Monday 12 December 2011

Raffle and Reward


After selling raffle tickets for the beautiful patchwork items for three months, the draw was finally held on Saturday 10th December.

A fourth prize had been added by the skilled and crafty maker and donor of the patchwork quilts and cushions - two beautiful, large, hand-made Christmas baubles.

The first prize (double quilt) was won by a pensioner couple from Ulverston (who bought their ticket at Orton Farmers Market).

The second prize (lap quilt and matching cushion) by a couple in Penrith, who bought their ticket at a Penrith Singers rehearsal.

The third prize (two matching cushions) and fourth prize (baubles) were won by people in Kirkby Stephen - they probably both bought their tickets when we were stationed outside the Cooperative one Saturday!

The raffle brought in a total of £1,300 - the best prize of all!


Street Kids suffering goes on


Enos Kyibibi tells us from Kasese that the kids have been getting a lot of harassment from the police, and two of them are at present in prison.

Enos comments that prison staff are not known for their gentleness and kindness.



Wednesday 7 December 2011

A generous gift

www.justgiving.com/kasesestreetkids is a site where people can make donations to the Kasese Street Kids. We mention it in our leaflets, but generally get hardly any response that way.

But this week we found that someone has donated £1,000 to Kasese Street Kids on that site.
He wrote:
"This donation is in memory of my brother ...... He had a kind and generous spirit so please accept it in his name."

Another recent donor wrote:

"The pictures shown in Kendal tell the tale, and if big boys can look after little boys, we are bound to support them all."

I am sure he was referring to the Photographic Exhibition held in Kendal Parish Church, which ended nearly a month ago.
He particularly alludes to the wonderful picture shown here, of the boy looking after a baby boy, the child of a sex worker dying of AIDS.

He must have picked up one of our leaflets at the Exhibition.

Thank you, both - and all who continue to give to support our work!

Monday 21 November 2011

Finishing the Hostel Building

At last we have received costings for all the remaining work to be done on the Hostel.

The detailed, itemised budget - hardcore, sand, cement, for floors; interior doors; plaster for walls - all room by room; tiles for the toilets; cladding; labour - all comes to a total of 77,792,000 Ugandan Shillings, which - at the exchange rate at time of writing - is £19,820.

That may seem a terrifying sum, but - here is the good news - we have already raised the bulk of it, and it is in banks in the UK ready to be sent out to Kasese!
Alan, our Emmanuel International missionary friend in Uganda, has asked for clarification on one or two points from the newest member of the SKILL Centre team, Alfonse Kambale - a Baptist minister with much experience of work with orphans, and a professional builder as well: what a useful man to have on board! When Alfonse has checked all the figures Alan will give the go-ahead for funds to be sent out from UK.

Just to remind you what it's all for - here are two Kasese street children - about the same age as my grandchildren - scrabbling in the rubbish, hoping to find something worth trying to sell for a few pence.


Let's hope that within two or three months, these lads will be welcomed into their new Hostel, given decent food, and love and care!

chriscjenkin@aol.com


www.justgiving.com/kasesestreetkids

Saturday 12 November 2011

Pictures from an Exhibition

We dismantled the Photographic Exhibition in Kendal Parish Church yesterday, after a four-weeks run. (And just as we were tidying up, a lady appeared to visit it!)






So here are a few more pictures to record the event.



1. Margaret Sentamu, our guest speaker and opener, with us - Christopher and Mary Jenkin.
2. The display showing the "story so far" of the Kasese Street Kids hostel; and a stand of colour photographs of African children, which were for sale (but no one bought any!)
3. Some of the guests at the Preview gathering to hear the speakers and see the Presentation; in the foreground are Margaret Sentamu and Carol Allen Storey (the photographer) chatting.

4. The photograph of the boy holding the baby, which was the one we used on all the publicity for the Exhibition, and which we had blown up to AO size - almost four feet high. 5. The crowd enjoying the wine, canapes and chat.


Was it worth it?

Many people saw the Exhibition during the four weeks it was in Kendal Parish Church - not only the regular Sunday congregations (who, we are told, were very interested and appreciative), but also the many who attended baptisms, weddings and funerals; those who attended concerts and seminars and other such events in the church; and the casual visitors who dropped in to see the church - though there were fewer such people in the later autumn than during the main tourist season. And, of course, there were those who had seen the publicity, and decided to visit the Exhibition, like the unfortunate late-comer!

The bottom line...

How much money was raised?

Given at the Preview: £1,600

Received since the Preview: £575.

Promised but not yet received: £580.

Yes, I think it was worth it!

