AFRICA

From July to September 2009 the foundation worked on a project to help the children in Uganda. Why did we work among the youngest? Because the future of the country full of contrasts is in their hands. We wished to help them to realise their dreams. It would not be possible without fulfilling their needs of safety and love, strengthening their sense of identity, building their self -esteem and assisting in education.

In July 2009 we launched two parallel projects which covered the children from Kyabishaga village and the streets of Kampali. The first one was called KOC (BLANKET).

KOC (BLANKET)

The aid project for Kyabishaga Orphanage Center focused on the following three goals:

K as KILOMETR (KILOMETER), i.e. buying a motorcycle,

O as OKNO (WINDOW) i.e. organising classes and workshops for children,

C as CEGŁA (BRICK) i.e. restoring a boarding school building

Monika Kacprzak, a volunteer who worked in Uganda for a year between 2005 and 2006, writes:

“One of the pupils from our school took me to his house. I could not hide my surprise when it turned out that he lived in an orphanage center. I got even more surprised when I saw that the Center and the school are run by his mother. Those people did not ask for help. They got by as good as they could. And that really made me think. The stereotype of a lazy African begging for alms from the white, which I had in my mind, was broken once and for all. Mrs. Mireli and other teachers did not wait for anybody to help them- they took care of the sick and abandoned children on their own. I came back to Poland carrying the picture of the Kyabishaga children deep in my heart- the children who were short of many comforts but surrounded with care. In December 2008 I got a message from my pupil, and now my friend too, that the school building was destroyed by windstorm.”

Why Kyabishaga?

We could call her the archetypical Polish mother- slim, tall, smiling! She has devoted her life to help the children in the greatest need- what is more, the children who do not come from her mother country. A Rwandan mother- the mother of the abandoned children- Miriel Twinamtsiko. The civil war between Tutsi and Hutu tribes which took place in 1994 changed Central Africa as well as the lives of thousands of people from Tutsi tribe. Miriel was among them. As a Tutsi woman she and her five children had to escape from their home- Rwanda- and set off into the unknown. After a three- month exile she found a new home in the neighbouring country, Uganda, 80 km to the North of Kampala- in a peaceful and distant place which can be reached only with a guide. The pain and suffering which she experienced were replaced with inner power. She wanted to thank the people from the foreign country – Uganda- who let her stay. She started to take under her roof sick children whose parents were not able to take care of. After some time orphans were brought to her by strangers. Was it not enough to pay back the debt? Not for Miriel. She was wandering along the streets in the neighbourhood in search for the homeless youngsters. It is hard to say when the number of the children in her care increased to 20 and the orphanage was set up. But Miriel knew that the children needed something more than a place to live. They needed education- the Kyabishaga children had the right to learn and they wanted to learn! So Miriel in cooperation with the local community built a school and found teachers. At the beginning the school was only for the youngest children. The older ones attended a primary school 12 km away from Kyabishaga. Since 2004 there is a seven- class primary school in the village with a dormitory housing 50 pupils. The Center gets funds from running a cow farm. At present, the Center is taking care of over 150 children. On third of them live there on a permanent basis. The others learn in the primary school. Although education is compulsory in Uganda lots of parents do not send their children to school because they cannot afford it. The school run by Miriel is free. The parents are charged only for meals.

The school building was destroyed during the rainy season. Miriel did not wait for help and started to restore the building with people from the neighbouring villages. However, the building costs are too high. The Center does not have enough resources to run the house for 50 children and rebuild the school...

The project content of 2009:

C- as CEGŁA (BRICK)

Do you remember your first day at school? Many African children will never be given the opportunity to experience it!

The children from South Africa know that the only possibility to improve their life is education. Illiteracy does not only mean inability to read and write but also to cope with demands of everyday life. An illiterate person cannot participate in social and economic life of the country. The children from Kyabishaga need school and a proper school building with benches and blackboards. “Classes under a tree” do not fit to the reality of the modern world. We also would like to provide the children with notebooks and pens.

