Your own garden in Uganda!

Imagine having your own garden in Uganda! For a donation of $150, the Nzirambi Education Fund will make it happen for you – we’re going to commemorate your donation by naming a patch of the orphanage garden after you. This garden is pretty special because it ensures that more than 100 children at the orphanage have fresh vegetables in their diet. It helps them be self sufficient so that they don’t have to purchase fresh produce elsewhere. When it comes to naming your garden patch, there are lots of crops to choose from – everything from cassava and cabbage to onions, eggplant and bananas.

 

There are lots of gardens to choose from – here are some examples!

 

Brunner’s Bean Way

Kerry’s Cabbage Patch

Cecile’s Cassava Corner

Nancy’s Nightshades: Eggplant Row

What’s up doc! It’s Colleen’s Carrot Bed

Barb’s Beetroot Bulbs

 

As the holidays approach, please help us to make dreams come true for children of this Ugandan orphanage and show your support. Visit our Rockethub fundraising page to find out more information on how to name your garden.

Help Veronica attend university

Hi everyone! We just received an update from Veronica. She's completing her Year 2 exams in Law School and she's doing great in school. Bad news is that her hostel was broken into and all of her belongings, including a laptop, were stolen. And, her laptop had all her school notes on it. Thankfully, she is safe. We have received the funding request for Veronica's third year (and we're moving into a private room for safety). 

 

Veronica's education fees
We are trying to raise $2,000 to cover Veronica’s fees for her third year of Law School in Kampala, Uganda. Please visit our page on RocketHub to support Veronica in school: http://rkthb.co/27022

The $2,000 covers everything Vero needs for the year, including:

• $15,Transportation, including bus tickets so she can return to the orphanage and work on her breaks
• $30, Incidentals, including internet use and phone cards (so she can keep in touch with us)
• $35, Cooking supplies, including a small cooking stove, oil, salt, sugar and matches $35, School supplies, including books and pens
• $35, Personal hygiene items, including soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc
• $50, School documents and identification: all of Vero’s identification cards and school documents were stolen during the break-in and she must purchase new ones in order to return for third semester
• $100, Emergency medical: if Veronica gets sick on campus, we want to make sure she has funds available to see a doctor and purchase medicine if needed (in the past, we had 2 students suffer typhoid and malaria and neither could access a doctor) 
• $800, Tuition
• $900, Living costs including, groceries and accommodations for the year (we are trying to raise funds for Vero to have a small room to herself on campus because her previous room was robbed and we fear for her safety)

Any support you can give is always appreciated. Thank you! Monica and Karen

Meet the students we are supporting in 2013

In 2013, the Nzirambi Education Fund will be helping 8 youths from the Nzirambi Orphanage in Uganda to go to school. Below are new photos of the students we will be supporting.

This is Pelucy! With your support, our fund was able to help Pelucy finish her last two years of high school. Now, she is getting ready for university later this year and is hoping to study business administration.

We're very excited that Dan has done well in his studies and this year we will be supporting him through his final levels of high school. He's getting really great marks in class, so I'm sure he will be university bound in a few years as well!

This is Ellen! Our Education Fund supported Ellen through senior levels of high school and now she's getting ready for university. She is planning to apply for studies around community services to help give back to her community.

Patricia also just finished her final levels of high school and is planning to attend university in the fall.

This is Priscilla, Patricia's twin. Both girls are also gearing up for uni this year. Right now they are studying a computer skills course.

In the middle is Yoneki. Our fund is supporting Yoneki to study a care-giving course in 2013. She is really great with the kids at the orphanage - it's such a natural fit for her!

Patrica, Pelucy and Priscilla

This is Vero - She's doing great! She's completing her second year of law school, which we have supported her through (and cheered her on quite loudly from Canada :)

This is Oscar! We are super proud of Oscar who we are supporting in his second year of college where he is taking a digital art program.

