£7,500 sent out to Kasese

Work on the Hostel building has been at a standstill for a while - which we found frustrating, as we want this little lad to be able to stop scrabbling in the rubbish tips and have a home there and be looked after!

But at last the budgets for the next two phases of the building work have been agreed - the electrics, and the plumbing - and Alan is satisfied that they are fair (there were questions on why the electric budget was so much more now than the first figures in October 2010; it was that a third solar panel, and a lightning conductor, had been added).

So he has asked Emmanuel International HQ in Sussex to send out £7,500 (31,670,000 Ugandan shillings).

Hopefully this will allow Enos in Kasese, and the accountant Moses, to engage the electricians and plumbers to start their work.

Two kind donations

Our village school had their end-of-term show - two performances before all the parents and other friends of the school - and the retiring collection was divided between the school funds and Kasese Street Kids; and we were in due course given a bag of coins and notes worth £87. Thank you, children and teachers - and generous parents!

On Sunday 24th, we had been invited to take a service at a little village church south of Kendal; we got a lovely welcome, I preached, and this led into a fairly brief PowerPoint presentation. People were very appreciative, and we came home with £120. Some people took away our leaflets, and so it is possible that further cheques may come in the post in the coming days!

All very encouraging.

chriscjenkin@aol.com

Adoption of SKILL by Emmanuel International

On Friday 15th July, the Board of Emmanuel International agreed formally to adopt SKILL (Street Kids Information and Learning for Life - the name for Kasese Street Kids used in Uganda) as an E.I. Project.

Emmanuel International (www.eiuk.org.uk/cms) has been our "umbrella" organization from the start, especially because Alan and Cheryl Parrett, who are EI missionaries, were our hosts for both our visits to Kasese. Alan continued to supervise all the work, and especially was overseeing the financial accountability systems. The Parretts are now based in Kampala as EI In-Country Reps, but still visit Kasese regularly (despite the 8-hour drive), and check carefully that money sent out from UK for SKILL is being properly used and accounted for - an absolutely vital function.

We have also been able to send out funds via EI, and as they are a registered charity (which KSK is not) it has meant that gifts through EI can be Gift Aided.

Now, however, we have been formally adopted as an EI project, and this should lead to stronger links between us.

One of the ways in which EI operates is to send out teams of young people, for short or medium terms, to work under the supervision of the In-Country Rep, on a variety of tasks, always in co-operation with the local church. Perhaps such a team will be able to go out, from UK or Canada (EI is an Anglo-Canadian Mission) to work with the street children, maybe once the Hostel is complete and open to receive the children.

The fund-raising goes on

A generous church
Trinity Church, Barrow, which we visited on June 12th, had a two-week retiring offering for Kasese Street Kids, and the result was the magnificent sum of £993.90. We are so grateful to those generous folk!
Primary Schools
We have also been encouraged by various village schools locally.
* Tebay School have given us a cheque for £74.75.
* Warcop School invited us to do an Assembly, and have promised some fund-raising.
* Orton School had their End of Term Summer Show last night, and took a retiring collection - half for school funds, and half for Kasese Street Kids.
Private Schools
We have invitations to visit some private schools next term - some definite dates, other provisional bookings; and donations are likely to result from these.

Photographic Exhibition

Plans for the Photographic Exhibition are proceeding - in the beautiful Holy Trinity Parish Church, Kendal, in October and November.

Invitations to the Guest Preview on 13th October, addressed by Margaret Sentamu, have been sent out to 80 head teachers of schools in south Cumbria; and a mailing list is being prepared of clergy, Rotary Club presidents, and various distinguished citizens of the county, who will also be invited - but those invitations won't go out till late August.

Carol Allen Storey, the photojournalist whose work is being featured, hopes to come, and has suggested another meeting, perhaps next day, in which she could speak about her work and experiences in Africa.

We would invite photgraphic and arts societies, journalists, and students doing photography or journalism.

It would all help to raise the profile of Kasese Street Kids.

Patchwork Quilt raffled for Street Kids

This beautiful patchwork quilt, entitled "Romantic Roses", is to be raffled on behalf of the Kasese Street Kids.

It was made by a friend in the next village, Heather Ballantyne, who has used her great craftsmanship gifts to support KSK in various ways before.

The actual quilting was carried out by Dianne Watson from Lochearnhead.

Heather has given her time and considerable skills free.

It is to be raffled, with £1 tickets being sold over the coming months; the draw will take place at the Orton Farmers' Market church Coffee Morning, on Saturday 10th December.

Whoever wins it will be acquiring a treasure that would grace any bedroom.

Any visitor to the Blog who would like to buy tickets should email us on chriscjenkin@aol.com.

We are so very grateful to Heather and Dianne for donating their talents so generously.

Budgets for next stages of building

Here is Cheryl inspecting the outside toilets.

Alan has sent us some budgets for the next stages of the building - the windows and doors are nearly complete.

1. Plumbing: we have a detailed item-by-item quotation for everything from WC pans to connecting to the mains; it includes a lot of things that I haven't a clue what they are! Like "elbows", "nipples" and "tees"... and what on earth are "get-values"? (We apparently need 25 of those!) But the total bill comes to £3,400.

2. Electrics: Wiring, switches and sockets, and a threefold Solar Panel. Total: £4,300. (We had a quote for the electrics last October for only £3,000; Alan will investigate why this is so much more.)

3. The big one: Plastering and tiling: about £18,000. This is not an actual quotation, just a "guestimate".
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We already have nearly £15,000 in banks in the UK; we will send this out in stages as Alan authorises it. But it looks as if we will need to go on fund-raising for a while yet to find the £11,000 or so still needed.

All donations, invitations to speak, or suggestions for fund-raising ideas or sources welcome! chriscjenkin@aol.com

Site used for food

This close-up of a door and two windows shows
(a) the window has a mosquito screen - essential in a country where Malaria is a major killer.
(b) One of the two security guards, who are on duty day and night; they are both homeless boys, who were orphaned when young, and were then mistreated by those into whose care they had been given; so they ran away and lived on the streets, where Enos met them and befriended them.
(c) Around his feet are some young chickens!
Enos has six hens which have then produced some young ones. He has also been promised more poultry by a government scheme.
This is part of his programme of using the 2-acre site to produce food to feed the children once they move in. He has planted some pineapple plants; he grew some cotton, and the profit from selling that was reinvested in G-nuts. Corn was pictured on yesterday's post.
Enos is thinking very much about the future sustainability of the site. One trouble is that wild animals come in and damage the crops; almost certainly fencing will need to be erected to protect the crops. At present they rely on the guards driving the animals away.
He also has two goats, but before he can bring them to the SKILL site a shelter will need to be erected.
He has also been promised a maize mill.

Latest report from Kasese

Our contacts in Uganda, Alan and Cheryl, have done the 8-hour drive from Kampala to inspect progress at the SKILL site.


It can be seen on the picture above that the external doors and windows are mostly complete.



There is also a crop of corn growing in the compound, so the 2 acre site is being well used.





Visit to Church in Barrow


We took a service at Trinity (Methodist and URC) Church, Barrow, on Pentecost Sunday, which is their Overseas Mission Sunday.


We gave them our KSK PowerPoint presentation, and they are having a retiring collection for two Sundays for us.





Another church engagement


I had applied to a Westmorland Arts Trust for funding for the Photographic Exhibition; whether they will fund us remains to be seen, but the secretary is a churchwarden, and has invited us to tell her church all about KSK! SO another speaking engagement and fund-raiser - July 24th.

All engagements or contributions welcome: chriscjenkin@aol.com