Touching Hearts And Souls On Two Continents

She’s our Reverend Margaret – and we love her! So when Margaret talked to us on Monday, January 13 about her recent trip to Kenya, she received generous acclaim.
Margaret has been visiting Embu for ten years.  She went twice in 2019 despite personal concerns at home and heavy commitments at Christ Church where she is Associate Priest.

This talk was on the visit in October 2019 made with co-enthusiast Stuart Gibbs, about the continuing partnership forged between Buttsbury Junior School and Ciamanda Primary School.

She brought the room (if not the house) down with an opening quip: “I assure you that these are not my holiday snaps”.

What followed was a fascinating slideshow and commentary of Rotary meeting Rotary on two continents – UK and that water-stricken part of Africa that is the Embu region in Kenya.

Two Incentives

Their flight to Jomo Kenyatta airport, Nairobi, took eight hours with another two-hour road journey from Nairobi. “It used to be five hours,” she told us.  They had two incentives – to transport and deliver a much-needed community water filter system as donated by our club; to discuss the first borehole to be dug at Ciamanda Primary School (now completed) as part of our multi-year Borehole Project in conjunction with our European and Basildon Rotary Clubs (see report on Pages 3-5), and to discuss with the Headteacher the renovation of the primary school Nursery classroom.

A reminder of previous report on the Aquabox water filter (December): “They were shocked at how dirty the water was that they had been drinking, and how the water filter would improve the health of the community.”  Now she could add: “The first borehole is in place.” 

Much applause from members.

Reunited With Bishop David

Margaret’s “happy snaps” elaborated on the development and the effect and response from the Embu people and Lucy Mbogo, the headteacher at Ciamanda Primary School, her happy hosting by Rev. Maxwell and his wife Pauline and daughters Joy and Ivy, and the reunion with Bishop David, who addressed our club last year, and conducted a Consecration and Confirmation Service at St. Paul’s Church, Magaca in Ciamanda Parish. The church took 15 years to build, as Margaret said: “brick by brick.”  She had planted a tree in 2018 to commemorate her visits.

Even the splendid new Church toilets with safe water now had a plaque: ‘Toilet Facility built in partnership with Christ Church Billericay’ and bottom-lined: “For the Glory of God”!

Head Boy Moses

Happy too, as she used the example of two girls and a boy who were sponsored to go to senior school by friends in Billericay; Moses, Immaculate and Grace who were very bright but whose parents were so poor they could not afford school fees. Moses has now become head boy of the Senior School and Grace has qualified for University.
Touching tales all.  And another happy note when the Rotary Club of Embu provided a birthday cake on learning it was Stuart’s birthday. People like Margaret and Stuart, and Rotary, bring light and hope to so many of Africa’s needy.

* In his vote of thanks, President Ben said: “This is what Rotary is all about. Bringing the people of the world closer together.  Thank you, Margaret.”