Family bring light to Africa (From Swindon Advertiser)

Family bring light to Africa

10:20am Thursday 9th June 2011 in Local By David Wiles

Jo, Cherry and Bill Heaven who have been to The Gambia

A KIND-HEARTED family has returned to Swindon after helping with a charity’s project to install solar-powered lighting systems at two schools in The Gambia.

Jo Heaven, of Kingshill, her husband Bill, and their daughter Cherry travelled to the Central River Region of the west African nation as part of a project run in partnership with local charity Lights For Learning.

The systems will allow youngsters to continue their education when it gets dark and also allow the school buildings to be used for other activities, including adult literacy classes and evening meetings.

The work was undertaken at Ndkiri Kunda Lower Basic School, in a village 10km outside of the town of Bansang, and also at Agape Nursery School, in Bansang.

Jo, 48, said: “This will be my fourth trip now to the village and we realised that their basic need was to have light.

“They haven’t got any electricity in the village and by having light it means that education can be continued into the evenings.

“They can run meetings and adult literacy classes, and the Scouts met on the first night we installed them.

“The teachers were in tears when we installed the lights. We take light for granted here but there everything they do in the evenings is by torch-light.”

The family raised the £1,500 needed for the project through several activities, including a motorbike ride from Land’s End to Hadrian’s Wall.

The Old Town Brownies also raised about £600 by packing bags in the Old Town Co-op.

Bill, 55, who owns Swindon electrical testing firm Electra, installed the lights at Ndkiri Kunda Lower Basic School in three classrooms, the headteacher’s office and a reading room.

He demonstrated the installation process to two local residents who then installed the systems at Agape Nursery School.

Jo and 15-year-old Cherry, repaired blackboards in three classrooms.

The family took over school equipment as well as dozens of bras, collected by Swindon College students, which were used to pad out the boxes of solar lights while in transit.

They also took over sewing materials, provided by Gorse Hill charity The Open Door Centre, to donate to another charity which supports women with problem pregnancies in The Gambia.

The family hopes to install solar-powered lighting systems at two further schools next year.

To help fund the work, Jo is seeking experienced motorcyclists to take part in a 1,000-mile ride across The Gambia on 125cc bikes in February. Anyone interested can call her on 07771 804365.