-















Wednesday 26 October 2011

Report of progress

1. Plumbing and Water Supply: The intallation of plumbing in the new Hostel is now complete, but not yet connected to the mains water supply. All the necessary materials for doing so have been purchased, but the connection would have to pass over the land of a neighbour, and negotiations are in hand for this. Meanwhile, however, there are crops on the land concerned, so they will have to wait till the crops are harvested in January - otherwise compensation would have to be paid.


This means that probably the children can not move in till water is connected, perhaps in February.

2. Electricity: The solar power panels are installed and working; two are being used for lighting, and the third for sockets for computers and DVD players.



3. Walls and floor: Before the boys move in they want to get the walls and floors plastered, and this will be paid for (at least partially) by selling the bricks that the boys themselves have made. In this way the street boys are making a direct contribution towards completing their building.

Saturday 15 October 2011

Successful Preview


A large poster adorns the railings outside the beautiful Kendal Parish Church. It advertises
the "Children of Hope" Exhibition, mounted by Kasese Street Kids for one month.

The church building is magnificent, and a wonderful setting for this Exhibition; we are so grateful to the Vicar and PCC for allowing us to use it.
About 60 people came to the Preview on the 13th, and examined the photographs and their captions with interest.




Monday 10 October 2011

"How much have you raised?"


People often ask us, "How much money have you raised so far?"

The question makes us slightly uncomfortable as it seems to give all the kudos to us - whereas we are so very aware how we depend totally on the generosity of our many donors and supporters.

But we got the latest accounts today from Emmanuel International UK, our parent body (http://www.eiuk.org.uk/). Since we started fund-raising in April 2008, adding the Gift Aid tax that has been reclaimed, and including the 10% of funds that go towards EI administration, we find that what has been raised so far is

£38,036.36.

There is still quite a lot of that waiting to be sent out to Kasese, when Alan Parrett authorises it after seeing budgets and accounts. He and Cheryl are going down from Kampala to Kasese next Monday, when they will inspect progress and talk to Enos Kyibibi, the Project Director.

The next jobs to be done on the building are interior doors and flooring. Cement is extremely expensive in Uganda for some reason, so the floor will cost quite a lot.


Photographic Exhibition

Numbers of those expecting to come to the Preview on Thursday approach 80!

Remember - if you are ever in or around Kendal: the Exhibition is in Kendal Parish Church, Kirkland, from 14th October to 12th November. Do drop in, and also pass the word around.

Do get in touch if you would like to know more, or to support us!




Thursday 6 October 2011

The word gets around!

We have continued to do PowerPoint presentations about the Kasese Street Kids to a variety of audiences.
We spoke to some forty ladies of the Mothers Union at a combined meeting in Grange-over-Sands on 7th September.

We spoke to the entire student body, and many staff, of Giggleswick School, over the border in Yorkshire on 14th September. (In fact this was not with PowerPoint, as when we arrived no one could find the screen which should have been in the Chapel, but wasn't! So the two of us just spoke briskly for the allotted 11 minutes!)

And we got a good reception from the Ulverston Parish Fellowship on 5th October.

On the 7th October we are to speak to the children, parents and friends of Warcop Primary School at their "Celebrate Creation!" festival in Musgrave Church.

All of these engagements result in donations, either at the time or subsequently, for which we are very grateful.

BNI: Another interesting pair of meetings was with the two Kendal BNI groups - which I think stands for Business Network International; I was invited to this networking organization for businessment not to ask for donations, but to mention (for 60 seconds!) the forthcoming Photographic Exhibition; one kind roofer has promised £50 sponsorship.

Photographic Exhibition

The Preview of the Exhibition in Kendal Parish Church is very close now (13th October), and acceptances from guests still trickle in - we had three this week, now totalling over 70.
Carol Allen Storey, the photographer, has been invited into two local secondary schools (Dallam and Kirkbie Kendal) to speak to various student groups - arts, geography, sociology - on the Friday.
Carlisle Cathedral
The Exhibition will also be mounted in Carlisle Cathedral in March 2012; we went up there this week to check on the venue and the display boards they can offer us.

Sunday 4 September 2011

Building work proceeding

We mentioned that the electrical work on the Hostel had been completed; this picture (emailed from Enos yesterday) show the three solar panels on the roof. I am not sure what the man is doing!
The plumbing work, we were told, is still proceeding. As proof, here are some of the cisterns for the toilets arriving on site. (They are going to be fitting five WC pan sitting toilets, not African-style squatting toilets. I imagine the external toilet block will have the squatting variety.)
I never thought I would be discussing styles of toilet online!

