HOW the 500 Club is helping people in the UK

Sekai and Paul

Sekai* is a teacher from Zimbabwe who joined the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 2000. She became a very active party member and attended many rallies, together with her sister. Soon after joining the MDC both Sekai and her sister began to be harassed by Zanu PF supporters. Her sister's house was burnt down and Sekai was attacked by a gang of seven Zanu PF supporters. The gang dragged her off into the bush where they kept her for three days, raping her repeatedly each day.

Sekai left her home town and rented a house in another district in an effort to escape her tormentors. However, a month later they tracked her down, assaulted her again and took all her possessions out of the house and burnt them. Sekai felt she was being pursued especially because she was a teacher, able to influence the next generation's behaviour and attitudes. She became very frightened for the lives of her two young daughters and managed to leave Zimbabwe with them for the UK where she was granted asylum. PoC gave Sekai a grant for £430 to help her buy food, clothing and toiletries for herself and two daughters.

Paul* taught Spanish in Cameroon and also worked as a cartoonist for a national newspaper, using the pen name 'Hombre Manuel' because of his interest in Spanish culture and history. Paul joined an opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), and began to criticise teachers' working conditions and the government's educational policies. In response the authorities began to transfer him from school to school, forcing him to move from one region to another every few months, destabilising his family life and denying him any chance of promotion.

After attending a teaching conference Paul was attacked, he believes by supporters of the ruling Democratic Rally of the Cameroon People. Soon, without any explanation, his salary was stopped and he began to get into debt, trying to support his wife and children. Paul wrote to the Finance Minister, describing all the problems he had experienced and asking why he was being treated in this manner when he was committed to giving his students high quality education.

Shortly after writing to the Finance Minister Paul returned to his home village for a family reunion. Whilst he was away two men visited his wife and demanded to see Paul. When his wife told the men he was not at home they attacked and raped her, in front of her children, and told her she would be killed if she ever spoke about what had happened.

Paul was very concerned for his family's safety so he moved them to another district before escaping Cameroon for France and then the UK where he was granted asylum. Paul found work as a French and Spanish interpreter and saved enough money to bring his family to the UK. Now his main aim is to resume his teaching career and he has enrolled on a PGCE course. PoC gave Paul and his family a grant of £500 to help them buy some furniture and a washing machine.

Sekai and Paul both had the same ambition - they wanted to teach and encourage their pupils to advance their lives through education. Not simply by rote learning but through enquiry, the willingness to ask questions and explore different ideas. This open approach caused Sekai and Paul and their children to lose their homes and homelands, their friends and extended families. In the midst of this loss and loneliness the help given by 500 Club members to Sekai and Paul really has been a lifeline and a first step to a happier future for them and their children.

*Names have been changed to protect identities.