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Mother of murdered aid worker Gayle Williams pays tribute to her daughter
Elizabeth Hopkirk and Benedict Moore-Bridger21 Oct 2008
THE mother of a London aid worker murdered by the Taliban in Afghanistan made a moving tribute today to her "humble, loving" daughter.
Gayle Williams, 34, was shot dead by two gunmen in Kabul yesterday as she walked to work at a charity helping disabled children.
The Taliban immediately took responsibility for the killing, claiming she had been trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. This has been vigorously denied by the charity Serve Afghanistan. Today Ms Williams's mother, Pat, from Ealing, was preparing to fly out to the war-torn country.
She said: "Gayle was serving a people that she loved, and felt God called her to be there for such a time as this. We know her life was blessed and she was a blessing to those around her.
"No one could have asked for a more humble daughter with a more loving heart. She died doing what she felt the Lord had called her [to] and she is definitely with him." Friends today revealed she will be buried in the Christian cemetery in Kabul, in accordance with her wishes.
Her sister Karen, who lives in Johannesburg, is expected to join her mother in Afghanistan, where Ms Williams had worked for almost two years integrating disabled children into mainstream education.
A statement released on the Serve Afghanistan website, said: "Gayle will be remembered as one of the inspiring people of the world. She was killed violently while caring for the most forgotten people in the world; the poor and the disabled.
"She herself would not regret taking the risk of working in Afghanistan. She was where she wanted to be holding out a helping hand to those in need."
Ms Williams moved to Afghanistan after two years at one of Britain's leading schools for autistic children.
She had saved her wages from her classroom assistant job at the Sybil Elgar School in Southall, which specialises in PE and physical rehabilitation, to fulfil her dream of working abroad.
According to friends the dangers of the Afghan war zone did not faze her. Former colleague Agnieszka Kolek, 31, said: "She had travelled to dangerous places before and would tell anecdotes that sounded exotic and scary to us. We knew it was her dream to work with disabled children in disadvantaged countries. Her faith was important but she never pushed it on anyone."
Serve Afghanistan chairman, Mike Lyth, denied claims by the Taliban that she had been proselytising. "This was an opportunistic killing with Christianity used as an excuse. The Taliban work quite closely with criminal elements in the city and tell them 'if you see an aid worker, kill them'."
Reader views (3)
I'm so sorry about this.Gayle seemed to be such a nice person and I'm sure she was. My prayers are with the family. I'm just happy to know that she's in heaven with God now. God bless
- Michelle, London, 26/10/2008 10:48
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Rest in peace Gayle x
- Charlie, London, 21/10/2008 21:11
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To the parents of Gayle, your daughter was a brave human being doing the work she loved, its so so sad that she died by the hands of people she was serving trying to help the poor children of Afghanistan.
May god rest her soul in peace, and accept our sincere condolences. x
- Sorraya, Croydon, UK., 21/10/2008 11:31
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