Generous Gift
We have just been given a very generous gift of £2,000 by a supporter. In Ugandan money that is over nine million shillings! It will be a extremely valuable contribution towards the next phase of building. Thank you so very much, friends!











Thursday 1 September 2011

Hot news from Kasese!

(c) Carol Allen Storey
Yes, the kids are scratching through a chicken hutch in case there is any food left over for them!

Enos Kyibibi, the Project Director of SKILL (Street Kids Information and Learning for Life) emailed yesterday to say:
- We have finished the electricity connection work.
- The water connection work is still going on.
- The next step will be the inside doors.
- We hope that resettlement of children will be in January 2012.
That is really good news!
chriscjenkin@aol.com


Tuesday 30 August 2011

Give as you spend!

(c) Carol Allen Storey
The street boys of Kasese had finished their evening meal - such as it was - and sit around the fire. (Photograph taken June 2011)
Plans for the Photographic Exhibition in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Kendal (13th October to 12th) are moving ahead; further generous sponsorship will allow us to get some good lighting for it. Responses to the Guest Preview have now topped 50 - and six weeks to go!
Easy Fundraising
I have just received a cheque from http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ - for the princely sum of £16.04! But in fact for anyone who buys online, if you register with http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ and do it through them, they will send a percentage of the money you spend (at no extra cost to you) to your specified charity; and Kasese Street Kids is on their list!
I have just looked at the easyfundraising website, and literally thousands of firms are in their system! So if you ever go online to buy anything from: Amazon, AA Insurance, ASDA, AVIVA Insurance, ARGOS; B&Q, Best Western, Boots, British Gas, Butlins; Carrentals UK, Clarks, Comet; Disneyland, Debenhams, Dell (why on earth did I not buy my new Dell computer via Easyfundraising? Stupid man that I am!), Direct Line; E-ON, Ebay, Emirates, Esure... and so on!
I am sure if all Kasese Street Kids supporters used Easyfundraising for their online spending, the next cheque they send will be a good deal more than £16.04.
chriscjenkin@aol.com


Friday 19 August 2011

New pictures from Kasese

(c) Carol Allen Storey
Carol Storey has sent us some more black-and-white pictures she took when visiting Kasese this June. This is Joakim, now 11; she describes him as a fantastic gymnast!
In planning the Exhibition of Carol's photographs which will take place in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Kendal, from October 13th to November 12th, we had a meeting in the church yesterday - a "dry run", to test out the various display boards that were available to us, see that the photographs would fit, plan the lighting arrangements, and so on.
This was a very useful meeting, with Phill, our "Artistic Director", and Geoff, the electrician, as well as Gill, the churchwarden. Two months to go, but we are getting quite excited.
Responses to the invitations to the Guest Preview are trickling in - two more "Yes" answers today.
But now that we have had some updated pictures from Carol, we may need to amend our planned list of photographs to be on display!


We are calling the Exhibition CHILDREN OF HOPE.


We don't want to convey a grim picture of despair and misery. Yes, the lives of these kids are wretched in many ways, but (a) they are lively characters with courage, who care for each other; and (b) we are offering them hope of a better life once our Hostel is finished, and they can move in.


chriscjenkin@aol.com














Thursday 11 August 2011

Fund-raising Barbecue for Street Kids

A week or two ago some kind friends arranged a barbecue in their beautiful grounds in the next valley, to raise funds both for Kasese Street Kids, and for an autism charity - other friends have an autistic grandchild.
It was a beautiful evening, and their folk dance band came, and we danced as the sun went down - and the midges came out!
Each charity was given £150 from the evening. Thanks, kind and generous friends!


How we first met them


This is how we first met the street children, in spring 2008. On our visit to Kasese with missionary friends, one day we were taken round about eight schools. We were greeted with smiling faces, singing and dancing, meeting the teachers, signing the Visitors' Book, etc.
Then our guide, Rev. Nelson Isebagheen, said, "There's just one more place I want to take you."
By then we were hot, very tired, and longing to go home for a cup of tea. "Oh, no!" we grumbled. "Now what?"
And that was when we met this group of street children, with Enos Kyibibi who befriended them. No cheerful smiling faces here, no singing and dancing. These faces were etched with bitterness; these youngsters had experienced suffering.
One of them read a statement, describing their lives, and why they were on the streets. Orphaned, or badly abused so that they ran away; now living in a gang for mutual support. Finding scraps of food on the rubbish dumps. On the edge of petty crime, often rounded up by the police and jailed.
But sometimes, he said, a lady gives them a job, like sweeping a shop front, and pays them with food. "That lady is our mother for that day!" he said.
We were deeply moved. "I want to be their mother every day!" said Mary - mother of four children - afterwards.
And when we heard of Enos's vision for a hostel, for shelter and decent food, for education and skill training, we decided to come on board!
Join us?
chriscjenkin@aol.com

Tuesday 9 August 2011

164 Invitations sent out

Invitations
Today we have posted or delivered 164 invitations to the Guest Preview of the Photographic Exhibition on 13th October.

