Congratulations Gerald!

We are delighted to hear that Gerald has been awarded his Degree of Arts with Education from Kampala University this month.

We first met Gerald in 2005 when he was teaching voluntarily at Living Water Children Centre. He is one of 8 children and his father died when he was a young boy. After completing secondary education, his dream was to go on to university and qualify as a teacher, but his mother could not afford the fees.

One of our supporters requested that his donation be used to sponsor Gerald and make his dream come true. These are his words of gratitude:

"I am so delighted and grateful for all you have done and brought me to so far. Today, it was a wonderful/terrific moment when I was awarded my degree. Thank you with all my heart."

We wish Gerald good luck for the future, we know he will make the most of the wonderful opportunity he has been given.

 

Container of Goods for Tanzania

We have been working with a Leicester based charity, Konnect9, that sends containers of goods to charities in developing countries. They kindly offered us, free of charge, 2 pallet loads on a container due to be sent to Arusha in Tanzania.

We sent out a list of items we were looking to collect and have been overwhelmed by amount we have received. All the goods were delivered to Margaret & Garrie’s garage and last weekend the trustees and helpers spent 2 days sorting, packing and labelling 59 boxes containing: - educational supplies, children’s clothing, blankets/towels and soap/toothbrushes etc Computers, printers, keyboards, scanners 3 sewing machines

Margaret & Garrie delivered the boxes to Leicester where they will be loaded onto the container on Monday 2 November for shipping out from Felixstowe on 7 November. The ship is due to arrive in Dar Es Salaam on 24 December. It will take a few weeks to clear customs and be transported to Arusha and as Margaret and Garrie will be arriving there on 25 January, they expect to see the goods distributed.

All the community groups we are helping will benefit, with educational supplies and computers going to TEKUA and Ndoombo, more educational supplies and clothing to Living Water Children Centre, and blankets, clothing and hygiene items going to help grandparents caring for orphaned children.

We will keep you updated on the progress of the container.

Thank you very much to everyone who donated goods. A very special thank you to Sujata at Konnect9 who has made this possible for us. Konnect9 have recently launched a website where businesses can donate unwanted surplus goods for distributions to local as well as overseas charities, see the website at http://www.givingworldonline.com

 

2009 Spending Exceeds £25,000!!

Thank you for helping us to make such a difference. Click here to see how your donations have been spent.

 

Over £3000 Raised in June

We've had 3 successful events in June raising over £3,000 and increasing the number of "special friends" making regular monthly donations. Here's how we did it:

Afternoon Tea at the Headingley Carnegie Stadium

The Taverners Suite is the newly converted changing rooms overlooking both the cricket and rugby pitches and was the venue for this special afternoon tea, kindly donated by The Headingley Experience. Harry Jepson, the club president, entertained over 70 people with his stories from cricket & rugby history. He left everyone wanting to hear more. Garrie and Margaret gave a presentation on the work of the charity and formally launched "Helping 100 Grandparents". Tony Smith, our patron, encouraged more people to become “special friends”. A raffle raised £280 and with the ticket sales this took the total raised to over £1,000. Thank you also to Jamie Jones Buchanan and everyone attending for making this event such a success.

Great Support for Jane Tomlinson's Leeds 10K

Over 11,000 runners took to the streets of Leeds on 21 June 2009 to raise thousands of pounds for charities.

Our team of 11 runners all completed the run in fantastic times and to date have raised over £1,200 with more sponsor money still coming in. Thank you to all the team and thank you to all the sponsors.

You can still sponsor the team by clicking here:

Teas On The Green

The sun shone for our first public event and helped to bring out the customers for our "Teas on the Green" on a lovely Sunday afternoon at the village hall in Leathley. Our fantastic team of helpers served tea and coffee with home made cakes, buns and scones to a steady stream of visitors. This event gave us the opportunity to widen the audience of people learning the work of the charity through presentations in St. Oswald's church. The day raised over £700 - Thank you..

