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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 one fundraiser a month for one family at a time. For our 11th family, we have selected Rinah Mbambu and her grandchildren.
Their story:
Rinah is a 76 year old widow struggling to live and care for her grandchildren Britta, Brillian and Briton. "I am a peasant farmer and sell some food to get some money. I need someone who can help old people like me live a happy life. My husband died at age 85 of malaria and left me with children who have left their own children with me to care for while they try to find work to survive. I sleep in darkness and am helpless."
Rinah listed the following needs:
Clothes: $80
Shoes: $40
Mattress: $70
Solar battery: $200
Spray pump: $60
Water tank: $300
Capital for business: $400
Tuition: $150 annually
Cassava milling machine: $600
Garden tools: $100
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 makes growing food difficult.
• Most cannot afford tuition costs for their children. This creates a poverty cycle in which people can’t get work or start businesses 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, TB and diabetes. 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 peoples’ 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. Older folks are often still taking care of grandchildren while their adult children seek work.
• Some families must care for disabled siblings or children with mental illness who also go without the medication they need.
Funds are sent via World Remit to Tadeo who distributes it to the families or purchases the items they need for them.
Feel free to message either one of us on Facebook for more information.
Organizer
