How Teachers in Burundi and Zimbabwe Inspired ECAT

The charity was founded through the efforts of Esher Sixth Form College teachers with personal connections to voluntary service in Africa. One of those teachers, Margaret (Sweeney) Henderson, has now written about her unforgettable and sometimes harrowing experiences as a 22-year-old volunteer teacher in Burundi. Her book, From Airdrie to Burundi, recounts her time as a Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) teacher in one of Africa’s poorest and most densely populated countries. Margaret has generously donated a copy of her book to the College, now available in the Learning Resource Centre (LRC).

Margaret taught at Esher Sixth Form College from 1989 to 2004, teaching Typing, Shorthand, and Commerce. While at the College, she was actively involved in charity work, notably fundraising for ECAT and coordinating the collection of 900 computers to send to African schools. However, not many knew that before her time at Esher, she had lived and worked in Burundi, a country still grappling with the aftermath of independence from Rwanda and the Hutu/Tutsi civil war.

Margaret writes in her introduction, “I knew very little about Burundi or Rwanda… There were three tribes – Tutsis, 7ft giants; Hutus, a smaller than usual Bantu people, and Twa, a pygmy tribe. This all sounded a bit like Gulliver’s Travels to me and it intrigued me.”

It was through VSO that another Esher teacher, Hilary Thompson, was inspired to help establish ECAT. Hilary’s sister was volunteering at the Dope School in Zimbabwe and sought UK students to correspond with her pupils. This connection laid the foundation for ECAT, which initially focused on supporting orphans who had lost their parents to AIDS.

Today, the Student Union and the wider college community continue to support ECAT’s mission. So far this year, they have raised £880 through bake sales, donations, and the creative ‘Bring-Anything-But-a-Bag-to-College’ day.

ECAT trustee and former Esher Economics teacher Vreni Oleram expressed her gratitude, saying, “This is a wonderful achievement, and I want to thank everyone who bought a cake or donated in some way. Every pound helps, and thanks to the SU’s fundraising, we are making a small but significant difference in the lives of students who need it most.”