YEOVIL NEWS: Westfield students sponsor a child in the world's poorest country

STUDENTS from Westfield Academy in Yeovil have been inspired to sponsor a child from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As part of a highly successful Diversity Week at the school, students took part in a range of activities that specifically focused on the cultures of India, Poland, China and Britain: from henna painting to volleyball; fortune cookies to craft; and an amazing food fair.

They also heard from guest speaker, Dion Bunting from the Racial Awareness, Inclusion, Support and Education (RAISE) group.

Through the activities the students managed to raise almost £600, some of which was put towards sponsoring a child through Action Aid.

They are delighted to be sponsoring a little girl called Sifa Balagire. Sifa comes from a family of fourteen and lives in Idjwi Sud, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officially the poorest country in the world. Years of civil war and conflict have left thousands of children scared, hungry and sick.

PHOTO – TOP: Students, pictured from front left to right, are Thomas Brand, Jared Brueton, Jessica Riley, Jacob Wiles, Weronika Kaczorkiewicz and Maria Jose.

Thomas Brand, 11, said: “We have raised money so we can help Sifa – to buy her clothes and other things she needs so she can be happy this Christmas. It makes me happy too, to know that we are helping her.”

Jessica Riley, also 11, added: “She comes from a really poor country, where they don’t have the privileges we have.”

Action Aid’s particular focus, especially in Idjwi Sud is to tackle malnutrition, access to education, improving income for families and raising the status of women.

“We’ve learnt how much people value education in other countries like the Congo,” said Jacob Wiles, 11. “They don’t have any education at all really to help them get jobs.”

The students have already received a letter and picture from Sifa expressing her happiness about being sponsored. Year Seven tutor groups have been writing messages and drawing pictures for Sifa and plan to send correspondence to her each term.

“We’ve written letters to Sifa about what we learn at school”, said student Maria Jones, 11.

Head of Darwin House at Westfield, Ella Martin, said: “We have drawn pictures and taken photos as well and this new project is having a real impact on the students.

“This has been a really effective way for students to learn more about the world and the desperate plight of children like Sifa.

“Many of them have no choice but to work from a young age and have no prospect of education. We have talked about how we take education for granted here – and how, in contrast, in Congo the parents have to pay school fees and teachers salaries. For many children, they also have to walk 10km to school every day.

“As a result, only a third of children finish their primary school education. It has been a real eye-opener for all of our students.”

You can sponsor a child like Sifa from as little as 50p a day. For more information, go to http://www.actionaid.org.uk/sponsor-a-child

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