Serenje Video

Great video produced by Andy White

Tomorrow

Tomorrow and next Sunday are our Serenje Gift Days. Last year we raised over £100,000 and this meant that:
-190 orphans and vulnerable children received school support
-402 farmers received seeds so that they can feed their families
-62 church and community leaders received leadership training
-66 church volunteers were trained to support people living with HIV and AIDS.

Over the next 2 weeks and the coming year we want to raise the same amount of money so that we can achieve the following:
-700 orphans and vulnerable children received school support
-701 farmers received seeds so that they can feed their families and an additional 300 families will receive 2 goats.
-50 church and 60 community leaders received leadership training
-100 church volunteers were trained to visit and support 250 people living with HIV and AIDS.

Those of us who have visited Serenje this year have seen the money this difference is making to people's lives.





Please be praying and thinking about what you might be able to give.

A message for all the women who have written letters for women in Serenje-the deadline for bringing your letters to church is tomorrow. Please remember not to seal the letters.

Thank you for all your support for what is happening in Serenje.

Shoes and coats update

Back in June we sent out 240 pairs of shoes and 160 coats to the children in Serenje. When we were out in Serenje in the summer we saw all the boxes of shoes and coats stacked up ready to be given out. The local pastors and church volunteers distributed the shoes and coats to the communities. Here are photos of some of the orphans who have received them and will now be able to cope with the cold walk to school in the winter. It's worth mentioning that it is extremely hot in Serenje at the moment, with temperatures ranging from 39 - 42C, so the guys in the photos must be pretty warm! One of the boys just has his new trainers on!





Thank you to everyone who donated shoes and coats, they will make a massive difference when the winter comes.

Seeds of hope

The money raised at last year's Gift Days has meant we can support families, by supplying them with seeds to grow sweet potatoe, groundnuts and beans. Most families depend on what they grow to feed their families-subsistence farming. In the first year of the project the target was to provide 200 small scale farmers with seed for their families, but when we visited in April this year we were really excited to hear that 402 had been supported. When we visited the 4 communities we're working in, each one reported of the difference these seeds had made. We recently received the following feedback from Serenje:

'There are already signs of renewed hope. Under the agricultural support, households that received the inputs could not contain their joy. Though the households will only have enough food for an average of 3 – 5 months from their harvest, some beneficiaries spoken to revealed it was the best support they have ever received. In order to ensure continuity, a communal seed bank will be introduced after the harvest. Each beneficiary will be required to give back a certain measure of what will be harvested to be kept and sold later. Those households who may experience poor yields can give anything of value equivalent to the required harvest i.e. chickens, goats, ducks e.t.c. The proceeds from the sale will then go towards supporting those households that may be lacking the most.'

We've just heard that the seeds for this year's crops have been purchased and will be distributed on Monday. It is very hot in Serenje at the moment, so please pray that the rains come and that there is a good harvest.

Thank you for giving your money to make this happen.