COPA is a Christian charity set up in 1991 by Sebert and Doreen Lane, retired schoolteachers. On a visit to the Dominican Republic, they saw the terrible poverty and primitive facilities in those parts of the island away from the tourist areas. On their return, they told their friends and Church (Lonsdale Road Methodist, in Gloucester) about what they had seen there. They also enlisted the support of a Methodist Church in Florida. Since then, COPA has established and built two schools in the province of Barahona, in the South West of the country, in the villages of La Hoya and Bombita. The witness and the vision of Doreen and Sebert Lane has captured the imagination of supporters and sponsors.
Leckhampton Primary School has been involved with the work of COPA since the early days of the charity. Peter Gardner, the headteacher at Leckhampton, has served on the charity’s Committee for many years and is COPA’s International Education Adviser. Leckhampton School directly sponsors the education of four children at COPA schools, and Leckhampton pupils hear regularly about the work of COPA in assemblies. Sebert Lane visits Leckhampton to talk to the children.
The vision of Doreen and Sebert Lane, and the difference the work of COPA has made to the lives of the children who attend the schools in La Hoya and Bombita, is being celebrated in a short sequence in the BBC programme ‘Songs of Praise’, which will include footage filmed at Leckhampton Primary School. We expect the programme to be broadcast in February.
Mr. Gardner visited the Dominican Republic in 2002 to see for himself the schools in La Hoya and Bombita and the difference the charity had made in villages which had previously been described as being ‘without hope.’ When he returned he talked to the Christians at Work group at St. Peter’s about his experiences. The links between Leckhampton and La Hoya and Bombita may well be strengthened in the near future as Catriona Kerr-Wilson is planning to spend her gap year working with COPA in the Dominican Republic. Catriona is a member of St Peter’s congregation and is also a former pupil of Leckhampton Primary School.
More information about COPA can be obtained from their website at http://www.copa.org.uk
Anne Gale