A Brief History - Minchinhampton-Nkokoto Link Project

How the Link became established

The Minchinhampton Nkokoto Link was established in 1978 by a group of Minchinhampton residents who had been informed by a similar group that supported villages in the Urambo Distrrict of Tanzania called the Friends of Urambo and Mwanhala (the FUM.) The suggestion was that Minchinhampton could link with Nkokoto, a village with a great number of needs including a lack of clean water, poor hygiene levels and much poverty. So 41 years ago, a committee was set up with the task of raising money to support the people of Nkokoto.

The first and main focus was on education. The sponsorship scheme that originally paid for the Nkokoto children’s secondary school fees helped six children attend Vumilia Secondary School (the nearest one to Nkokoto) and six students attend the Urambo Folk Development College where they would learn a trade such as mechanics, needlework, building or carpentry. This scheme is still in place but as there are no school fees today, the sponsorship pays for school uniforms, books and educational stationery for the students at Vumilia Secondary School.

Over the years, the Link has provided a vast range of projects for Nkokoto villagers. Two boreholes and pumps have been built, the clinic and school supported with materials and equipment, the secondary school children have been given bicycles so that they can get to and from school quickly and in safety, a bee keeping and poultry scheme put in place, school toilets built, as well as mosquito nets and solar lights given to hundreds of families, as well as continuing the student sponsorship scheme.

The Link plans to continue supporting Nkokoto and relies on the villagers themselves, our local representative there and visits from Minchinhampton to Nkokoto by committee members, to assess what priorities will be supported by Minchinhampton in the future.

A brief history

The Minchinhampton-Nkokoto Link was formed 40+ years ago on August 23rd 1978

For further information contact:

Chairman - Rod Harris - 01453 872317 / 07775 652379 - email: rodharriswoodchester@gmail.com