Kennington, where I live, is two miles from the beautiful city of Oxford and four miles from Abingdon, which claims to be the oldest town in Britain in continuous settlement. The village is squeezed into a narrow track of land between Bagley Woods and a beautiful stretch of the River Thames , where the annual Pooh Sticks Championship takes place. The other woodland is the spring flower paradise that is Radley Large Wood and, for which, the artist Diana Bell and the nature writer Paul Gamble and I have curated the anthology Woodland. There is a launch in Abingdon Library @ 6pm on Thursday Sept 17. All welcome
There are many villages that are surrounded by inspirational countryside so it maybe an unsung asset but that isn’t unusual. What makes Kennington unique is a particular generosity. Many villages raise money for local charities, to restore the church organ, fundraise for the PTA and for local residents in need. Kennington does all of those but it goes further…
In 1968, the Kennington churches invited people of all faiths and none to explore new ideas. Those meetings resulted in the founding of two organisations. Kennington Good Neighbours offers sympathetic and pragmatic help, especially the elderly. The other organisation was Kennington Overseas Aid (KOA), which lasted 50 years and, through annual events like a pop up shop, a Fun Run, children’s and adult concerts and gala nights raised over £500,000 for development projects all over the world. That’s quite an achievement for a not-wealthy village and the only one in the UK to do that. That experience made us open minded to a unusual project… twinning with an African village. Last year Kennington was the first village in Oxfordshire to twin with an African village and first in the UK to twin with a Kenyan village. We first connected with Musanda, through KOA, when we funded a Spirulina Production Factory in the village. Twinning is about friendship and learning from each other. Kennington has expertise that I hope can inspire Musanda. But I’d love the UK to learn from this village on how to empower disadvantaged children.
Our care system is an expensive rip off and a failure. A third of children taken in to care end up in trouble with the police and mostly feel abandoned at 18. Our Toward Twinning event was attended by three wonderful young people from Musanda. (pic below) Moses had been found almost dead, abandoned in a field, but he is now a dentist. Rajab and Eunice were orphaned at four years of age but Rajab is now a doctor working in the local hospital and Eunice is a social worker. The over 400 poor or orphaned children looked after in Musanda have ambition. They are loved and taught to believe in education and to work hard to acquire shills. No one can take them away from you! What children need is Love and a Purpose. We could learn from Musanda and we’d save huge amounts of taxpayer‘s money if we were prepared to do that . Our anniversary zoom will take place on October 10 . I ‘ll be in Musanda to cut the tape on the new library/resourse centre which will be the hub through which Kennington and Musanda can connect through zoom.