Educational Sewing in Canada’s Capital

Guest post by Aynsley Morris

When Karen and Monica started the Nzirambi Education Fund, I jumped at the chance to help. Not only is it a great cause, I love to sew and had some beautiful fabrics I’d picked up on my travels that needed to be put to good use.  For a few years I’d been experimenting with sewing bags for yoga mats and making baby quilts for nieces, nephews and my friends’ new arrivals.  My sewing could be my way to help. I sold some bags and offered a quilt and other items for the Fund’s silent auction. 

This year there are six youth pursuing higher levels of schooling, including Veronica, the initial inspiration for the Fund.  Next year, eight children are expected to need our support; this will take considerably more funding.

Karen challenged a bunch of us involved with the Fund to increase our efforts so I’m heading out to a few of Ottawa’s craft fairs to sell bags, eye pillows and quilts. My first show is the Suburban Craft Show (@suburbancraft) at Centrepoint in Nepean on November 17th from 10am to 3pm. The organizers are doing a great job promoting it and I’m honoured to be in the company of other exhibitors like VersaTile and Sassy Scarves. 

Some great pals will be helping me on November 24th at the McNabb Community Centre at 180 Percy Ave. (Bronson and Gladstone) from 10am to 4pm. My sister and nephew are helping at the last show for the season as part of the Perth House Tour on December 1st and 2^nd. Artisans will be set up at the Perth Best Western Plus Parkside Inn and Spa with free tea and cookies.

If you’re in the Ottawa area, please come out to support the Nzirambi Education Fund and amazing Ottawa (and Perth) artists at some of these events and pass the info along to all your friends!

Bags to carry your yoga mat!

Nzirambi Holiday Raffle

Want to win cool raffle prizes? Check it out! We've got five prizes up for grabs - including an ipad2! Each prize package is worth more than $500. And you get to decide which prize packages you want to enter your tickets into. Just let us know how many tickets you want and which prize packs you want to enter.

Prize Pack #1, For the Ladies, value $600:

Tula Yoga Central

Robert Ashley Hair

Hair care package

Ugandan necklace and scarf

Ladies clutch

Women's Nike golf shirts

Jewellery by Grace & Angeline

Danier Leather gift cards

Kleen Kanteen

Meditative Arts Drumming for 2

Prize Pack #2, Toronto Foodie Package, value $650+

Bloom Restaurant

Starbucks

E11even

Embrujo Flamenco

Le Dolci Cupcakes

Ceili's Cottage

Frida Spanish Restaurant

5th Elementt

23 Degrees Roastery

Prize Pack #3, Gifts for the Family, value $650+

Evoke Hair Salon

Toronto Yoga Mamas

Marcel Dee Photography portraits

CG Monsters

Clay gift card

Kids Toys

Robert Rotenberg books

Me-To-We T-shirt

Eco gift pack, including: Therawise, Mini Organics, Wean Green, Strawsome Straws, People Towels, Quash

Prize Pack #4, Social Media business pack, value $525

3-hour social media business consulting with Third Ocean

Unmarketing's new Book of Business Awesome

Prize Pack #5, iPad2, value $700

ipad2

Tickets are: 

• $5 each
• 5 tickets for $20
• 15 tickets for $50

You can use paypal to purchase tickets on this blog.

The draw will be held on Dec. 1.

Good luck!

A day in the life

An update from Uganda:

This is an update on activities at NOTDEC in Uganda.

There are currently 99 children at NOTDEC. There were 101 children but sadly four month old twins, Jacqueline and Josephine, died at Kagando Hospital about three weeks ago. They developed suspected septicaemia.

The agreement between NOTDEC UK and NOTDEC Uganda has been that the Orphanage will stop accepting children when they reach 100 ch

ildren and that NOTDEC UK would find sponsors for 100 children. This is as many as the staff at NOTDEC Uganda can cope with and unfortunately a line has to be drawn somewhere.

