Because of its recent progress in partnership with us, Gehandu has now expanded to sixth form girls. Now its boys need our help!

In summer 2018, half way through sixth form, eight of us had the privilege to visit Gehandu to help with teaching and widen our perspective of life outside of Radley College. For us, it was incredibly enlightening and rewarding to spend time teaching and encouraging the pupils to develop their knowledge and build up their confidence. 

One of the most striking things was the small stature size of the boys. After a while we realised that it was mainly due to their diet and living conditions as they have incredibly long days at school and don’t get enough sleep. The boys’ accommodation needs our urgent attention, as the amount needed will take them years to raise.

The girls have a boarding house with four girls per room with two bunk beds, proper shower facilities. But the boys accommodation is a different story. We were shocked when we found over 80 boys in two of the classrooms, which were being used as their boarding house; the bunk beds touched one another to the extent where the boys had to move through the bed frames rather than around them to reach their beds. Bathroom facilities was one bucket and a tap in a makeshift hut. When the room was full, within minutes of entering by the doorway, it became difficult to breathe.

Building proper boarding accommodation to match the girls would have the added benefit of releasing two classrooms for teaching. The average class size would fall from roughly 60 about 45 pupils.

The new boarding house will cost roughly £50,000; we have already raised £15,000 and so need another £35,000. To put it simply, Gehandu cannot acquire this critical funding without Radley’s help. Time is key as the boys’ living conditions are directly impacting on their development and therefore the rest of their lives.

We are appealing to everyone who is grateful for their privileged education and who want to make a real difference by helping to improve the lives of the wonderful boys in Gehandu.

Please give generously, together we can build this accommodation block and help create extraordinary change.
Thank you.