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South Rwenzori Newsletter - January 2011 As most of you will know, the main role of the Romsey Deanery Overseas Mission Committee (RDOMC) is to give spiritual and financial help and support to our overseas partners in the South Rwenzori Diocese in South West Uganda and the Committee has worked hard during 2010 to achieve this. Exchange visits between our two communities and countries are what feed the link with fresh inspiration, information and ideas. Many of you will have met Charles and Joel, when they visited us in 2009 and we heard about their visions for their local communities back home. We have compiled this Newsletter to update you on what has been happening in that region during 2010. As the South Rwenzori Diocese was founded 25 years ago, 2010 marked their Silver Jubilee which, we understand, was a very joyful and successful occasion. The RDOMC has also been on quite a journey during the past 20 or so years as our link with Uganda started shortly after. Throughout 2010 members of the Committee have been in regular contact with our overseas friends to give help and advice where we can, and we were able to send in excess of £15,000 to them during the year. As the Ugandans are the people on the ground they know how best to spend the money but before endorsing a project we always discuss and agree with Bishop Jackson which areas are considered to be in greatest need. Our Link Co-ordinator, Rev Canon Josephat Bwalhuma, is also involved in the process. The Committee will shortly be reviewing with them which projects and organisations we intend to support during 2011. Please keep an eye open for an updated sponsorship leaflet. In the meantime, details about those projects and organisations which we supported during 2010 are shown below. Most of them are long standing commitments eg Orphans and Workshops, but one new one – the provision of a system to harvest and store clean water in Kasese – has caught the imagination of many people. Finally, we on the Mission Committee, and our friends in Uganda, would like to thank our many donors and sponsors, past and present, for their support which has enabled so many changes to be brought about in South Rwenzori which enhance and enrich the lives of its people. If you would like to know more about South Rwenzori Diocese, go to www.southrd.org Visits to and from Uganda. The exchange visits are so valuable, but unfortunately we were unable to be represented at the recent South Rwenzori Silver Jubilee celebrations and no visits are planned, either way, for 2011. However if anyone is interested in making a visit to Uganda and would like to talk through the options please contact Angela Jones or any member of the Committee. (Details at the end of this page). Chickow The aim of the Chickow project, started by Marian Pike in 2005, was to provide funds for Clergy wives to purchase chickens and milking cows to supplement the uncertain income received by their husbands and we are pleased to say that a number of families have become more self sufficient and better off financially as a result of this initiative. Indeed a party from Romsey Deanery, which visited the area in 2008, were delighted to see how well the project had flourished and it is disappointing to report that more recently there have been a few problems with poor management. In the circumstances the Committee has (for the moment) suspended seeking donations for the Chickow project – at least in its present form. When more information becomes available from Bishop Jackson we will be able to decide the best way forward. Orphans Although primary schooling is free in Uganda, uniforms, books and writing materials are not and many people who have responsibility for an orphan find it impossible to afford the expense. This can be particularly so when a child moves onto secondary education when school fees and additional costs become payable. Without financial help these children would not be able to go to school and the aim of the Mission Committee is to do all it can to assist this vulnerable group. We are proud to say that, thanks to the generosity of our donors, £9400 was sent to South Rwenzori last year. We know that the money has been gratefully received and that it will make a huge difference to the lives of Orphaned children in the areas of Kasese, Kilembe and Rwensande. Whilst the actual day to day responsibility for spending the money, and selecting which children should be educated, is devolved by Bishop Jackson to local Committees (chaired by local vicars), we do keep a close general eye on how things are going and our information is that all three projects are running well. However, as the number of orphans in the region is huge, and finance is limited, it is inevitable that many children miss out on an education and fall through the net. Whilst money is not the only answer, nevertheless we would like to be able to send more if we can. But to do so we need more people to become donors. The cost of equipping a child for primary school is still only about 10p per day and, therefore, if anyone feels they would like to sponsor the education of an orphan child we will be delighted to hear from you. Perhaps you have a friend who may be interested in this? Workshops The Committee continues to support three Carpentry and Tailoring Workshops in Kasese, Kilembe and Hima and £2700 was sent to South Rwenzori in 2010 to assist with this work. At the moment there are about 35 young people receiving training in carpentry skills and 45 in tailoring. The money we send is usually spent on tools, materials and instructors’ salaries but as these are still very low, when compared to the cost of living in the towns, there is an ongoing problem in attracting suitably qualified people. After completing the Workshop Course at Kilembe, students are offered the chance to further develop their skills in an Incubator Unit, but unfortunately this is not doing as well as was hoped. The number of trainees is less than the available workshop capacity due to overproduction of the type of item produced. Carpentry graduates could benefit from marketing advice and diversification into other areas e.g. children’s toys by utilising timber off-cuts and it may be necessary to expand the range of skills currently being taught – possibly courses for girls in sweater making and hairdressing and vehicle maintenance for boys. The Ugandans have also expressed a need to learn computer skills and there is an urgent requirement for more, and better, carpentry tools and sewing machines.
Training Some time ago a need was identified for adult training in the medical field at Kagando Mission Hospital and this became known as the Ugandan Training Scheme (UTS). More recently the requirement for lay person training has become a priority and a retiring collection from one of Nursling & Rownhams church services has been specifically allocated to this. When added to other donations, over £250 was transferred to South Rwenzori during the year.