When the twins were alive (and thus they had 101 children) they were turning babies away - some of whom they know have subsequently died.

However the Catholic diocese in the area has seen the need of care for further babies/children and are hoping to set up an orphanage or something similar in the area, but this looks as if it is going to be a little while before it actually happens.

The children at school

The final term of the academic year started this week and they will all have exams in November - even those in Primary One. If they fail the exam they will not be able to progress to the next class.

Important external exams are being sat by many of the children:

• Eight children are sitting their primary school leaving exams (Ross, Kakuru, Chris, Rahabu, John, Rona, Keneth and Ester). They have all been boarding at Kagando Primary School this year and receiving extra teaching in the evenings in preparation for the exams.The boarding fees have been largely paid for by friends of NOTDEC in the USA.
• Three young people are sitting the equivalent of GCSE's (Yoneki, Rhoda and Dan). They have been boarding at Kasese Secondary School. (These are the three our fund will be supporting in 2013)
• Four young people are sitting the equivalent of A levels (Ellen, Patricia, Priscilla and Pelucy). These are the four our fund has been supporting in high school.

The schools want the children to board at these levels as most Ugandan children need to walk long distances to get to school and have no facilities to study at home (eg no electricity, no tables and a noisy environment).

It Takes a Village...

Have you ever heard the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child”? 

How true it is. In Uganda, the village does its part to help the boys and girls of the orphanage – everyone from the local matrons who started it more than 25 years ago, to the House Mothers who live there to support the children.

Here in Toronto, I was reminded of our own village that is helping to raise these children. It took real community spirit to pull the ‘Chocolate Affair’ fundraiser together – and I wanted to thank all of those who are now part of this ‘village.’

With your support, we raised $4000 during our night of all things chocolate. That’s enough to pay for two years of Veronica’s university tuition. Or enough to pay for six students to finish their final years of high school.

Your support truly does make a difference in the lives of the 101 boys and girls at the Nzirambi Orphanage in Uganda.

We never would have had this event if it wasn’t for these people who helped pull things together: Christine P (@wedding_crasher), Sandra B (@wallabina), Stella Z (@chocolachocola1) and Barb T (@barbturnbull).

 

 Thank you to our generous sponsors who made the night super sweet: ChocolaChocola (@chocolachocola1), Cocoa Latte (@cafecocoalatte), Le Dolci (@ledolci), Dragon’s Kitchen (@dragonskitchen), A Food Gypsy (@afoodgypsy), Steeped and Infused (@steepedandinfused), Cold Stone Creamery (@TOcoldstone).

And thank you to Caplansky for helping us bring some deli snacks to the party.

Thank you to these people who made generous donations that helped us with a successful and super fun raffle: The Chocolateria (@thechocolateria), The Body Shop, Nota Bene (@notabeneTO), ChocolaChocola, Grace and Angeline (@grancenangeline), Steve Roy at Solo Bace, Christine from Arbonne, Christine Cooper (@coopspeak), Iceberg Vodka, Live Food Bar (@livefoodbar), Starbucks (@starbuckscanada), SITAMAA (@SITAMAA), Clay (www.clayhouse.ca).

A very special thank you to Aiden Fearn and his mom, Terrellyn, for their incredible donation. Aiden asked his friends to make a financial donation in lieu of birthday gifts, and he raised $400, making him the largest donor of the whole evening! Way to go, Aiden!

Thank you to Lindsay T and Andre for holding down the fort during the party. And thank you to Kateryna (@katerryna) for being a fine bartender.

Thank you Rob (@robsarj) for bringing us beats!

Thank you to Farhan Dhalla (@farhandhalla) (www.farhandhalla.com) for being a special guest and bringing us Angel Readings.

Thank you to TNY Photography for taking photos, which will be posted here: https://www.facebook.com/TNyPhotography

Thank you to Stella for organizing party grab bags with donations from Chocolachocola, Blo, Goldwell and a CD by the lovely Fenulla. Thank you to Lawrence who helped get the kids’ stars ready so they could also be included in the grab bags.

