Finding a new passion
Today our trustee and volunteer PR/Marketing Manager Donna tells us why The Roof of Africa has turned into a real passion.
It was May 2020 and the world was attempting to come to terms with a global pandemic, it was affecting every corner of the world and for me, it meant I was no longer able to work, as I’d been furloughed from my job for a national pet charity. Initially, the isolation period was going to be approximately three weeks, but it soon became apparent it was to be longer. I asked myself how was I going to fill my time?
I asked friends if they knew of any small grassroots charities that would benefit from my background in marketing and PR. It was that message that introduced me to The Roof of Africa.
My initial conversation with the three trustees, Genuine, Freda and Jo was inspiring and I loved their enthusiasm with the ideas I had. Before long I was updating copy on their website and creating a social media calendar. It was a difficult time to build an auidence with everything going on in the world but step by step our audience increased and so did our donations.
At the same time I also volunteered for another animal charity and during this I met Mark who runs Haus of Conversation, I helped him with some promotion for his yoga classes and so a new partnership was formed which was to pay dividents later for The Roof of Africa.
After a few months, I started a new job and sadly knew I couldn’t keep volunteering for the two charities as I simply wouldn’t have time to do both. To be fair it wasn’t a hard decision, I had fell in love with the principles of The Roof of Africa and knew whatever I did could help change the lives of the next generation living in Tanzania.
By this time I had taken over all the social media and website and spent time at a weekend creating content and scheduling it for the week. I was delighted when I suggested we run a Christmas appeal the trustees said yes and the result was overwhelming. It may always seem a mountain to climb but thanks to our wonderful supporters across the world, we get there in the end.
It’s also heartwarming to know how involved the local community are, they put in as much as they possibly can, whether it’s giving pieces of land to those who can support with money. They want their next generation to be self-sufficient.
It’s not always easy finding the time especially now as myself and my husband have become foster carers but because this is a life-changing role, I always manage to find some time! The great thing is as a volunteer you pick the days and times you can do something and every role is vital in a small grassroots charity such as ours.
After a couple of years I was honoured to be asked to become a trustee, which I was delighted to accept. Looking back on the past four years is truly breathtaking, we can see the end of building our primary school, the number of pupils attending is the highest ever and we have plenty of ambition projects for the future.
Would I recommend volunteering? Absolutely! there are so many ways you can support charities and especially now with technology, sadly I still haven’t met my fellow trustees in person but we have video meetings and regular chats through WhatsApp messages. This shows it doesn’t matter where you live, you can still help.
We are looking for additional support at The Roof of Africa whether its supporting me in updates to website, social media, to writing and sending out updates on the children or applying for funding. If you’re interested, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you! Contact us on info@theroofofafrica.org