We're catching up
This year Afrinspire has shown it is resilient and robust by growing financially by 10% even with our CEO out of action since the end of April. As part of this news Ian Sanderson shares his personal (but not Africa) story for those who have been aware of his absence over the past months.
Since the Covid pandemic struck in March 2020 we have run several fund-raising campaigns on the topic of FOOD FOR NOW, FOOD FOR THIS YEAR and FOOD FOR EVERY YEAR. Thank you to all who have responded. We have been placing help in many places around our partner network in Uganda, Zambia and the New South Sudan..
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Afrinspire helped Terekeka School and five other schools start in the New South Sudan between 2006 and 2016. The simple roof creates a school and community meeting point. Due to the civil war some schools have been unreachable. Since 2016 we have helped to create seven schools in the South Sudanese refugee settlement inside Uganda. Food and other school supplies were delivered in September.
During the year we have helped a women's peace group to begin a fish farm and populate their traditional bee hives. We thank Grace Ayo, one of our Afrinspire Young Entrepreneurs, for visiting this group.
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Our construction programme to provide water has continued despite the pandemic. The new team in Zambia is now very well established mainly in constructing and repairing shallow wells. This means we are supporting three local teams in Uganda and one in Zambia working community by community. On average we bring clean water to people for an investment of £1.23 per person which we think is more cost effective than any other charity.
We contribute once a community has raised local finance by bring their own donations together and then we add on. An experienced engineer came to Samfya to train these unemployed young men who are working very much as volunteers but also looking for food contributions. They have now worked on twenty well constructions or repairs.
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SMOKELESS BRIQUETTES - GREEN CHARCOAL
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The Functional Adult Literacy Groups in Isingero in South East Uganda started in 2019. More than half the women were illiterate and wanted to learn literacy. The government training manuals cover life skills integrated into the course so that women are also empowered out of poverty.
During November the groups were introduced to what is known as green charcoal. Ninety percent of cooking in Uganda uses wood or charcoal leading to deforestation. A machine for making smokeless briquettes was made and delivered to a group. They were trained on how to use charred biomass mixed with clay and cassava flour to produce honeycomb briquettes. Not only does this avoid tree cutting, the stoves cook more energy efficiently and are healthy without smoke inhalation.
You can read more about green charcoal here.
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Ian's Story - A journey out of paralysis
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Afrinspire CEO, Ian Sanderson, has written about his experience since his accident in April 2021, entitled 'Ian's Story - a journey out of paralysis'. This is a personal story and not Africa related but may be of interest to those who know Ian. Mostly written in hospital using Dragon voice recognition software whilst Ian's hands were not working
- Part One - a one page summary for anyone and everyone
- Part Two - a more detailed story
- Part Three - Anecdotes from Ian's stay in Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Please read Part One and then the other parts if you are moved and have time to carry on.
Since April, the Chair of the Afrinspire Trustees, Kate Gerrard, has fronted all our communications with our partners in Africa and continues to do so. The charity has been resilient and continued working throughout Ian's temporary absence.
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THE BIG GIVE 2021 starts on Giving Tuesday 30th November 2021 at 12 noon
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Next week Afrinspire will be taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, where we are hoping to raise £24,000 in matched donations.
Many of you have supported us in previous campaigns and will be familiar with the Big Give, which gives supporters the opportunity to double their donation to their chosen charities every Christmas.
Last year we raised a fantastic £22,000 through the Big Give, which helped keep dozens of women’s literacy groups all over Uganda running through multiple lockdowns.
The money raised through this campaign will help us continue extending the reach of the Women’s Literacy programme, which is now in ten regions across Uganda. These funds will enable us to start new women’s groups and support community-led projects arising from existing ones. These projects include income generating activities, sustainable agricultural practices and projects to protect local water supplies.
Your support will also enable us to advance farming and agricultural projects that improve food security for families and their communities. This is a huge challenge for rural populations in Uganda. Our partners are working with communities to develop the use of sustainable farming techniques and deliver agricultural and drought resilience training.
Visit Afrinspire’s page on the Big Give website between midday 30th November – midday 7th December and your donation will be doubled.
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