When you look back on your life there are milestones which at the time seem very small, but which actually have a huge impact not just on your own life but on the lives of those around you and of many others….

My brother Tim Dench and founder of the charity had the opportunity to travel to Mikindani in Tanzania at the end of his A levels, with the charity Trade Aid.  While there he saw that many children were not attending school but instead hanging around the village.  Upon his return to the UK, he gathered our family and asked if we could help in some way.  Here the seed of EdUKaid was sown.  As a family we set up EdUKaid, a fundraising committee and a Trustee board.

We as a family have enjoyed many fundraising opportunities over the years, market stalls, cake sales, coffee mornings, rugby 7’s tournaments, marathons, 10 km challenges and much more.  We have had so much help from friends and family, without their assistance we wouldn’t be where we are today.  What started out as a small charity has grown and grown….and so has our team of volunteers, supporters and staff.

In 2011 we had the privilege of taking our children to Mikindani to see first hand the work we were doing.  I am sure they would all agree with me that this was a huge opportunity for us all to meet the team in Mikindani and to see the schools and the children where we had been able to make such an impact.  That trip was one of our best family holidays the memories of which will stay with us for a long time.

In 2022, I had the opportunity of going back to Mikindani for the first time in ten years.  Wow, what an amazing trip; to see how the charity had changed and evolved made me so proud to be a part of it. In 2012 we had helped 3,218 children but by the end of this year we will have helped over 50,000 children!  Not only have we achieved this, but we have directly affected 15 schools with fitting out and where needed building a pre-primary school classroom and directly delivering a pre-primary education by employing teachers and teaching assistants. We have set up training for teachers.  We have assisted girls to manage their periods with dignity and disabled children have been able to stay in education.  And in 2020 we helped communities to be able to protect themselves from COVID-19.

Many children who we originally sponsored to go to school are now having great careers as teachers, assistant teachers, doctors and staff who are now working for EdUKaid, some of whom I had the privilege of meeting.

To travel to Mikindani and to see first hand what a huge impact the charity and the staff have achieved is so immense.  I feel very proud to have been witness from the sowing of the first seed to the growth of this successful charity.  My love for the people of Mikindani has also grown and I can’t wait to celebrate both in Salisbury with all of our friends, family and supporters, and then to celebrate with the team and schools in Mikindani later this year. 

We can and we do make a difference!

Written by Sarah Varney