Background:
My name is Ashley Rowley and I live in Grand Junction, CO. Personal friends of mine, Tadeo and Gorret, have vowed to seek assistance for their community in the Kayangende Village, 10 kilometers from Kasese, Uganda. This is a very poor area where everyone is struggling just to get basic needs (see below for more info). We have interviewed 100 families and worked together to identify the families most in need in the village. We hope to do a fundraiser for every family, one at a time. For our sixth family, we have selected 3 children whose parents died from AIDS.
Their story:
Daphine, Alfred, and Habert were orphaned for a period of time with no one to care for them after their parents passed away. Tadeo took it upon himself to reach out for money for food for them and has kept an eye on them. They are now under the care of their grandparents who are struggling to provide for them.
They cannot afford to send them to school and can barely provide food for them.
Life in Kayangende Village, Kasese, Uganda:
• There are no government assistance programs or existing charity projects in this area available to these families.
• Most survive on one “meal” of cassava (root vegetable) a day that they grow in their gardens. Unpredictable weather, drought, and infertile soil in the area make growing food difficult.
• Most cannot afford tuition costs for their children. This creates a poverty cycle in which people can’t get well-paying jobs due to being uneducated and, as a result, they can’t afford to pay for their children’s tuition.
• They live in small shacks constructed of mud or bricks with iron sheet or grass roofs. Often only one or two rooms, no floors. Almost every family has a roof that leaks when it rains and forces them to have to get up and stand throughout the night. The houses are too small for many of the families and it's common for them all to sleep in one room.
• No plumbing or electricity. Some who can afford it purchase a small solar panel battery for $200 to power lights.
• They have to make a 2-4 hour round trip to retrieve water from a stream and haul it in jerricans up the mountain. (Side note: another friend of Gorret’s is working with her on a project to raise money and provide large water tanks for collecting rainwater. So far, they have been able to install 2 tanks.)
• No transportation. They must walk 10 kilometers to Kasese if they need to.
• Most families do not have proper bedding and their children sleep on old clothes and grass. They also do not have furniture.
• None can afford to visit doctors nor get needed medications even in the event of a medical emergency. Many deaths occur as a result of curable diseases like malaria and TB. Many suffer from ulcers because of their limited diet. Infant deaths at birth are common due to a lack of educated doctors and proper OB/GYN services.
• The only source of income for most is selling excess food from their garden, which is very little. Others work on wealthier people’s land for a wage or direct payment in food.
• There are many single mothers and widows who cannot leave their children to find work, so they have no ability to create income unless they are lucky enough to afford a sewing machine so that they can make and sell clothes.
• Many elderly couples have too many medical issues to work. These older folks are often still taking care of grandchildren while their adult children seek work.
• Some families must care for non-functioning siblings with mental illness. These people also go without the medication they need.
For more information on all of our families, please visit our Facebook page:
Funds are sent via World Remit to Tadeo who distributes it to the families or purchases the items they need for them.
Organizer
Ashley Rowley
Organizer
Grand Junction, CO