AVSF’s mission is to provide sustainable interventions and financial support to the orphans and vulnerable children ofrural Ekudzeni, Swaziland.  In line with this mission, Angus Lawson’s Primary School has been educating local children for the past 13 years.  The original facilities were built to cater for 37 pupils however there are currently 250 pupils at the school.

This project provided funding for urgent maintenance on the school buildings and a new block of pit latrines.  AVSF were also able to refurbish the old toilet block and pay for professional cleaning so that these facilities remain useable.  The school building itself was painted externally and glass replaced in all broken windows so the building is once again a safe learning environment.

In addition the school now has it’s own sustainable maize/ vegetable garden which is properly fenced to prevent animals destroying crops. This means the school now has a sustainable source of food for the feeding programme and the children are being taught practical agricultural skills.  This is crucial for a community where subsistence farming supports most families.  There is now a basketball court and hand built concrete table tennis table to engage & encourage the children in a variety of sports.

Due to Covid 19, the school has been shut since March and is not going to re open until late January 2021.  This means that the full benefits have not yet been realised by the the pupils However during this period the vegetable garden has been ploughed, planted and maintained by the community and pupils in a safe socially distanced manner. This means that maize is growing and will be ready for next year’s harvest. Sadly Robert Nestor (founder of AVSF) passed away in March this year.  However, he was able to visit the school in 2019 and saw the project through to completion.