Give as you spend!

(c) Carol Allen Storey
The street boys of Kasese had finished their evening meal - such as it was - and sit around the fire. (Photograph taken June 2011)
Plans for the Photographic Exhibition in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Kendal (13th October to 12th) are moving ahead; further generous sponsorship will allow us to get some good lighting for it. Responses to the Guest Preview have now topped 50 - and six weeks to go!
Easy Fundraising
I have just received a cheque from http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ - for the princely sum of £16.04! But in fact for anyone who buys online, if you register with http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ and do it through them, they will send a percentage of the money you spend (at no extra cost to you) to your specified charity; and Kasese Street Kids is on their list!
I have just looked at the easyfundraising website, and literally thousands of firms are in their system! So if you ever go online to buy anything from: Amazon, AA Insurance, ASDA, AVIVA Insurance, ARGOS; B&Q, Best Western, Boots, British Gas, Butlins; Carrentals UK, Clarks, Comet; Disneyland, Debenhams, Dell (why on earth did I not buy my new Dell computer via Easyfundraising? Stupid man that I am!), Direct Line; E-ON, Ebay, Emirates, Esure... and so on!
I am sure if all Kasese Street Kids supporters used Easyfundraising for their online spending, the next cheque they send will be a good deal more than £16.04.
chriscjenkin@aol.com

New pictures from Kasese

(c) Carol Allen Storey
Carol Storey has sent us some more black-and-white pictures she took when visiting Kasese this June. This is Joakim, now 11; she describes him as a fantastic gymnast!
In planning the Exhibition of Carol's photographs which will take place in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Kendal, from October 13th to November 12th, we had a meeting in the church yesterday - a "dry run", to test out the various display boards that were available to us, see that the photographs would fit, plan the lighting arrangements, and so on.
This was a very useful meeting, with Phill, our "Artistic Director", and Geoff, the electrician, as well as Gill, the churchwarden. Two months to go, but we are getting quite excited.
Responses to the invitations to the Guest Preview are trickling in - two more "Yes" answers today.
But now that we have had some updated pictures from Carol, we may need to amend our planned list of photographs to be on display!

We are calling the Exhibition CHILDREN OF HOPE.

We don't want to convey a grim picture of despair and misery. Yes, the lives of these kids are wretched in many ways, but (a) they are lively characters with courage, who care for each other; and (b) we are offering them hope of a better life once our Hostel is finished, and they can move in.

chriscjenkin@aol.com

Fund-raising Barbecue for Street Kids

A week or two ago some kind friends arranged a barbecue in their beautiful grounds in the next valley, to raise funds both for Kasese Street Kids, and for an autism charity - other friends have an autistic grandchild.
It was a beautiful evening, and their folk dance band came, and we danced as the sun went down - and the midges came out!
Each charity was given £150 from the evening. Thanks, kind and generous friends!

How we first met them

This is how we first met the street children, in spring 2008. On our visit to Kasese with missionary friends, one day we were taken round about eight schools. We were greeted with smiling faces, singing and dancing, meeting the teachers, signing the Visitors' Book, etc.
Then our guide, Rev. Nelson Isebagheen, said, "There's just one more place I want to take you."
By then we were hot, very tired, and longing to go home for a cup of tea. "Oh, no!" we grumbled. "Now what?"
And that was when we met this group of street children, with Enos Kyibibi who befriended them. No cheerful smiling faces here, no singing and dancing. These faces were etched with bitterness; these youngsters had experienced suffering.
One of them read a statement, describing their lives, and why they were on the streets. Orphaned, or badly abused so that they ran away; now living in a gang for mutual support. Finding scraps of food on the rubbish dumps. On the edge of petty crime, often rounded up by the police and jailed.
But sometimes, he said, a lady gives them a job, like sweeping a shop front, and pays them with food. "That lady is our mother for that day!" he said.
We were deeply moved. "I want to be their mother every day!" said Mary - mother of four children - afterwards.
And when we heard of Enos's vision for a hostel, for shelter and decent food, for education and skill training, we decided to come on board!
Join us?
chriscjenkin@aol.com

164 Invitations sent out

Invitations
Today we have posted or delivered 164 invitations to the Guest Preview of the Photographic Exhibition on 13th October.

They have gone to Clergy - both Anglican and Methodist; doctors; lawyers; presidents of Rotary Clubs; secretaries of phpotographic and art societies; and over seventy other distinguished and influential people around Cumbria, and indeed over the border into Lancashire.

We have had invitation cards printed - we think they look very striking in their black and white layout, and showing one of Carol Allen Storey's photographs.

Postage of course was expensive, and so will the printing be when we get the bill.

But we pray that it will be worth it: that many of the recipients will decide to come, and that this will lead to further donations and contributions, both actually during the month-long Exhibition, and afterwards if we get further invitations to speak to churches and groups.

A VIDEO CLIP FROM EMMANUEL INTERNATIONAL IN UGANDA
Have a look on YouTube at "Uganda: Hope and Healing", a video of EI's work in northern Uganda. (EI is the parent body of Kasese Street Kids.)