They have gone to Clergy - both Anglican and Methodist; doctors; lawyers; presidents of Rotary Clubs; secretaries of phpotographic and art societies; and over seventy other distinguished and influential people around Cumbria, and indeed over the border into Lancashire.

We have had invitation cards printed - we think they look very striking in their black and white layout, and showing one of Carol Allen Storey's photographs.

Postage of course was expensive, and so will the printing be when we get the bill.

But we pray that it will be worth it: that many of the recipients will decide to come, and that this will lead to further donations and contributions, both actually during the month-long Exhibition, and afterwards if we get further invitations to speak to churches and groups.

A VIDEO CLIP FROM EMMANUEL INTERNATIONAL IN UGANDA
Have a look on YouTube at "Uganda: Hope and Healing", a video of EI's work in northern Uganda. (EI is the parent body of Kasese Street Kids.)

Monday 25 July 2011

£7,500 sent out to Kasese

Work on the Hostel building has been at a standstill for a while - which we found frustrating, as we want this little lad to be able to stop scrabbling in the rubbish tips and have a home there and be looked after!

But at last the budgets for the next two phases of the building work have been agreed - the electrics, and the plumbing - and Alan is satisfied that they are fair (there were questions on why the electric budget was so much more now than the first figures in October 2010; it was that a third solar panel, and a lightning conductor, had been added).

So he has asked Emmanuel International HQ in Sussex to send out £7,500 (31,670,000 Ugandan shillings).

Hopefully this will allow Enos in Kasese, and the accountant Moses, to engage the electricians and plumbers to start their work.



Two kind donations

Our village school had their end-of-term show - two performances before all the parents and other friends of the school - and the retiring collection was divided between the school funds and Kasese Street Kids; and we were in due course given a bag of coins and notes worth £87. Thank you, children and teachers - and generous parents!


On Sunday 24th, we had been invited to take a service at a little village church south of Kendal; we got a lovely welcome, I preached, and this led into a fairly brief PowerPoint presentation. People were very appreciative, and we came home with £120. Some people took away our leaflets, and so it is possible that further cheques may come in the post in the coming days!


All very encouraging.


Friday 22 July 2011

Adoption of SKILL by Emmanuel International

On Friday 15th July, the Board of Emmanuel International agreed formally to adopt SKILL (Street Kids Information and Learning for Life - the name for Kasese Street Kids used in Uganda) as an E.I. Project.

Emmanuel International (www.eiuk.org.uk/cms) has been our "umbrella" organization from the start, especially because Alan and Cheryl Parrett, who are EI missionaries, were our hosts for both our visits to Kasese. Alan continued to supervise all the work, and especially was overseeing the financial accountability systems. The Parretts are now based in Kampala as EI In-Country Reps, but still visit Kasese regularly (despite the 8-hour drive), and check carefully that money sent out from UK for SKILL is being properly used and accounted for - an absolutely vital function.

We have also been able to send out funds via EI, and as they are a registered charity (which KSK is not) it has meant that gifts through EI can be Gift Aided.

Now, however, we have been formally adopted as an EI project, and this should lead to stronger links between us.

One of the ways in which EI operates is to send out teams of young people, for short or medium terms, to work under the supervision of the In-Country Rep, on a variety of tasks, always in co-operation with the local church. Perhaps such a team will be able to go out, from UK or Canada (EI is an Anglo-Canadian Mission) to work with the street children, maybe once the Hostel is complete and open to receive the children.






Saturday 16 July 2011

The fund-raising goes on

A generous church
Trinity Church, Barrow, which we visited on June 12th, had a two-week retiring offering for Kasese Street Kids, and the result was the magnificent sum of £993.90. We are so grateful to those generous folk!
Primary Schools
We have also been encouraged by various village schools locally.
* Tebay School have given us a cheque for £74.75.
* Warcop School invited us to do an Assembly, and have promised some fund-raising.
* Orton School had their End of Term Summer Show last night, and took a retiring collection - half for school funds, and half for Kasese Street Kids.
Private Schools
We have invitations to visit some private schools next term - some definite dates, other provisional bookings; and donations are likely to result from these.


Photographic Exhibition

Plans for the Photographic Exhibition are proceeding - in the beautiful Holy Trinity Parish Church, Kendal, in October and November.

