2011 Summer Africa Trip - Updates and Photos
From June 12th-27th, 2011, Naomi Corera escorted a small group of donors and volunteers through Uganda and Kenya for this year’s Africa Trip, to see the progress of the projects that Children Waiting Everywhere supports, and to see how much more work still needs to be done.
Ruai, Kenya
Naomi and friends arrived in Kenya after 21 hours of travel, including an emergency detour due to an erupting volcano. They were welcomed by the warm and patient hospitality of the Banya Tereza religious sisters, and ate a late-night welcome dinner with the sisters and Ruai pastor Fr. Tony.
Though the majority of the trip was spent in Uganda, there are several exciting projects that the group visited in the town of Ruai, Kenya. After receiving funding to complete the digging of a water-storing bore hole and the installation of a watering system, Little Flower Montessori celebrated a major milestone.
On June 14th, 2011, the travellers’ first full day in Africa, the school community officially opened the bore hole with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Naomi, the project’s donors, parents and students of Little Flower Montessori and St. Joseph’s schools, St. Ann’s convent, and the project engineers and local workers.
As a sign of gratitude for the long-awaited water source, a tree was planted and attendees took turns watering it with water from the bore hole. The students raised their voices in songs to bless the day.
Another highlight of the short stay in Kenya was a visit to the Sweater Knitting Project. In 2010, Sr. Judith of St. Ann’s convent started a support group for the mothers of Little Flower students. Since its formation just last year, the group has doubled in size from 10 to 20 members, and has become a think tank for the mothers to find ways to empower themselves to provide a better life for themselves and their children.
Their main project is sweater-knitting, with the profits from sales going directly into their children’s education at Little Flower Montessori. The goal is to make uniform sweaters for local schools, and sell them at a price that both saves buyers money, and still generates profit and employment for workers.
However, the project is currently run out of a small storage room with only two knitting machines; the women are in need of a bigger, well-ventilated work space, and additional machines to make their project successful and self-sustaining. If you would like to contribute to St. Ann’s Mother’s Group, email us!
Uganda
A tea factory on-site will save valuable, scarce resources by eliminating the need to send the tea to factories elsewhere. Not only would the overall efficiency of the tea plantation be greatly improved, but an on-site factory would also provide much-needed employment for local people in the diocese of Fort Portal.
After the short stay in Kenya, the travellers continued on to visit CWE’s projects in Uganda. They stayed at Fr. George’s Visitor House, which overlooks the tea plantation. A successful recipient of donations from CWE, the tea plantation is a thriving green blanket over the hills surrounding the Visitor House. Future plans for the tea plantation’s continued growth include building a tea factory to process and market the tea locally. If you are interested in contributing to the tea factory project, email us!
The visitors then trekked the rural roads on a three-hour drive to Uganda’s Kamwenge District, to see the St. John/Patrick Vocational School. They were delighted the see the progress of the Laboratory and Library construction that started this year.
The building was completed, a job well done, with only interior furnishings and lab equipment left to be put in place. Having this new facility enables the school to receive state funding, which allows the institution to sustain itself without depending on outside donations.
A plaque was unveiled in the wall of the new building, thanking the generous donors, the Patton Family. Inside the school, speeches were given by a grateful student, Fr. George, Naomi, and several school administrators.
Another highlight of the trip was a visit to the IV Fluids Project. Naomi, Elise Aikman (a volunteer) and sisters from the Banya Tereza religious order stopped by the Virika Pharmaceuticals/VPS Project facility. This state of the art building stands idle, ready to be put to use. Naomi and the visitors prayed for a donor investment to finance the IV equipment. The equipment is the missing piece of the puzzle that would allow the project to become a life-saving and sustainable enrichment to the lives of hundreds of thousands of sick and suffering patients. If you are interested in contributing to the IV Fluids Project, email us!
The following is written by Elise Aikman, a Children Waiting Everywhere Volunteer who travelled with Naomi to see first-hand the need and suffering of those that we seek to help.