 

News from Tanzania

To see what Garrie & Margaret were doing in Tanzania in February 2009
click here

 

Diana Woodhead's Report

Visit to Helping Africa 100 Projects in Tanzania

February 2009

Arusha, a town bursting with noise and colour, dusty yet vibrant, where the streets are lined with people desperate to sell anything that will make enough for the next meal: old shoes, home-made shoe cleaner, second-hand T-shirts, belts, key rings . .. the list is endless. And children, children everywhere; children whose only English is "Give me money". Is this the legacy of colonialism and corruption? Whatever the history and the causes, life is tough. But within the tight seams that hold this place together are amazing shafts of light.

As a Trustee of HA100, taking a holiday in Africa, I jumped at the opportunity to meet up with Garrie and Margaret and to visit some of the projects they support through the generosity of all those who donate to HA100.

I was incredibly moved to see teenagers being helped on their way to becoming useful and independent adults. This I saw at Tekua and Ndoombo, where the driving forces behind these projects, Chris and Ally at Tekua and Horace at Ndoombo, were truly inspirational in their dedication and commitment to the vision they each have for improving the lives of young people.

In the Tekua centre and the school at Ndoombo teenagers are given education that can develop their English language skills - rightly or wrongly a vital element in the education of anyone in Tanzania. But much more than this these teenagers are given the opportunity to develop their own talents and skills and are given an education that will make them employable and launch them into the world.

I was privileged to meet some teenagers who had recently left Tekua but had been directed to further six months vocational education with the support of HA100. These teenagers had confidence and motivation. They didn't belong to a "Give me money" generation, they were acquiring the skills to earn their own living and to put something back into their own communities.

Other projects supported by HA100 each have a different focus. Living Water gives a home to orphans. Each child is loved and cared for and has a mother and father in Dora and Kimaro, who run the centre, plus tender care from their team of support staff. I was heartened to hear the passion with which Dora and all the others there spoke - they were determined that the children in their care would have a home, a family and an education. With the help of HA100 they have managed to build a new, larger home together with classrooms. They intend that the 50 children in their care will be educated to reach adulthood with the ability to become independent, self supporting individuals.

Sadly I was unable to visit the Wamata project but I fully support the aid being given there. In a continent torn apart by AIDS many grandparents and single parents, themselves often frail individuals, are the only support for large families and young children. If they are given some assistance to help themselves out of their poverty, the children in their care will stand a much better chance in life. They will avoid the begging trap and grow into self-respecting, independent adults.

So, on behalf of the Trustees and on behalf of all those amazing people I met in Tanzania, a big thank you for supporting HA100. Every penny you give goes directly to these people, and one day we hope to see those you have helped become strong, independent and able to help themselves and their families.

Diana Woodhead
Trustee Helping Africa 100

 

A Special Thankyou From TEKUA

"On behalf of the TEKUA management team, teachers and students, we wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to board members, volunteers and donors of Helping Africa 100, and a special thanks to Mr Garrie Bolton and Miss Margaret for all their time, energy and dedication to us.

Your words of wisdom have been our great inspiration; your presence here today is a great honour to us. We thank you for your financial assistance which enabled us to build this Arts and Handicrafts Workshop which is very helpful in the production of our artistic products. The Arts and Handicrafts department is the main foundation of our organisation's sustainability. The sales realised thereof assist us in provision of many necessities of our day to day expenses.

We mostly thank you for having an insight into this and assisting us. TEKUA is now confident that we shall work in a more comfortable, conducive environment. We are very proud of the giant leap forward because of your help.

We believe our collaboration shall result in other projects of providing education and changing many lives of young people in our society. We promise to take good care of this building and to make sure that it is productive.

Thank you very much and may God bless you all"

 

Headingley Dinner Raises £5,000!!

We are delighted that 140 people enjoyed a very successful night at our first charity dinner on 24th January 2009, hosted by the Headingley Experience.

 

Tony Smith, our Patron, invited Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Leeds Rhinos and England Rugby League star. They were introduced as Smith & Jones and both gave great after dinner talks about giving people a chance and encouraged the audience to support us by becoming a "special friend".

 

Our host, John Morgan, did a fantastic job of raising money with the raffle and the auction, as well as entertaining us with his many amusing stories. Finally to round off a special night, Mike Farrell the comedian sent everyone home laughing.

As well as raising £5,000, we also have 13 new "special friends" joining us, paying regular monthly donations, with promises of more to come.

A big thank you to everyone who came and supported us and for making the evening such a success. We look forward to seeing you all next time.