On Wednesday 9 October The Halo Trust, Scotland’s largest international charity with almost 9,000 staff working in 25 countries, launched their UK Aid Match ‘Breaking Boundaries’ appeal at ESMS Junior School. With support from Edinburgh Central MSP, Ruth Davidson, a full day of activities run by HALO took place on the lawns of Old College.
UK Aid Match is a scheme whereby the Department for International Development (DFID) will match donations made by the British public during a fixed period. This scheme has been running since 2013 and has supported 61 organisations to run UK Aid Match projects in 37 countries, helping around 23.4 million people.
HALO’s ‘Breaking Boundaries’ appeal will have a target of £200,000 to be matched by UK Aid which will allow HALO to clear 105,600 square metres of land in Zimbabwe over 12 months, helping over 3,000 people get access to safe land to grow food and give safe access to schools. DFID will match donations to HALO up to a maximum of £2 million.
One of the villages that will benefit is Musanzikwa in Zimbabwe, where many children have to use informal paths through minefields to get to school. The Halo Trust are on a mission to educate children and parents in the UK about the dangers faced by children across the world, so they decided to launch their appeal at ESMS Junior School to highlight this issue. The children of ESMS will link up with the school in Zimbabwe to learn more about their lives.
Life for anyone in Musanzikwa is difficult, as it is surrounded on two sides by dense minefields laid in the 1970s by the Rhodesian regime to prevent fighters entering from Mozambique. The mines remain active and dangerous more than 40 years after they were laid. More than 75,000 people in Zimbabwe lived close to dense minefields. The campaign is named Breaking Boundaries, because HALO wants to help people break out of the poverty and danger caused by landmines, so they can farm their land, get an education and help themselves.
Mike Kane, Head of ESMS Junior School said “We are proud to support the Breaking Boundaries campaign. The Halo Trust are doing incredible work in letting people know that the issue of landmines is an ongoing problem, not just in Zimbabwe, but around the world. This event has really opened the ESMS Junior School children’s minds to the realities the children in Zimbabwe face. Our children are looking forward to learning more about life in Zimbabwe, through our links with school Kaitano Primary School.”
Thank you to both The Halo Trust and to Ruth Davidson. We look forward to continuing our partnership in future.
For more information on the appeal and how you can make a donation, follow this link >
