Fundraising Friday

So today has been the first day of our flush challenge.

Thank you to all of you who have helped advertise our appeal and everyone who is taking part.

We've been tallying up our toilet stops today and will be donating our 20 pennies for each visit.

Whether you're doing the full challenge for the month or are going to just make a donation or collection at work, thank you.

I mentioned the mudslides that damaged the school and totally destroyed the schools pit latrines in my post yesterday. My friend, Mike, has kindly agreed to me sharing his photos he took of the damaged classrooms while he was in Uganda.


I hope they can encourage you to take part and do as much as you can to spread the word about this appeal to get as many people as possible involved.

February Flush Fundraiser

So we’re setting down a challenge for the month that we hope you can all take part in. Before I set the challenge, let me tell you a little bit about the need.

Whenever you go to Uganda, you guarantee you can come home with a ‘toilet’ story. When you’re used to using a European toilet, a pit latrine is a whole new and VERY different experience. There have been tales of having to trek in the dark, torch in hand to the nearest loo, that is up the mountain. The time when a group leader kung fu kicked the latrine door in case there was something behind it, only to find another group member. All the stories of forgetting the golden rule of never looking up when you’re in the latrine, and then breaking the rule and wondering why you did when you realise what little (or big) creatures you are sharing this small space with!!! Having a chameleon or lizard share the small latrine space with you, who refuses to leave the door. Wondering how many mosquitoes are actually buzzing around in there, and praying they don’t get in places you’d rather they didn’t. The fears of anything dropping down the latrine while you’re in there and knowing that once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. So cameras are never taken in, torches are strapped on and you wear no valuables!

And how often do we take our toilet facilities for granted?

We think of it as an essential part of our house. It is safe and warm, we can lock the door and flush after every use. We can have the comfort of a toilet seat to rest upon.

How often do we think about those who don’t even have a latrine to use, let alone a European toilet?

You see toilets are few and far between in Uganda. Some houses have their own latrine but this again is deemed a luxury.

Did you know……

· 2.5 billion people across the world don’t have somewhere safe to go to the toilet (WHO / UNICEF)

· In Africa, half of young girls who drop out of school do so because they need to collect water – often from many miles away – or because the school hasn’t got a basic toilet.

· The lack of a loo makes women and girls a target for sexual assault as they go to the toilet in the open, late at night

· Many women get bitten by snakes as they squat in the grass to go to the toilet (Toilet Twinning)

And for us –we take for granted every flush.

I have built up amazing friendships in a small mountain village in Uganda. The family there who host us are truly that – family. James and Robinah work so hard on making the best of the resources they have and make a positive impact on the local community. James runs the local church and Robinah oversees the management of the primary school. Over the years I have helped fundraise for both the school and church and have invested my time in these two projects.

Pastor James, relaxing at home
 

Robinah, the best Ugandan cook around

 

Resources are always tight but they keep carrying on. There have been times when the challenges seem so vast and I have been unable to help and felt even more helpless by being miles away from them. This time there is a new challenge and I need your help……

A few years ago, the village experienced some very heavy rain. The rain took out walls in the classroom and caused a lot of damage to the surrounding area when mudslides hit. People in the neighbouring villages were killed by the mudslides. It was a horrific time.

Years later and the school is being rebuilt bit by bit. Friends have fundraised and sponsored classrooms so that the new facilities are stronger to withstand the weather. But there is an immediate need.

The mudslides destroyed the pit latrines the school once had.

For all of you who may have visions of toilets in their minds - here's the reality of what a latrine looks like from the inside

And here's my friend Rachel, heading to the latrine

Robinah text me last weekend and asked if I could help. I hadn’t thought of an exact fundraiser for our visit, but knew a need would arise that we would be called to help with. This is it!

We want to raise enough money to build at least one block of Aline pit latrines. These are the best available for the soil in the area. One block of 4 cubicles, each housing a latrine, will cost approx. £1000. That’s the minimum we need to raise. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to far exceed this amount and really bless these children with the things we take for granted?

