Gumbi 2024 update Part 1.
Very sadly the Founder of the Gumbi Education Fund (GEF), and my husband, died a year ago, in October 2023, aged 74 (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/20/john-vidal-obituary and https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/20/john-vidal-former-guardian-environment-editor-dies-aged-74)
I have set out the story of how John came to found the Gumbi Education Fund, from his African childhood to becoming the UK Guardian newspaper’s Environment Editor which brought him to Gumbi during a severe hunger which he wrote about and then set up the Fund, something he saw as his greatest achievement. See the About us page
Since his death we are so grateful for the gifts we have continued to receive and for the ongoing donations from many regular givers, many going back years. This has enabled us to keep many children studying at school, and much more.
Sometimes articles John wrote for the Guardian mentioned Gumbi and he also sent out regular newsletters to supporters – but his illness in 2023 and my grief in the last year and priority I have had to give to personal administrative work needed following his death, has meant a delay in sending out a newsletter. This updated website is the first step for me and the new Fund administration, with a newsletter following and doing more on social media.
In the meantime our funds have become depleted but we are keen to be able to keep offering secondary school education to as many as possible and continue all our work. My visit to Gumbi with Jenny Griffths in 2024 reminded us of the need the community has for education and support but has helped us be clearer on what the current priorities are. As a personal gift from John and myself I have funded the re-roofing of the Gumbi village library as a tribute to him, but much more is needed to support the people of Gumbi.
Thank you for your interest in the Fund and I hope that together we can continue the wonderful work John started and cared so much about, which has transformed the lives of so many in this corner of Africa. Pamodzi tingathe! – Chichewan for Together we can!
While some may have seen my name on John’s newsletters as Jen or Jenny Bates a Trustee of the Fund, John and I carried out a plan we’d had and married while he was in hospital, just a month before he died – so I am now proudly Jen Vidal and am signing off as such here.
All the best to all, Jen Vidal