New Adventures for the Albertyn Family
02 Jul 2010
Mark and Laura Albertyn have been part of New Community Church for the past 7 years and are leaving with their young family to volunteer in Zimbabwe. They have set up a UK charity called ‘Makomborero’, aimed at aiding the relief of financial hardship and the advancement of education in Africa by making grants of money for training and community based projects. ‘Makomborero’ is a shona word meaning "blessings."
From personal experience of working with scholarship students at an independent school in Zimbabwe, Mark feels there is a huge need for A-level studies in communities where HIV and other socio-economic factors have forced gifted young adults to cease their education and attempt to find employment in order to support their family.
Post-independence (1980 – present) the provision of secondary education to O-level has been outstanding in Zimbabwe (although more recently the economic situation in the country has damaged this infrastructure). However, A-level studies have been much more limited and places are extremely competitive.
A family has to make a real sacrifice in order to allow a child to stay on an extra two years at school. The aim will be to identify talented young adults within a community, where these students have little or no resources or finances available to progress beyond Ordinary level in their secondary education and beyond.
The A-Level centre will become a focal point for the whole community. Its primary aim will remain that of providing A-level education, but it is hoped that the centre can be used for various initiatives to bring people together within a Christian environment. The centre could be used as an internet café, provide computer training (web design, ICDL, programming etc), church meeting place, revision centre during holidays and a variety of community based projects. The vision is to raise leaders in Zimbabwe that will impact the nation. We want to grow an attitude of continued blessing, that these students will bless their families through the education and subsequent employment they receive. We see these centres affecting whole communities.
Mark and Laura will be returning to Zimbabwe permanently in July 2010 to an A-level Centre, set-up in March 2009, in the town of Turf, a rural mining town about a 2 hour drive outside Harare, where they will also be living. They will partner with a local Charity (The Mabukuweni Foundation) on the work at Turf. Mark sees his role as a teacher, training up teachers from the community, identifying a head to ultimately run the school and to give the pupils the best possible opportunities, before hopefully moving on to replicate this model.
Mark and Laura also have a vision for the wider community and look forward to working and living in Turf. They will be looking to establish various community based projects. Initially this will take the form of a toddler group that will meet once a week, a kids club on a Friday afternoon for primary school children and a movies and games evening for senior school children. Within rural communities there is very limited exposure to children just having fun. A lot of the children are orphaned and have had to grow up very quickly, looking after siblings and running a home from a very young age. For all children concerned the daily economic hardships they face have also made them grow up far too quickly. Mark and Laura feel that an outlet for them to just be children is very important. They also hope to be able to establish some home based care groups for HIV/AIDS sufferers in the community, as well as encouraging entrepreneurship within the community.
 
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