College welcomes High Commissioner as students raise £300 for charity

College welcomes High Commissioner as students raise £300 for charity

The High Commissioner for Rwanda joined students at the College of North West London (CNWL), as they organised a fair to raise money for charity MAD4Africa.

To raise money, students organised activities such as bag and bracelet making, offered henna tattoos, and sold homemade food such as mango smoothies. In total the students were able to raise over £300 for the charity.

Based in the UK, MAD4Africa is working to create opportunities for young adults across Africa to learn vocational skills by creating sustainable, locally-managed projects. Students at the College wanted to help the charity raise its profile in the UK and as such set about organising the fair and were delighted when they found out that the High Commissioner for Rwanda, His Excellency Williams Nkurunziza, could attend.

His Excellency gave a speech to over 200 students who had attended, commenting: “I am very touched that the students of the College of North West London can pause to think about my country and help to make a difference to the young people there.”

As well as enabling the students to learn more about the charity the fair was also an opportunity for them to put their organisational skills in practice. Student, Ibrahim Jahangir, 18, from Kilburn said: “Organising this event to a tight deadline has given me and the other student ambassadors a chance to learn new skills and work as a team. It is great to be able to work with people outside the College, including MAD4Africa, and getting a senior ambassador to attend was fantastic. I want the College to be known in the community for doing good things.”

Eileen Gilbey, MAD4Africa project manager, who also attended the fair added: “MAD4Africa is working to provide viable, long-term education projects in places such as Rwanda, where we not only help establish schools but provide ongoing funding for teachers, internet access and other essential resources. It is great to see young people at the College developing such an interest in helping us.”

To find out more about the College, please visit www.cnwl.co.uk.