Choko is all about one community helping another. Even though they are far apart culturally and geographically, it is people in Cholsey, South Oxfordshire helping people in Kodumela, South Africa to help themselves.
After the tsunami disaster, some residents felt that Cholsey village could support a community in need in the disaster area. A group of interested people was set up to explore the possibilities but found that the support they wanted to give, an ongoing link with a community in another part of the world, was not suitable for the tsunami affected area. However, they were advised by a major charity that communities in other areas, such as Africa, could benefit from additional help. James and Bev Butler had been sponsoring a child, Lucy, in Kodumela through World Vision for several years and had been fundraising for the area following a visit there. After discussions within the Cholsey group,it seemed a natural progression to make a link between the communities of Cholsey and Kodumela. Following contact from the group, World Vision agree to set up a pilot project where the two communities could link together under the organisation's management.
Although money is important, it is only a part of the support Choko offers. The group wanted to be able to show the community of Kodumela that people in another part of the world are concerned for them and care enough to do something about it so they set about linking schools and churches, writing to individual people, sponsoring children and planning a visit.
Does It Really Work...........?Yes, it really does! Linking Cholsey and Kodumela allows everyone, from the youngsters at pre-school to the more mature at the Over 60's, to get involved. Involvement can be anything from knitting toys to drawing pictures and writing letters to full-on fund raising. No matter what your skills nor how much spare time you have, there will be something you can do to help. You can help us for a short time or you can make a long-term commitment to the project - whatever suits you will be welcomed by us. The links between Cholsey and Mamokaile Schools and Crowmarsh Gifford and Masekane Schools have been very successful indeed. Children on both sides enjoy learning about each other; work, ideas and information are exchanged regularly. Individual donations always find good homes. Packets of pens and crayons, reading books, clothes and shoes have all been taken or sent to Kodumela where they are given to either the person or group specified by the donor, or the most needy as decided by Ledile, the World Vision project manager. Some of the fundraising successes so far include a sponsored marathon, a silver band concert, a cake stall, a book sale, a sausage sizzle, donations from the church and a beer festival. In just over three years, Choko has raised almost £40,000. Profits from our events are transferred to Kudomela via World Vision and every single penny is used to buy equipment formally requested by groups and individuals or invested in projects specified by the project managers in both the UK and South Africa. There is no funding for luxuries and that can be where Choko comes into its own; one spectacular success was the provision of Cholsey Bluebirds kit for a group of football mad boys who eat at an orphan feeding station every day. Starting Young ~ Understanding for LifeThere are six primary schools in the Kodumela area. This is a happy coincidence because there are six Primary schools in the Wallingford Schools Partnership (Brightwell, Crowmarsh, Cholsey, Benson, Warborough St John’s, St Nicholas, and Fir Tree in Wallingford). Our aim is to link each of the primary schools here with one of the primary schools, in Kodumela ~ this has already started by linking Cholsey with Mamokaile School. We sent a "Lucky Bear" to Mamokaile School last December to be used as a teaching aid and for children to take home and record his weekend activities in a diary as we do in Cholsey School. Shortly after this, in the next pack of work we received from Mamokaile School was a diary letter from a child who said she thought Lucky Bear would not want to go home with her because she was so poor. This moved many of us deeply; Dawn Allum who had made the bear was so moved she knitted a bear for each of the other primary schools in the region which we took over with a letter to explain how the bear could be used. | 
Lucky Bear brings a smile
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We very much wanted to visit all the schools, however the rural and large geographic nature of the area prevented us fitting them all in. We did manage to spend time at four of the six schools: Mamokaile, Metz, Makgaung and Macaigwana. It was a privilege to meet the head teachers of these schools and to pass on the bears we had brought. It was clear how much the schools desperately wanted to link with an English school, and to enjoy the exchange of work, ideas and information that we have established with Mamokaile School. I explained the only reason we had linked with Mamokaile first was because Lucy, a child sponsored by Choko members, attended that school and at the time we had not realised there were five other schools in the area.
Val with Rosina (centre), the head teacher and one of her staff.
| The link with Mamokaile School works extremely well. Often it is work generated as part of our curriculum that is sent over. Our children are learning so much about South Africa, the climate, food and lifestyles from the exchange with Mamokaile School. The children in Mamokaile are learning about Cholsey and the work we do in school. The time we spent at Mamokaile School was rewarding and exciting. Rosina, the head teacher was quite justifiably proud of the school and its pupils. She was also clearly delighted to have us in her school and managed to fit in a visit to all her classes to sing, read and chat with the pupils. All the work we have sent over takes pride of place in the classrooms and her office. I had thirty seconds to remember all the names of the children in the class I work with because she had a photograph of them we had sent her last Christmas on display in her office! |
I also had chance to discuss education in Mamokaile School with her and found:
- There are no special needs provisions or money for SEN children from the government – children with special needs attend school but within classes of 45 – 60 and 1 teacher.
- The textbooks used by the children are very old and out of date.
- Teaching resources are desperately short.
- Children are taught in English in all subjects apart from home language lessons during and beyond grade 3 (age 7 –8 and above).
- Children move up a grade when they make sufficient progress rather than according to age.
- School meals are cooked by volunteers and bought to the school gates in wheelbarrows and consist of a drink of water, Meali meal porridge and bean stew every day - in many cases this is the only meal the children get each day.
- Rosina was concerned her school was understaffed compared to Cholsey, I explained that a higher level of payment from central government was made, kitchen staff salaries were paid as well as some financial payment for individual SEN children allowing the employment of extra staff.
- Our efforts to explain the nativity play had worked quite well although they were clearly confused by the children not being in uniform but in costume in the pictures we had sent.
- Christmas carols were still a source of confusion for them as were my attempts to explain the colds and flu experienced during a British winter which had resulted in an aborted attempt to record the school carol concert because of the constant coughing during the service. However Cholsey, with its usual community spirit, has solved this with Dot Chapman’s idea that St Mary’s church could record a carol concert in the summer so we can send it in time for Christmas!
The schools link is an exciting part of the Choko concept allowing the youngest members of our village, and hopefully the wider learning community of the Wallingford Schools Partnership as well, to take a full part in this project.
Written by Val Bolt - Cholsey School
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Lucy ~ ready for school
Reaching out around the world |