Uganda: Gratefulness From All
This is my first distribution trip with SCAW. It is proving to be a humbling and life-changing experience! The support of the Ladies of the Inner Wheel of Kampala and their volunteers reflect a genuine affection for the children, which is such a blessing!....as are all the smiles generated from the beautiful Ugandan children at each site!
“FOR THE CHILDREN” continues to be the focus of the SCAW bedkit contributions. As I interviewed several parents, with their children, I was reminded that the contents of each bedkit also benefit the entire family! Rented rooms are small. A mattress eliminates children sleeping on the floor; supplying mosquito netting reduces the parents’ worries over their children contracting malaria.
All of the parents whom I interviewed expressed how very, very grateful they were to the donors for thinking of their children!....and they prayed that others would donate so that more children and families would benefit!
JohnChristian for
Team Uganda 2019
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Philippines: We Have Arrived!!
Our team met at Toronto airport Friday. Here we are ready and anxious to get on our way.
After 16 hours in the air we arrived in Manila bright and early at 3:40 Sunday morning. It is very convenient that the time difference is exactly 12 hours. Our watches were already set for our new time zone.
After a day recovering we met with Dr. Ito as well as a few of the SCAW Philippine Team for a lovely dinner.
Tomorrow is a day of organizing and seeing a few sites here then Tuesday we begin our distributions.
Stay tuned,
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| From left to right: Irwin Kelly, Theodora Nandy, Bill Quipp, Sue Orr, Jan Gayman, Lorna Hedger, Ruth Vibe |
After a day recovering we met with Dr. Ito as well as a few of the SCAW Philippine Team for a lovely dinner.
Tomorrow is a day of organizing and seeing a few sites here then Tuesday we begin our distributions.
Stay tuned,
Philippines: Post Your Comments Here:
Please add your name to the end of your comment(s) as a courtesy to our travelling volunteers.
Uganda: Are We There Yet??
Tired or not, as soon as we arrived to our site we couldn’t help but jump out of the van and join in on the dancing and singing. What a beautiful welcome from all the parents and the children who have been waiting already for hours.
Once we gave all the bedkits we boarded the bus for a 4 hour bus ride to our new hotel. The feeling of fulfillment and thinking of all the new smiling faces we just left makes it completely worthwhile.
Uganda: Hope and Happiness Even Among the Difficult
No human being should have to live in the conditions that I witnessed today after our third distribution. Five people exist in a hovel made of bricks and corrugated steel. Most of us in Canada have bathrooms larger than what this family was living in.
The only furniture was a small dilapidated couch and a filthy mattress, but this is reality for millions of poverty-stricken children in Uganda. The father of the family abandoned them and his whereabouts were not known.
There was a woman with a teenage son, two girls eight and ten, and a tiny two year old girl. The ten year old received a bedkit earlier that morning. The mother told us that the two older girls would share the mattress which demonstrates the fact that.a bedkit benefits the entire family. Our wish would be that we brought a sliver of hope and happiness through the gift of a bedkit.
Rosanne Waugh for
Team Uganda 2019Post your comments here:
Uganda: Our Overseas Partner - Inner Wheel of Kampala!
Our partners in Uganda are the Inner Wheel of Kampala. This is a women’s group which started off being wives of Rotarians, but now membership is open to anyone over the age of 18 with interest in helping others.
There are 14 women who are helping us on the distributions. Each day one of the women is in charge of the distribution. Prior to our arrival she and a few others, have met with the families of the 585 children to which we hand out a bedkit and she has also selected a site for the distribution.
Today we drove 2 hours outside of Kampala into the rolling countryside to a large Catholic school, which had a primary, secondary and vocational school on site as well as the church. These ladies of the Inner Wheel are of great help and make our distribution possible and enjoyable.
Uganda: Stark Contrast!
Day 2 of the Uganda Distribution is complete and was a great success. 585 bedkits were distributed and 585 happy smiling children proudly carried their gifts home to begin enjoying a much better sleep.
