June 2002 - Kofi visits England

Kofi's visit to England was sponsored by St. Thomas of Canterbury School, Rainham and Rainham parish. Neil McKenzie, the headmaster, writes...

Kofi brought a gift of musical instruments, drums etc and for me he brought an embroidered shirt in a wonderful batik pattern. He visited all the classes and spent time with the children talking about life in a Ghanaian village.

The children were absolutely enthralled. He had taken time to prepare some lessons. Obviously the main purpose was for him to view teaching techniques and equipment. He was most impressed with the team spirit shown by the staff and the disciplined approach of the children.

We did have acute moments of embarrassment over simple things:

1. One teacher was using pasta shapes in Art – the sudden realisation that she was using food that might have fed his family for a week!
2. The incredible amount of food brought in to celebrate First Holy Communion! Us desperately trying to hide the waste! (a similar story for the Jubilee party)

I had this horrible thought that Kofi might think we party every week.

Understanding the difficulty of baggage for his return trip we decided to make him a “Treasure box”. The principle was that everything had to be light and almost flat! So he had pens, pencils, jigsaws, shirts, items of our uniform, threading games, matching games, dice, flat construction toys, the list seemed to go on and on.

Whilst here he was asked which one thing did he find the most impressive. He said it was having a bathroom and a kitchen. We asked how much it would cost to build at home. The bathroom would be about £100, and a similar amount for a kitchen. I told the parents after mass. Within 3 minutes one parent gave me £100 in cash for him. A further £336 has been collected with more arriving daily. We presented him with a “mock” cheque on his last day. It is the first time I have actually seen anyone be “Speechless”.

We will forward the cash to Sr. Patricia who knows of our plan and has ordered the builders to commence work! The excess monies will be used to pay for some “luxuries” - for us essentials!

Kofi was taken shopping for gifts for his family. When he saw prices he flatly refused to buy things he considered too expensive. He ended up buying things in the Pound Shop!

I spoke when he left of how we had gained more than we could have imagined from his visit and how privileged we felt to have him with us. Yes, he is a real man, who has overcome incredible suffering and now looks only to help others.

Click Here to read Kofi's life story.