Invitations to the Guest Preview on 13th October, addressed by Margaret Sentamu, have been sent out to 80 head teachers of schools in south Cumbria; and a mailing list is being prepared of clergy, Rotary Club presidents, and various distinguished citizens of the county, who will also be invited - but those invitations won't go out till late August.


Carol Allen Storey, the photojournalist whose work is being featured, hopes to come, and has suggested another meeting, perhaps next day, in which she could speak about her work and experiences in Africa.

We would invite photgraphic and arts societies, journalists, and students doing photography or journalism.

It would all help to raise the profile of Kasese Street Kids.

Saturday 25 June 2011

Patchwork Quilt raffled for Street Kids

This beautiful patchwork quilt, entitled "Romantic Roses", is to be raffled on behalf of the Kasese Street Kids.

It was made by a friend in the next village, Heather Ballantyne, who has used her great craftsmanship gifts to support KSK in various ways before.


The actual quilting was carried out by Dianne Watson from Lochearnhead.

Heather has given her time and considerable skills free.

It is to be raffled, with £1 tickets being sold over the coming months; the draw will take place at the Orton Farmers' Market church Coffee Morning, on Saturday 10th December.

Whoever wins it will be acquiring a treasure that would grace any bedroom.

Any visitor to the Blog who would like to buy tickets should email us on chriscjenkin@aol.com.

We are so very grateful to Heather and Dianne for donating their talents so generously.



Sunday 19 June 2011

Budgets for next stages of building

Here is Cheryl inspecting the outside toilets.


Alan has sent us some budgets for the next stages of the building - the windows and doors are nearly complete.


1. Plumbing: we have a detailed item-by-item quotation for everything from WC pans to connecting to the mains; it includes a lot of things that I haven't a clue what they are! Like "elbows", "nipples" and "tees"... and what on earth are "get-values"? (We apparently need 25 of those!) But the total bill comes to £3,400.

2. Electrics: Wiring, switches and sockets, and a threefold Solar Panel. Total: £4,300. (We had a quote for the electrics last October for only £3,000; Alan will investigate why this is so much more.)

3. The big one: Plastering and tiling: about £18,000. This is not an actual quotation, just a "guestimate".
-

We already have nearly £15,000 in banks in the UK; we will send this out in stages as Alan authorises it. But it looks as if we will need to go on fund-raising for a while yet to find the £11,000 or so still needed.

All donations, invitations to speak, or suggestions for fund-raising ideas or sources welcome! chriscjenkin@aol.com

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Site used for food

This close-up of a door and two windows shows
(a) the window has a mosquito screen - essential in a country where Malaria is a major killer.
(b) One of the two security guards, who are on duty day and night; they are both homeless boys, who were orphaned when young, and were then mistreated by those into whose care they had been given; so they ran away and lived on the streets, where Enos met them and befriended them.
(c) Around his feet are some young chickens!
Enos has six hens which have then produced some young ones. He has also been promised more poultry by a government scheme.
This is part of his programme of using the 2-acre site to produce food to feed the children once they move in. He has planted some pineapple plants; he grew some cotton, and the profit from selling that was reinvested in G-nuts. Corn was pictured on yesterday's post.
Enos is thinking very much about the future sustainability of the site. One trouble is that wild animals come in and damage the crops; almost certainly fencing will need to be erected to protect the crops. At present they rely on the guards driving the animals away.
He also has two goats, but before he can bring them to the SKILL site a shelter will need to be erected.
He has also been promised a maize mill.

Monday 13 June 2011

Latest report from Kasese

Our contacts in Uganda, Alan and Cheryl, have done the 8-hour drive from Kampala to inspect progress at the SKILL site.


It can be seen on the picture above that the external doors and windows are mostly complete.



There is also a crop of corn growing in the compound, so the 2 acre site is being well used.





Visit to Church in Barrow


We took a service at Trinity (Methodist and URC) Church, Barrow, on Pentecost Sunday, which is their Overseas Mission Sunday.


We gave them our KSK PowerPoint presentation, and they are having a retiring collection for two Sundays for us.





Another church engagement


I had applied to a Westmorland Arts Trust for funding for the Photographic Exhibition; whether they will fund us remains to be seen, but the secretary is a churchwarden, and has invited us to tell her church all about KSK! SO another speaking engagement and fund-raiser - July 24th.


