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Annual Report 2018

Annual Reports and Archives
Chairman’s Report for the Annual General Meeting of the Minchinhampton-Nkokoto Link
Friday April 13th 2018

The Link has probably had its most active year since I became involved in the late 1990s and possibly since the Link was formed 40 years ago on August 23rd 1978.  This is partly due to the generous legacy left to the Link in April of last year, and partly because we now have a greater understanding of the village, its way of life, culture and needs, helped of course by visits made to Nkokoto and Urambo.  Stima and Issa continue to be our reliable and trustworthy representatives in Nkokoto. Issa being a resident in the village means that he keeps his ear to the ground and can report on any problems or opinions that the village committee and Nkokoto villagers have.  Stima who lives in Urambo has spent many days in the village talking to, arguing with and hearing villagers’ views on how the Link can help them.  We couldn’t complete the projects that we take on without their invaluable help.


Since the last AGM, the Link has continued to support the students who achieve a place at the secondary school in Vumilia by giving them a school bag, bicycle, stationery, books, school uniform and shoes.  Each year also we sponsor six students to attend the Folk Development College in Urambo (the FDC) which teaches them a trade of their choice, tailoring (needlework), carpentry, building, mechanics or electricity.  At the end of the two year course each student at the FDC is given a tool kit and materials (hopefully, to start off their own enterprise or business.) This focus on education was always the main thrust of the Link’s support in Nkokoto and we would want to continue with this next year.  My visits to Nkokoto provided a vast range of projects that we could implement or support, and the committee here in Minchinhampton looked carefully at each one (there were dozens!!) and prioritised the following :


·         Continue with the sponsorship of students at school and FDC, including providing bicycles
          to all Nkokoto students who attend Vumilia Secondary School
·         Equipment and materials for Nkokoto Primary School, including teaching materials, books
          and IT equipment
·         300 mosquito nets and 300 Volt (solar) lights for the poorest families
·         Equipment and furniture for the Village Office and meeting house
·         Recreational play equipment for the young people in Nkokoto (footballs, kits, netballs, etc)
·         Continue with the microfinance scheme
·         Part cost of repairs to the nurse’s house (that was eaten by termites!)
·         Repair to the school’s rainwater harvesting tank that had a serious leak
·         Build a teachers’ house that can accommodate three teachers
·         Contribution to rebuilding the school toilets that had collapsed during the Christmas holiday.


The villagers had asked for many other items, many of them way beyond our ability to finance, or inappropriate for an organisation such as ours to finance. For example, one request was for a car to be bought for the village to take people to hospital when required;  another was to build a dam to hold water back after the rains had finished; another was to extend the electricity supply further round the village; another to build another borehole at the furthest part of Nkokoto from the present boreholes! However, four suggestions the villagers made are possibilities for the future when finances allow –


·         to build a brick market, a smaller version than the one in Urambo, so that the farmers
          and others can sell their vegetables, fruit , etc., on proper stalls and under shelter from
          the sun and rain;
·         A second rainwater harvesting tank for the school
·         research the possibility of pumping water, now that there is electricity in the village,  
          from the boreholes to a central tank in Nkokoto
·         Finance the cost of a sunflower seed crushing mill to encourage and support village
          farmers to move away from growing tobacco to grow sunflowers
·         Support (in some way) for families that are struggling with poverty


My sincere thanks to everyone who supports the Minchinhampton Nkokoto Link in way.  Without this considerable interest and support we would not be able to do the work we do in Nkokoto. My sincere thanks also of course to the members of the committee who work so hard to make the Link such a success that it is.  Thank you so much.
RJH/April 13th 2018
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