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Copy of Ben Whitaker’s email to Mr. Dunford Makala
Commissioner for Social Welfare, Tanzania
19th August 2011
Dear Mr Makala,
I write in support of the proposal from the Bethany children's home to allow three of their female students to continue to study at Accrington and Rossendale College in the UK. As Subject Leader for Religious Studies at Accrington Academy, a school with close links to the aforementioned college, I have seen firsthand the benefit that this opportunity offers the students. The Bethany family have made several visits into our school to promote awareness of the issues they face and have been a credit to themselves, the Bethany organisation and to their Tanzanian culture. In everything, they maintained the highest levels of respect and decorum and I believe this is due in no small part to the tireless work of the Bethany team. We have made some good partnership links and supported the work in Tanzania.
I believe that this opportunity offers the students a way to beat the cycle of poverty and to gain skills , which will be of vital importance to the development of their orphanage, the wider community of Magu and perhaps indirectly, the country of Tanzania as a whole. This will be at several levels: the raising of aspiration, the commitment to personal development, economic stability (or at least opportunity), and most importantly in their grasp of the English language.
The development of English, both spoken and written, whilst studying in the UK cannot be overstated as the immersion in the indigenous language forces the students to become fully literate. This will have major benefits for their continued education upon return to Tanzania and/or their progression into skilled careers within your country. Although I appreciate and commend the Tanzanian governmental policy that all students must complete secondary school in Tanzania, I believe this partnership opportunity in the UK is unprecedented and of immense advantage. I cannot emphasise this enough.
I would urge you to allow these girls, who have already had to deal with extremely difficult circumstances as orphans, to continue to take up this life-changing opportunity and give them the best possible chance at success for their future. I wholeheartedly support this proposal and would be prepared to share further if necessary.
Kind regards,
Ben Whitaker
Subject Leader for RE
Accrington Academy
Lancashire, UK=
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