Story
Hello Wedding Guest! Welcome to our fundraising page for the Solace Centre in Rwanda.
There is still time to donate if you would like to. Otherwise, if you've come back for an update, scroll down to the bottom to see the latest news.
Here's some more info about what the Solace Centre will be doing:
The vision of Solace Ministries is to comfort the widows and orphans of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Solace helps survivors to restore their desire to live. Hundreds of individuals have already been able to overcome feelings of hatred, anger and resentment. Most of the individuals assisted by Solace lost their entire families during the conflict and many of the widows experienced rape at the hands of the marauding Hutu militia. These women and children have found an alternative family through the Solace community.
Jubilee Action works in partnership with Solace Ministries, supporting the Solace Centre in Kigali. As well as trauma counselling, the centre provides vocational training and IT skills for widows and orphans to re-build their lives, and helps child-headed families in particular. There are also smaller ministries to prostitutes and drug addicts, farming initiatives, and other things - a truly holistic approach to helping the country get back on its feet. An example of the costs involved are: £20 will pay for trauma counselling for a widow of the genocide. £50 will buy school materials and books for one student for one year. £125 pays the monthly salary of a counselling co-ordinator. £210 will pay one year's university tuition fees for an orphan. £240 will pay one student's accommodation for one year. Here's an example of one person helped by Solace Ministries: Constance was only nine when the Rwandan genocide took place in 1994. After finding her grandmother, aunt and uncle dead she ran away, reaching an army roadblock where there were hundreds of Tutsi people trying to escape. The Presidential guards threw hand grenades into the crowd. Constance hid under the body of a dead boy, but she was found and beaten badly. In so much pain she went to the local authorities expecting them to kill her. Instead a Hutu unexpectedly took her to a hospital. She later found the bodies of her father, his sister and two of her sisters, but she has never found her mother's body. Following the genocide Constance was reunited with her two surviving brothers. Constance now attends the Solace Centre. She is now a part of a survivors group, allowing her to share her experiences with people her own age. As a result of this work Constance recently was able to say "Finally, I think I am healing." Thank you so much for supporting this cause... Lizzie & Tom ---------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 22 Feb: We are getting lots of offline donations (cheques), which we will gradually add to this total in the "amount raised offline" section. Thank you - we have been sent some very generous contributions. Someone has asked about the transaction fee that justgiving.com take - we spoke to Jubilee Action about this at the very start and they actually don't lose anything from this since it would cost them that much in administration to process the payment and reclaim the tax. So it remains an efficient way to give. ---------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 29 March - We've just received a very moving thank-you card from the Solace Centre in Rwanda. It really brought home to us that what we are doing is worth it. We'll be reading a bit of it out in the service on Saturday. And Lizzie recently watched the film "Hotel Rwanda", which she recommends everyone see - it strongly reinforced her passion for this cause. Only 4 days to go...! --------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 15 April (while on honeymoon!) Its brilliant to see the initial total has been reached! The actual total the Solace Centre are looking for to complete the centre is around £23,500 so we have boldly decided to raise our aim to £10,000 (particularly as we saved so much money on not hiring a posh venue or getting expensive caterers). Lets see how we do over the next few months! Having a great time in Italy on honeymoon! (in Florence at the moment)... --------------------------------------------------------- BACK FROM HONEYMOON! Had a fantastic time. Can't believe all the gifts still coming in - they are so generous. --------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 10 May: We have been able to donate far more than we anticipated in terms of money saved by not having a conventional wedding day (see below), and your donations have been so generous, so now we are now able to raise the target to £15,000! We will soon add the final total of money saved & donations made so far offline, and tax reclaimed, so watch this space... Recently received this message from Jubilee Action: Dear Tom and Lizzie On the 11th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide we received this message from Solace Ministries. It is intended equally as much for you both and your guests, as it is for us. "On behalf of all survivors cared through Solace Ministries, I would like to express our deep gratitute to you for your love and sacrifice which are beyond measure on this memorial day, April 7th. We love you!" --------------------------------------------------------- Update 13 Sept: Donations have finally slowed to a trickle, so we've had a go at estimating what the final total might be and it's incredible! Looks like we've raised over £16,500 for Rwanda as well as the goal of £1000 for Romania. Thank you everyone so much. This is way more than we expected. Marriage going well by the way! --------------------------------------------------------- DONATION TOTALS FOR OUR 2 PROJECTS We have been able to add to the total some of the money saved by not having certain trimmings surrounding our wedding & engagement, and by having such wonderful friends volunteer to help with lots of bits and pieces. This has been added to the 'offline total' here on the webpage, and the breakdown looks something like this: Amount saved by not having a diamond wedding ring (which we didn't want to do anyway as it is so likely exploitation was involved in the mining): approx £400 Amount saved by not buying a new dress: approx £600 Amount saved by not having bells rung: £70 Amount saved by friends contributing to buffet: approx £3000 Saved by not hiring a posh venue/marquee: approx £2000 Saved by not having posh cake (a lovely friend made the most amazing 3-tier creation!): approx £200 Saved by not buying posh cufflinks (will be wearing treasury tags - can't beat them): £20 Saved by having friends do photos & video: £1100 Not having bridesmaid dresses: £300 Hiring simple crockery: £400 Lizzie using great Aunt Dorothy's wedding ring: £120.00 Lizzie using normal clothes for going away outfit: £120.00 Etc Total saved so far that can be donated to projects: approx £8300 Tax that can be reclaimed on this donation: approx £2300 ----------------------------------------------------------- Amount raised so far for Romanian well in Romany community (all offline as no webpage for this) : £1000 Target: £1000 Target reached !! THANK YOU!
