Shrewsbury School had a special visit from the founder of Restart Africa, to hear all about the work they do looking after children.

Shropshire Star

Restart Africa look after around 100 children in Kenya, and the founder was visiting Shrewsbury School to talk about there work. The school has close links and even send students over to help with the work over there.

Transcript

00:00We're here at Shrewsbury School and quite a special day, Mary you're the founder of Restart Africa

00:06and we've got a friend here Marvin with you who represents them as well and you've come to speak

00:11to students. Yes. So just fill us in a little bit first off on what is Restart Africa then Mary?

00:17Restart Africa is a unique children's home, there's no other place like it in the world

00:24I've been told by the British government and we take in children who are sexually, physically,

00:32emotionally abused, the worst of the worst cases from that poverty level. Children who are

00:41tortured, children who are you know they've been tried to be killed and you know they're

00:48unloved totally and we take them in and we actually treat them like our own children.

00:58Yeah. So we love these children, all of them and we treat them with kindness and patience in fact

01:04our discipline is based on patience and love. How many children do you look after? 100.

01:12Oh wow okay. Yeah and we've had them you know we started in 2009 and we have

01:25this time this year we have at least 20 if not more going to university and technical colleges

01:33and thanks to Shrewsbury School who support us so much and sponsor the children, the parents

01:40we're able to educate them to that level which is absolutely magical. And what's

01:45Marvin's role in all this then? How do you get involved Marvin? I am the programs manager so I

01:52devise or come up with strategies and programs on an annual basis on what we intend to do in a

02:00specific year. So say at the moment we are working towards achieving you know academic goals so we

02:10like our children to get best or better academics, better in terms of academics, go to good schools

02:16to achieve what children who come from privileged camp organizations or homes will usually have.

02:24So our children go to private schools as opposed to government-built primary schools

02:29and this we've come to realize that also gives them a fighting chance with other children from

02:35Kenya who come from well-off families if I can call them that. So how did you get involved in this Mary?

02:42Well I live I live in Gilgill and during the 2000s. So Gilgill's Kenya then isn't it? Yes it is

02:49it's a very small place. Yeah. 2007 and 8 we had a post-election violence we almost had civil war

02:59and so all the refugees from all over the country that were kicked out of where they were

03:05came to Gilgill and they did they came thousands came to Gilgill and they had nothing you know

03:13they had no homes left they had everything was destroyed their fathers were killed if they had

03:19fathers the mothers had nothing and because of the state we had no government at that time

03:26they just dumped the kids in the streets. Yeah wow. And the kids were literally little one-year-olds

03:35sleeping in mud in the streets. Yeah. And I was taken around and I couldn't bear it I couldn't

03:41bear it. I've got four kids of my own for goodness sake and I knew I had to do something and I came

03:47back and I said we've got to do something we've got to start a children's home so then and there

03:53that next week we started a children's home we took in six and it grew and grew and grew and

03:58grew you can imagine and kids would be standing on our doorstep you know they'd come at night

04:04and just be there until we took them in and it grew and grew and grew and you know we've grown

04:09with it. Yeah. And we've tried to do and we do our level best with the thanks of people you know

04:17like Shrewsbury and and other people who donate to us and that's how we're able to give our

04:24children the best life that we can possibly give them. So what what's kind of been the mission

04:29coming here today is it to kind of enlighten students to you know other world realities out

04:37there? Yes it is it's very important in fact for the last three weeks Marvin and I have been going

04:43around a lot of schools and we're talking to the privileged young people who are educated properly

04:51whose parents love them and we encourage them to come because I think it's really important

04:56that our young people see the truth of what's going on with humanity in these poor areas of

05:04the world it really is and we base our children's treatment and the way we handle our children on

05:12love we don't base it on you know discipline or or all of that stuff in fact we discipline

05:20through praise. Yeah. And I think our children's home is the loveliest place to come to it's got

05:29a wonderful energy the children love one another and when the we've had Shrewsbury now they came

05:35out last year yeah and you know about I don't know how many say 20 two groups and the kids

05:42were in tears our kids were in tears when they left their their young people were in tears

05:47our children were in tears I was in tears and we realized that not only did this help

05:57our children to feel they were accepted in this bigger and greater world but it helped them have

06:04more ambition to talking to the young people here you know what they wanted to do and what

06:09did they wanted to be like yeah what they wanted to achieve and on the other hand to the Shrewsbury

06:15children and to the privileged young people it helped them to see and expand their experience

06:22of humanity of what is needed in this world which I'm telling you is love and understanding

06:30and kindness and giving because we're all the same at the end of the day there's no difference

06:37Giles you're um you're a staff member here at the school I am yes and uh first off how did

06:42the school support Restart Africa then well um we've known Mary for quite a long time because

06:48uh Shrewsbury school go to Kenya to try and recruit students and I've been lucky enough to

06:54go there for the last 10 years or so and I got to know Mary quite well and she got she showed me

06:59what was going on at Restart and told me all about it and she invited me to be a trustee so

07:06I'm very proud and honored to be a trustee of the charity and as a result I've been help helping her

07:12to promote it over here and of course um when I come back having been to Restart I'm always

07:17absolutely inspired yeah and that inspiration I guess goes into my lessons into my chats with

07:22the kids and of course other people so now we've got the headmasters wife Jules Winkley's and

07:27she's also a trustee and the chairman of the trustees is Chris Conway who was

07:35also head of careers here so we've got a nice strong association with them Restart from

07:41Shrewsbury school and of course Mary's granddaughter Sophia Coulson is currently

07:46head of the school so we're very well linked to Kenya at the moment. Just introduce yourself

07:55My name's Al Wields and my name's Reggie Bell. So Al your brother's actually been over to Kenya

08:01before yeah what did he say about his experience and what he learned from it? He's just honestly

08:05just gobsmacked the the difference between like here and there. Yeah I guess sometimes we need

08:12to be reminded don't we really kind of there are obviously other people living in very different

08:16situations and I guess to see it firsthand you know even more so brings it home would you like

08:22to go over yourself as well and something you'd like to well yeah he's convinced me honestly

08:26because he says the love and care that they show to each individual over there yeah

08:32like incredible yeah so what is it you've um you've got from from meeting Mary and listening

08:37to her story and well Mary's clearly like a very impressive woman and uh just hearing her talk

08:45about restart and the kids there is really quite motivating to like do something yourself because

08:53the like the love and passion she gives to all those kids is it's amazing it's like just so nice

09:00and she's such a good person yeah. Giles it's important isn't it for kind of you know young

09:06people to have these lessons and hear these stories firsthand isn't it? Well absolutely especially at

09:11a very privileged institution like this uh to actually have some empathy and see what it's like

09:18for kids completely at the opposite end of the spectrum I mean we're talking about kids whose

09:24parents just didn't want them they've been found in rubbish dumps uh they've been abandoned they've

09:31been abused you know those sort of kids absolutely at the bottom of the pile and uh and yet here

09:38you've got parents who obviously are prepared to spend a lot of money on their children's education

09:42so for these these boys and the kids at this school I think it's a fantastic opportunity

09:48uh to actually just ground themselves a little bit and make sure that they actually have an

09:54understanding that not everybody in the world is as lucky as them and I think that will make them

09:58better people yeah as they uh leave the gates of this amazing institution. Well thank you guys for

10:05chatting to us about that very valuable lesson you've learned here at Shrewsbury School. Thank you guys.

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