The Kidlington-Montshiwa Link
The parish of Kidlington with Hampton Poyle has a strong relationship with its partner “All Saints”, Montshiwa, in the Diocese of Kimberley-Kuruman. Group visits have taken place between the parishes. Kidlington was represented at the “Diocesan Family Weekend” in Mmabatho in September, 2005, and a group of 33 from Montshiwa visited Kidlington in July, 2006.
The parish has also been supporting “Molema Memorial School” in the area, by supplying basic teaching materials, a suitable English course, and copies of “You, Me and HIV” a book designed for South African children to instruct in the understanding and prevention of AIDS.
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is such an overriding problem in this very deprived area of South Africa, that the parish of Kidlington is currently concentrating its efforts within the link on this topic. The “Mowana Project”, using puppets made from discarded materials, is currently been tried out in Montshiwa, to educate illiterate people in prevention. A group of parishioners also visited projects in Johannesburg in March 2007 to study ways of approaching this vital subject.
