Various encouragements

First, we were sent another £1,000 cheque yesterday! That was so encouraging. And there was also a £50 cheque in the same post. People are so very generous, and we are very, very grateful.

Secondly, our local village school gave us the retiring collection after their Christmas show - very appropriately, the theme of the show was how children in various countries around the world celebrate Christmas. We have also been invited to go there and do an Assembly about the Street Kids in January.

Thirdly:

Photographic Exhibition: A professional photojournalist, Carol Allen Storey, has taken some superb black-and-white photographs of the Kasese Street Children. She has generously allowed us to use these to publicise the Kasese Street Kids project, to raise awareness and raise funds. We have already, with her permission, used several of the pictures on this Blog.

Here is one we have used before: © Carol Allen Storey

http://www.castorey.com/

Now we are planning an Exhibition of these photographs, printed to the highest professional standards, in Holy Trinity Church, Kendal (a large and beautiful church beside the road entering Kendal from the south, and with the River Kent beside it).

http://kendalparishchurch.co.uk/

The Vicar of Holy Trinity, Rev. Rob Saner-Haigh, has told us he is very happy for the church to be used for such a purpose.

No dates have yet been fixed - it will probably be sometime in the spring of 2011. We hope to have a Private Guest Preview, to which we will invite all the local people of influence and distinction.

It will obviously cost a considerable sum to mount such an Exhibition, and we will be looking for sponsorship for that. Any suggestions and offers to kskjenkin@hotmail.co.uk!

The burial of dear Mimi

Mimi Burbank (known to many as Mother Mimi or Mama Mimi) died in Kasese on the 29th November. She was buried on 1st December at St. Paul's Cathedral cemetery in Kasese.

In her honour and memory we publish here another of the photographs she sent us in October. She had arranged for a group of the Street Children to be brought out to the site of the new Hostel, to help to clear the weeds from the ground.

Afterwards they were given a good meal, which obviously these two were enjoying, though sharing a plate!

Mimi loved these kids, but was totally practical and realistic about what they needed and wanted.

More about our School Assemblies

Here we are, using a globe to show some children from Newbarns Primary School, Barrow-in-Furness, where Uganda is! (Photograph courtesy of the North West Evening Mail) (Yes, I know it looks as if we aren't even pointing at Africa - the globe was still turning when the photo was taken!)
That was after our Assemblies there on the 19th November.
Today we received a cheque from the school for KSK - £200! Raised by the children; well done, everyone!

School Assemblies, and £1,000

In November Mary and I were invited over to Barrow-in-Furness (where we used to live) to speak about the Kasese Street Kids in Assemblies in two schools.

First we went to Newbarns Primary School, where Mary used to work as a Special Needs Assistant; we spoke to the younger children first and then the older ones, on each occasion using a PowerPoint presentation with lots of pictures.

A few days later we went to St. Paul's Junior School, where I used to be Chair of Governors (and led many Assemblies) and told them about the street kids.

At both schools the children asked questions like "Are they safe?" (Answer - no, they are not; they risk bad health, injuries on the rubbish dumps, being arrested), and "Why don't they wear shoes?" (Answer - because they have no money to buy them).

At Newbarns a reporter and photographer from the North West Evening Mail came and interviewed us and photographed us talking to some of the children; the article (a two-page spread) was published on Saturday 27th November.

One result of that was a local reader (an old friend) sent us not only the article but a cheque for £1,000.00!

Thank you, good friend! And thank you, Evening Mail!

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On the right is one of the pictures the late Mimi Burbank sent us: some of the street boys arriving at the site to do some ground clearance. Mimi is seen behind her elderly car.

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You can contribute online with www.justgiving.com/kasesestreetkids !