Part of the SCAW teams responsibility is to visit some recipients of a bedkit from a previous years' distribution. On Sunday after our distribution was complete we visited a single mother and her 2 children to see how the bedkit, that her son received in 2017 was standing up.
I find that these visits provide a stark reminder why SCAW's work is so important. The mother and her 2 children rent a room approximately 10ft x 10ft for CAD$7 a month. They live in this room with the mother and daughter sleeping together on blankets and the son sleeping on the bed. Unfortunately, due to the beliefs of the mother the son and daughter cannot share the bed.
The son is attending school but the daughter had to stop attending because their mother cannot earn enough money doing laundry to afford school uniforms for both children, along with rent and food.
Seeing people living in these conditions and how much a simple bedkit means to them helps remind us of how significant SCAW's impact can be.
Neil Waugh for
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Uganda 2019: Happy Mother’s Day from Uganda!
(Admin apologizes for the late post)
The SCAW Team spent
the day on our first distribution in Uganda celebrating and working in
partnership with the women of the Inner Wheel of Kampala. We set out this morning in the pouring rain
after a night of unsettling thunder and lightening. Along the bumpy route to our site, our
oversees partners sang away the rain and magically brought clearer skies and
very warm temperatures for the remainder of the day. A shout out to the men in our group who
kindly remembered to wish all of us a Happy Mother’s Day!
In the course of
handing out 585 bedkits to a large group of very excited school aged children,
we met and spoke to so many grateful mothers who accompanied their children to
the distribution site to watch the process and to help their children carry
their bedkits back home.
I had the humbling
experience of interviewing some of the mothers and a grandmother about the
contents of the bedkit, how it will help their child and to give them the
opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings to the donors.
I heard how before
today, their children share a sleep surface with other siblings and sometimes a
parent. They sleep on the floor either
on a mat or a mattress, noting that when it rains, they get soaked. When asked
what in the bedkit is most useful to the child, they said it was both the
mattress and the mosquito net. While
some families have a mosquito net, many do not and if they do, it must be
shared by the entire family. One mother spoke of her daughter waking during the
night because she is hungry as they do not always have money for food. A grandmother was very thankful for the bedkit because she is raising four of her grandchildren and now the ten-year-old
can sleep on her own for the first time.
Without exception, all the adults interviewed expressed sincere
gratitude and appreciation for the donors who made this gift of a bedkit possible
for their children which will help them have a more restful and comfortable
sleep at night.
It was a Mother’s Day
well spent and it served as a reminder of how fortunate we all are to have our
families back home supporting our efforts.
Thank you!
Karen Bridgman-Acker
Team Uganda 2019
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Uganda: We Have Arrived!!
Our team arrived in Kampala late last night and were met by several smiling and friendly faces from our Overseas Volunteer Partners, the wonderful ladies from the Inner Wheel of Kampala.
This morning we had our team meeting after breakfast to prepare for our distribution. Then the Inner Wheel ladies took us to visit one of our main Uganda suppliers, Crest Foam. Besides supplying excellent foam mattresses, Crest’s team donates their employees time and facility space to assemble the 7,000 bedkits then deliver them to each distribution site in Uganda. What a fantastic team member Crest Foam is for Sleeping Children.
We finished the day with our meeting with the Inner Wheel ladies, who have everything very well organized for us.
So we are now ready to start delivering bedkits tomorrow morning!
Brian Barr for
Team Uganda 2019
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Uganda 2019: Post Your Comments here:
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Kenya: A Grateful Team Singing Off From Kenya!
Today was a bittersweet day for the team as this was our final distribution in Kenya. We travelled outside the city centre and battled the morning Nairobi traffic to arrive at the Kayole Primary school. We were greeted by a group of students that we excited to sing a welcome song that they had been practicing. The pride and excitement in the children’s faces is a great way to start the day.
The recipients were ready and waiting to get their bedkits but the team took our time with each child as we did not want the day to end.
