Friends Of Pakati

Friends of Pakati is dedicated to a particular part of Zimbabwe, about 50+ miles East of the capital, Harare. However, living there for nearly 3 years sparked my interest in other countries on the great continent of Africa. I have shown in earlier blogs a fair amount about life in rural Zimbabwe, and the major tourist attractions it has to offer. Today, I take a look at another African nation…

I consider myself very fortunate to have not only lived & worked in both Zimbabwe and Botswana, but also have travelled to Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi, and on 3 separate occasions, Uganda – which calls itself the Pearl of Africa in its promotional material.

I have been looking back on my visits there, and recently re-discovered quite a few old photos. As a result, I have chosen a handful showing various aspects of life in and around the country.

Uganda is in central/east Africa, bordering Kenya, Sourh Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Rwanda and Tanzania. The capital city, Kampala, sits on the shore of Lake Victoria, and the Equator passes through the country, with monuments in several places indicating when you cross into either the Northern or Southern hemispheres.

Kampala itself is a large sprawling city, set on several hills. People find there way around in many different ways, though often slowly as traffic can be a problem at any time (though much less so outside of Kampala).

The city has a lot of small scale industry, with many locally produced goods being made & sold by the roadside.

Kampala (and Uganda as a whole) is a very lush green place, largely due to its wet & warm tropical climate all year round. It is humid, and the temperature is usually in the mid-30°s, with regular rainfall.

It is still a predominantly rural agricultural economy, and there is a thriving tea & coffee growing sector, as well as cattle farming, mostly a long-horned variety.

There is a very vibrant tourist industry, and in spite of a difficult past, the wildlife has really blossomed & re-established itself across the country. This has lead to a steady increase in tourism to visit the various National Parks across Uganda. Below are a number of images I took during the 3 visits I made.

Next up:

I followed travel advice on where to avoid, as there are still areas considered not safe to visit, but there was plenty to see & do without having to worry about personal safety. There was a lot of accommodation of varying types, and I never had any problems to speak of.

Here below are a few more images to give an idea of what it is like in Uganda

Obviously there are difficulties to be faced – the climate, humidity, insects, traffic, etc. – and the kind of crimes you would expect in a major city. However overall, I felt safe there, took health precautions, followed advice to avoid problems where they might arise. I have to say also, though, as I have experienced throughout my time in Aftica, either working or travelling, it has been the African people I have met which have made it a real pleasure to be there.

Next up:

The (slightly delayed) podcast episode 32, featuring frequent donor to Friends of Pakati, David Scott!

Please keep sharing our posts & podcasts to spread the word… it helps us keep going to support the two Pakati schools, something we have been doing since January 2019.

Following on from the previous blog post – https://friendsofpakati.com/2026/03/31/chris-looks-back-to-1989-part-1-getting-to-pakati/ – I continue reminiscing about my experiences of when I first arrived at Pakati Secondary school.

I was a 32-year old Newly Qualified Teacher, & this was my first teaching job!

I first met the Deputy Head at the Secondary school, Mr Nyamauya, having been dropped there by VSO staff, after dropping two other volunteers along the way.

I also met most of the rest of the staff as they returned from their Christmas & New Year school holidays. The Head himself returned on the day school reopened, & I set foot in a classroom as a teacher for the first time.

In the picture above, Mr Nyamauya is sitting next to me, holding a text book.

As you can see, the classrooms were fairly crowded, & teaching materials were in short supply. It was the enthusiasm of the students & their willingness to learn made the job worthwhile.

My memory of those early days as a teacher at Pakati, were about getting to know things – student names, accents, trying to explain things in a way they could understand. Also about getting used to there being no water supply unless you fetched it yourself from a borehole, and no electricity.

On to more personal, practical things.

On arrival, I was allocated two rooms in the house with the blue door, one as a bedroom, one as an office. VSO had provided some basic household goods to use, and I shared them and the house with two local teachers, both of whom are pictured below.

