Fundraiser off to check plight of school pupils

The Scarborough hairdresser is risking exposure herself to return to the once tumbledown Mkwakwani School which was rebuilt by her charity, backed by the Yorkshire Post and praised by the United Nations.

Twenty five youngsters are sponsored by the charity with much of the funding coming from Yorkshire Post readers and people in Scarborough.

So far the pupils have suffered no ill-effects because the charity's work included digging a well to provide a clean water supply which has prevented the spread of the illness into the school district. Mrs Mehmet is taking no chances, however, and is determined to return to Kenya on April 4 to check the children, many of them orphaned by Aids, are all right.

Kenya's Ministry of Health says there are now 15 districts severely affected by cholera in the country, with 663 confirmed cases since January.

The upsurge has been blamed on the heavy rains which have swamped many parts of the country – sparking a massive humanitarian effort by agencies such as The Red Cross.

After checking the children, Mrs Mehmet will also ask the Kenyan authorities what she can do to help with the outbreak in the neighbour district of Msambweni where the epidemic has claimed 13 lives and closed more than 30 schools.

It could mark the start of a new programme by the charity to provide an extended network of wells to inhibit the spread of disease linked to contaminated water.

Msambweni, near Mombasa, has been so short of water that Government officials are travelling door-to-door distributing bottles of drinking water but people are dying in their homes

Mrs Mehmet, who runs the Renaissance Hair Salon, in Dean Road, Scarborough, said: "Ill-equipped hospitals are overflowing with local people. At our school the well the charity has provided is keeping the entire community alive because the water is not contaminated.

"But only 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) away there is a cholera and typhoid epidemic. I am going to make sure our 25 sponsored children are all well, in good health, and not anywhere near the infection."

She will also visit the Kilindini Rotary Club. "We need to discuss building wells to provide water which is desperately needed," said Mrs Mehmet. "Then I will be going into the infected area to see what we can do." The charity may also be able to help treating victims of the disease.

"The death rate is rising and this could be the start of the charity providing more wells – but we will find out what needs to be done," she continued.

The Mkwakwani School is all that stands between thousands of children and a lifetime of poverty, prostitution, and possible death from the HIV virus.

But when Suzanne Mehmet first stumbled upon the stinking rat-ridden ruins of the peasant-built school while on holiday, its pupils were using rocks for desks and pencils were regarded as sacred possessions.

Her campaign to rebuild the school led to her appearance before a UN anti-poverty conference in Istanbul attended by 15,000 delegates who praised the scheme as a model project.

The charity's work branched out into providing sanitation, electricity, and running water not just for the children but the whole community, as well as providing life-saving treatment for local cancer sufferers.

Donations can be made to Suzanne Mehmet, Mkwakwani School Overseas Charity, PO Box 277, Scarborough YO12 4XZ or via Barclays, Scarborough, which offers two standing order mandates, sort code 207592.

For donations for the building choose account 20829854; or account 60760803 to sponsor individual pupils with uniforms and equipment.