As most of you may remember, last Christmas I set up a Just Giving page to help raise enough money to keep our wee Pre-School running for another year. Thanks to your amazing support, we were able to ensure that almost 60 children were able to attend Twafwane Pre-School during 2017. In addition to this we were able to help pay school fees for a number of vulnerable children in secondary school who would have been unable to attend school without your support. As January will see the start of a new school year in Zambia, I need your help again so that together we can make a change. Twafwane Pre-School does not receive any Government funding or funding from charities so without your help with raising these vital funds, it would be unable to function.

Most of the children attending the Pre-School come from Twafwane Community which is a community of people who were chosen to be part of a building development because their circumstances and living situations beforhand were so dire. The community is made up of ex-street children, HIV positive widows with children, and orphans living with grandparents or relatives due to their parents dying from HIV. Although the families living within Twafwane now have the security of a small basic house, poverty continues to be a very real issue and everyday is a struggle for the majority of people. Levels of illiteracy within Twafwane are very high and employment levels are very low with many people working in jobs which would pay them as little as £2 per day.

It is hard to believe that a child may never attend school or get any kind of education, however, when I first moved to Zambia in 2012 there were 13 year olds in Twafwane Community who I enrolled into grade 1 as they had never been to school before. The Pre-School is now a central part of Twafwane Community and it has made a massive difference in emphasizing the importance of education as well as providing many children with the support and learning they may not be able to receive at home due to the high illiteracy rates.

I know that Christmas can be a very stressful time for many people and everyone is struggling to afford gifts for their children, family and friends but even the smallest donation will mean the world of difference to this project. The children living in this community will not be getting any gifts this Christmas, most of them do not have any toys except for the ones they make themselves but they are so happy and will always greet you with a big smile that makes the world feel like it is a better place.

I am so grateful for all the donations, help and support which my family, friends, friends of friends, and some local businesses and schools have given to this project since 2013. I know it has already made a massive difference to the lives of many children and I hope that together we can continue helping the children of Twafwane to have a better start in life.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" (Nelson Mandela)

Thank you

Anita McWilliams

(In the picture below you can see alot of smiling faces from the kids when they received new tops which were very kindly donated by Chris Collins and Derry GAA)