Most of the teachers lived alone at the school, even if they had families. One who had his family with him was Mr Nyamauya, the Deputy Head. He shared another of the three teachers houses with the Headmaster, Mr Samakomva.

The sharing of houses was something I was used to, having been a student in the UK for 4 years, until 6 months before I went to Zimbabwe. We shared cooking, cleaning, water collecting, and I learned a lot about life in the rural area.

In my first few days, I had a few issues which my new colleagues helped me with. For example, I had a bat in my bedroom, it flew around the room at night, making noise & kept me awake. It had nested in a gap in the eaves.

My colleagues managed to get a cloth over it to stop it flying, and released it outside. They also managed to plug the whole in the eaves. There were several creatures which became very common to see.

I had to get used to so many things, such as the weather, local culture, food, access to water, trasport, shopping locally, & learning what could be provided locally, as this is a farming area. I have to admit I was a little terrified, particularly as I had no idea what a mosquito looked or sounded like until then – but I knew they transmitted malaria!

Communicating with family and friends back in the UK was restricted to letters, predominantly via airmail. It is almost impossible to imagine now how I and my fellow volunteers coped, but the way I looked at it was that I had chosen to be there, so I had to deal with whatever came my way, getting on with life.

It is true that what made it possible was the people I dealt with every day – my Zimbabwean colleagues, the students, local store owners, and the community in general, all of whom made me feel so welcome.

What helped me in those early days was getting around, meeting people & learning the pathways in the area. I walked a lot in that first year, not least because of getting to the nearest store (walk for 40 minutes) and to the bus stop (25-30 minutes).

There are several interesting features in the area & I took the chance to investigate when I spent time at the school on weekends, rather than always going into Harare.

First 4 pictures are on the road from Musami to the Ngomoamowa hill, crossing over the Shavanhowe River which floods occasionally.

Next is the hill itself, which dominates the area, seen in different seasons

There us another hill nearby, called Gwangwadza. It overlooks the township of Chigwada, and has some rock paintings dating back around 1500 years ago.

Next, some images from in and around the school

And who doesn’t love a sunset…

…or even a sunrise?

What is hard to show through images is the feeling of life at Pakati. Being a subsistence farming area, there is a rythtym to life there. Generally, life revolves around the planting, growing & harvesting seasons. It relies on good & consistent rains between November & April.

Daily life also has its own flow. Up with the sun, ablutions, food, chores, working with crops & with animals, or teaching. Once the sun goes down, back in 1989-1991, it was usually radio for entertainment, sitting outside chatting with people, and from 1990, drinking at Taloo stores which opened that year. The pace of life is unhurried, always with time to greet, to chat, to relax, to read. My own recollection was of the preparations for daily lessons & extra-curriclar activities – sports are very popular – then at the end of the day, the gradual fading out of noise as the students walk home, leaving a peace I have not found anywhere else in the world.

These 2 blog posts give just a taste of what it was like for me back in 1989. What I do remember in particular about my first 3 months is this: when I first got to Pakati I could hardly wait to get back to the city on a weekend. By the end of my first term, I couldn’t wait to get back to the school. I felt completely at home by then, a feeling that has never left me to this day.

Thank you for reading this, if you have any comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via email friendsofpakati@gmail.com or at http://x.com/friendsofpakati and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085689750818

Every now and then, I start to think back to my time living & working at Pakati Secondary school. I think about how different it was, especially when I first arrived in Zimbabwe, back in January 1989. Today is one of those times. Let me try & tell some of the story that I may not have mentioned in previous posts, though there will undoubtedly be some repetition of things I have remembered before.

This will be a blog in 2 parts

Part 1 starts by talking about my experiences in the days leading up to my arrival at the school.

