Sarah makes the journey to South Africa
with charity of the year.

 

Barclays Wealth Credit Operations staff member, Sarah Maguire, has recently returned from a two week trip to South Africa with the Barclays Wealth charity of the year, BallaAfrica.

 

 

BallaAfrica is a local charity set up in 2008 to help some of the poorest communities in the world by undertaking special projects. These projects help benefit the people of the Island visiting South Africa by giving them a structured base and place to stay where they can then enrich their life by helping and uplifting local communities. The charity was set up by local teacher Johan Loubser who worked with malnourished children in Africa many years ago. The sad memories of these children has stayed with Johan and so when he moved to the Island he decided to set up BallaAfrica hoping to make a difference to the lives of these young people. It was chosen as the Barclays Wealth charity of the year by staff vote at the start of 2010.

 

A donation of £3,000 was given to BallaAfrica by the Barclays Wealth Charity Committee to be used towards projects identified by the charity. A group of six people travelled to South Africa at their own cost, to undertake voluntary work in some of the townships and camps most in need. Sarah and five other local people made the trip in August.

 

Sarah said: 'Travelling to South Africa is one of the best experiences of my life. Although the two weeks in South Africa proved to be hard work and emotionally difficult at times, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this fascinating country. The charity has already funded the construction of a Community Centre, accommodation, craft area and sports hall on the outskirts of Bronkhorstspruit (Pretoria) which is used by the local community and gave us a place to stay during our visit. From this base we visited the townships in the area and in particular the home of an amazing lady called Adelaide who helped look after orphans in her home and provided them with food and drink before they went to school. We helped to decorate and repair areas of her home to allow her to have her own space away from where the children gathered. The children were amazing and so happy that they always brought a smile to my face.

 

'We also visited a squatter camp where the conditions were a lot worse. Sixty people lived in the camp with only one toilet and shower between them. We handed out the clothes, food and toys we had brought with us which were kindly donated by friends, family and colleagues as well as local businesses such as Manx Inspirations and Duke. Another project we worked on was a nursery where we were able to provide twelve children with a set of brand new clothes and shoes. In addition we repainted the playground equipment and brought laughter by spending time playing with the children.

 

'There were a number of people we met who were living with AIDS that we were also able to help through donations of clothes and food. The group met a 26 year old woman who is suffering from AIDS and looking after a young son. We decided that we would sponsor her to ensure that she is able to afford the food and medication she needs to look after herself and her son. We felt that this would be a fitting ongoing contribution to the amazing people we met on our journey.

 

'Although the trip was hard work, we often started working at 6am and didn't finish till 5pm, when it became dark, it was so rewarding and Johan made sure that we also had some fun activities to take part in to keep our spirits up. We visited a lion park and also had a fun competition cooking Potjiekos (South African stew) in teams with me as the self appointed judge! I would love to go back again and am already looking forward to planning my next trip. This really was an opportunity to make a difference and was very rewarding.'

 

Chairman of the Barclays Wealth Charity Committee, Stuart Nelson said: 'Staff members in the Isle of Man work hard to raise a lot of money for their chosen charity of the year so it is great that Sarah was able to travel to South Africa to see first hand how the money is being put to good use. So far this year we have been raising money for BallaAfrica through a number of events such as sponsored walks, the big swim from Cumbria to the Isle of Man and an ice cream day at our Douglas offices. With many more events planned throughout the year we are hoping to raise a lot more money for BallaAfrica!'

 

Taken from Isle-News.com