So here’s the part where you get to help?

We could be really boring and ask you to make a donation, which of course is still very welcome, but we really want you to think about what every penny is going towards.

So for the whole month of February (the reason why this blog had to go live today and not tomorrow) we want you to donate a minimum of 20p every time you flush your toilet. February is a short month – only 28 days to raise our funds, so I think this is very achievable.

Are you with me?

Will you help fundraise with every flush this February?

With your help we can give this school safe toilet facilities. We can make sure there are no hidden risks in taking a toilet stop. We can safeguard the children and stop them from being so vulnerable. We can stop kids getting sick or even dying due to poor sanitation! We can help girls stick to their education and be in school every day.

These are the children who will benefit from your donations

So get spreading the word about our fundraiser – maybe collect at a toilet in your workplace, or have a family saving scheme at home. Whatever way you want to take part, if we all join in, our target can be well exceeded!

Posters are available if you want to advertise at home, work or school. 

 

Please leave a comment below or facebook me to say if you’re going to be signing up and taking part. If you send me your email I can send you a poster through.   

A big thank you in advance for every penny you raise.

February's looming

It's 1st February on Friday and I'll be laying down a challenge for you all to take up this month.

It's going to be a flushing fundraiser in February.

Details will be on here tomorrow night so stay tuned to find out more and see how every flush in February can raise money for us to get brand new toilet facilities in a Ugandan village Primary School.

Tune in tomorrow. This one is not to be missed!

Snow day Turmoil

Yes I love snow.  Yes we snow dance in this house and we hope it’s deep.  No we do not like the fall out that the disruption brings.

You see kids who have suffered trauma in their lives love routine.  They love to feel like they are in control of things, so routine helps them in gaining control of their day to day lives.  They like to know what’s happening in advance.  They like the stability this gives them.  If plans change, they need as much notice as possible, and reassurance along the way. 

Snow in this country changes everything!

Snow comes and everything stops!

Including school!

So routines go out the window. 

Not only does routine go out the window but change happens suddenly so there is no advance warning of the change.  On a snow day you still have to get up and go through the motions of there being school, until that text comes through to say otherwise.  Then there's the opposite, when we go to bed with the expectation of snow, and wake to find it has come to nothing so school is back on.  The routine of snow days almost sets in and then we awake to find there is in fact school.  So the change for returning to ‘normal’, becomes another unsettling change in itself. 

Anyone who has been a part of our daily routine, knows that we don’t discuss plans openly, or my daughter sets her heart on whatever has been discussed as happening.  We try to keep a routine as smooth as possible and don’t appreciate sudden changes to plans.  When things get too much or there have been too many changes, we have to make our world small again.  We may turn into hermits in the house, but we need this time to regain some control of the situation and to give my daughter a chance to regulate her feelings and behaviours.

You see where there is change, there is fall out.

Whether you call it stubbornness or strong-willed, this kid has it by the bucket load!

Children who have suffered trauma struggle with this feeling of losing control, through the lack of routine and struggle to regulate their behaviours and emotions.  They may be feeling angry or upset and this is taken out on those closest to them.  They can lash out, become verbally aggressive, violent, stroppy, disrespectful or disobedient.  Whatever and however that behaviour is portrayed in a child, one word can describe it – challenging.

It is often only the main caregivers who see this behaviour and suffer the consequences. 

Now we have no control of the snow and we have to learn to live with these fast changes of is there school, isn’t there school.  The past few days have been a learning curve of a different form in this house.  It is difficult to think the challenges are not personal, but it does come down to recognising the reasoning behind the behaviours and knowing it has nothing to do with the here and now, it has everything to do with the horrible past trauma our children have experienced.  It isn’t personal and the child in front of us is still the child we love and cherish. 

So yep, it was nice seeing you snow – but please, just let us get back to our routine!