Things are moving on...

The roof will go on before the rainy season starts

During our visit to the village this time it became very apparent to me that the need for instruction in basic sanitation and health issues was a priority. I think some of you will know that one of our little girls in the nursery died just a few days before our visit. She was almost four years old and her name was Joyeuse. There are still problems with fresh water supplies and Joyeuse became ill with sickness and diarrhoea. The nearest nurse and health post is a two hour walk away and it was just not possible to save her. The next day two of her brothers were taken to the health post and fortunately they survived. There are no facilities in the village for any type of medical care, no medicines, no painkillers, no malaria treatment. In addition some families are not boiling the water for drinking purposes. The need for parents to be educated in these things is critical.

Lots of other exciting things happened which I will continue to write about in the blog. However my main purpose in sending out this newsletter at this time is to inform you that we are now a Registered Charity, Village Rwanda UK and so have a new bank account!! In doing this I’ve been supported by five other trustees – their profiles are on the blog. We are currently working on our Business Plan and I want to assure you that 100% of the money that you provide will continue to be spent on the children and families so that the village will become self-sustaining by 2020. This is our aim and will remain our aim. We are a national UK charity working with a local Rwanda charity (NGO, Non-Governmental Organisation) called ‘Gihombo Forward’ We work closely with them because they know what is best for their community and how it can be achieved.

So, folks, if you want to donate you can transfer money easily to our new bank account as follows:  

The Co-operative Bank

Name of account: Village Rwanda UK

Sort code: 08 92 99

Account number: 65765678

One big advantage is that we can now claim gift aid. I am attaching a Gift Aid form for you to complete and return to Chris Park our Treasurer either by email or post (for those replying by email a signature is not required as we will acknowledge the receipt of your email)

The challenge is that we need to raise £5,000 to complete the building and then another £2,000 for the latrines and another £3,000 for furniture and teaching materials. Work has now stopped until more funds can be raised. We are currently exploring potential donors that might be interested in contributing to this. If you know of any groups or businesses please don’t hesitate to send me their details.

For those of you on Facebook we now have our own page (thanks to Jack Lofthouse, formerly R2R). Search for ‘Village Rwanda’ but don’t expect amazing things yet because I am just getting to grips with the administration!

The folk in Rwanda now have a postal address and you may like to write letters or send cards and greetings. Please don’t send money or anything very valuable. Any correspondence should be addressed to our teacher and he will make sure it gets to the appropriate people.

GIHOMBO FORWARD

C/o NTEZIRYAYO Gabriel

PO Box 51

Karongi