The cost of building a boarding school is thirty thousand PLN.

K- as KILOMETR (KILOMETER)

The major problem for the teachers is the healthcare. There is neither a doctor nor even a nurse in KOC. The nearest hospital is 18 km away. A motorcycle is the only means of transport by which you can move easily in this region especially in the rainy seasons. It is also the only chance for the children who get sick or have an accident to be taken to hospital in time. The Center lacks such a vehicle.

We would like to by a motorcycle which costs 3 thousand PLN.

O- as OKNO (WINDOW)

What we would also like to realise under the project is integration of the healthy children and the physically and mentally disabled children from the Center. Thanks to the project the children from Kyabishaga Orphanage Center will be able to learn how to accept their friends with intellectual and physical impairments, how to be open towards them and get rid of prejudices. We would like the children to be sensitive to the needs of other people, improve their skills of cooperation across boundaries and develop creative skills. One of the principles of the project is also to advance their level of English language, promote prophylactic programs concerning health and personal hygiene, and HIV and malaria prophylactics. By playing various games we want to teach the children history and geography of their country, the continent and the world. To prepare interesting lessons we need only a few simple aids (crayons, paperboard, pencils, etc.)

The cost of the necessary materials is 2 thousand PLN.

The total cost of the project is 35 thousand PLN.

THE “KOC” PROJECT HAS BEEN COMPLETED!

The beads which have been joined together...

In the second half of September, after almost three months, the KOC project was completed. The volunteers, the originators and executors of the project- Monika Kasprzak, Gosia Olkowska, Ania Capik and Krzysiek Osowiecki, came back to Poland.

What did we manage to do in the village located almost 100 km to the north of Kampala, the capital of Uganda?

“We built a playground for the children, we bought 5 blackboards for the school, two bicycles, wall paints, mattresses and blankets for the children from the orphanage. We conducted a course of workshops called “Around the world” thanks to which the children learnt about the world, which was beyond their imagination. We also organised drama classes and art workshops. What is more, we bought medicines and dressing materials for the children. We actively participated in the life of the local community by helping the villagers with harvesting corn, bringing water or building houses.

The books collected before our trip served as invaluable aids in teaching English language.

The goals which we did not accomplish.

We resigned from buying a motorcycle because shortly before our arrival the Center was given one by an Irish humanitarian organisation. Instead, we decided to buy mattresses and blankets for the orphanage. We also managed to buy two bicycles for the teachers who had to walk 7 km to work every day. The last of our goals- C as CEGŁA (BRICK) - was not achieved for a very simple reason- we did not raised enough funds.

To all the donators who supported the Kyabishaga project we would like to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH!”

Monika Kacprzak, a volunteer

An experimental project focused on the children from the Kampala streets.

Gosia Koroblewska and Gosia Łokaj went to Uganda to get into the environment of the children living on the streets. The aim of the project was to get to know the life of the children and their problems, and to help them. Besides, the girls wanted to get materials to so that the Polish society could be informed about the problems of Uganda children. However, the plans were verified and the fund took care of three Ugandan teenagers.

“At the beginning of August we met Steven, Hussein and Samuel in Jinja Road in Kampala. The three homeless boys deprived of family care and everything else what children at their age need won our hearts. Having listened to their life stories and seen the places where they slept, begged and were beaten, we decided to took them from the street despite shortage of money. We placed them in a boarding school in the Kampala suburbs. The Rev. John Foundation School in Kitintale is a good school, where- we expect- the boys will forget about the tough times. We hope that the new life conditions and school rules will not be too difficult for them and childhood will win with the mechanisms they have adopted while living in the street”.

Małgorzata Łokaj

Steven, Hussein and Samuel are the first street children covered by the Ekirooto project. We encourage you to familiarise with its principles in details by exploring the PROJECTS section. WE WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS OUR SINCERE THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO CONTRIBUTED TO GIVE A HELPING HAND TO STEVEN, HUSSEIN AND SAMUEL!