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Neston DJ in 'Life-Changing' West Africa Trip
| Author: Katie Robson | Published: 1st March 2017 13:24 |
When Neston based DJ and videographer Dave Bladen was invited to Sierra Leone to visit the OAKS charity school recently, he knew it would be an adventure. What he didn't anticipate was quite how life-changing the trip would be.
After a week visiting, filming and photographing the school in Bo, the second largest city in Sierra Leone, Dave's entire perspective on the need to fundraise for OAKS has changed. Having DJ'd for the charity's annual ball for the past 7 years, he thought he knew at least a bit about it, but seeing everything first hand has been a real eye-opener.
OAKS School in Bo, Sierra Leone
Having already created and published four short films (see links below) about the trip, and with a longer film being edited to go on the OAKS website soon, Dave hopes that this work will help others to connect with what the funds raised for the charity actually do.
He said: "The journey from here to Bo takes 24 hours. I wish I had a Narnia-type wardrobe that I could take people through to visit just for a day or a few hours, it would help people to understand how much good work is being done by OAKS and to make them want to do whatever they can for these children, too.
"Having children myself and with my youngest son the same age as many of the pupils there, I really want to raise awareness so that people know how even the smallest donations of money, or items that we take for granted, can make a huge difference."
The children loved their toothpaste!
In one of the films Dave made, pupils at the school can be seen delightedly brandishing small tubes of toothpaste, donated here in Neston and taken out for them by the charity's co-founder, Nic Phipps. The smiles on their faces were possibly only eclipsed by their reaction to Dave's drone, used to capture aerial footage during the trip. The children had never seen one before, so greeted it with huge excitement and much laughter.
Happy faces as Dave's drone flies overhead.
The trip coincided with Bo's annual Sports Day, organised at the school and attended by over 4000 local people - the largest annual event in town. Medals, kit and other elements of the day are provided by OAKS.
Co-founders Nic Phipps, Laurel Parkinson (left and 2nd left) and Margaret Jarrett (furthest right) with Dave Bladen and retired West Kirby teacher Anne Abernethy, who also made the trip to see the school.
OAKS Charity was founded in 2005 by Nic Phipps with Margaret Jarrett and his own sister, Laurel Parkinson. It supports the community school, which opened in October 2007, and makes it quite unique in the area. Nic explains: "In state schools, the government pays teacher salaries (mostly through first world grant aid) circa £100 - £140 per month, and parents pay between £3 and £4 per term/per child fee - schools can average 80 to 100 kids per class with many unqualified teachers, poor faciliities,poor results and much absenteeism from both pupils and staff.
"At OAKS we currently have 368 pupils aged from 6-17 years. We pay teacher salaries from £70 per month for trainee teachers up to £120 per month. Attendance fees just increased to £6 to £8 per term and we have around 40 kids per class. There is upwards of 98% attendance for teachers and between 92% and 96% for children, 100% exam pass rate for last 7 years in primary school and currently the strongest school in our area for academic results.
"Going forward, we are moving towards becoming a Partnership School, asking families to make slightly higher contributions towards the school's running costs to supplement our fundraising and to ensure they feel a sense of investment in the outcomes of the school. Grant funding is thin on the ground, we consistently try to secure help, but it is an ongoing battle.
"The next stage will be to build a new, bigger school, potentially to double our capacity and help meet the demands of the growing population, but it will take time."
Over 4000 people attend the annual Sports Day
Dave adds: "While there, I asked some children what they wanted to be when they grow up. The answers included things like 'Doctor' and 'Scientist.' If, through increasing awareness and raising funds for OAKS, we can help these children achieve those aspirations, then we absolutely should.
"I'm going to be going into my son's school, Woodfall, to talk to pupils about my experience in Sierra Leone and maybe encourage them to become pen pals with students at OAKS school. I'll also be running a number of Tribute Nights to raise funds.
"I'd encourage everyone to watch these films and keep looking on the OAKS website, where we'll be adding the documentary film soon, and please help support the charity in any way you can."
OAKS Charity runs an annual fundraising ball, coming up this year on March 25 at Thornton Hall Hotel. They also run the balloon race at Neston Village Fair each July. To find out more about the charity, or to see how you can donate or help, please visit the website: www.oaks-sl.org.
Films
Click on the titles to view the videos Dave Bladen made in Sierra Leone, on Vimeo:
1. The journey to Sierre Leone and arrival
2. Life in Bo and at the school
3. Sports Day!
4. A typical school day and school-meets-drone
Copyright for all photos and films: Dave Bladen/Elite Video.
A future pupil?
Nic speaks to the congregation on church day at the school
Making new friends in Sierra Leone
Children in the community are always delighted to see visitors
A great, eye-opening trip. Nic Phipps and Dave Bladen
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