Mission and Objectives

The Project

The Chole Mjini Project started in the mid-1990's, as a partnership between the Chole community and the Chole Mjini Lodge, led by Anne and Jean de Villiers. At that stage, no one from Chole had ever completed secondary education; only one person had salaried employment and there was no health care on the island. The key objective was to educate two generations of Chole children, so that they could shape a sustainable future for their community.
From the start the focus has been on empowering the Chole community to develop its own plan, rather than imposing solutions from outside. This is unusual, as many well-intentioned development funds for Africa are prescriptive, making decisions on how monies are spent far away from the isolated communities they are aiming to support.

The Chole Mjini Trust Fund

The Chole Mjini Trust Fund is a UK registered charity which enables overseas donors to donate easily and securely to support the Chole Project. Gift Aid is also collected for eligible UK donors, who sign up. There are minimal administrative costs in the UK, as everything is done by volunteers and Trustees dedicated to the project, so donations directly benefit the Chole community. Funding comes from three sources:

• like-minded individuals (their friends and families), who have visited Chole and seen the impact of the project for themselves. This is the mainstay of the Trust’s income and we are very grateful for their passion and commitment
• commercial supporters
• small grants where possible

An annual spending plan is provided to the Trust by the community, reflecting their priorities. This is reviewed by the Trust to ensure the budget is affordable, allows for sensible reserves and conforms with UK Charity Law. Inevitably there is always a wish-list and sometimes there has to be a discussion about priorities!  Funds are then transferred to a nominated, carefully controlled bank account for the community to draw upon as needed. At the end of each year an independent audit is carried out and provided to the Trust.

A large part of the Chole Project funds is spent on providing bursaries through secondary school and beyond. The Trust takes on a moral obligation to support each young person as far through the education system as his or her talent and motivation stretches.  Along with other core commitments such as the kindergarten, learning centre and basic medical supplies, the Trust needs a stable and predictable income of about £40,000/ US$60,000 per annum

Success and Changing Priorities

The Trust has supported about 120 students a year in education with up to 15 in tertiary education at any one time. Over 40 have achieved diplomas or degrees, which is an extraordinary achievement in 30 years for a small island community. Chole alumni are now employed in National programs, the civil service and as teachers in secondary schools, while others work in the district hospital, NGOs and the private sector.

The impact of Covid on visitors to the Lodge had a knock-on impact to donations to the Trust, which meant that in 2024, we had to reluctantly pause funding for the kindergarten and years1-4 at secondary school. Despite this, the numbers of secondary school students remained steady, showing that there is now an established commitment to education amongst local people. This has meant that as funds have recovered, they can be re-deployed in other ways to support education.   

The increased impact of climate change on the Chole environment, particularly on the fragile reef eco-system has also made environmental learning essential for sustainable development.