There are many ways you can get involved and help, this could be in the form of annual sponsorship, donations, fundraising, sending parcels to the children…. just to name a few
Find out more about each of the items below:
“It is better to teach people how to fish than giving them a hook for fishing.”
We cannot give a hook to the people before teaching them how to use the hook so that they can fish and sustain a life. There are currently more than 450 children attending Toowa Primary School, there are many more in the community who cannot afford to attend because their families are just too poor to send their children to Toowa school.
We realised that educating people is key to solve many of the problems encountered by this community. We should look at the future of Toowa and provide a way for a brighter one and this can only be through educating the children of Toowa who can then work hard in future to make sure they change their village. The fact is that we can not help every family in the village, but can aim to provide education to at least one child in every family. This would be a start to giving each family a fighting chance to break the circle of poverty.
One of the biggest ways you can help this project is to sponsor a child’s education and future. You may think that could be expensive, in fact It doesn’t cost much in western terms, its just £15 per month…. Surprising how little it takes to make such a big change.
Even if you are currently not in a position to donate or to be able to sponsor a child, you can still help. When you are shopping online to buy items such as groceries, garden things and many many more, you can donate at NO COST to yourself. Most of the well known retailers (Argos, Amazon, John Lewis, eBay to name just a few) will donate to your support you chosen cause.
All you have to do is use the EasyFundraising website or App login and then search and proceed to all your usual websites From the Easyfundraising website. A certain percentage of your transaction will get donated at no cost to yourself. Let’s get free money for Toowa. Contact us if you need help to do this, or have questions. Don’t forget to set “Toowa Community, Uganda – Beverley Smeaton as your chosen cause to support.
Remember, You can also get involved in fundraising events such as the annual Kiltwalk etc.
Parents of Toowa can also form small groups of may be 10 people. Under such small groups, they can be educated on subjects such as better farming methods, proper sanitation in their homes, investments and saving etc
Under such groups, parents can be given capital to start up small scale income generating projects like rearing pigs, cows, poultry, growing of improved crop varieties, even small roadside businesses.
- A good pig breed costs about £30 – 40 pounds, a cow is about £250 – £300 pounds [exotic breed]
- Good crop varieties can also be bought and given to them.
Another challenge people and the children at Toowa face is lack of a medical facility where they can access medical assistance yet many people have been affected by HIV/AIDS. People including pregnant mothers walk very long distances to reach public hospitals which are usually overcrowded by lots of people.
Ideally (in the future) a small medical facility can be set up at the school premises where medical services can be given to people either free of charge or at a reduced cost. Educating people about living a healthy life can be done here. People can also be provided with HIV medicine and also be educated on how to live healthy with HIV.
Most homes don’t have any beds, bedding or mattresses, at a small cost you could donate a mattress and bedding for a child. Often due to the size of the homes there is only enough room for one mattress and therefore shared.
It is surprising how we find the climate of Uganda hot, however, to the Ugandans it can be cold. This combined with the lack of resources and limited clothing means that babies and the very young infants can be left vulnerable. This is why we have asked and encouraged the “knitters” among you to help us knit little jumpers and hats, In fact we have even made a pattern available to you. We can all do a little bit to help keep a baby warm. The more we knit, the more babies will benefit from a gift of a knitted vest and beanie.
If sponsorship of a child is not quite what you are ready for, you can always make a small (or large) donation to help with one of many Infrastructure improvement projects that are always ongoing here. We have more ideas and plans to help this school than funding allows. These are mostly basic in comparison to the UK for example, but vital and sometime critical to the service this school provides. Read more about our projects (planned, current and past).
Ways we can help is through constructing water collection points like wells and boreholes. This will bring water closer to people and improve on their sanitation.
If sponsorship of a child is not quite what you are ready for, you can always make a small (or large) donation to help with one of many Infrastructure improvement projects that are always ongoing here. With a generous donation towards the building cost, work has started on the new combined library/teachers block. We could always do with donations towards the build, however small or large.
