8,000 miles from home, the South African teachers working in Wisbech getting chatting and discover they are related
Renee Callaghan (left) and Yolande Dennis are both from South Africa and are related - but only discovered that whilst 8,000 miles from home and working in Wisbech. Picture; TCA - Credit: Archant
Two South African teachers – who had never met before they began working at the Thomas Clarkson Academy, Wisbech -have discovered they are second cousins.
When Renee Callaghan started there last month, she was introduced to Yolande Dennis, who has been working at the academy since 2018.
They quickly discovered they are both originally from Durban and amazingly, have family ties which make them second cousins.
They had never met before as Yolande left Durban when she was three and moved Johannesburg.
Now, some 8,000 miles away from home, the pair have been swapping memories and stories of family members they both know.
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Mrs Dennis, a maths teacher, said: "Renee asked me who my family were and when I told her the names of my aunt and uncle, she said, 'that's my aunt and uncle!' It turns out that my grandpa and her grandma were brother and sister. Our family are totally shocked."
Mrs Callaghan, an English teacher, said: "When we first realised the link, I thought it was a trick! We lived so close but we'd never met - who would have thought we'd end up meeting in Wisbech?
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"Our family was very close to Yolande's grandfather and I have such lovely memories of him, and her aunt, Pinky. We've realised that it is only a five-minute drive from where we lived to Yolande's grandfather's house.
"Yolande and I are so far away from our family so it's so nice to have that connection and to get to know each other."
Now the pair are looking forward to meeting up and sharing their country's traditions, including the popular South African dish, lamb and sugar bean curry with roti.