There is still time to donate if you would like to. Otherwise, if you've come back for an update, scroll down to the bottom to see the latest news.
Here's some more info about what the Solace Centre will be doing:
The vision of Solace Ministries is to comfort the widows and orphans of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Solace helps survivors to restore their desire to live. Hundreds of individuals have already been able to overcome feelings of hatred, anger and resentment. Most of the individuals assisted by Solace lost their entire families during the conflict and many of the widows experienced rape at the hands of the marauding Hutu militia. These women and children have found an alternative family through the Solace community.
Jubilee Action works in partnership with Solace Ministries, supporting the Solace Centre in Kigali. As well as trauma counselling, the centre provides vocational training and IT skills for widows and orphans to re-build their lives, and helps child-headed families in particular. There are also smaller ministries to prostitutes and drug addicts, farming initiatives, and other things - a truly holistic approach to helping the country get back on its feet. An example of the costs involved are: £20 will pay for trauma counselling for a widow of the genocide. £50 will buy school materials and books for one student for one year. £125 pays the monthly salary of a counselling co-ordinator. £210 will pay one year's university tuition fees for an orphan. £240 will pay one student's accommodation for one year. Here's an example of one person helped by Solace Ministries: Constance was only nine when the Rwandan genocide took place in 1994. After finding her grandmother, aunt and uncle dead she ran away, reaching an army roadblock where there were hundreds of Tutsi people trying to escape. The Presidential guards threw hand grenades into the crowd. Constance hid under the body of a dead boy, but she was found and beaten badly. In so much pain she went to the local authorities expecting them to kill her. Instead a Hutu unexpectedly took her to a hospital. She later found the bodies of her father, his sister and two of her sisters, but she has never found her mother's body. Following the genocide Constance was reunited with her two surviving brothers. Constance now attends the Solace Centre. She is now a part of a survivors group, allowing her to share her experiences with people her own age. As a result of this work Constance recently was able to say "Finally, I think I am healing." Thank you so much for supporting this cause... Lizzie & Tom ---------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 22 Feb: We are getting lots of offline donations (cheques), which we will gradually add to this total in the "amount raised offline" section. Thank you - we have been sent some very generous contributions. Someone has asked about the transaction fee that justgiving.com take - we spoke to Jubilee Action about this at the very start and they actually don't lose anything from this since it would cost them that much in administration to process the payment and reclaim the tax. So it remains an efficient way to give. ---------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 29 March - We've just received a very moving thank-you card from the Solace Centre in Rwanda. It really brought home to us that what we are doing is worth it. We'll be reading a bit of it out in the service on Saturday. And Lizzie recently watched the film "Hotel Rwanda", which she recommends everyone see - it strongly reinforced her passion for this cause. Only 4 days to go...! --------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 15 April (while on honeymoon!) Its brilliant to see the initial total has been reached! The actual total the Solace Centre are looking for to complete the centre is around £23,500 so we have boldly decided to raise our aim to £10,000 (particularly as we saved so much money on not hiring a posh venue or getting expensive caterers). Lets see how we do over the next few months! Having a great time in Italy on honeymoon! (in Florence at the moment)... --------------------------------------------------------- BACK FROM HONEYMOON! Had a fantastic time. Can't believe all the gifts still coming in - they are so generous. --------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 10 May: We have been able to donate far more than we anticipated in terms of money saved by not having a conventional wedding day (see below), and your donations have been so generous, so now we are now able to raise the target to £15,000! We will soon add the final total of money saved & donations made so far offline, and tax reclaimed, so watch this space... Recently received this message from Jubilee Action: Dear Tom and Lizzie On the 11th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide we received this message from Solace Ministries. It is intended equally as much for you both and your guests, as it is for us. "On behalf of all survivors cared through Solace Ministries, I would like to express our deep gratitute to you for your love and sacrifice which are beyond measure on this memorial day, April 7th. We love you!" --------------------------------------------------------- Update 13 Sept: Donations have finally slowed to a trickle, so we've had a go at estimating what the final total might be and it's incredible! Looks like we've raised over £16,500 for Rwanda as well as the goal of £1000 for Romania. Thank you everyone so much. This is way more than we expected. Marriage going well by the way! --------------------------------------------------------- DONATION TOTALS FOR OUR 2 PROJECTS We have been able to add to the total some of the money saved by not having certain trimmings surrounding our wedding & engagement, and by having such wonderful friends volunteer to help with lots of bits and pieces. This has been added to the 'offline total' here on the webpage, and the breakdown looks something like this: Amount saved by not having a diamond wedding ring (which we didn't want to do anyway as it is so likely exploitation was involved in the mining): approx £400 Amount saved by not buying a new dress: approx £600 Amount saved by not having bells rung: £70 Amount saved by friends contributing to buffet: approx £3000 Saved by not hiring a posh venue/marquee: approx £2000 Saved by not having posh cake (a lovely friend made the most amazing 3-tier creation!): approx £200 Saved by not buying posh cufflinks (will be wearing treasury tags - can't beat them): £20 Saved by having friends do photos & video: £1100 Not having bridesmaid dresses: £300 Hiring simple crockery: £400 Lizzie using great Aunt Dorothy's wedding ring: £120.00 Lizzie using normal clothes for going away outfit: £120.00 Etc Total saved so far that can be donated to projects: approx £8300 Tax that can be reclaimed on this donation: approx £2300 ----------------------------------------------------------- Amount raised so far for Romanian well in Romany community (all offline as no webpage for this) : £1000 Target: £1000 Target reached !! THANK YOU!