Ascot pupils visit CAFOD projects in Zambia

Mar 24th, 2014

Ladislaya and Florence with group at St Francis, Livingstone

Two pupils from St Mary’s Ascot have recently returned from a trip to Zambia where they visited CAFOD projects working in the area.

Following a successful charity dinner at St Mary’s Ascot last year, which raised £45,000 for CAFOD’s From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign, Ladislaya Ladanyi and Florence White-Spunner, both 15, were chosen to go to Zambia to see how their funds would make a difference in the country.

During the visit to Zambia the girls met with Sister Mary of the St Francis Integrated Care agency, whose work providing help and support to disabled people and people living with HIV is supported by CAFOD.

Florence said: “I really understand how much CAFOD helps now that I have experienced first-hand the problems in Zambia. I think ‘From Poverty to Opportunity’ is such a great project and I shall be definitely doing more in my school to raise money for CAFOD. I realised how the money we give helps to ensure people living with HIV get the medication they need, and sets them on the road to recovery.”

Ladislaya added: “It was an incredible experience, we were able to see so much in such a short space of time and we learnt a lot on the trip. I enjoyed meeting the locals and children and being able to talk to them. We met a lady who had been paralysed in bed for a long time with TB in the spine. She was now well enough to be working in the fields. It was very interesting to see how much CAFOD had helped her and many others like her.”

Before taking the trip the girls both had some understanding of what they would witness, but they were still surprised by a number of things, in particular witnessing such extreme poverty.

Florence said: “I didn’t realise how many children our age had to care for their families, for example, if their parents were gone. Visiting the urban slums was an incredibly hard experience, especially as it was our first day. I am glad we saw it, but I found it incredibly challenging.”

Throughout their visit, the girls kept a daily video diary and blogged about their experiences to present to their school as part of a special assembly.

CAFOD’s continued work in Zambia focuses on HIV and AIDS care and support, as well as helping locals establish and maintain livelihoods.

This is the first time that young people have visited an area as part of CAFOD’s From Poverty to Opportunity campaign, which aims to raise £10 million to transform the lives of some of the world’s poorest people in The Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Zambia.