I've raised £1000 to enable promising girls from a Kampala slum to finish high school AND to fund an Easter feast for 1000+ in Kalerwe, Uganda
Organised by Amy Gifford
Story
I am raising money for two things. The first is for Bridget, a promising 16-year-old girl, to finish high school. She is from Kalerwe, a slum in Kampala, Uganda that I visited in the summer of 2017. The second is for “My Smiling Easter Monday”, an Easter feast for 1000+ people living in the same slum, being organised by my Ugandan friend Racheal Mutesi, who grew up in Kalerwe herself and went on to study at Oxford for a year.
On my trip, I met some inspiring individuals, and so this cause is really on my heart. One story in particular stood out to me. Racheal introduced me to one of the girls she is mentoring, an 18-year-old girl named Rosette living in Kalerwe, who was doing her A-levels, just like me, with the hope of becoming a lawyer one day. Rosette told me of the all too common pressure on girls like her to drop out of school. Since then she has completed her A-levels and the next bright student who needs help funding her last few years of high school is Bridget. It only costs £99 per term for her to be in a safe environment where she can concentrate on studying. The sum I am aiming to raise is ambitious, but I believe that supporting girls to stay in education is a vital way to combat poverty.
As for the Easter feast, Racheal wants to show the love and hope of Easter to children and families in Kalerwe. She needs £500 more for the feast to go ahead. While we may associate the hopeful time of Easter with a delicious Sunday roast; there are so many families across the world and especially in Kalerwe, that dread special days like Easter because they can’t afford to feed their children a decent meal.
Raising any amount of money on this page would help give children a small expression of love at Easter which Racheal herself remembers receiving as a little girl. I want to be a small part of making that idea a reality. If 50 of my friends and family donated £10 - we could do it! So any donations, small or big will be SO appreciated!
Thanks for reading this far!! If you want to know more about the project or Racheal Mutesi's work with the girls, then get in touch amyfgifford@gmail.com.
In Racheal's vision statement for the project she writes:
"What about my people who have not even a single memory, people in slums and market areas, those who can’t afford even a piece of meat. Who thinks about them?" - Racheal Mutesi, Missions co-ordinator of St Nicholas C.O.U
My Smiling Easter Monday in Kalerwe comes to respond to that burden laid on my heart and several other people all over the world to write a memory to disadvantaged communities, because love is not only preached but also expressed." - Racheal Mutesi, Missions co-ordinator of St Nicholas C.O.U
Above: Bridget (pictured far left), first born to a single mother of 4 with her friends on outing after dance troupe performance. She works before walking over an hour to school.
Above: some of the other friends I made in Kalerwe!
