12:29pm Wednesday 6th August 2008
By Dee Adcock
A DORCHESTER couple is spearheading a plan to build a school in the Sudan after a student appealed for help for education in his remote community.
Richard Budd was on a visit to the Nuba Mountains in Sudan to take photographs for the Diocese of Salisbury Sudan Link when he met the boy in his mud hut school.
The student told Mr Budd, of Fordington, and the Bishop of Sherborne, the Right Rev Tim Thornton, that his secondary school was closing because of lack of funds.
Grace Secondary School had been funded by a community in New Orleans but it could not continue its support after the city was hit by Hurricane Katrina.
After returning home to Holloway Road, Mr Budd heard the school had closed and the mud hut buildings had fallen into disrepair.
Now he and his wife Claire are on a mission to raise around £40,000 to build a new school and find the £30,000 annual running costs. He said: "The project is of vital importance because secondary school education is virtually unavailable in the area.
"In southern Sudan only an estimated two per cent of the population is educated even to primary level.
"This makes it arguably one of the most educationally needy places on earth.
"Because of the remote area the new school will be a boarding school.
"It will be for boys and girls from Christian and Muslim backgrounds."
The local bishop, Bishop Andudu, hopes to build the new school on church land near an existing primary school.
The couple has already enlisted the support of churches in the Dorchester Team and are planning fundraising events. They have already had offers of help from businesses and companies in the Dorchester area.
Mrs Budd said: "Every penny we raise will go to the building and running of Grace Secondary School.
"We really hope this will be a project that captures the imagination of the people of Dorchester and beyond so we can show our brothers and sisters in Sudan not just that we care about them but that we are willing and able to make an amazing difference to their lives."
The couple are planning street collections in South Street, Dorchester, today and August 13 and on September 19. They are also organising a fashion show at Kingston Maurward College on September 26 with tickets available from Dorchester Tourist Information Centre, priced £5. A Christmas ball is also being held at the college on December 21.
To pledge support and find out more contact Mr Budd on: Richard@ GraceSecondarySchool.com or call Mrs Budd on 07764 335892.
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