enjoying retirement, so I want to devote part of my retirement to this.’
Mayenziwe Project founder, Chris Helyer, in Dartmouth.
‘A lot of people think I’m being paid to do what I’m doing but I tell them I’m not, I’m a pensioner, I live on a pension and I come and do it for nothing.’
Although Chris also shops around for the best flight deals he still ends up delving into his pockets to stump up around £500 per trip.
Why does he bother, I ask, when he could be putting up his feet and relaxing, enjoying the glorious view from the riverside house he shares with his wife Lizzie on Dartmouth’s South Embankment, and spending his hard earned pension on treats and luxuries closer to home? He explained: ‘I’ve always had a sense it’s God’s will that all children have a chance of a decent education. Somebody once said to Mother Theresa “Is not what you do a drop in the ocean?” She said “Yes, but an ocean is many drops.” ‘That’s quite an inspiring thing. I can’t just sit in England
I asked Chris if he believed his project did make a difference to the children of South Africa’s Eastern Cape. He replied: ‘I sometimes meet young people who were taught computing by one of my volunteers five years ago. ‘They’ve left school but say if it wasn’t for Tom they wouldn’t know how to use a computer. ‘I find invariably having kick-started something in a school has led to them taking ownership themselves. ‘My aim is not to adopt a pet school and say this is our project for the next five years, I normally don’t work at any one school for more than two trips. ‘I have to try and discern why I think one particular school’s needs are important and more deserving than another and whether I can work with the principal and have a shared educational philosophy in what we are trying to do.’
Chris is busy raising money for his next South African trip later this year. From April 30 to May 4 he is planning a sponsored walk from Hartland Quay in North Devon to Totnes. And on May 5 he aims to row from Totnes home to Dartmouth. That evening Chris, a baritone singer, will perform at St Petrox Church accompanied by the town’s three organists.
All of the events are in aid of the Mayenziwe Project and the St Petrox Church organ fund. To sponsor Chris or for more information about his charity or how to become a volunteer phone him on 07814 971151, email him at
cja.helyer@btinternet.com or visit
http://homepage.mac.com/tomplant/mayenziwe/index. html
Interview by Ginny Ware
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