Warwick in Africa: Enabling school children to escape poverty by transforming their education.

Heya! First of all, a sincere thanks for clicking onto my page and taking a few moments out of your precious time. What's all this about, then?

This Summer, I will be spending up to eight weeks in Mpumalanga, South Africa, teaching maths as part of the Warwick in Africa programme.

Why am I taking part?

I am currently in my fourth and final year of my Mathematics & Statistics degree, and looking back on my education, I realised just how privileged we are in England to have access to the quality of education and resources that we do. We're all created equal: why should others not have the same opportunity? That's what inspired me to take part in Warwick in Africa. This programme enables this imbalance to be addressed, not just for the students, but for the teachers and schools themselves.

How did this start?

In 2006, the University of Warwick sent twelve volunteers to teach maths in secondary schools in South Africa. Such is the success of the programme over the years that in 2018, more than sixty Warwick students volunteered to teach maths and English in over thirty schools across Ghana, Tanzania, and South Africa.

How does this make a difference?

Alumni and others give more than £200,000 per year to fund the programme, because it makes a difference: since its creation in 2006, Warwick in Africa has benefitted over 250,000 children. The University fully funds all the salary and administrative costs, so every last penny you wonderful people donate goes towards funding the teaching in Africa. All I need to fundraise is £1000.

It costs less than £10 to teach one child for a month through Warwick in Africa.
Think about that. Perhaps that's the price of a couple of hot drinks, a trip to the cinema, a meal out, a bottle of wine, a haircut, ... the list goes on. You know where I'm going with this.

I'm not a fan of clichés at all, but there really is no better and more apt way to phrase this: any donation you give, however small you think it is, will make quite a remarkable difference to the lives of these children and the opportunities they have for their futures.

If you still need convincing despite reading this far, here are some statistics. In 2017 alone, the programme:

• taught 23,008 learners;
• trained 518 teachers across Africa;
• improved maths test results from 29% to 51%; and
• raised English test results from 54% to 73%.

So come on board and take the journey with me.
Put your intentions and good thoughts into actions that make a tangible difference.
After all, don't these children deserve bright prospects?