00:00We're here at Shrewsbury School and quite a special day, Mary you're the founder of Restart Africa
00:06and we've got a friend here Marvin with you who represents them as well and you've come to speak
00:11to students. Yes. So just fill us in a little bit first off on what is Restart Africa then Mary?
00:17Restart Africa is a unique children's home, there's no other place like it in the world
00:24I've been told by the British government and we take in children who are sexually, physically,
00:32emotionally abused, the worst of the worst cases from that poverty level. Children who are
00:41tortured, children who are you know they've been tried to be killed and you know they're
00:48unloved totally and we take them in and we actually treat them like our own children.
00:58Yeah. So we love these children, all of them and we treat them with kindness and patience in fact
01:04our discipline is based on patience and love. How many children do you look after? 100.
01:12Oh wow okay. Yeah and we've had them you know we started in 2009 and we have
01:25this time this year we have at least 20 if not more going to university and technical colleges
01:33and thanks to Shrewsbury School who support us so much and sponsor the children, the parents
01:40we're able to educate them to that level which is absolutely magical. And what's
01:45Marvin's role in all this then? How do you get involved Marvin? I am the programs manager so I
01:52devise or come up with strategies and programs on an annual basis on what we intend to do in a
02:00specific year. So say at the moment we are working towards achieving you know academic goals so we
02:10like our children to get best or better academics, better in terms of academics, go to good schools
02:16to achieve what children who come from privileged camp organizations or homes will usually have.
02:24So our children go to private schools as opposed to government-built primary schools
02:29and this we've come to realize that also gives them a fighting chance with other children from
02:35Kenya who come from well-off families if I can call them that. So how did you get involved in this Mary?
02:42Well I live I live in Gilgill and during the 2000s. So Gilgill's Kenya then isn't it? Yes it is
02:49it's a very small place. Yeah. 2007 and 8 we had a post-election violence we almost had civil war
02:59and so all the refugees from all over the country that were kicked out of where they were
03:05came to Gilgill and they did they came thousands came to Gilgill and they had nothing you know
03:13they had no homes left they had everything was destroyed their fathers were killed if they had
03:19fathers the mothers had nothing and because of the state we had no government at that time
03:26they just dumped the kids in the streets. Yeah wow. And the kids were literally little one-year-olds
03:35sleeping in mud in the streets. Yeah. And I was taken around and I couldn't bear it I couldn't
03:41bear it. I've got four kids of my own for goodness sake and I knew I had to do something and I came
03:47back and I said we've got to do something we've got to start a children's home so then and there
03:53that next week we started a children's home we took in six and it grew and grew and grew and
03:58grew you can imagine and kids would be standing on our doorstep you know they'd come at night
04:04and just be there until we took them in and it grew and grew and grew and you know we've grown
04:09with it. Yeah. And we've tried to do and we do our level best with the thanks of people you know
04:17like Shrewsbury and and other people who donate to us and that's how we're able to give our
04:24children the best life that we can possibly give them. So what what's kind of been the mission
04:29coming here today is it to kind of enlighten students to you know other world realities out
04:37there? Yes it is it's very important in fact for the last three weeks Marvin and I have been going
04:43around a lot of schools and we're talking to the privileged young people who are educated properly
04:51whose parents love them and we encourage them to come because I think it's really important
04:56that our young people see the truth of what's going on with humanity in these poor areas of
05:04the world it really is and we base our children's treatment and the way we handle our children on
05:12love we don't base it on you know discipline or or all of that stuff in fact we discipline
05:20through praise. Yeah. And I think our children's home is the loveliest place to come to it's got
05:29a wonderful energy the children love one another and when the we've had Shrewsbury now they came
05:35out last year yeah and you know about I don't know how many say 20 two groups and the kids
05:42were in tears our kids were in tears when they left their their young people were in tears
05:47our children were in tears I was in tears and we realized that not only did this help
05:57our children to feel they were accepted in this bigger and greater world but it helped them have
06:04more ambition to talking to the young people here you know what they wanted to do and what
06:09did they wanted to be like yeah what they wanted to achieve and on the other hand to the Shrewsbury
06:15children and to the privileged young people it helped them to see and expand their experience
06:22of humanity of what is needed in this world which I'm telling you is love and understanding
06:30and kindness and giving because we're all the same at the end of the day there's no difference
06:37Giles you're um you're a staff member here at the school I am yes and uh first off how did
06:42the school support Restart Africa then well um we've known Mary for quite a long time because
06:48uh Shrewsbury school go to Kenya to try and recruit students and I've been lucky enough to
06:54go there for the last 10 years or so and I got to know Mary quite well and she got she showed me
06:59what was going on at Restart and told me all about it and she invited me to be a trustee so
07:06I'm very proud and honored to be a trustee of the charity and as a result I've been help helping her
07:12to promote it over here and of course um when I come back having been to Restart I'm always
07:17absolutely inspired yeah and that inspiration I guess goes into my lessons into my chats with
07:22the kids and of course other people so now we've got the headmasters wife Jules Winkley's and
07:27she's also a trustee and the chairman of the trustees is Chris Conway who was
07:35also head of careers here so we've got a nice strong association with them Restart from
07:41Shrewsbury school and of course Mary's granddaughter Sophia Coulson is currently
07:46head of the school so we're very well linked to Kenya at the moment. Just introduce yourself
07:55My name's Al Wields and my name's Reggie Bell. So Al your brother's actually been over to Kenya
08:01before yeah what did he say about his experience and what he learned from it? He's just honestly
08:05just gobsmacked the the difference between like here and there. Yeah I guess sometimes we need
08:12to be reminded don't we really kind of there are obviously other people living in very different
08:16situations and I guess to see it firsthand you know even more so brings it home would you like
08:22to go over yourself as well and something you'd like to well yeah he's convinced me honestly
08:26because he says the love and care that they show to each individual over there yeah
08:32like incredible yeah so what is it you've um you've got from from meeting Mary and listening
08:37to her story and well Mary's clearly like a very impressive woman and uh just hearing her talk
08:45about restart and the kids there is really quite motivating to like do something yourself because
08:53the like the love and passion she gives to all those kids is it's amazing it's like just so nice
09:00and she's such a good person yeah. Giles it's important isn't it for kind of you know young
09:06people to have these lessons and hear these stories firsthand isn't it? Well absolutely especially at
09:11a very privileged institution like this uh to actually have some empathy and see what it's like
09:18for kids completely at the opposite end of the spectrum I mean we're talking about kids whose
09:24parents just didn't want them they've been found in rubbish dumps uh they've been abandoned they've
09:31been abused you know those sort of kids absolutely at the bottom of the pile and uh and yet here
09:38you've got parents who obviously are prepared to spend a lot of money on their children's education
09:42so for these these boys and the kids at this school I think it's a fantastic opportunity
09:48uh to actually just ground themselves a little bit and make sure that they actually have an
09:54understanding that not everybody in the world is as lucky as them and I think that will make them
09:58better people yeah as they uh leave the gates of this amazing institution. Well thank you guys for
10:05chatting to us about that very valuable lesson you've learned here at Shrewsbury School. Thank you guys.
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