The ABC of humanity

Two years ago, Sonia Waters and her husband went on a safari to Malawi, Africa, and then spent a few days recuperating on an island in the middle of Lake Malawi.

What happened next would not only change the London housewife's life but also transform the lives of school children on the island.

Waters single-handedly set up her own charity, Malawi Dream, to help the disadvantaged children she found on the island of Likoma.

Now she has raised £50,000 (Dh366,921) and is ready to take her work to the next level — with the help of the Evening Standard Christmas Appeal.

A school visit

It was an invitation from the hotel cleaner, Gladys Njakale, to tour the nearby village of Mbungo that led to the charity crusade by Waters.

“Gladys took me to Mbungo primary school, where I was shocked to see children dressed in rags with no uniforms and no food until dinner.

“There were two dark, concrete classrooms with no electricity and 56 eager pupils sharing two textbooks and being taught geography without an atlas.

"The walls were bare but what really gutted me was when the headteacher, Joseph, proudly opened the stationery cupboard, which he kept under lock and key, and there was absolutely nothing in there,'' Waters said.

Starting to thrive

After returning to London, Waters rounded up 30 friends who each donated £50 (Dh367). With this money, she set about helping the children.

She returned every two months with clothes, textbooks and money to start a food programme in the school.

Thanks to her, Mbungo Primary is starting to thrive. With her initial £1,500 (Dh11,008) in donations, she installed a generator (£100 or Dh734) to supply electricity to the classrooms.

She also employed a dressmaker to make school uniforms for all the pupils (£120 or Dh881).

She employed a cook (£6, or Dh44, a month) to give the children a bowl of maize and a cup of tea for lunch, bought the school an inflatable globe (£12 or Dh88) and chalk, pencils, rulers, textbooks, visual aids, times-tables and alphabet charts.

“Starting this charity has changed my life,'' Waters said, adding: “I have a wardrobe full of shoes but you can only wear one pair at a time. And for the price of a new £50 (Dh367) pair, I can change the life of a child in Africa. When you think about it like that, everyday choices become charged with meaning.''

The rewards, too, have been great for the qualified nurse, who has no children of her own.

When she disembarks from the ferry at Likoma, she is greeted like the Pied Piper.

“The children come running from all directions, shouting ‘Mama Sonia! Mama Sonia!'. It's like having an extended family in Africa,'' she said.

When she goes for Christmas, it's even better. “Last year, I took 60 shirts and dresses for the Aids orphans of the village. You should have seen their faces.

“This year, I'll do the same but before we give out presents, Gladys, I and 16 other women will cook a feast for the 97 orphans and elderly in the village that they will never forget,'' Waters said.

How to donate

Interested schools can visit the website www.planschoolslink.org