Everyone hugging Willow.. on our last day
Although there are many children that were disappointed not to receive a bedkit, As we are all heading to bed this evening we know that there are 4000 kids are sleeping better this evening because of our generous donors.
Thank you,
Jenny Simpson for
Team Kenya 2019Post your comments here:
Kenya: A Day of Mixed Emotions
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| Many helping hands! |
On route we were reminded by a group of giraffes that we were indeed in Kenya.
Prior to the distribution of the bedkits at the elementary school within the Centre and were welcomed by a song specifically scripted to say their appreciation of the bedkit.
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| Welcoming Song |
The children were thrilled with the content of the bedkit which included the brightly coloured outfits they wore for picture taking.
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| Time for some fun! |
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| Handing out the bedkits |
The need here was great as was illustrated by their well worn shoes and the uniforms. The mandatory school uniforms are produced on site.
Their interests were common to all children skipping , football etc and of course even selfies.
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| Taking a Selfie |
After a generously supplied lunch by a Rotarian we toured the centre which was focused to meet all needs including health, education, care, and skill building not to mention self improvement and sustainability. There was a day care centre, workshops, a library, special needs children’s centre, gardens, chickens to look after and catfish ponds.
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| One of the gardens |
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| Skills Training |
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| Skills Training |
Sustainability was a focus. Usable wastes within the centre were used to made charcoal for the Centre’s kitchen. Plastics were used to make baskets. Compositing was practiced.
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| Making Charcoal |
The illustrated caring and partnership of many offers hope for these endearing children.
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| Day Care |
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| Place for children with special needs to be cared for. |
A sincere thanks to the many donors and volunteers of SCAW .
The SCAW partner the Rotarians.
The remarkable teachers and overseers.
And most critically the striving and zest for life of the children.
Nancy for
Team Kenya 2019
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Kenya: Kibera
Today, the Kenya SCAW team distributed 1000 bedkits at a school in Africa's largest slum called Kibera. No doubt it could be considered a real eye opener and reality check for those in first world countries. It's one thing to show a picture to family and friends, but it's a whole different thing to experience it first hand. I don't think anyone realizes how materialistic we really are until we see these little children in such poor countries.
The kids were so happy despite having very little, where we have everything at our fingertips for the most part. With smiles from ear to ear, the kids were so excited and grateful for the bedkits people had donated to them - many "thank you's," along the way as the kits were given to them. The Rotarians that helped us out today were phenomenal, as were the school staff and students. Our team couldn't have run such a smooth distribution if it wasn't for them.
Kenya: We Have Arrived & 1000 Bedkits Distributed!!
Under the sunny Kenyan sky we laughed and danced and played with a 1000 terrific kids, all who will be sleeping more soundly tonight with their new bedkit items. The bedkit distribution took place at a school with approximately 2500 students, classrooms packed with upwards of 100 students per teacher. The day went smoothly, with our Canadian team working alongside our Kenyan partners, plus the teachers and student supporters- everyone pitched in to help the kids! A great start to our working adventure and we look forward to spending more time with the kids tomorrow!
Team Kenya 2019:
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Team Kenya 2019:
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Kenya 2019: Post Your Comments Here:
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Belgaum: Over 3000 KM Travelled + 7000 Bedkits Distributed = Mission Accomplished!!
Our team awoke to another sun filled day in the tropics, in the town of Karwar, on the Arabian Sea. Following an early breakfast enjoyed on the outdoor terrace with the gentle breezes cooling us, we walked approximately two blocks to the waterfront. Here we leisurely strolled along the beach, with the mountains surrounding us. Of great interest were the old mahogany fishing boats pulled up on the shore with nets and ropes neatly coiled, waiting for the owner to begin the day's work.
We also watched about twenty young men playing what appeared to be an Indian version of rugby without the ball. When taken down, they certainly didn't mind being covered in sand and came up smiling!!
