you organising an event based on link-

ing? We’d love to know about it and feature

it in OWL.

owl@ukowla.org.uk

18

Olympic Project—Photographic Reflection

Samsara World School, India is partnered with Rockferry School in the UK. Together they completed

an Olympic themed project.

Do you have some inspirational photographs to share with readers?

OWL would love to hear your story or see images of your linking progress, projects

and discussions—owl@ukowla.org.uk

19

We’re Looking for Partners! Are you?

Jowena Education Centre, Uganda

We are extremely happy to communicate to you. We are indeed inspired by the wonderful idea of school to school partnerships.

We currently have many children who would like to establish a relationship with your children, who are between 3 years to 15 years of age from Nursery to Primary Seven. Your students will read interesting things about education in Africa and what it means to be an African Child. The experiences are different and difference may be interesting to them. An example is that we do have classrooms which are very small yet our children are very many. Inside these classrooms, some children sit down because of the limited chairs. Some classes are conducted under tree shades. Yet other children fail to attend classes because they do not have pens and pencils. But still, life goes on.

It’s our wish to encourage young people to communicate and work together, the aim is to create awareness for diversity and to build a positive partnership in which we can understand each other’s culture, share our resources and knowledge with each other in appropriate ways and assist in enriching the lives of our partners however possible.

We count on your positive response and we highly appreciate your time.

Best Regards

Shakila Huda

Kenya

Halo, receive our greetings. We wish to get a partner school for us to interact and learn more from each other. We are a school in Kenya, Nakuru, within the town with a population of 775 pupils. We carry out a lot of activities including care of the environment and gardening, we also have a tree nursery from which a Children’s Club sells seedlings to other schools around us. We wish to get friends from other countries to be able to know what they do and how they go about their education syllabus. Dorothy Tugee, Headteacher Baharini primary school

I am coordinating a young people’s stamp club for students from different schools in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. I wish to request for affiliation of our schools’ stamp clubs in Calabar with those abroad for exchange of Philatelic materials especially stamps, letters and ideas. Attached are pictures of our recent Joint School Philatelic Meeting for the year 2013 between the students of Technical Science College, Mayne Avenue Street Calabar ( Mixed school) and Holy Child Secondary School, Goldie Street Calabar (Girls School). More of such meetings and events are in the link below. http://www.eddysstampresort.org/calabar-stamp-club.php Edet Akpan,,P.O.Box 3542, Calabar, Cross River State,

Nigeria. 540001

eddycool2002@yahoo.com calstampclub@yahoo.com

20

DIARY

Contact:

UKOWLA

At The Glade Centre

Resources for Learning

Parkway

Bridgwater

SOMERSET TA4 6RL

01278 439347

info@ukowla.org.uk

Why not join UKOWLA? Subscriptions run for a year

Local Authorities £125

Community Groups £35

Schools £35

Individuals £20

Registered Charity Number 1105005 Registered in England and Wales Number 4153210

The deadline for the next edition is 31st March 2014

Articles, pictures, letters and comments of all kinds from members and others in the field are

needed. The feature is COMMUNITY LINKS

Have a thought / quote / picture that you would like to share or invite comment on? Send it to us.

Full length articles can be up to 1,000 words.

Email to: owl@ukowla.org.uk

UKOWLA will assume permission to use any articles and photographs in both electronic and print formats

Where pictures of young people are submitted, please ensure that permission for publication has

been obtained.

AGM & Linking Event – Why Link?

kindly hosted by Cary Mufulira Community Partnership Trust

'Why Linking?' workshops will run either side of UKOWLA's AGM (12-12.30) from 10-12 and from 1.15-3.15 facilitated by

Lynn Cutler, UKOWLA & members of CMCPT.

There will be 4 workshops of 45 minutes each and will focus on: how linking can contribute to intercultural

understanding; using Skype, blogging and social networking to continue talking with your link; your partnership journey to

the future; local learning from your link.

Refreshments and a light lunch will be provided, and although there is no charge to attend the event, a donation towards lunch costs will be welcome.

We look forward to welcoming you at Castle Cary Primary School, Park Street, Castle Cary Somerset BA7 7EH from 9.30 on Saturday, 19 October 2013.