What an incredible night! Thank you to everyone attended and making this night so special.

Our new friends at Cocoa Latte are already planning on a second Chocolate Affair....stay tuned!

(Please tell me if I’ve forgotten anyone – it’s a long list and highly possible! Don’t be shy!)

Sending Children to School, Despite the Odds

*I wrote this article for HUMNEWS. You can see it published here:



When tragedy strikes, I often hear people describe survivors as resilient. I’ve been thinking about what that means and whether that describes the children at an orphanage in Uganda which I support – are the children really resilient or are they mere survivors?

There are 85 children at the Nzirambi Talent Development Centre in Kasese, Uganda, and it’s not unusual for them to be ill at any given time. Just last month, eight newborns were hospitalized with pneumonia, malaria and/or extreme diarrhoea. One of the star students, Ellen, 16, who is in her first semester at senior school, nearly failed her classes because of pneumonia – without access to a doctor for a month.

The reality is that children die of these illnesses at alarmingly high rates across much of Africa. In fact, the United Nations Children’s Fund states that four million children under age five die every year; of those, 1.5 million are from Eastern or Southern Africa.

The statistics are equally alarming in Uganda, which ranks as the 19th worst country in the world for child mortality where 188,000 children die every year before their fifth birthday. At this orphanage, we’ve lost eight children in the last two years.

With those statistics in mind, it was a relief this week when I got news that all of the newborns who had been hospitalized had recovered and were back home. Ellen is also doing better and has returned to school.

Against all of the odds, these children survived.

But when I think of the older children at the orphanage, including Ellen, I think I
understand more what it means to be resilient.

Currently, through the Nzirambi Education Fund, we are sponsoring five youth in their senior levels of school, each of them having been brought to the orphanage as a vulnerable baby.

Twenty years ago, there was no sponsorship program at the orphanage to provide funds and so the children didn’t always have access to healthcare or nutritious food.

There is no question the children carry emotional scars – this I know as they have shared tears with me telling me about parents lost to AIDS, a parent crippled in a car accident and a polygamous father who would not care for his only daughter after her mother died.

Still, they have thrived and managed to excel in their studies.

Now there are new obstacles for them at school: missing classes due to illness; no extra learning from teachers; overcrowded classes; and they are boarding for the first time away from the orphanage.

When Ellen was ill, I spoke to her by phone. She told me not to worry, that (despite illness so severe she was hallucinating) she will be fine – and more importantly, that she was eager for classes to start again. Before she even finished a round of antibiotics, she was on the bus for the six-hour ride back to school.

To me, that is what resiliency is about.

Time and time again, it’s what we see across Africa and around the world when families are struck with disaster or facing extreme poverty. It’s about surviving the unimaginable and forging ahead -- hopeful, optimistic and eager for future possibilities.

Just last week, the five youth we are currently supporting returned to school for their second semester. To give them a boost to make it through the school year, we

are looking into the possibility of hiring a guidance counsellor who can check in on them to ensure they are healthy and doing well in their classes. That way, if any problems arise – like one of them needing a doctor or extra tutoring – we can address it more quickly.

Thank you to those of you who continue to support the Nzirambi Education Fund. We've recognized the resiliency of the children and now we have an opportunity to truly help make their dreams come true. They so very much deserve the chance.

Want to be involved? Help send one of our children to school. Donate using PayPal on our blog or contact NzirambiFund@gmail.com. Also, you can join us on Facebook at http://groups.to/orphans

A Rough Start to the School Year

In February four of our girls at the orphanage started their senior levels of high school, which is being paid for by our fund. These girls – Priscilla, Pelucy, Ellen and Patricia – are especially bright.