This distribution of 400 bedkits was held in a special event hall, with many overhead fans keeping the children and volunteers cool! Much appreciated by all! The small club of Rotarians were extremely well organized, with many happy and enthusiastic helpers that resulted in completing the distribution in two hours.
Today all the children came from the outlying villages, the farthest being 75 kilometres away. Buses had been organized by the Rotarians according school to transport the children and their families. It was my privilege to hand out the bedkits today to the smiling, overjoyed children and I know they will all enjoy a good night's sleep tonight.
We also watched about twenty young men playing what appeared to be an Indian version of rugby without the ball. When taken down, they certainly didn't mind being covered in sand and came up smiling!!
This distribution of 400 bedkits was held in a special event hall, with many overhead fans keeping the children and volunteers cool! Much appreciated by all! The small club of Rotarians were extremely well organized, with many happy and enthusiastic helpers that resulted in completing the distribution in two hours.
Today all the children came from the outlying villages, the farthest being 75 kilometres away. Buses had been organized by the Rotarians according school to transport the children and their families. It was my privilege to hand out the bedkits today to the smiling, overjoyed children and I know they will all enjoy a good night's sleep tonight.
We travelled four hours back to Belgaum and tonight the post distribution meeting will be held with our hosts, the Rotary Club of Belgaum. And tomorrow our Canadian team members will say goodbye, some returning home and others extending their travels in India.
Accolades are in order to all the Rotarians who hosted the 13 distributions, their hundreds of volunteers, our Team Leader Sandra Riches, and my colleagues on the Canadian Team, our superb driver Shekher who skillfully provided our transportation over approximately 3000 kilometres.
Most importantly, we appreciate the thousands of donors who made Murray's Dream of providing a good night's sleep for children possible.
The final distribution at Karwar completes our commitment to deliver 7,000 bedkits to those children that need them the most.
For the Children,
Carol Rolph for
Team Belgaum 2019
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Accolades are in order to all the Rotarians who hosted the 13 distributions, their hundreds of volunteers, our Team Leader Sandra Riches, and my colleagues on the Canadian Team, our superb driver Shekher who skillfully provided our transportation over approximately 3000 kilometres.
Most importantly, we appreciate the thousands of donors who made Murray's Dream of providing a good night's sleep for children possible.
The final distribution at Karwar completes our commitment to deliver 7,000 bedkits to those children that need them the most.
For the Children,
Carol Rolph for
Team Belgaum 2019
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Belgaum: Mundgod & Sirsi
During the distribution at Sirsi, the Rotary Club of Belgaum reached the 50,000th bedkit milestone, made possible through their hard work and passion to help the children.
Since the 14-member Mundgod Rotary Club was hosting their very first distribution, members of the Belgaum Trust assisted with the set up and smooth operation.
In both sites, the children from rural villages were very excited and happy
and the parents, who waited patiently outside, were so thankful.
Our driver, Shekher, deserves special mention, as he has been extremely dedicated and helpful assisting with several tasks at each distribution and always with a positive, pleasant manner.
As we descended from Sirsi, he skillfully guided us, in the dark, along the curvy roads and construction areas against steady ongoing traffic. He is definitely a valuable member of our team. Thanks to Shekher we reached our destination safely, and look forward to our final distribution tomorrow.
With today’s distributions completed, we have now given 6,600 bedkits to the children. They all left happy and smiling with the generosity of donors very much appreciated by the parents.
For the Children,
Ann MacDonald for
Team Belgaum 2019
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For the Children,
Ann MacDonald for
Team Belgaum 2019
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Belgaum: Hubli and Kundgol
So, the question that came up is how the children are selected as the need is great wherever you go in this region. This came up in the discussion with the Rotary Club of Hubli, a club that has been active since 1947, has consistently had a membership of over 100 Rotarians and has been involved with SCAW bedkits since 1975. In this time interval they have distributed about 30,000 bedkits!
Preparation by the Rotarians to go into the government schools consists of organizing meetings, school selection and administrative support which all together take about 100 man hours.
