When nearly 300 children swarmed from their school building in the middle of the Namib Desert to greet their long-awaited Lanarkshire guests, Douglas Allsop’s throat tightened with emotion.
Having repeatedly hit the buffers due to cancellations and other set-backs posed by the pandemic, the trip to this dilapidated school in Southern Africa was three years in the making.
And when the pupils, giddy with excitement, sang and danced to warmly welcome the arrival of 20 Scots, Douglas had to pinch himself.
The Lanarkshire contingent were from Airdrie-based Diamonds in the Community. The organisation, whose foundations were laid by Airdrie Football Club fans, became a charity established by Douglas four years ago.
As well as providing home essentials to women suffering domestic abuse and ex-prisoners reintegrating into society, and pre-owned school uniforms and warm winter jackets to families in need, it is the Scottish hub of KitAid – a charity that recycles once-loved football kits and distributes them to underprivileged children and adults in some of the world’s poorest countries.
The men and women who set off from the West End Bar in Airdrie on a spring morning earlier this year and made the 24-hour pilgrimage to Namibia’s capital of Windhoek, carried with them in their hearts the values of KitAid – and in their luggage, no fewer than 800 pieces of sports kit, donated by clubs, businesses and individuals the length and breadth of Scotland.
Among them was a medic, and Mongolian Consulate for Scotland David Scott, who had facilitated two previous Diamonds in the Community mercy trips to Mongolia – both of which were recognised in Westminster.
“He usually takes out to Africa wealthy people who have bucket lists and lots of money to spend,” explained Douglas, who had, like his travelling companions, self-funded his £2400 ticket to Namibia.
“He really liked the fact that we were just ordinary folk from Airdrie – down-to-earth people from a wee town. He liked the people-to-people diplomacy.”
Like some of the inhabitants of that “wee town” in North Lanarkshire, the people of Namibia live with the myriad of challenges that accompany poverty: homelessness and poor living conditions, low uptake of cancer screening and period poverty.
After recovering from their journey in a Windhoek hotel, the group were introduced to Konrad Costa Khaiseb – a former footballer who holds the record for the most goals scored in the Namibia Premier League.
The striker left the meeting elated and bearing a collection of donated Airdrie and Albion Rovers football strips.
The following morning, the group – whose members’ average age was 58 – boarded two mini buses and set off on a gruelling eight-hour trip through the desert in unforgiving heat. En route, they pitched tents, zipped in the night to ward off poisonous spiders.
The following day’s eight-hour journey was hampered when a minibus wheel overheated, delaying their arrival at JP Brand Primary in Kuisab – a humble, crumbling school proudly celebrating its milestone 45th year.
“The school seemed to appear out of nowhere,” recalls Douglas, whose group was hosted by the Topnaar Tribe, who’d befriended David Scott during previous trips to their region.
“The kids all came running out. It was awesome. There was a bit of hysteria. I think they were a bit overwhelmed to have visitors.
“We were emotional at the way they came out and greeted us and did that dance for us. That was a proper pinch yourself moment.
“That was the bit that really got me.”
The school that was erected to accommodate 70 pupils in 1978 is now a learning, eating and sleeping environment for 282 children aged five to 13.
Due to its remote location, it is a residential school. Its children, with the exception of the many who are orphaned, go home to their families during holidays.
“Who knows where they all sleep,” pondered the charity’s volunteer coordinator, Stephen Eaton, who said the building’s basic sanitation struggles to cope with the swelling roll of students. “The number of dormitories and beds just don’t match up.
“The head mistress, Saixa Mire Aibesa Xute, known simply as Anna, was one of the most inspirational women I’ve met in my life. She takes on the role of the whole family – parents, grandparents and everything in between.
“She gave us free rein to do what we wanted to do – wandering in an out of classrooms to see how lessons were conducted. She realised we didn’t have an agenda, other than to offer as much help as we could.”
As well as hands-on assistance, that help comprised around £5000 of donations which will contribute to the one thing at the top of Anna’s wish list for her school: a wall surrounding the building, to protect children against wild animals.
The money will also go towards repairing a classroom roof, purchasing stationery, and putting one of the school’s older female students through teacher training at university.
But it wasn’t enhancements to the building’s fabric that most excited the schoolchildren.
In the months preceding their trip to Southern Africa, the Diamonds in the Community group received weekly tuition from fellow member, Lena Thomson, on how to perfect the art of face-painting – a pleasure the youngsters of Lanarkshire have come to expect at fairs and galas, but one never before experienced by the children at this school in the middle of the Namib Desert.
“We took a full day to do it,” said Douglas, dad to 14-year-old Evie. “It was chaos, but good chaos. And it was exhausting. The children loved seeing pictures of themselves, they were practically grabbing the phone out of your hand.”
Sparking equal excitement was a pen pal initiative which saw pupils at six Airdrie schools writing to youngsters their own age at JP Brand Primary, with visiting group members distributing the letters to children who were eager for news from their new-found Scottish friends.
Volunteer Paul Clark, who is an astronomy and science enthusiast, gave pupils a three-hour lesson on how to build a rocket from empty, plastic fizzy drinks bottles and paper cones. The children watched, wide-eyed in wonder, as one pupil’s homemade rocket travelled more than 40 metres.
The trip brought volunteer Graham Rennie’s passion for teaching to the fore.
A maths teacher at Brannock High, Graham was in school for the 7.15am start of lessons to help whet students’ appetite for learning.
The Lanarkshire delegation took delight in handing out kit from Cumbernauld Colts, Cumbernauld United, Airdrie, Motherwell and Albion Rovers Football Clubs to members of the girls’ netball teams, its boys’ footballers and the tribe’s six adult teams.
“We did a presentation on period poverty. It’s a big thing we do here in Airdrie as a charity, and we wanted to mirror it there,” said founder Douglas, whose group brought with them to the school generous supplies of sanitary products.
“In Scotland, if you know where to go, you can get free period products, but there you have to buy them. That can mean that girls and women have to miss school and work.”
The Diamonds also distributed leaflets, promoting the uptake of cervical screening and raising awareness of cervical cancer.
The tribe invited the group to their church for an Easter service conducted by a preacher who’d travelled a considerable distance in their honour.
With singing being a massive part of their culture, the visitors enjoyed dancing around their camp fire with the locals, and teaching their hosts Scottish songs and games.
And when a group of children chanted “Cheerie bye, noo!” as the group boarded their mini bus for their trip home, Douglas says “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”
Added Stephen: “The three days with the school were amazing. They just get on with things. It seems clichéd to say, but they were just so happy – happy with nothing. Even with poor standards of living, they seem so content and determined. Education is so important to them, which is why the school exists.”
The volunteers ended their stay in Southern Africa relaxation retreat Swakopmund, where they could unwind through various activities including boat trips and sand dune biking.
Agnes Kerr, at the age of 72, opted for the ultimate adrenalin rush by being first to volunteer for the sky-diving.
“A lot of the individuals who went had personal stories that were inspiring for us all,” said Douglas, 48. “The three oldest ones, all in their 70s, were the first to sign up for next year, which is mind-blowing.”
For more, see Diamonds in the Community on Facebook.
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