All engagements or contributions welcome: chriscjenkin@aol.com

Monday 6 June 2011

A successful and enjoyable Concert

Some sixty guests had paid £15 each for a ticket to a delightful concert, with buffet and glass of wine included, on behalf of the Kasese Street Kids.
It took place in the ancient but splendid Great Hall of a restored medieval home near Penrith.
A choir of twenty voices, a violinist, a flautist; two sopranos (as soloists and as a duet); a flugel horn player and a guitarist: all these made for a varied and thoroughly enjoyable programme.
All the musicians gave their time and talents free, some travelling a considerable distance to be there. (Pictured: Andrew Forsyth playing Bach on his flute.)
Despite chilly weather, the buffet and wine were served in the spacious grounds, and quite a number of hardy souls stayed in the garden chatting over their supper, while others found seats indoors.
There was a raffle, and a Powerpoint presentation about the Street Kids to explain to the assembled company what the charity was seeking to achieve, and what progress had been made. The total sum raised by the occasion, when all expenses had been deducted, was £1,120.
Thank you, all musicians!

Thank you, programme organiser!
Thank you, host and hostess!
Thank you, furniture movers and piano provider and tuner!
Thank you, cooks and servers!
Thank you, guests, for coming and being appreciative!


Contact chriscjenkin@aol.com for further information about Kasese Street Kids.

Tuesday 31 May 2011

Archbishop's wife to open Exhibition



We are delighted to learn that Margaret Sentamu, the wife of Dr. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, is able to open our planned Photograhic Exhibition on Thursday October 6th, in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Kendal, Cumbria.

The Sentamus of course come from Uganda.

Margaret Sentamu is a very active and able lady in her own right.

She is an independent diversity management and recruitment consultant, and is also a lay Adjudicator for the Solicitors' Regulatory Authority, and a non-executive director of Traidcraft plc, among many other interests and activities.

So we are very fortunate to have a lady of such calibre coming to open our Exhibition.

But we are still needing more sponsorship! The Exhibition cannot go ahead without it. We have applied to various commercial concerns and grant-making authorities, and await their responses.

Friday 27 May 2011

Generous Giver

We had good news yesterday - someone who has already been an extremely generous giver to the Kasese Street Kids project has just made a further very substantial donation. Friend, without you we could not have got nearly as far as we have with building our Hostel! We are so very, very grateful.
Photographic Exhibition
We had a Committee Meeting yesterday, and plans are moving forward. But so far we still do not have enough sponsorship for the Exhibition; we just don't think it is right to divert money given for building the Hostel to something like setting up this Exhibition, which may or may not cover its costs!
We have been given £325 so far; other commercial firms have been approached and we are awaiting answers. Various other possible sources of sponsorship were suggested at the Committee, and must be pursued.
Watch this space!

Friday 20 May 2011

Children - in Kasese and Cumbria


Some of the children surviving on the streets of Kasese, south-western Uganda, are pathetically young. The thought of my grandchildren finding food by scrabbling in the rubbish is horrifying - but that is everyday life for many little ones.
A hymn in which we thank God for his gifts has this verse:
"A home of plenty: clothed and fed
our sturdy children play,
while other children cry for bread
not half a world away."
(Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith)
Today we revisited St. Paul's C. of E. Junior School in Barrow-in-Furness. We had given a presentation about the street children there last November - the children asked lots of interesting questions afterwards - and we were promised a money contribution in due course. Today was it!
This was part of School Book Week, and the children were invited to come to school dressed in any kind of character costume they liked, and weird and wonderful were the results! But they also brought their contributions to helping children across the world who are much less fortunate than them, and we were delighted to be handed a cheque for £100!
Thank you, children!

Sunday 15 May 2011

Money, money, money!

Bag-Packing at Morrison's

Yesterday ten girls and three leaders from the Appleby-in-Westmorland Guide Company spent four hours with us "bag-packing" on behalf of the Kasese Street Kids at Morrison's in Kendal. (Each one stands by a check-out, offering to help customers pack their shopping. There is a bucket labelled "Kasese Street Kids" and a brief description of the project.) Lots of customers said, "No, thanks, we can manage" - but still dropped a coin or two in the bucket.


Total raised - over £630.


(When the girls offered to fund-raise in this way, we suggested to the leader that half the proceeds should go to the Guides' own funds. She consulted the girls, and then told us they insisted that it should all go to the Street Kids.)


Thank you, girls, so very much!



Cheques in the post


When we returned from twelve days away this week, we found three letters enclosing cheques; two from local Rotary Clubs (Thanks, guys!), and one very generous cheque from a distinguished member of the Ugandan Asian community - one of those expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin.


We are so grateful for people's kindness.



Sponsorship for Photographic Exhibition
We are still trying to plan an Exhibition of the moving black-and-white photographs by Carol Allen Storey, professionally printed and mounted to the highest standards, in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Kendal. But it will cost hundreds of pounds to mount such an exhibition. We do not feel it right to use money raised or donated for the Street Kids Hostel for costs of printing and framing etc; and so we are looking for sponsorship from businesses.