Firstly, although it is now more than 37 years ago, I can still recall talking to my parents about what I was about to do. I am fairly sure it was over the Christmas period in 1988. In reality, most of the discussion was with my Mum, I think because my Dad would have been at work still, at the Steelworks in Scunthorpe. I was still living in Bradford at the time where I had completed my Teacher Training course, plus I had been preparing for my departure. I asked my Mum what she thought about me going to teach in Zimbabwe, and she had said that it was not a complete surprise to her, as she thought I had subconsciously been looking for an opportunity to expand my horizons somewhat.

Over the New Year December 1988 to January 1989 I had taken the chance to say my goodbyes to many of my friends in Bradford, and some in Sheffield where I had lived for over 6 years. I had a lot of them telling me they would write, and gave promises to reply to any who did so. It is hard to imagine how different things were back then in terms of communication with home.

At Heathrow Airport, London, on Friday 6th January 1989 I, along with several other new VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) volunteers, was busy checking documents & luggage, and saying goodbyes to my parents and friends. It was both emotional and exciting as all of us finally went through passport control into the departure lounge, looking for our gate to board with Air Ethiopia for our overnight flight to Addis Ababa, then onto our destination – Harare.

However, our departure was delayed, & after about 3 hours, we were ushered back out and taken to a nearby hotel. Our families & friends had long since headed home, & we ended up leaving Heathrow 24 hours late. Below are some images from Addis Ababa.

This lead to us missing our original connecting flight from Addis Ababa to Harare, & having to stay 3 nights in an hotel in Addis, before finally arriving in Harare on a Tuesday afternoon, 10th January

We were then accommadated at a training centre just North of Harare, where our induction course had to be shortened. Below are some images from the training centre as myself & my fellow volunteers started our adventure before going to our various placements:

The induction ended on the Friday, & several of us went out into Harare in search of entertainment. We settled on going to a place called Jobs Nightspot, where local band the Four Brothers were playing.

We were now staying at the home of the VSO Field Director for Zimbabwe, where there was room in dormitories for us all.

So finally, over the next couple of days, all of us new volunteers were taken to their placements, which for me meant my first time to see Pakati Secondary school, & meet my new colleagues in a very different environment to what I had been used to…

Coming up in Part 2:

My first days at Pakati, and early memories of what I experienced there. It is really an explanation of why Friends of Pakati continues to exist.

Today I have been updating two of our key pages, Fundraising and Finances, plus Podcasts and Vlogs

• Finances

We recieved two additional donations related directly to our Community Day event on 14th March at Scunthorpe United FC.

Firstly, an anonymous donor finally agreed to pay £80 for the boxing glove signed by British boxing legend, Frank Bruno.

Secondly, a long-time supporter of Friends of Pakati, David Scott, lived up to his promise to double whatever we raised. In total, we had £346 donated, & he completed the offer by adding another £346, making a grand sum of £692 for our efforts at the Community Day!

Read the updated page here: https://friendsofpakati.com/finances/

We are organising for David to be a guest on our podcasts soon, hopefully in the next few days.

• Podcasts

I also revamped the page providing our podcasts & vlogs so far, putting them in reverse order this time, so the latest is at the top of the list. Just seemed better to me.

Read the updated page here: https://friendsofpakati.com/podcasts-and-vlogs/

There is a lot of work that goes on in the background to produce the content here on the Friends of Pakati website, all done by volunteers, not least of which is Bradley Mell, our podcast host.

To help us continue to support the two Pakati schools in Zimbabwe, please donate to either http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati or http://gofundme.com/Friends-of-pakati

Thank you👍😎

We have been hearing from both Pakati schools recently, keeping up to date with what’s been happening there.

Pakati Secondary school has been having a bit of a clean-up, with a number of students going around the area collecting rubbish ready for disposal.

What you can also see is just how green the area is as the rainy season is still ongoing. I hear reports of varying amounts of rainfall, with some people reporting crop harvests may be lower this year.

The staff at the Secondary school have been seen taking a well-earned break, using some of the Friends of Pakati mugs we sent them not long ago!

Meanwhile at the Primary school, the staff can be seen opening the boxes of donations, then showing them to the young learners before they get the chance to play with them.

