St Mary’s Church, Hitchin

When St Mary’s Church, Hitchin, heard about the plans to build a children’s centre at Gomani, in memory of one of their congregation, Philip Veale, they backed the project whole-heartedly and, 10 years on, continue to do so each and every month, fully funding the running costs of this amazing centre.

The original little grass hut has long been replaced by a day-centre with a girl’s residence.  In addition there is a boys dormitory, a skills training centre and, the newest development, a school classroom with library.  The centre is home to 27 orphaned children looked after by House Mother, Besse, with another 120 attending daily for breakfast and lunch. The Skills Training Centre delivers a variety of useful courses and the classroom can always be found buzzing with the lively chatter of the children enjoying their after-school extra tuition.  Last year, the top student of the whole of the Lifeline Fund came from this centre……what an achievement!  Well done Lupacitio, who begins studying Agriculture at University in January 2021.