City lecturer brings good hope to Cape

Published on Monday 20 April 2009 10:04

A COLLEGE lecturer has taken part in a voluntary expedition to South Africa.

Anne Hardy, a core skills lecturer at Jewel & Esk College, was presented with a staff excellence award for her hard work last year at the college's annual recognition dinner.

She travelled to the remote Tyume Valley in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa in summer 2008, as part of the Tyume Valley School's Association, which has been operating since 2003.

The British-run charity aims to improve the education and life opportunities of children in the region, which experiences high levels of deprivation and HIV/Aids.

Ms Hardy spent three weeks in South Africa as part of a team of British teachers working with their Tyume Valley counterparts. She is the first Scottish lecturer to take part in the programme.

She said: "Our task was to work with teachers to share our experiences of best practice in devising lesson plans and developing teaching materials stimulating student involvement. It was brilliant to be able to work in the schools. For me, it was a moving experience to be welcomed with such open arms to an area where white people are still seldom seen and were not long ago connected mainly with apartheid rule."