To find the children who would benefit most from a bedkit and following guidelines set out by SCAW, the club organizes 10 teams of four Rotarians who visit 40 schools in the surrounding villages, directly interview prospective bedkit recipients through the use of a questionnaire, determine those children eligible and then select five girls and five boys from each school to come up with the 400 children who would get the bedkits this year. This takes about 400 man hours of work by the Rotarians.
On the day before the distribution takes place, the bedkit contents are assembled by a large number of people consisting of Rotarians, Interact/Rotaract members, families, friends and consume about 200 man hours to ensure that the bedkits are available to be given to the selected children the next day.
Finally, it is distribution day and the Rotarians come out in force as well as other volunteers such as local police, family and friends to ensure that the distribution process goes smoothly.
Before too long, the 400 selected children arrive with an adult family member and we all closely cooperate to ensure that the children get the bedkit they so deserve in as error-free process as possible. For the Rotarians and all those who helped them get this all done, it took about 300 man hours.
Total man hours associated with the Hubli bedkit distribution this year is estimated to be in the neighbourhood of 1,000 man hours, an effort that is probably representative of the 11 Rotary Clubs involved with our team at each of their sites as well as the charitable organization Ekal, an amazing commitment by these clubs and organizations…all for the children so that they can have a good night’s sleep.
As you can see, to be an overseas volunteer partner, such as Rotary, takes considerable time, effort and resources to make the distribution of the donor funded bedkits possible.
For all involved, it is a labour of love because we all care for children and know that if they can have a good night sleep, life is so much more positive for them all and their families.
Team Belgaum 2019 has now distributed 5,900 bedkits with three distributions remaining. What a positive experience for all!!
For the Children,
Joep Diening for
Team Belgaum 2019
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To find the children who would benefit most from a bedkit and following guidelines set out by SCAW, the club organizes 10 teams of four Rotarians who visit 40 schools in the surrounding villages, directly interview prospective bedkit recipients through the use of a questionnaire, determine those children eligible and then select five girls and five boys from each school to come up with the 400 children who would get the bedkits this year. This takes about 400 man hours of work by the Rotarians.
On the day before the distribution takes place, the bedkit contents are assembled by a large number of people consisting of Rotarians, Interact/Rotaract members, families, friends and consume about 200 man hours to ensure that the bedkits are available to be given to the selected children the next day.
Finally, it is distribution day and the Rotarians come out in force as well as other volunteers such as local police, family and friends to ensure that the distribution process goes smoothly.
Before too long, the 400 selected children arrive with an adult family member and we all closely cooperate to ensure that the children get the bedkit they so deserve in as error-free process as possible. For the Rotarians and all those who helped them get this all done, it took about 300 man hours.
Total man hours associated with the Hubli bedkit distribution this year is estimated to be in the neighbourhood of 1,000 man hours, an effort that is probably representative of the 11 Rotary Clubs involved with our team at each of their sites as well as the charitable organization Ekal, an amazing commitment by these clubs and organizations…all for the children so that they can have a good night’s sleep.
As you can see, to be an overseas volunteer partner, such as Rotary, takes considerable time, effort and resources to make the distribution of the donor funded bedkits possible.
For all involved, it is a labour of love because we all care for children and know that if they can have a good night sleep, life is so much more positive for them all and their families.
Team Belgaum 2019 has now distributed 5,900 bedkits with three distributions remaining. What a positive experience for all!!
For the Children,
Joep Diening for
Team Belgaum 2019
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Belgaum: Home Visits
After today’s distribution of 500 bed kits under yet another sunny sky, the Rotary brought us to visit a village called Bailhongal where we visited two homes after completing the distribution.
Home 1
A family of three lived in the corrugated tin home located along a narrow road in a village where cattle, when not used in the field, are tightly roped to stakes outside the home.
This home was equipped with government supplied electricity and gas. There were no windows, no furniture and the home was very small. The corrugated tin roof was curiously decorated with plants stuck in ‘clay pots’.
