Put A Smile On A Community's Face
Impacts
The gifts that keep on giving
Fundraising is not new to us! From 2009 to today, there have been multiple efforts to fundraise for the women who touched our hearts in Africa. The ripple effect began during the very first trip to Kenya in 2009.
Mama Dinah – Kenya
The 2009-2011 University cohorts were hosted on Mama Dinah’s land. A temporary camp was created on her land. During those three years, Mama Dinah came to teach us how to bead. We were delighted to have the opportunity to support the Mamas who are very capable beaders. Their artistry found new homes in Canada.
In 2013, the members of the University cohort were particularly touched by the plight of young girls not able to attend school every day of the month. Mama Dinah, an ardent advocate for women and girls, helped us understand the challenges women face in her community. Upon our return to Canada, the students created a campaign on campus, Education for Girls. The fundraiser was very successful – the profit was sent to Mama Dinah to buy ‘Sanitary Napkins’for the girls attending Kazurini School For Girls, in their community.
In 2010, Campus Saint-Jean of the University of Alberta created a campaign , Brick by Brick, to raise funds to build a school in Kenya. In 2015, a $20,000 cheque was given to Me to We.
Hand in Hand is committed to supporting the community’s effort to have clean drinking water. Their bore hole has an inadequate supply of salty (brackish) water and the diesel generator used to operate the pump needs repairs often and no one is this pastoral community is familiar with repairs, nor can the community afford the cost of the diesel fuel. The vision is to drill another bore hole seeking a stronger adequate flow of clean water and use a solar operated pump for clean energy and no repairs.
Hand in Hand has raised finds to hire a hydrologist and has identified the best drilling locations for a new bore hole. Water is scarce even underground and the recommendation is to drill over 300 meters deep to have the best chance of adequate water supply. The cost of the drilling will be $31,000 USD and we are looking to partner with another organization. The solar powered pump will cost another $25,000 USD. In the interim the only water supply is the holding areas dug with dams in place, collecting rainwater, and carrying water back to the village.
Mama Charity-Togo
Our time spent with Mama Charity’s children touched our hearts profoundly. Once we returned to Canada, we were compelled to support her in every way we could. On the occasion of the annual International Women’s day Award night, sponsored by the Bahai community of St. Albert, donations are collected for a specific charity. In 2017, Fondation Secours Universel – Orphelinat, Mother Charity was chosen.
In 2018, a piano recital was organized to fundraise for the friends of Projet Afrique. Part of the funds were sent to Mama Charity’s building project. She was grateful for the funds to help her buy building materials such a rebar and loads of sand. We were delighted to have our fundraising effort doubled as she had partnered with Global giving that year.
Her dream has been to expand her opportunities to become more self-reliant. She located a plot of 2-3 acres of fertile land, to grow vegetables and plant more fruit trees. In May 2021, Hand in Hand raised enough money for her to purchase this land, which will eventually become home to Neem trees which are used for wood/charcoal for their cooking fires as well as creating cooking utensils from Neem wood. Of course she will plant fruit trees, plant vegetable gardens and also start a poultry farm. A bore hole will need to be drilled for water. A women of head and heart, her efforts will impact a large number of people in her community.
While waiting for her new farm land to become available, Mama Charity busied herself with the realization of a dream she has held for a while. She lives just 2-3 kilometers from the Ghana border and has been aware of many Togolese families who have moved across the border from Lome to Ghana because housing is so much more reasonably priced there. The Togo schools are expensive and they do teach in French which is the language they speak in Togo. Mama Charity recognized the opportunity to build and run on a small plot of land she owns in Ghana, the best International school . With changed circumstances in her purchase of farmland, she redirected some of the money we sent her to building the Primary School in Ghana just across the border from Togo. She has already built 8 classrooms and a separate brick building that houses the school office and library. She drilled a borehole for water and installed a tin roof on the school, bamboo walls, plumbing for the indoor toilets at the school and a traditional oven for baking bread. The bread oven will be an opportunity for the older grade children to learn this traditional skill. She will hire a woman to make bread that will be used for snacks in the school as well as enough to use in the orphanage saving the cost of purchasing large amounts of bread for the 117 mouths that need to be fed there. She envisions selling traditional bread to the community to raise funds that can be used to secure financing for the orphanage, towards the development of the farm and further developments at the school.
The school opened it’s doors in September 2021 for classes through 6th grade. Each year, Mama Charity hopes to be able to add another level class.
Sister Agnes-Kenya
In 2016, when we returned from Tanzania, where we had met Sr. Agnes, we were invited to share our experience with friends and family. On that occasion, we raised money for Sr. Agnes to buy beds for her children.
We had the pleasure of hosting Sr. Agnes for two weeks in St. Albert, Alberta. She spoke to 8 audiences, including attending a gathering with the Beautiful Ladies seen below at the piano recital, ‘An Unfinished Symphony: Blending Harmony, Resilience and Dedication’, a fundraiser to support her orphanage. At this time, Sr. Agnes needed sheets for her beds. These ladies generously shared their abundance with her. She left with bed sheets in her bags and money to buy some in Kenya.
In 2020, the Beautiful Ladies, who gather monthly, chose Sr. Agnes’ Orphanage as the recipient of their Christmas Drive. This fundraiser was very successful. In fact, $800 (Cdn) was raised towards the egg incubator and eggs, which will cost them $1,178.00 (Cdn), one of the phases of the poultry farm the Sisters of St. Joseph of Kakameka, will develop, to feed their children but also to give the children the opportunity to learn how to become entrepreneurs. A big thank you to this generous group of women!
By building a poultry business, the children will learn to become entrepreneurs , caring for the chickens, and marketing them to local hotels and schools. Hand-in-Hand received enough donations to build a poultry shed and construction started in June 2021. Additional needs were identified for plumbing and electricity for the poultry and a solar system for times when intermittent electric delivery occurs. The poultry farm has access to water and wants to purchase a large holding tank for times when water is not readily available.
We had a fundraiser in December 2021 and with the assistance of matching donor were able to raise the remaining amount needed for purchase of a vehicle, electrical and plumbing work, a water tank to collect rainwater and store water, an incubator and eggs, medicines, and an automatic feeding station. The monies will soon be transferred to Sister Agnes and the work will commence. Please read the Dec 30, 2021 Newsletter for details. We expect our next photos will be the poultry shed in operation.
