Redeemer Childrens’ Home

One of IRT’s projects is the Moyo Redeemer Children’s Home (RCH). The Home now has several income generating projects: a poultry unit, a dairy, a grinding mill and a shop. Recently, a farm and a piggery were set up. The piggery has started very well and currently four sows have between them forty-five piglets. Feeds are produced by Sr. Pasqua on the farm which works out 50% cheaper than buying readymade.

The farm is located 20 minutes from the Home in a particularly fertile valley. It consists of 30 acres which were cultivated with beans, maize, simsim, groundnuts, cassava and onions last year. Although bean and groundnut yields were modest due to rainfall, cassava is doing very well and is mature enough to survive prolonged drought conditions.

To further support the RCH, IRT will provide funds for six oxen, ploughs, supplementary seeds, training and drugs. IRT is also negotiating to supply the dairy project with another bull and to install a solar system for the borehole in order to reduce energy costs. To improve accountant systems and train staff at both the RCH and another of IRT’s projects, the Moyo Babies Home, IRT will send an Accountant volunteer to Moyo in September. Furthermore, it is planned to purchase two laptops together with printers for each Home.

The Comboni Samaritans of Gulu project ‘Access to Quality Education’

The ‘Access to Quality Education’ project has come a long way. When visiting Pawel Ayiga school in March 2009, Adrian found only one old classroom and no people living in the area. Now, he was proud to officially open one block of three classrooms. Work has just started on another two blocks of classrooms and teachers accommodation. The area is now livelier with many households being re-established around the school.  IRT also agreed with local authorities to support the construction of classrooms and teachers accommodation at Orapwoyo primary school this year.

The project includes six schools which all run two income generating projects: Tree Nurseries and Bee Hives. Each of the six schools produced pine tree seedlings both for sale and also for planting of woodlots for the respective school. They raised considerable money through sale and planted over 3,000 seedlings themselves. Furthermore, a total of 35 bee hives at the six schools have been successfully colonised. Harvesting will begin in August this year.

The Gulu and Amuru District ox ploughing project

Adrian was particularly pleased with the performance of this project. Launched in 2007, the project targets 4 zones comprising 44 groups of nine families in total. Each group of nine families has one pair of oxen and a plough. In 2009, three of the four zones produced the impressive amount of 44.2 metric tonnes of food. This food comprised beans, maize, millet and groundnuts. In 2010, those three zones have ploughed and planted 729 acres. This equates to approximately three acres per family.  The fourth zone was established more recently and has ploughed around 153 acres (one acre per family as the oxen are still immature).

To sustain this successful project, IRT is planning to build storage buildings in each zone. The stores would allow groups to store their surplus produce (that which is not consumed by the families) until the best price can be obtained for it. Secondly, IRT would like to provide two ox carts per zone to move surplus produce to the storage buildings.

All in all, Adrian was pleased with the progress made by IRT projects in the region. Yet, there is still more to be done. We will keep you updated about how things go.

If you are new to the parish, or would like a reminder, this is what to do:

THIS WEEKEND OR NEXT 1. take an empty shoebox from the church porch.

2. Fill the box with simple gifts for a poor child; the target countries are Montenegro, Romania & Tanzania. In the box is a leaflet explaining what is/is not suitable, plus patterns for knitted or sewn teddy bears and hats – the latter being needed even in Africa where foothill temperatures plummet at night.

3. Wrap the box as per leaflet instructions and return by Sunday October 25 to the Altar Servers’ Sacristy [not please to the Church Porch].

4. Please tape a £1 coin to the outside of the box to help cover transport costs.

There is a children’s booklet available in the porch for these two weekends.   Boxes for boys of all ages are especially welcome as they tend to be overlooked.

Please try to stick to the deadlines as late boxes may not reach the destination in time.

Each child will only ever receive one box – and this may be their only present .. ever.

Some of these children are found living in wooden shacks, sewers, or primitive refugee camps under plastic sheeting.   A gift-filled box for them may be rewarding to make, but is like a miracle to receive.

For more info, see www.rotary1110.org.uk

If you would not be able to fill a complete box, it is possible to hand in loose suitable items to go in boxes being prepared by the organisers.