YAPI Fund raising began in 2004 for the building of a new Hostel as part of the “Young & Powerful” initiative and since that time the Committee has been able to contribute over £24,000 towards the cost of its construction. We are extremely grateful to the many donors who have supported this project, especially the Parishes of Nursling & Rownhams which raised the majority of the money - thanks mainly to proceeds from their annual Family Variety Concerts. We are delighted to report that, at long last, the Hostel is now finished and in full use offering, among other things, the opportunity for young people to attend courses of a few days or more to learn life skills which they in turn pass onto their peers in the villages. Now that the building work has been completed the Committee has decided that its efforts should be directed elsewhere as there are so many other exciting and worthy causes which we would like to address. Bishop Jackson wishes to add his personal gratitude to ours in thanking all who have worked so hard with fundraising and given so generously to this worthwhile and lasting project.
School Links Whilst the Mission Committee does not specifically seek to raise money for individual schools in South Rwenzori it is happy to pass on funds that have been collected by those schools within our own Deanery which have their own direct links with Uganda. Nursling Primary School, for example, has had a long standing link with Nyakasinga Primary School – which is located in the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains – and this relationship has taken a huge leap forward recently as there is now e-mail contact between teachers at both schools. This has led to a greater exchange of questions from pupils, raising the level of interest considerably. During the year the Nursling children raised money for Nyakasinga school and the £110 which was sent recently has been very gratefully received. The “Nursling Chapel” at Nyakasinga, (which also doubles as a classroom) was partly paid for with donations from Nursling School. Well done. Rownhams St John Primary School is linked with Muramba Valley Primary and the considerable funds which the Rownhams children have sent to Uganda has helped pay for a classroom, as well as partitioning and shelves for a library. The money has also assisted with the cost of internet connection at the school which will make such a difference to the children. The link has been ongoing for many years and visits by Ugandans to Rownhams Primary (and occasional assemblies) has helped the interest to grow, with money being sent out regularly. Over £375 was sent in this year alone – a tremendous effort. Well done. Jerusalem Hall Water Project The Jerusalem Hall Child Development Centre at Kasese supports the development of local children including many orphans who have lost parents due to AIDS. At the moment the water they use is expensive to buy and comes from an unreliable source. The aim of the current building project is, therefore, to install water tanks to harvest and store clean (and free) water as and when it is available. Success with this project will not only reduce the incidence of water related diseases but will also bring about great savings in time for those people who currently have to travel considerable distances to collect their water. Water collection will also have the effect of lessening soil erosion and reducing damage to buildings caused by flood water running off the adjoining hills, thereby changing the lives of so many children and others in the local community. The cost of the storage tanks, associated pipe-work, labour and other construction costs is estimated at around £8000 and the Committee is delighted to report that it has sent over £1800 to Kasese so far. We understand from the project organisers that this will be sufficient to purchase and install one 10,000 litre tank together with associated ground works and piping. The people of Kasese are particularly grateful to North Baddesley PCC for “kick starting” the fund raising process, subsequently embraced by Nursling and Rownhams who made a large “one-off” donation, raised at their Family Variety Concert held in November 2010. Our thanks also go to North Baddesley Infants School and Ampfield PCC for their generous contributions. easyfundraising – raise funds for South Rwenzori We have now signed up with an organisation called ‘easyfundraising’ which provides a free fundraising service whereby, when people shop on line, organisations such as ours have the potential to raise money for their charitable cause. All you have to do is register with ‘easyfundraising’, which is absolutely free, so why not visit our page shown above, where there is a direct link to ‘easyfundraising’. The process is very simple. Once you are registered, and when you next shop on-line with one of the participating retailers (there are over 2000 of them including big names such as Amazon, M&S, Argos and John Lewis) then up to 15% from every purchase you make will be donated by the retailer to the cause or organisation you choose to nominate. Obviously we hope you pick RDOMC. If you have any difficulties please don’t give up on it - just let someone on the Committee know of your problem and we will try to sort it out. Personnel During the year three very active and valued members of the Committee stood down – John Cook (Workshops), Ian Cox (Treasurer and visits organiser) and Rev Jim Stanley-Smith. We wish to thank them for their many years of valued service and wish them well for the future. We will miss their knowledge and experience of Uganda which was huge. It is also with great sadness that we report the death of Mimi Burbank in December. Unknown to most of you she was, at one time, Bishop Jackson’s PA and was a tremendous help with communications between the Ugandans and ourselves particularly in introducing the concept of e-mailing. Follow up If anyone is interested in finding out more about the work which the Committee does concerning our link with South Rwenzori, or would like a sponsorship form for Orphans, Workshops or any of the other projects which we support, please contact any member of the Committee which consists of: Angela Jones (Chair) Tel 02381 780730 email angelajonez@talktalk.net Marilyn James (Secretary) Tel 01794 388534 email richardljames@btinternet.com Garry Hedley (Treasurer) Tel 01264 810284 Neil Donnison (Workshops) Tel 02380 694351 email neo.donnison@gmail.com Marian Pike Tel 02380 732771 Sarah Boothman (Lay Chairman, Deanery Synod) Tel 01794 368143
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