EEA2016

“When I have difficult decisions,” he replied, “I imagine myself at
the end of my life, and wonder would I then regret that I hadn’t
done this.”
Of course Lord Dubs was right. Impossible as it has sometimes
seemed, I have never regretted my decision to leave England for
Africa.
Education is the great equaliser. It gives us confidence and choices
we would otherwise be unlikely to have. Not enough of us have
access to a really good education in the crucial early years. This is
why, once I recognised the tremendous void, I could not resist
committing myself heart and soul to helping improve the fate of
as many people as possible.
For the first seven years I lived without running water, electricity,
a proper lavatory or any of the modern day conveniences we take
for granted. My home was a single, small room built from cement
blocks. I had a bed, a table and four chairs. I made a kitchen in one
corner with a paraffin stove, standing nine inches high, and a
bucket of water.
Every day seemed to bring some kind of unexpected struggle: Visits
to every official in person and waiting three hours for the officer
who had “just popped out”; Trying to have an important
conversation with the deputy minister for education in his office,
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