So far we have one promise of £200, for which we are grateful; but most businesses approached say, "Sorry, we have our own charities" - which we can respect, but it is still frustrating and disappointing. Without at least £500 sponsorship, I don't think the Exhibition can go ahead.


If anyone has any suggestions, do get in touch! chriscjenkin@aol.com.

Friday 13 May 2011

Concert with Buffet and Wine

A special fund-raising event arranged on behalf of the Kasese Street Kids is a Concert with Buffet and Wine.
This will take place on Saturday 4th June, at the ancient and beautiful Newbiggin Hall, near Temple Sowerby, Cumbria. The concert will be in the magnificent Hall of this historic house - by kind permission of Major and Mrs. J. H. C. Sawrey-Cookson - and the buffet (weather permitting) will be in the lovely garden, overlooking the spectacular Crowdundle Beck, a tributary of the River Eden.
(Temple Sowerby is between Penrith and Appleby on the A66).
The musicians who are giving their services free are:-
Barbara Gilbertson - Violin
Kath Wignall - Cornet
Andrew Forsyth - Flute
Rob Steels - Guitar
Samantha Shepherd - voice - accompanied by Margaret Thomas
Linda Bainbridge - piano
Middle Eden Voices
Tickets cost £15.00 and include the buffet and a glass of wine.
There will also be a bar where wine and fruit juice can be purchased.

Doors open 7.00 p.m.

To buy tickets contact
Linda Bainbridge, tel. 01931 715395

Thursday 12 May 2011

Some generous gifts received

Though we have not been doing any fund-raising in recent weeks, several cash gifts have been received in recent days.
This includes two cheques from local Rotary Clubs, and one extremely generous cheque from an eminent member of the Ugandan Asian community in UK (one of the many who were expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin, but then prospered when they came to England, and have made a valuable contribution to British life in many ways.)
We are so very grateful!

Sunday 24 April 2011

Street boys helping to make bricks


Some of the street boys have been helping to make bricks, which are then used for further building work.

(1) They dig the soil and press it into molds.

(2) These "soft" bricks are then dried in the sun.

(3) Then they are stacked up in a kiln-shape, with a hole at the bottom for the fire. (4) When the kiln is complete (this one looks a bit amateurish and rough on top, but they are just children!), banana leaves are spread over the top, and wood is shoved into the hole at the bottom, set alight, and covered up - it can burn for two or three days.

(5) When the banana leaves catch fire, the bricks are cooked! Then - when it has cooled down - it can be dismantled and the bricks can be used.
It is good that the boys can actually make a contribution towards the work!








Thursday 14 April 2011

Street boys still scrabbling in the rubbish

Two little street boys in Kasese scrabble in a charred rubbish dump. I think this dump has been burnt at some time, and they are seeing if they can find scraps of charcoal which they are saving in a plastic shopping bag, to see if they can sell it for a few shillings. Better, I suppose, than doing what they so often have to do - search the dumps and skips for something to eat. Windows and doors: There is progress with installing steel doors and window shutters, which can be seen here. But these shutters are proving to be a good deal more expensive than the price originally quoted a year ago, £65 each. In fact they cost over £100. So I may have been over-optimistic in my last post, hoping that the £3,000 recently sent out will complete all the shutters and the internal doors too.

All contributions welcome! www.justgiving.com/kasesestreetkids is one way. Or contact us - chriscjenkin@aol.com.

Tuesday 5 April 2011

When will the Hostel be finished?

Several people have asked us recently, "When do you expect the Hostel to be completed?"

There is no answer except - "it depends entirely on how the money-raising goes."

The £3,000 sent out in March should pay for all the doors - internal and external - and window grilles.

We still have about £4,500 in UK, and when that is sent out - depending on Alan's inspection of progress, accounts, etc - it should allow all the electrics (including a large solar panel on the roof) to be installed, and a good deal of the plumbing, drainage etc.

The next item would be floors: at present the floor is earth, and once the under-floor pipes and cables are installed a concrete floor will be laid - and we have no price for that yet. But cement is expensive in Uganda for some reason.

The final big one is rendering of walls - inside and out. Expensive - but no estimates yet.

However I think we could defer that stage and get furnishings as soon as the floor is finished, so that we can invite the kids in. They don't need nicely plastered walls from the start!

Just to remind you what the building looks like:

Tuesday 22 March 2011

A Frustrating Meeting!