Good to see the items Friends of Pakati donated to the staff arrived safely, along with the chair for ECD learners to use.

And finally…two people who cleaned up on Community Day!

We are delighted to post images of the winners of our top two prizes from the raffle at our Community Day stall recently at Scunthorpe United FC – young Miles got the framed shirt signed by the 2025/26 squad, and Daniel got the signed SUFC football – well done to you both & thank you for taking part on the day!

Welcome to the latest podcast from Friends of Pakati, and many thanks as usual to our regular host, Bradley Mell.

We had a new guest, plus someone who will be familiar to regular readers & listeners: Firstly, Alison Redhead, a good friend of myself & a fellow Iron fan, who has become indispensible when we attend events; and secondly, Lorraine Mapuranga, former student at Pakati Secondary school during my time there, and now to become a Trustee when we attain formal charity status.

As you will have heard, we gained some additional items to send to Pakati, thanks to a lady who donated some toys and a keyboard during the Community Day.

To find out more about the actual event please read https://friendsofpakati.com/2026/03/15/iron-fans-prove-their-generosity-again/

To donate towards our funds, please use either http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati or http://gofundme.com/friends-of-pakati

Thank you!

A wonderful day….it was great to see so many visitors & several went away as winners…this was a young man called Miles, who was a mascot at the Scunthorpe United FC v Altrincham FC match, with the winning raffle Prize

Friends of Pakati’s stall at the Scunthorpe United Community Day was, without a doubt, a great success! For that we have several people to thank:

Firstly, the generosity of so many Iron Fans has been proven beyond doubt once more – as on the day we received £161 in cash & £10 via online payments! A massive THANK YOU for each & every penny we were given. £95 was donated in advance, making a total of £266 – though we still await the online auction, which is likely to raise another £80 at least. There are two other donors who are promising to add significantly to this total once we have the full amount in.

Secondly, the generosity of several people who helped us on the stall, giving their time & effort freely in support of Friends of Pakati, not last in running the raffle & tombola – These include the following: Alison & Hannah, Harley, Daniel, Lorraine and Brad Mell. The stall ran from 12.00 noon until 4.30pm. After that then some of us continued with drawing the raffle, contacting the winners of the various prizes, then meeting most of them after the match to hand the prizes over. a massive THANK YOU to those people too. It is also worth mentioning the people who donated gifts for the raffle & tombola as prizes, all of which helped the success of the day for us.

Thirdly, the efforts of a number of people who have supported & promoted our participation, helping us to reach the generous audience which came to our stall – notably Gareth Holden (aka IronArmy) and Andy Barraclough (aka Barra or YorkieIron), both of whom gave us much appreciated advance publicity, and both of whom are members of the team which makes up the Iron Hour Podcast – a massive THANK YOU for the continued support!

And last, but not least, the various staff members of Scunthorpe United who helped organise the event & ensure it was successful, these included James Moody, Glyn Sparks, Devon Riley & Julie Taylor amongst many others – another massive THANK YOU to you too! It was I think the 4th event Friends of Pakati has attended there, 3 Community Days and an Open Day. These have added much needed funds to help us meet our stated aims of providing help to both Pakati Schools in Zimbabwe.

A podcast will be released during the week, discussing all aspects of the Community Day, including what it all means for Friends of Pakati!

If you can, please donate to http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati or http://gofundme.com/friends-of-pakati

THANKS AGAIN!

Here at Friends of Pakati we are gearing up for our stall at the forthcoming Scunthorpe United FC Community Day, on Saturday 14th March at the Attis Arena/Glanford Park.

The event is running before the match between the Iron and Altrincham FC which kicks off at 5.30pm. Officially the stalls should be set up by 1.30pm, in time for a 2pm start, with stalls likely to be down by 5pm or earlier.

