Oswin with Steve Cram and COCO staff Laura, Gemma and Lucy at the Red Ribbon Ball
Oswin has made his first trip outside of Tanzania, spending last week up in Newcastle with COCO staff, and this week with Hoja volunteers Julia Brownlow and myself in London.
He has been talking in schools and universities, as well as taking the opportunity to take in some sightseeing. He visited St James' Park stadium on Friday morning, for which COCO Director and Sunderland fan Steve Cram made amends in the afternoon by taking Oswin to a graduation ceremony at the Stadium of Light in the afternoon.
On Saturday we attended COCO's annual Red Ribbon Ball. Steve invited Oswin to speak at the event, and he explained how difficult it is for children to attend secondary school. He told all there how average family income in Songea is around £150 for the whole year, and fees are around £70 in Form One of secondary school - students have to pay for their own food, uniform, and even their own desk.
The event raised £15,000 for COCO projects (of which Hoja is one of many) and 36 people pledged to sponsor a student for one or two years. Many thanks from Hoja to all who put so much work into making the Ball such a success!
We hope we'll also be acquiring a few more Hoja supporters as a result of Oswin's visit, and look forward to more fundraising efforts that come from it. (Hint, hint...)
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