Overwhelmed by all the needs around me

Sometimes it's hard not to get overwhelmed by all the needs around me. On a daily basis, I see women and children carrying unclean water long distances on their heads, schools without text books, headmasters tell me about girls missing school because they don't have sanitary supplies, or children who can't take exams because their parents can't afford the fees. It's easy to get overwhelmed.

However, the local communities are hard at work to solve many of these issues but could really use help from the US. I know money is tight right now at home but a few US dollars go a long way here. If your civic orgainization, church group, school, co-workers, etc... is looking for an international project to get involved in this year or if you would like to make an individual donation, here are a few ways that you could make a big difference in the lives of many Ugandan’s.

The Water is Life project- We take water so much for granted in the US. Here women and children carry water great distances from unsafe water sources in heavy containers every day. In Bigodi, the village where I am staying, out of the 500 people who live here only one family has a cistern to catch rainwater. The leaders have designed a project to get pumped rain water into the village. They have already raised over $1400 and need just $2100 more.

School Supplies –The schools are terribly under resourced. There are very few to text books so instead there are paintings of the human body, the world, etc.. on the outside of the school walls and the teachers teach from those. Families have to provide children with paper, pencils, books and many can’t afford them. The children don’t have books to discover the joy of reading. Children here make balls out of plastic bags – imagine what joy a few soccer balls would bring these kids. Since books and schools supplies are heavy to ship I’d encourage sending money and we can purchase the supplies here. However, if you can collect children’s books and want to raise the money to ship them – the kids would love books from America. They have been delighted with the few that I brought. Lastly, deflated sports and playground balls can be shipped.

Exam fees- Students here have to pay to take monthly exams that help get them ready for their end of year exams. Those students who can’t afford the monthly exams don’t take them. Students who don’t take monthly exams do far worse on the end of year exams which determine if they continue or not. It cost only $5 for each student to take the nine monthly exams.

Sanitary supplies- I have visited over 20 schools and at nearly every school am told about the need for sanitary supplies for girls. Unfortunately, many girls miss schools while they have their periods because they do not have proper sanitary supplies. Some schools with the help of American charities have started successful programs where girls get their sanitary supplies from school. These programs have drastically reduced absenteeism which is a major problem in schools here.

Donations of any amount would be greatly appreciated. Checks can be made out to KAFRED, the Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development, please write the name of the project in the memo line, and send to my address- Jamilyn Cole, Po Box 733 Fort Portal Uganda.

Here are a few examples of how far US money goes here:

$25 will purchase:
basic school supplies (paper, notebooks, rulers, pens, crayons)
Sanitary supplies and underwear for a girl
world maps and atlases
5 books to contribute to a school library (literature, poetry, field guides)
3 text books for a primary class that has none (math, science, reading)
2 text books for a secondary class that has none (math, science, history, geography, English)
1 year sponsorship of a school in the Wildlife Clubs of Uganda

$50 will purchase:
1 set of math, science or English books for Bigodi Secondary School (5-10 books)
science lab equipment for a school that has none (lenses, prisms, magnets, balances, compasses, thermometers, soil test kits, weather instruments)
gardening tools and supplies for 1 school to assist with school grounds improvement projects conducted by students (tree planting, flower beds, vegetable gardens)
musical instruments to assist an exceptional music teacher at Bigodi Primary School with her curriculum (guitar, thumb piano, flutes, drums, xylophone)

$100 will purchase:
materials to build furniture for classrooms without enough seats for each student
1 complete set of geography books for a Bigodi Secondary School
materials to build bookcases for a school library
field guides and binoculars for Kibale National Forest's educational programs for students

$150 will purchase:
1 microscope for a school that has none
1 set of literature books for a secondary school library (approximately 30 books)

$500 will purchase:
the labor to build 1 classroom at Bigodi Primary school
will send a child to a private school for 1 year

$1,000 will purchase:
books, science equipment, microscopes and/or gardening tools for 5 Ugandan schools

$2,000 will purchase:
the materials and labor to build 1 classroom at Bigodi Primary School
water system for the town of Bigodi

Thank you for your ongoing support. For more information on any of these projects, please feel free to contact me at jamilync@yahoo.com