Carpenter heads for Sth Africa – for the 13th time
Laura Lyne
A carpenter living in Aylesbury plans to embark on his 13th tour to South Africa to help build classrooms as part of the annual Mellon Educate Building Blitz.
John ‘JP’ Doyle has been travelling to South Africa with the charity for the past 12 years, and on his 12th tour he acted as a foreman, managing a crew of roofers.
As part of the most recent campaign, JP, along with 250 volunteers, helped to build 12 classrooms in the township of Masiphumelele in Cape Town.
Ahead of his next campaign in November, JP must raise €4,000 and he is appealing for volunteers who are interested in the project to get in touch.
He told The Echo: “38,000 people live in the township and the classrooms which were built for the Uknahyo Junior School will give the children a much brighter learning environment to help lift them out of their abject poverty.
“In 2013 the charity changed its focus to build schools and implement the Mellon Educate Results programme to improve pupils’ maths and literacy rate.
“Results are extremely low and the charity’s aim is to increase pass rates by up to at least 75 per cent.
“This has already been achieved following on from the first school blitz in Imizamo Yethu, Cape Town.”
Mellon Educate is the largest Irish charity working in South Africa, with more than 20,000 volunteers working on building blitzes since 2003.
A new site is chosen by Mellon Educate each year to focus on its educational programme, and volunteers from all walks of life take part and unite to ensure students and teachers in South Africa have adequate facilities in which to teach and learn.
Those who are interested in volunteering with the Mellon Educate Building Blitz next November, are asked to contact JP Doyle by sending him an email at wexfordman50@yahoo.co.uk
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