THE TONGABEZI TRUST SCHOOL, ZAMBIA

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by Felix Parker,

First Published: 30 Sep, 2019

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Nestled in between the Zambezi river and Zambian bushland lies Tongabezi Lodge. Gold listed by Condé Nast as ‘one of the 20 best hotels in the world’, the luxury travel lodge stands at the forefront of Zambian, African, and global tourism. But beyond its mainstream successes, Tongabezi is proudly grounded on philanthropic roots. It is celebrated for its promotion of sustainable tourism; generating employment in the local communities, taking steps towards renewable energy and food supply, and perhaps most impressive of all, its development and sustainment of the Tongabezi Trust School (known locally as Tujatane).

Run on an entirely sponsorship basis, Tujatane provides free primary level education for children in the local rural communities and continues to support them throughout secondary education. Through this system, children who would not otherwise have had the resources to access this education have gone on to become pilots, lawyers, accountants, and doctors etc. The school recognises that education is the key to breaking the poverty cycle which is so prevalent across rural African communities. This is where Fairfax & Favor comes in. Our founders, Felix Favor Parker, and Marcus Fairfax Fountaine, are both a part of the ‘Educate a Child’ sponsorship programme. This entails giving an annual donation which helps ensure a child’s educational welfare. As the sponsor, you receive the selected child’s termly progress reports, letters, and updates on their activities. Here is an example of Felix’s child, Hope’s, latest report:

School reportYou can read more about the Tongabezi Trust School here // You can read more about Tongabezi here

THE ‘MR. BEN’ SCHOLARSHIP

Underlying this special relationship between Fairfax & Favor and Tujatane is a personal family tie. Our founder and CEO, Felix is the nephew of Tongabezi and Tujatane’s founders, Ben and Vanessa Parker. In February 2019, Ben lost a very long battle with cancer. He leaves behind an unmatchable legacy not only as a widely respected business owner but also as an adventurous spirit for whom no task was too much of a challenge. His family decided to channel the loss felt by all who knew him into something he would be proud of and set up the ‘Mr. Ben’ Scholarship at Tujatane in his name. All donations raised for this scholarship will fund a Tujatane child through college, university, or an apprenticeship. Fairfax & Favor has donated over £1000 to the cause which, by today’s date, has nearly reached a remarkable £26,000. Fairfax & Favor is proud to be connected to Ben and Tongabezi’s important legacy and will continue to be a part of it in any way we can. You can read more about Ben Parker and the ‘Mr. Ben’ Scholarship here

CLIMBING MT. KENYA FOR THE TONGABEZI TRUST SCHOOL

Most recently, in August 2019, Fairfax & Favor donated £300 sponsorship money towards Kat Maxse’s Mt. Kenya climb for Tujatane Trust School in Livingstone, Zambia. We felt this was a great challenge that matched the wild African spirit at the heart of Tujatane and so we sent Kat’s team off with a few branded caps for the guides, ensuring the Fairfax & Favor logo reached one of the highest peaks in Africa.

After the climb, Kat got in touch with us to say; ‘A huge thank you to the Fairfax & Favor team, your support got the ball rolling on our donations page and helped us reach (and surpass) the £1500 target. The Tujatane team are very grateful.’

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