Here are some ideas on what to fill your shoebox with:-

Or download these instructions to make knitted teddy bears or hand puppets.

So many people all in great spirit, took awhile to find one another after, thank goodness for Nelson’s Column and mobile phones!

Thank you so much for your support and words of encouragement, you really kept us going in the last kilometre.

When all sponsorship money is collected we will have raised over £1330 for the Apostleship of the Sea – a great result – thanks to you!

In a very weak moment, UCM members Geraldine Potter and Anne Monaghan agreed to pound the streets of London on 12th July as ‘Team Southampton’ to raise funds in support of the Apostleship of the Sea – a charity we should all support if we want to keep items such as bananas on the shop shelves!

The London 10K is known as the most prestigious city centre race in the taking in many of the great sights of London. We start at Piccadilly and pass by famous landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey and finish at Whitehall.

We, the Southampton Team will, with your help, raise as much as we possibly can for the charity.

AoS is the frontline service for the care of seafarers visiting British shores. They provide practical and pastoral care to all seafarers. Their port chaplains and volunteer ship visitors welcome seafarers, offer welfare services and advice, practical help, care and friendship.

90% of the world trade is transported by ship. However the life of modern seafarer can be dangerous and lonely.They may spend up to a year at a time away from home, separated from their family and loved ones and often working in harsh conditions.Apostleship of the Sea is on hand to support them through this.

Apostleship of the Sea relies wholly on voluntary contributions. they are only able to contine their work through the generous donations of supporters and so we appeal to you to be as generous as you can!

To contribute, make a donation at www.justgiving.com/annemonaghan

We will be giving further regular updates on progress. Meanwhile there is further publicity on one of the two boards in the north aisle of the church.

Ugandan baskets from St Charles Lwanda parish

Adrian Hatch from the International Refugee Trust with Fr David Sillince

Gulu school children's choir

Children of Gulu school

Every year in the parish, we support a large charitable project for twelve months. Our project for 2008/09 is the International Refugee Trust.

To find out how much we have raised so far, check out our latest parish newsletter online.

All too often there are headlines in the media showing people forced to leave their homes and become refugees because of natural disasters such as famine and earthquakes or man-made disasters such as war. When the media coverage has died down, many of the big agencies move their resources on to tackle the next emergency.

The focus if International Refuge Trust (IRT) is on smaller, longer-term projects that address the most urgent needs of refugees, supporting education and develop self sufficiency, in order that refugees don’t miss out on the knowledge and skills they would otherwise have learnt, had they not been forced to leave their homes. All their work is carried out overseas through local partner organisations.

Map of Uganda

Uganda

20 years of conflict between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda in the north of the country forced over 1.8 million people to flee their homes and take refuge within displacement camps. The LRA is accused of widespread human rights violations including mutilation, torture, rape and massacre. During its campaign, the LRA abducted children to be trained and used as soldiers or slaves. The conflict left thousands of children orphaned and traumatised.

Following the signing of peace accords between the government and the LRA, security and peace has greatly improved. Displaced communities who were living in camps are returning home to rebuild their lives. Thousands of abducted children have been released by the LRA. Most of these children are unable to read or write and a generation of illiterate children is now emerging. Thousands of other children have lost one or both parents and are reliant on extended families. These children survive with deep emotional scars due to their traumatic experiences of rape, witness to murder and other atrocities.

Building schools

IRT-built classrooms

Children on the first day at school

The Combioni Samaritans

We are focusing on raising money to build new schools near Gulu in north east Uganda, working in association with the lay Combioni Samaritans. The group concentrated on helping those suffering from HIV/AIDS but have extended their work into education programmes for orphans, not only those whose parents have died from disease but killed by the LRA.

IRT is funding the building of classrooms and latrines in six schools, providing text books, basic sports equipment, teacher
accommodation and training, as well as education costs of 300 orphans each year. So far eight classrooms have been completed and are in use.

There are collection boxes available in St Boniface church for your donations. The Combioni Samaritans guarantee that all money given will go to building new schools and none is spent on administration.

Did you know that £15,000 will

• fund the annual running costs for a babies’ home
• buy benches or chairs for 800 primary school children
• allow 12 orphans to undergo vocational traning?
  

Learn more about IRT at www.irt.org.uk