Priscilla and Patricia are twins and while their marks are similar, they have very different interests when it comes to the subjects they take. Pelucy had the lowest grades among the four, which I always thought was because she’s so chatty and playful – so easily distracted – rather than because of a lack of book smarts. Ellen is the strongest of the group with ambitions to become either a nurse or a TV journalist.

You could imagine how surprised we were to learn that the four girls did not do well in their first semester. On a score of 0 – 6, they were all falling short of passing grades.

Extra Tutoring
Instead of feeling disappointment, Monica and I were concerned of what was behind the low grades. As it turns out, three of the four simply needed extra tutoring andso Auntie Milly, the orphanage manager, hired a tutor so they could continue their studies while on break.

Ellen
The situation with Ellen was worrying. I received a vague message a few weeks agothat Ellen had been suffering hallucinations and nightmares. She was staying with relatives and we could not get further information. Terrified for the worst, Monica and I reached out to see what supports we could offer and to try and make contact with her.


I finally was able to reach her on the phone. She explained that a month ago she started to become ill and was not able to concentrate on her studies. On a six hour bus ride to the orphanage, she was so sick, that as I understand it, she was left at the side of the road. She eventually made her way to a nearby relative’s home. She was taken to a doctor who diagnosed her with pneumonia and gave her aspirin and cough syrup. Finally, she was able to make her way back to the orphanage where Auntie Milly took her to a proper hospital. Within days of taking the antibiotics prescribed to her she was on the mend.

On the Mend
I spoke to her again on the phone just today and she assures me that she is feeling stronger and is even headed back to the city to get ready for school. It’s been gut- wrenching to know that one of our children has been so sick from an illness that claims the lives of far too many children across Africa.

More Than Just School Fees
It has been a sharp reminder that the scholarship fund we have created for these children is meant to be a beacon of hope for them – hope that they can become successful and find meaningful work. But the reality is that the odds continue to be stacked so high against them.

From time to time, our support will be needed for more than just school fees because if all of the other issues are not addressed, they won’t succeed in school and our efforts will have been in vain. In this way, we can provide support to ensure they have access to medications when needed, tutors for extra lessons and whatever else may rise.

Bookmarks for Babes are back!

Last year, you may remember that the beaded bookmarks kicked off the fundraising efforts for the orphanage. At that time, I was trying to figure out how I might raise $500 to bring to the orphanage on my volunteer trip. Turns out, people ordered the bookmarks in droves and $4,000 was raised. And so the Nzirambi Fund was born!

A year in the making

I’m a little more prepared this time around and have been working on them all year. I also have a small army of really awesome volunteers who have been helping me make them (@nancyjt), helping to put ribbons on (Monica, Cindy, Marie-Helen), and others helping to sell them. Barbara Strang took some amazing photos (like the one posted here), and Lawrence designed a new card to attach to them.

Hundreds of bookmarks have already been delivered – we have Aynsley Morris (@aynsilly) selling them in Ottawa, Jessica Taylor in Calgary, Tenesha Clarke in Brampton and Nancy in Niagara. Our friends at Honey Fig will also be selling them at the Yonge Street store.

Want to buy one now?

You can order bookmarks on this blog by using the paypal box in the right column. Let us know what colour you like – they come in pearls, pinks, blues, greens, purples or mixed colours. Or say: “surprise me” and we’ll pick something out for you. Be sure to include your address so we can mail them to you.

Boomarks are a $10 donation. Each one will have a card on it that says: “All of the funds raised from the sale of this gift will go toward the boys and girls at the Nzirambi Orphans Talent Development Centre. Thank you for your support.”

Last year, people bought them as gifts for friends, colleagues, teachers, family, etc. They’re also really great stocking stuffers!

Want to sell bookmarks?

If you are keen to help us sell some to your family, friends or co-workers, please do let us know.

Where your donation goes

All of the money raised will go directly to the orphanage and pay for the children to go to school. By helping these children obtain higher levels of education, they will be able to escape the cycle of poverty. We're helping to make dreams come true for these children.

Thanks, as always, for your support.