© Carol Allen Storey

We are planning an Exhibition of Carol Allen Storey's photographs of the Kasese Street Kids. It is to be in the beautiful Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Kendal.

We have brought a small Committee together to plan this; it includes

· an artist-cum-printer, who will print, mount and frame the large (A2) black-and-white photographs;

· A local businessman and entrepreneur, with many contacts around the county;

· the wife of our Bishop;

· a churchwarden of the Parish Church;

· another man who has agreed to be on the Committee but was away yesterday is a retired doctor with a lot of experience of Médecins Sans Frontières

· and Mary and me.

The Committee met yesterday for the first time in the Parish Church. We found the church was in chaos, setting up tiered seating for a forthcoming concert. We started our meeting in the church office - but a few minutes later had to leave there as someone had to do a mass of photocopying. So we went into the church side-chapel, where we had to compete with thunderous organ music!

However some useful decisions were made, like where in the church the Exhibition would be, and that we could use the church's own display board system.

However one critical factor is cost - to print and frame these large photographs (measuring 2 feet or more) will cost about £500; add lighting, publicity, food and drink for the Guest Preview etc... It all adds up.

We are NOT prepared to divert money donated for the Street Kids project to pay Exhibition costs; so we will need sponsors. Various local businesses were suggested as worth approaching - but the present climate is tough for many businesses. Without sponsorship, we can't go ahead. (Any volunteers out there?)

Radio Broadcast

Tomorrow, Wednesday, we have been asked to do a broadcast on BBC Radio Cumbria – just taking part, by phone, in a chat programme. We are always glad of any means of spreading the message – though media coverage seldom, of itself, leads to donations.

£100

However we did get a donation of £100 yesterday! Some old friends had been watching Comic Relief – I don’t know if they donated to that, but they said that it all reminded them of our project, and so £100 was added to our funds via www.justgiving.com/kasesestreetkids!

Monday 14 March 2011

Kasese Accountant appointed

This is Moses, who has been appointed as the Accountant for the SKILL project in Kasese. He is a trained accountant, who has been working for a Youth Organization (Young and Powerful Initiative) linked with the Church of Uganda. Now he will be working full-time for SKILL, and sending monthly reports and statements both to Alan Parrett in Kampala (the Emmanuel International In-Country rep for Uganda) and to us in Cumbria.
We have always felt that it is enormously important to ensure that money - given so generously and indeed sacrificially by people in UK - is being properly spent and accounted for. (You hear so many horror stories of money for Third World projects apparently disappearing into a hole in the ground!)
So we are now in a position to send more funds out to Uganda, for the next stages of the work. This includes all the windows and doors for the Hostel, as well as plastering the outside latrine, and paying for a night watchman.
More fund raising: Mary and I have two speaking engagements this week, at a WI and a Mothers' Union group; and also a meeting to plan a Dinner-Concert in June.

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Some more generous people!

In recent weeks we have been receiving several kind donations.
We gave a PowerPoint presentation to Colby WI (near Appleby) and were given over £100. (That evening was nearly a disaster - the laptop/projector interface wasn't working - luckily a lady could pop home and get her laptop, then all went well!)

Then last Sunday I was preaching at Newbiggin-on-Lune Methodist Church, and just mentioned the Street Kids in passing; and came home with £60!

Today there was £300 in the post from Appleby Rotary Club (we spoke there a month ago).

And this afternoon we spoke to Flookburgh Mothers' Union, and they not only said nice, appreciative things about our presentation, but gave us donations totalling £100.
All very encouraging!

Sunday 13 February 2011

Fund-raising around Cumbria

A Valentine Ceilidh raised £340 on Saturday 12th February. (A Ceilidh, pronounced "Cailey", is a north-country or Scottish Barn Dance, often with other musical entertainment!)
This one in Orton Market Hall, Cumbria, attracted some 60 people, aged from 9 months to 75 years, who danced away the hours until nearly midnight, with a break for the bring-and-share supper.
Chris Bland called the dances, and the Reunion Band played.
Mary said a few words about the Kasese Street Kids, and several people asked us more about the Project.
Two Mothers' Union groups between them donated over £200, after one at Haverthwaite and one at Stanwix, Carlisle, saw our PowerPoint presentations in the last week or so .
A donation of £250 was sent to us from a local friend - part of a Tax Rebate.
Gift Aid was used for some of the donations received, which will increase their value.
Appleby Rotary Club recently entertained us to dinner at the Tufton Arms, Appleby-in-Westmorland, and we gave them our PowePoint presentation; their Council will decide whether, and how much, they want to support us, and then the membership will be invited to ratify the recommendation. So we may hear their decision next month.
Thank you, everyone!