Views from our homes and places of work

www.lethemhelpthemselves.com/events

We all like to have a good view from our homes and some amongst us are prepared to pay a premium for those views. Estate Agents know this and capitalise on it.

This was the view from my bedroom window one Sunday morning earlier this year a very rare view indeed as we don't always have snow during winter




We don't stop at wanting good views from our hotel rooms whilst on holiday, or our homes but we also like views from our desks at work. I had a boss who when we were planning to move office decided to keep the seating plans a secret. I asked him why and he said "two things that get people excited in a work place are the wage packet and where they sit, so I don't want a riot on my hands"

This was before he had to hear a complaint from a member of staff who had been told off for taking a colleague's cup without her permission, failed to wash the cup and did not return it to her desk!

On the other side of the world 70KM from where Besi and the others live is Edirisa, Ruth works at Edirisa as a Seamstress. Edirisa provides valuable income and skills through volunteers in this community



This is the view that Ruth enjoys daily whilst she works and no wonder she is smiling.






Lake Bunyonyi(many birds) Kabale SW Uganda

But amongst this beauty is a tale of the worst kind of betrayal a woman can face and untold. Irene here, was married with 9 children when her husband upped and left to start a new family with another woman. Irene was the main bread winner as her husband's money was spent on beer which is common practice amongst men in this community. Ruth does not own any land or other property for that matter. She hires a a vegetable plot from someone else and is able to grow enough food to feed her children.

She earns a living weaving baskets and teaching other women to weave and through Edirisa she is able to access buyers for her baskets such Ethnic Supplies. When I met Irene in September she was in tears as she told me her story and as a woman I can understand her sense of betrayal




The awful truth of this situation is that it is not unique to Irene, I spoke to 2 other women in similar situation, absent or drunk husbands, abandoned children etc? How can there be such sadness in such a beautiful, serene and calm place?

What do you do with your old shoes

www.lethemhelpthemselves.com/events


October 17 is child poverty day, there are many events going on around the world to raise awareness and funding to alleviate poverty amongst African children in particular.

Responce Source have come up with an interesting schemes and are inviting people to give them their old shoes. Read more about their project here


This young child and many like him SW Uganda passes his days "harvesting" stones in bare feet in order to feed himself.



We would would be grateful if you would join us too in our effort to make life easier for children and women in Africa.



More village children that could use your old shoes

Have you ever seen a coffee tree?

Yes, Maybe, No,, does coffee grow on trees, well what do you think?

I don't know I buy mine at the supermarket!


This is a coffee tree and it in Besi's veg patch. It takes 4 years from the point of planting to the point of bearing fruit (the coffee beans)Besi doesn't grow enough to sell but were she to sell, she would earn 50pence per kilo. Her tree is for personal use.




This is the other side of Besi's vegetable patch. Here she grows bananas and for the benefit of those that have never seen a banana tree that is what it looks like. She grows other vegetables too and if she has more than what she needs she swaps with Mary and the others



In this village children do not normally go to school until they are 7 years old. The villagers felt that this as not ideal situation and thanks to their friend
Ann McCarthy their dream of having a nursery school. It is not quite finished as the floor is yet to go don and there are no windows. It is however usable, and on Ann's last visit she had a go at taking a class of 30 children for a whole afternoon!



This is a camping space outside the nursery school and doubles as a play area too.




This is papyrus, it is the main raw material in basket weaving and useful for making mats. This fascinates me because on it's own it is useless but with the concept of value addition it brings financial independence to Besi and the other women in the village




This is a temporary youth centre where the young people come to watch TV and video. It also double as a village hall, and although it is not completed in any sense they have electricity and oh those mats are made out papyrus.

Would you like to learn more or support our efforts in this village?

If so please drop me a note

The other side of the world

The other side of the world is home to Mary, Joanna and Besi

It is a beautiful hillside village with views to die for. The sunrises are as amazing especially through the mist over the hills. It is a place of peace tranquillity and you can lose yourself in the hills for hours on end, time becomes immaterial in this place.
This is an unusual African village because you are unlikely to find those starving children with flies on their faces as seen on television. There is a lot of food here, carrots, onions, bananas, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, coffee etc. The soil is fertile and you can grow almost everything here.
The people are incredibly welcoming too, they will easily put on an instant performance (traditional dance and song normally) to show how happy they are to welcome you. They will feed you on the best treats their land has to offer.
Because of the altitude this place has fewer mosquitos than the low lying places. But the downside is the lack of clean water; this is not something for to worry about though. Besi and the others will go fetch the water regardless of the distance they have to travel and boil it on an open fire to ensure that it is safe for you to use.
There is nothing much here by way of jobs for Besi Mary and Joanna to and the only skills they have from which they can earn an income is basket weaving. They would like to earn an income by teaching other women in village how to weave baskets. This is possible and as soon as the training centre is finished they will be well on their way to financial independence.
Something else about this is place, the average is 47 years, I am not 47 yet but I can’t believe that anyone aged 47 years would be considered elderly

Let Them Help Themselves Out of Poverty

They are people in the world that find themselves in circumstances beyond their control. Something that is unique about these people is that they are resilient, friendly and welcoming and above all they do not ask for much.

I have recently returned from Uganda and was fortunate to visit such people, and it is the best holiday I have ever had. A particular community I visited is in a remote village in SW Uganda and they are in dire need of clean water. This is not an unrealistic expectation in my mind after all we expect to turn on the taps and get clean, germ and bacteria free water.

The current situation is that the women and children walk down the hills that you can see on my profile photgraphs to get dirty water, they carry it back the hill and walk down again to fetch firewood to enable them to boil the water on an open fire to rid it of germs and bacteria. This process takes up to 3 hours and understandably they are so exhausted by the end of it that they skip the bit where they have to go down the hill to fetch the firewood and they use the untreated water.

As a result of this those with compromised immune systems such as the children, elderly or the sick cannot survive.

With this in mind I have got together with a few friends to do something about this water situation. We have had the a quote for the cost of getting clean water in and that stands at £8000-£10000. this is not an awful lot of money in the scheme of things especially as that it would bring clean water to over 10,000.

We have a fundraising event at the Hilton Hotel in Cobham Surrey on 17 Oct 2008 to kick start this effort. We however haven't had much luck with ticket sales thus far and ironically stand to pay a cancellation fee of £4000 to teh hotel!

Can you help us? I sincerely hope so.

Further details are at www.lethemhelpthemselves.com/events

The women behind the products

Tanzania textile producers



Julia produces most of our beads


Ruhanga basket weavers



Village woman sun drying grain



Kabale basket weavers SW Uganda


Mbuya Charity women weaving Straw Mats


Tanzanian cotton bags producers

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