Sellafield Ltd

The school run... but not as you know it!

Posted by: Tom Luke on 11 February 2008

Off to Lebone House early this morning to begin work. Apart from the work they do with children, there is also a Skills Centre where adults from the local townships can learn such skills as woodwork, metalwork, farming, beadwork, sewing and carpet making, in an effort to help make them become self-sufficient.

Jan and I spent the first morning putting up curtain rails in the boys building, then laying a carpet in one of the dormitories. Rob and Martin meanwhile, were introduced to the woodwork section, and immediately put to work repairing some damaged lockers in the girls building.

We've been loaned a beaten up old Toyota Cressida to travel around in, and during the afternoon we went on the school-run to pick up the 42 children from Lebone who travel to the local school. There were two 8-seater minibuses and our car to pick them all up in, and we ended up with 7 kids crammed on the back seat and one in the front on Jan's knee, and had there been another inch of space we would have had another couple more in. Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of health and safety decrees over here, so between us we managed to get all 42 home in one go!

After leaving Barrow with its' horizontal rain and force 8 draughts, it was nice to have to work all day in hot conditions, though after tea a sudden thunderstorm and torrential rain did help to alleviate any homesickness.

When the kids arrive back from school they are straight into a routine, where they must change from their school uniforms, have a snack, then report to the Lebone teacher to complete their homework. It was here that we found out that African children are no different from our own in Britain, as some "forgot" if they had any, some disappeared and didn't turn up to do it, some claimed to have lost their books, and the rest looked as if they would rather be anywhere else than at Homework Club.

This was when Martin came into his own, as he works with young people in Barrow, and he quickly managed to catch the imagination of some of the kids, and get them to actually enjoy their work. It may be an entirely different culture over here, but the basic needs of children are the same the world over, and a bit of individual attention will always bring results, it's just that this is very difficult when you are dealing with so many children who are all in need.