Hazeley Kalisch (Year 8) and her family returned to Kent in March 2020 from Namibia where her family owned a safari company called Wild Dog Safaris. Covid turned things upside down for the business and with no safaris running the family decided to return to the UK.

Wild Dog Safaris had some wonderful guides and the Kalisch family worked with their families extensively for many years. They committed to putting two of the guides’ children through their schooling and put them into private schools. State schools are not great out there and students are lucky if they are able to read and write by the time they leave.  

The two sponsored children are called Mercy Shikongo, aged 8, and Rusia Haufiku, aged 11 (both pictured below). Hazeley knows the children well and so when they had to move back to the UK, they promised the children that they would do what they could to keep them in school.    

Hazeley plans to swim 10 kilometers over the course of the winter and hopes to raise a total of £1500.00 in total. This would cover the costs of the schooling, their books, uniform and local taxi to and from school.  

If you would like to support Hazeley in her swim then please visit her JustGiving page here: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/elizabeth-kirbyrusiaandmercy2023

Any donations will be hugely appreciated.

What an amazing thing to be involved in Hazeley – everyone at Bethany School wishes you luck and are sure you will smash it!

Mercy Shikongo (below)

Rusia Haufiku (below)