My First Week in the UK Office

My World of Difference placement started last Monday 9th November, at the UK office of Build Africa, based in Tunbridge Wells. Well what can I say about the team? Without sounding too sucky, they really are a fantastic bunch of people. They all work their socks off for such a brilliant cause. They have welcomed me, and really made me feel part of the family. There are some truly special people working here, and I am really glad I chose to work with them on my World of Difference year.

Build Africa is a dynamic young charity, working with the people of Kenya and Uganda to escape poverty through education and business enterprise. Within their Build A School programme they currently work with 62 schools, in the rural areas of Kenya and Uganda. This is not an organisation who goes to Africa to build a school. Build Africa develop three year school development plans. We build classrooms, staff rooms, toilet blocks, water supplies and accommodation for teachers. We provide desks, books, equipment and teacher training. The local community leads each project. We train and support school management committees and work closely with parents to ensure that the children receive the best education possible now and in the future.

My role over the next year will be two- fold. I will be working closely with the Director of Programmes- Jo Thomas, and with the field team out in Kenya and Uganda. Broadly, I will be working on Programmes and Fundraising. My aim is to apply my current skills, experience, passion, enthusiasm and desire to succeed to this role, enjoy every minute of it, and make a difference to the young people of Africa.

I am really excited to have joined right now, some of the team are working on developing the website. The website is great- http://www.build-africa.org.uk/ take a look! A huge amount of work is going into the schools section, watch this space for updates!