In Uganda…
Dorothy is a young girl about thirteen years old, who lives outside the city of Fort Portal. CWE sponsors her education, allowing her to attend high school. I had the privilege to meet Dorothy when Naomi, Fr. Stanislaus (nicknamed “Fr. Stash”) and myself picked her up from the high school she attends in Fort Portal. We checked in with her to see how school was going, and then gave her a ride home. She lives in a small village about a 15-20 minute drive away from the school; I couldn’t believe it when she told us that she walks both to and from school on foot every day. When we arrived at Dorothy’s house, we also discovered that she had no bed to sleep on—she spends each night laying on the dirt floor of either her aunt’s or grandmother’s house. This poor young girl has lost both her mother, father and younger sister to illness, very likely HIV/AIDS. My heart went out to her, and though she was very shy and didn’t speak very much English, I tried to talk with her a bit, to let her know somehow that I cared about her and wanted to help. When she showed us her grandfather’s and mother’s graves in the bush not far from the houses, I felt completely overwhelmed with the all tragedy this little girl had faced in her short life. The worst part is that Dorothy’s story is all too common in impoverished Uganda. There are thousands of children in similar situations—orphaned, lacking basic necessities like bedding, and having to get up before dawn every day to walk miles to schools that often lack basic learning materials. The good news is that CWE is making a difference one child at a time. It was very clear to me that Naomi cares about each child she helps, as an individual deserving individual love and support. We brought Dorothy clothes and a mattress, and Naomi discussed plans to send her to a better high school located much closer to her home. Dorothy also suffers from an eye disorder that could probably be cured with basic medical care. I hope that CWE can help get medical attention to Dorothy, to fix her eyes and enable her to see properly.
St. Jude Farmers Association
While Naomi and the Patton’s spent a few additional days in Kenya, I had the privilege of spending a day with the Saint Jude Farmers Association, a very new and exciting project that CWE contributes to. The Association consists of twenty households in the small village of Rwibaale, about 40 kilometers from the Visitor’s House, and is administered by the Banya Tereza sisters at the local convent.
A brainchild of Sister Especioza, the association is a type of cooperative educational group for developing agricultural skills. Using a demonstration garden on the convent’s land, the sisters teach the local people how to best utilize their own land, by teaching them how to grow crops that will bring more income to each household than the typically-planted maize.
In addition to teaching gardening skills, the sisters provide seeds and/or plant seedlings to each member. Each member then uses the skills and seedlings to cultivate gardens of their own at home, to provide food for themselves and their family, and also to sell at local markets.
One member of Saint Jude’s had grown eggplants using seeds provided by the sisters, and by selling her produce had been able to purchase basic necessities such as sugar, salt, soap, and school books for her children.
It was wonderful to meet the members of St. Jude’s, and to see yet another way that CWE empowers people by making a tangible impact on their quality of life. Unfortunately, the members of St. Jude lack an efficient way to water their crops. Fetching water is a time-consuming task, and may involve walking several miles round trip, hauling buckets. The group needs a rain barrel for each member, so that they can collect water at their homes and help their gardens to thrive.
Holy Spirit School:
Toward the end of the trip, Naomi and I visited Holy Spirit School, an elementary school just across the street from the Visitor’s House. We passed out candy and other little trinkets such as balls, pencil sharpeners and balloons. I was struck by their gratitude, and the excitement with which they received these small gifts. I also enjoyed playing catch with the preschoolers outside their classroom. However, the preschool classroom is located slightly down a hill from the school’s outdoor bathrooms, and the smell was quite noticeable. The school is in need of better bathrooms for its several hundred students.
Closing thoughts…
Poverty in Kenya and Uganda is extreme, and it is everywhere. We drove past village after village filled with mud and concrete houses, tin roofs, barefoot adults and children alike, and children dressed in worn and dirty clothing. So many villages without running water, electricity or adequate medical care. The need is truly overwhelming. The good news is that Children Waiting Everywhere is making substantive improvements in people’s lives. There are many worthy causes out there to support with your hard-earned money, but I believe you’ll find none better than CWE, for several reasons.
- Fully 100% of donations go directly to the projects. I challenge you to find another organization that can say that!
- Outstanding ethics—Building personal relationships by helping one child at a time and one family at a time. Because of the friendships we have made in the last 10 years, any donor to CWE is invited to visit the people and will be welcomed warmly with dance and song--leaving an indelible mark on your heart! Between Naomi’s devout faith and the fact that the projects are administered by religious sisters and/or the local diocese, you can be certain that your donations are used according to Christian values. Everything about CWE’s work is fully consistent with Christian teaching.
- Recipients—CWE sponsors projects that assist those most in need. Women, children, the elderly, the poor, the ill—society’s most vulnerable are the recipients of donations to CWE.
- Basic Needs, Fundamental Improvements—CWE provides the basic necessities such as food, water and education that make an enormous difference in the lives of Uganda and Kenya’s poorest people.
