2023 will be marked as a year of sustained and ambitious growth for Hope in Haringey’s Haringey African Schools Partnership. Working daily to deliver new milestones since its launch at the House of Commons in September; December saw the project connect a generator and PC’s to Okrika National School in Rivers State, Nigeria.

By Omar Alleyne-Lawler, Communications and Police Engagement Manager

The partnership, which launched with endorsements from David Lammy MP and Catherine West MP at the House of Commons in September, has endeavoured to see the project thrive, with major milestones crossed in October and November. December would be no exception as the partnership marked the safe delivery and set up of a generator and two PC’s for its Nigerian partner school.

Promised to the school as part of the partnership’s efforts to create parity between every member, the arrival of PC’s sought to enable the connection of Okrika with its partner schools across the world. Until now, students were unable to connect with the project consistently as the school did not have access to a reliable supply of electricity.

Images of the generator arrived December 12th in time for the Christmas closure

This meant that whilst our previous donation of MacBook’s worked well for members training for the youth advisory board, students seeking ICT learning provision were excluded. To include the entire school in the project required a more systemic approach to supporting their learning, hence the donation of two dedicated desktop PC’s and a generator to power them.

Pastor Tonye Philemon, Haringey African Schools Partnership Ambassador to Nigeria speaks to Mulberry Academy Woodside

 

Announcing this good news would be HASP’s Nigerian Ambassador, Pastor Tonye Philemon. Speaking to the year 7 cohort at partner School, Mulberry Academy Woodside, Pastor Philemon had recently travelled to the school and was keen to update their UK counterparts.

Having already been paired for more than a year, the assembly helped connect the newest intake of year 7’s with the wider work of the school, helping students see how their fundraising efforts were bringing the project to life.

“Thanks to you, the money you are raising is not only helping a school join you in the digital age, but you are changing the trajectory of lives for years to come” said Pastor Tonye. The moving words were then echoed by Mulberry Academy Woodside Headteacher, Angela Wallace who also reminded students of their commitment to being “global citizens” as students at the school.

Following the installation of the generators, a video of gratitude was sent from Okrika which you can watch below.