Thank you for your tremendous support

*event pictures by Photography By Ardean

Dear friends:

We are thrilled to share with you the good news that with your support we raised $10,500 at the Nzirambi Photo Exhibition Fundraiser.

It was a spectacular night: the photos by Brian Pieters were stunning; the abundance of items donated for our silent auction was amazing; the food, wine and beer were great; and Pikto Gallery was filled to the brim with people, enjoying the fantastic drumming.

As the organizers, we were overwhelmed at the outpouring of support. The children at the orphanage dream big with thoughts of higher education, and with your support we will help get them there.

All of the funds raised at this event will be put toward a scholarship fund that will pay for university tuition, as well as secondary school. Currently, the Nzirambi Education Fund is supporting 4 girls in high school and another in Law School. Next year, the number of children we support will double. As more children grow older, more will need our help to access higher levels of learning.

Your donations will go a long way in ensuring the children of the Nzirambi Orphanage in Uganda have the best chance possible to succeed.

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your contribution and for helping to fulfill dreams. None of this would have happened without your support.

We hope you will stay connected with us on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/nzirambi

Thank you.

News Release: Nzirambi Photo Exhibition Fundraiser in Support of Ugandan Orphanage

The “Nzirambi Photo Exhibition,” providing a glimpse into life at a Ugandan orphanage, will be unveiled during a special fundraising event on Oct. 27. Funds raised will go toward the Nzirambi Education Fund which ensures the boys and girls of this orphanage have access to higher levels of education, including senior levels of high school, college and university.

“Most of the children at the Nzirambi Orphanage are there because their mothers died during childbirth or due to AIDS. Some are there because they have been abandoned by their families,” said Karen Snider, co-founder of the Canadian-based Nzirambi Education Fund. “Despite the odds, these children are striving and healthy. We hope the resilience of these children, as captured in this photo exhibition, will inspire others to give so that we can continue to help these children go to school.”

The collection of photos will be on display at Pikto Gallery in Toronto’s Distillery District on Oct. 27. Doors open at 7 p.m. Along with the exhibition, there will be a silent auction and raffle for which local businesses have donated more than $6000 in gifts. There will also be a live African drumming performance. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at http://orphanage.eventbrite.com.

Among the silent auction prizes included are: an iPod Touch with Beats by Dre headphones; $500 dinner for four in your home catered by chef Matt Kantor; a limited edition print valued at $400 from local artist Arto Yuzbasiyan; certificates from Toronto’s top restaurants; and a 1.5 hour social media consulting session with Canada’s leading tech guru Amber Mac. There will also be a $500 Toronto ‘foodie’ raffle prize with gifts, restaurant certificates, Niagara wine tastings, a special Starbucks Reserve coffee tasting and cupcake making class.

Food and drinks at the event will be sponsored by: Caplansky’s Deli, St. Louis, Le Dolci cupcakes, Underdog Wine and Mill Street Brewery.

The Nzirambi Education Fund would like to thank the following organizations for their sponsorship and donations:

Brian Pieters Photography, Pikto Gallery, Underdog Winery, Mill Street, Caplansky’s Deli, St. Louis Bar and Grill, e11even, Acura Sherway, Molson, Arto Yuzbasiyan, Nathalie-Roze, Any Direct Flight, Meditative Arts, Parent Central, Amber Mac, The Mother of All, Le Dolci, Te Aro Coffee, Fuss Hair Studio, Unmarketing, Poetic Art, Bloom Restaurant, Starbucks, Putting Edge, Evoke Hair Salon, Danier Leather, Fair Trade Jewellery, Lou Dawgs, Bootycamp Fitness, Il Fornello, Magic Oven, Nota Bene, Solo Bace Hair Salon, Table 17, Pangaea, Little Kitchen, HoneyFig, Help We’ve Got Kids, Belly Bootcamp, Borden Communications, Chocolachocola, Michele Nidenoff, Art Gallery of Ontario, Yoga Sanctuary, Green Lavender

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About the Orphanage

The Nzirambi Orphanage was started by Dorothy Nzirambi more than 20 years ago when she took in an abandoned baby whose mother had died during childbirth. She was living in a grass-thatched home at the time, with little means. However, under Ms. Nzirambi’s care, the child flourished and this was the humble beginnings of the orphanage.

