Side by Side with Geoff

Wow… a whole year has gone and where has it gone????

Well it has been a huge adventure and all the support from here has made a big impact in our area of Northern Uganda.

Awere Secondary School and Awere Primary are excited to have a connection with New Zealand that we will be building on.

Awere Primary had water available this year thanks to the generosity of Solway School providing funds to repair the borehole - imagine a school with no water, that would have been the case otherwise.

When 12 year old Eunice got hit by a motorcycle your donations paid her hospital bills, medicine and food for her and the family…. hospitals don’t feed the patients in Uganda so family needs to stay close by and provide food and medicine for the patient.

The village had a great Christmas thanks your contributions…… the most important thing was food was available. Most here eat just once a day!!!

The budget I had on the home page last year went out the window….. I wasn’t able to obtain most of the things I had wanted but that didn’t matter…..

This is what we have coming up now so…… all your support is valued and needed:

SidebySide Foundation in Uganda – Projects: A 4 year vision

1. FourbyFour - Four containers of educational, humanitarian and farming goods in four years – 2016,17, 18, 19 with the empty containers being turned into a village community centre “Whare Te Got” …..

2. Schools4schools – schools connecting with schools through communication, culture and sport – the goal is to have Wairarapa kids exchanging with Awere SS kids and staff in 2017 – LETTERS, SKYPE, EXCHANGES, TEACHERS INVOLVED,

3. Kids4Kids – the 7,000 Wairarapa School kids supporting the education of the children of Ludok Village at Awere Primary school with payment of schools fees while supporting Awere Primary and Secondary to have power connected and provision of communication systems connecting the schools with schools here..

$2.00 from each pupil in the Wairarapa (7,000 - $14,000) would pay for 120 primary children or equivalent, connect the power and supply equipment. To run for 4 years.

4. Farmers4farmers – Wairarapa farmers and others supporting a programme of

$15,000 over four years to revitalise and develop the farming capacity of the village assisting in recovery from the war and leading to self sufficiency again. Crop diversification. 4 YEARs TO BE SELF SUFFICIENT.

5. LEAP – Lions clubs supporting the empowerment of Albinos in Northern Uganda. Greytown Lions along with District 202M here in NZ are working with Gulu Lions Club and District 411B in a programme enabling albinos to lead fulfilling lives free from constraints of health and prejudice and superstition.

6. Sanitary Pads – Lions/Lioness Clubs supporting the development and implementation of a programme for the manufacture and supply of reusable sanitary pads as a small business (along with tailoring) enabling female students and others to lead full lives free from constraints menstruation can cause, saving money and creating a small business

7. Campers – Geoff's project to document the stories of life in the IDP Camps (mainly Odek and Awere) of the locals, stories of those detained by the LRA, Nodding Syndrome and other affects of the war and camps. Supporting the construction of an education centre about the war in Odek as a community memorial and place of reconciliation with the past.

8. Balloon in the Village – supporting the Flying High For Kids Project and having the UNICEF Hot Air Balloon in Ludok in 2017 along with a container arriving, school kids being there and Helen Clark too!! Helen is keen if possible and is quietly supporting the work in Uganda. We can utilise UNDP and UNICEF.

9. Trees – support tree planting for timber along with fruit such as bananas and coffee, there are many opportunities to access programmes and funding

10. COFFEE KIDS – 10 kids supported from cafes in Wairarapa. Café customers contributing $10 a week for the Café’s own child…..

11. SCHOOL BAGS.... 200 schoolbags in the container for Xmas each year - in four years one for each kid at Awere Primary School

12. Individual SPONSORSHIPS... existing six or seven and maybe some new ones...

13. People4people – Wairarapa people visiting and volunteering in the village

14. Photography workshops and tours - personal income

15. Heather Burgess Nursery School – by start of 2018 to have constructed and supplied a three room nursery school in Ludok. Teaching English..... volunteers needed....