Here are 2 earlier posts regarding our involvement on previous events at the club: https://friendsofpakati.com/2026/02/21/community-day-come-visit-our-stall/ and https://friendsofpakati.com/2026/02/27/friends-of-pakati-joins-the-iron-hour-podcast-again/

Already we have a number of things being planned for the day, not least of which is going to be an online auction of the (authenticated) boxing glove signed by Frank Bruno, the former Heavyweight boxing champion, as pictured above, being handed over to me by James Moody, General Manager of Scunthorpe United.

We also have the Scunthorpe United FC shirt, recently signed by the 2025/26 squad, including players newly added to the team. It was donated to us by Iron fan Ryan Middleton, handed over to me in the Iron Bar before the game against Solihull Moors just last Saturday.

We will be having both a raffle with several prizes, and a tombola with many more items to win.

Here are some of the items up for grabs on the 14th March!

Just this week I was informed that a voucher for a hairdressing appointment is also coming our way as a prize!

Also this week, I have had an incredible offer from an Iron fan I know well – he has promised to match whatever we raise on the day, up to a total of £500!!! Amazing generosity, something I am humbled and it is why I am so proud to be associated with the club and its supporters – THANK YOU SO MUCH👏👏👏

I am sure there will be several more items to follow before the event starts, so bring yourselves, your family, your friends, and your money to our stall, to buy raffle tickets, have a go at the tombola, donate funds or buy some merchandise from us on the day!

Welcome back to Friends of Pakati!

• For the second time, we were hosted by Scunthorpe United FC supporters group the Iron Hour Podcast.

• The interview was with Barra – Andy Barraclough – as previously. Once again it concides with our planned attendance at the forthcoming Community Day.

• Please do share this widely & encourage your friends & family, and those connected with the Iron in any way, to visit our stall on the day.

• If you can’t make it but want to support our efforts (as an Iron fan did to the tune of £25 last week👏) please do so via http://www.gofundma.com/friends-of-pakati or http://www.paypal.me/friendsofpakati

• Any donations for either sale/raffle/auction or for school/IT/sports equipment please contact me at the Attis Arena/Glanford Park this Saturday at the Iron Bar before 2.30pm, or 14th March before & during the Community Day event.

• Any queries please email me friendsofpakati@gmail.com & leave contact details

There will be a more detailed list of things available to buy/win/do at our stall in the coming days as we get more idea of what we will have on the day!

In the meantime, allow us to encourage you to attend, visit the various stalls on offer & help make it another great Community Day event!

At Friends of Pakati we are preparing for the forthcoming Community Day at Scunthorpe United FC on Saturday 14th March!

Here is a reminder of what happened at two previous events… https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/03/24/22nd-march-community-day/ 

and https://friendsofpakati.com/2024/07/29/report-on-iron-aid-open-day/

 

Already we have one of the prizes either for raffle or sale to the highest bidder….

…and have already received promises for other things, such as a collector’s football shirt or shirts – see here for some of the previous donated items

As usual we will have merchandise to sell (see pics below), and they will all be at reduced prices (or as prizes)as we are looking to acquire new items for sale in the near future.

 

Here are the things we are looking for:

1. Any IT equipmemt for the Pakati schools
2. Any school books or reading books for ages up to late teens
3. Any toys no longer needed
4. Any cash or gofundme/paypal gifts
5. Any Iron or football related gifts I can use for sale/raffle/tombola/auction

I am going to be at Scunthorpe United FC for the home game on Saturday 28th February as SUFC are at home to Solihull Moors FC, & can accept any donations. I will be in or around the Iron Bar until around 2.30pm.

On the day of the event I will also be around from around 1pm until maybe 4.30pm (kick off is at 5.30pm)

As in 2025, we will draw the raffle and announce any winners in the Iron Bar after the game & publish on our social media if anything is not claimed on the day.

Above – in the Iron Bar after the previous Community Day in 2025

So, please come along & support Friends of Pakati, by bringing yourself, family & friends to our stall where you will get a very warm welcome, and you may well walk away with some very special prizes, merchandise, and also the satisfaction of contribution to this very worthy cause!