Today at this family-run orphanage there are more than 85 boys and girls, ranging in from newborns to 21-years-old. Many of the children lost their mothers in childbirth and their fathers could not, or would not, care for them. Some are there because their mothers have died of AIDS, or because the children have been abandoned by their families.

About the Nzirambi Education Fund

This Canadian grassroots initiative aims to raise funds to ensure that every boy and girl reaching the levels of higher education can afford to go. Primary education in Uganda is free. However, higher levels of education are especially critical for these children, giving them additional resources to become leaders in their communities and break free of the cycle of poverty they are in. The Fund aims to raise $30,000 in the next three years to pay for nine children who will be in post-secondary school.

For more information, contact:

Karen Snider, Nzirambi Education Fund

416 518-2844 / nzirambifund@gmail.com

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.

Sweet Jane

On my last night at the orphanage, I went to visit House Mother Jesca and the babies in House #5. To my surprise, when I walked in, one of the little girls – about 2.5 years old – was running around the house and then vaulting onto a mat laying on the floor. She’d roll over in giggles and then a second toddler, Aaron, would run and jump on top of her. The two would then scramble back onto their feet and repeat the routine, squealing with laughter.

I said this was a surprise because the little girl was Baby Jane. Truth is, in the days I was there, I didn’t see Jane so much as smile, let alone laugh or play. She observes the others with such a serious face – her eyebrows creased and lips pursed tightly together. Even last year, I remember that she was such a stoic baby.

She’s really quite sullen!

I even asked House Mother Jesca if the child every smiled. She told me: “She has her moments.” And, on my last night there, she was clearly having one of those moments.

It was a wonder to watch the change in her, if only for an evening.

Baby Jane was brought to the orphanage on Feb. 12, 2009 by a probation officer and her uncle. Her parents had died, and the uncle was trying to care for her, but did not have the means. The child was brought to the orphanage naked and starving. She was so frail, the House Mothers couldn’t exactly determine her age, but assumed she was about 15 months old at the time. She had four teeth and was not even crawling.

She’s so plump and healthy today that it’s impossible to imagine her in the skeletal state that she arrived in.

Baby Jane is a reminder of the scope of what the orphanage does. They accept children who have been abandoned or left behind. Some of their parents die from many of the causes that continue to plague much of the continent – AIDS, malaria, maternal mortality. Some parents are killed or injured in car accidents because the roads are just so unsafe.

Too many are there because their families couldn’t care for the children properly and the children are malnourished and ill. And there are even more sad cases of children who were simply abandoned on the streets or at garbage dumps by their families. These stories are indicative of just how desperate the plight of some families can be.

The women at the orphanage love the children as if they are their own, helping them to cope with the trauma they’ve experienced at such young ages. They are raised to think of their House Mothers and the other 85 children at the orphanage as their own mothers, brothers and sisters.

The orphanage gives hope to these children who otherwise may not have stood a chance at surviving. And now the kids aren’t only surviving – they are flourishing.

*Photo by Brian Pieters

A special note for the holidays

This is what it’s all about.

Our friend Brian Pieters was recently at the orphanage to photograph the children and House Mothers. Our goal is to connect all of you with the children through a photo exhibition that we are planning for in the New Year. He already sent us home some photos that we wanted to share with you – have a look, they are posted on the Facebook group page: http://groups.to/orphans

These photos are a reminder of what all of this fundraising and talk about the Nzirambi Orphans Fund is about: We’re giving these vulnerable children an opportunity to grow up and become independent, successful citizens.

All of the funds raised this year are going toward a scholarship fund to cover school fees from senior levels of high school and post-secondary education.

By paying for the older children to go to school, we are helping to relieve the overall stress of the orphanage – that means, there will be more funds in place to make sure that all of the children will have a sturdy roof over their head, water they can drink, clothing, a bed to sleep in, nutritious food and medicine when they need it. And they will all have the chance to be educated or learn important skills to help them land jobs.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and for inspiring us (Monica and Karen) to keep doing what we’re doing. All of you have made a difference.

Happy Holiday everyone!