WHAT TO DO IN RETIREMENT? GO TO AFRICA!

 

It has been quite a puzzle to know what to do since I retired last September.  I knew that I wanted a change from taking Sunday Services and so, quite deliberately, I have not volunteered to do a great many.  But I have always enjoyed theological teaching and I have done quite a bit of this since last September.  But still the question in my mind was what should I do in retirement.

 

Some months ago there was an article in the Bolton News calling for volunteers to go to West Africa to help build a school.  This caught my imagination because it was something practical and so, more recently, I have signed up to go out to Africa for four weeks at the end of January next year.  It is all a bit daunting because we will be going to a remote village called Dogba in Benin.  Benin used to be a French Colony before independence and so the official language is French.  This is the first hurdle; I have to learn enough French to get by.  The second hurdle is the climate.  It will be very humid and very hot even at that time of year.  The village is on a flood plain which means that the mosquitoes have a wonderful time.  To cap it all the official religion is Voodoo!  But against these difficulties I will be going with a small but well established charity called Hands Around the World.  I will also be going as part of a team of people all from Lancashire.  Some of the team members have been before and so I should be well supported.

 

Work on the school was begun by a previous team that went out in 2007 and you can see something of the building so far from the photograph.  Use is made of a system build method perfected by a British firm, Parry UK, but with all the materials and labour being provided locally. You can also see from the photograph that the area is regularly flooded so all buildings have to be on stilts.

 

In addition to going to Dogba I have also undertaken to help raise some funds for the project and for the Hands Around the World charity.  My target is £2000 by Christmas!  The money that I raise will help the charity’s work not just in Dogba but in other African countries and there are also some projects in South America and India.  I feel that the charity it very worthwhile.  It has the motto, Give a Hand not a Handout.  Instead of just collecting money to donate to projects in the third world, Hands Around the World encourages volunteers to go out to help with the projects and to make friends with the local people.  It means that all the projects undertaken are joint projects.  The other policy is that the projects are actually run by local organisations with us going as their helpers.  In this way there is no temptation to patronise those in the local situations.  If you have access to the internet you can find the charity and look at all the projects with which it is involved at www.hatw.org.uk, I am sure that you will be just as impressed as I was when I first learnt about it.

 

If you feel that you would like to support this work then you could send a donation to me and I will pass it on the Hands Around the World (any cheques should simply be made out to Hands Around the World).  I should say that all donations will go to the charity and will not be used to pay for my travel which I have undertaken to pay for myself.  My address is Canon Michael Williams, c/o St Peter’s Parish Hall, Silverwell Street, Bolton, BL1 1PS. If you require any more information do give me a ring on 01204 522226.

 

With all best wishes, Michael Williams

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