The inside area was divided into two. At night the family’s two cattle occupied half the space and the family slept in the other half (including the kitchen) on a mat placed on the ground. A wall mounted clock was the only decoration. In the corner by the door was a two-foot square cement bathing area.
Home 2
A family of three lived in this newly constructed tin home located in the middle of a field. It was not yet equipped with electricity or gas. It also had no windows nor furniture.
Neatly aligned and polished metal pots were proudly lined up on a shelf.
The family cooked with wood inside the one room house which had a front and back door.
A raised clay platform covered in tarp in the back of the room is where the family of three slept and where water jugs were stored.
A wooden peg was used to secure the cattle in the home at night.
Both homes receiving the bedkits were looking forward to sleeping under the SCAW provided mosquito nets as they had none.
As of end of day in Bailhongal, we distributed 5,100 bedkits with five more distributions to go to reach the 7,000 total.
For the Children,
Line Forestier for
Team Belgaum 2019
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Home 1
A family of three lived in the corrugated tin home located along a narrow road in a village where cattle, when not used in the field, are tightly roped to stakes outside the home.
This home was equipped with government supplied electricity and gas. There were no windows, no furniture and the home was very small. The corrugated tin roof was curiously decorated with plants stuck in ‘clay pots’.
The inside area was divided into two. At night the family’s two cattle occupied half the space and the family slept in the other half (including the kitchen) on a mat placed on the ground. A wall mounted clock was the only decoration. In the corner by the door was a two-foot square cement bathing area.
Home 2
A family of three lived in this newly constructed tin home located in the middle of a field. It was not yet equipped with electricity or gas. It also had no windows nor furniture.
Neatly aligned and polished metal pots were proudly lined up on a shelf.
The family cooked with wood inside the one room house which had a front and back door.
A raised clay platform covered in tarp in the back of the room is where the family of three slept and where water jugs were stored.
A wooden peg was used to secure the cattle in the home at night.
Both homes receiving the bedkits were looking forward to sleeping under the SCAW provided mosquito nets as they had none.
As of end of day in Bailhongal, we distributed 5,100 bedkits with five more distributions to go to reach the 7,000 total.
For the Children,
Line Forestier for
Team Belgaum 2019
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Belgaum: A 50,000 Milestone!!
Today’s distribution in Belgaum, under a very sunny sky, was mammoth and marked an admirable milestone for the Rotary Club who began working with SCAW in 1996.
Many hands make light work. This was our team’s biggest single distribution - 1000 bed kits were given to children some of whom had travelled up to 70 kilometres early this morning with their parent.
A number of players were instrumental to today’s smooth operation.
No small details were overlooked by Dilip Chitnis and his team of rotary’s colleagues, Rotaracts, their families and friends.
Generous school teachers, whose math skills far surpassed ours, easily counted and organized the children for the large group photographs. Determined family members managed to make children not only smile but laugh out loud while having their picture taken. Donors will enjoy seeing these pictures.
As for the special milestone reached today for the Belgaum Rotary... drum roll please..... they have now distributed over 50,000 bed kits in the area. Congratulations !!!
We look forward to working with you for the next 50,000 !
Many hands make light work. This was our team’s biggest single distribution - 1000 bed kits were given to children some of whom had travelled up to 70 kilometres early this morning with their parent.
A number of players were instrumental to today’s smooth operation.
No small details were overlooked by Dilip Chitnis and his team of rotary’s colleagues, Rotaracts, their families and friends.
Generous school teachers, whose math skills far surpassed ours, easily counted and organized the children for the large group photographs. Determined family members managed to make children not only smile but laugh out loud while having their picture taken. Donors will enjoy seeing these pictures.
As for the special milestone reached today for the Belgaum Rotary... drum roll please..... they have now distributed over 50,000 bed kits in the area. Congratulations !!!
We look forward to working with you for the next 50,000 !