Greetings to all our friends and supporters, past volunteers & child sponsors
I would like to announce that together with nine other staff members from Uganda Lodge we are running in the International Ugandan Marathon in Masaka on 5th June.
With your help we hope to raise money and continue to work on completing a Training Restaurant for teaching cookery skills to unemployed youth in the area. The foundations, walls, roof and veranda are complete but we now need money for doors, windows, internal decorations & equipment. Please will you donate to show your support to our staff on our BT fund-raising page HEREor if you are in Uganda you can send MTN money direct to myself (Denis Aheirwe) +256 774768090 & please add your name for our records.
Staff members who have agreed to run with me are as follows: Dr EDWARD Muliira – RICHARD Kabutu – POLLY Mugemya – NICHOLAS Ahimbisbwe – DENIS Kisekka – TONY West – HELLEN Najjingo – AGNES Tumukunde – PROSSY Nuwagaba
This month, alongside good news we have some very sad news. One of our recent volunteers, Suresh Amin, who worked tirelessly with us in Ruhanga for a month last year passed away in his sleep from a very unexpected heart attack. Suresh left Ruhanga vowing to raise enough money to complete our Training Restaurant at the Vocation Centre, and then return with friends to eat in there later in the year. Unlike many of the promises we hear, Suresh did keep part of his word. Within 3 months of leaving Uganda he had sent us $15,000 and this enabled Denis to organise builders to add roofing timbers and iron sheets on the roof of both the main building & the WC block and also build a covered veranda around the outside for al-fresco dining. This money has now run out but his son has promised to see how he can continue his legacy; we send our condolences to his family & friends.
Another sad loss to the village Community is the death of Justine – Mama Nicholas – as many knew her by. She suffered with TB for many years, but she was always very strong. In the early days of development at ‘Uganda Lodge’ her hard work and also her knowledge of all the local remedies to apply when there was a need was always admired. We send our sympathies to Nicholas and his family.
LATE AVAILABILITY for UGANDA MARATHON ENTRANTS – There is still an opportunity for International runners to enter the race on Saturday week & you only need to run 10kms. Flights are available to Entebbe from UK for under £400. Do you fancy a couple of weeks or longer out in the sun – and possibly follow the run with a safari or a gorilla trek? Please note this is a Fun Run and not just for serious runners – and you need only challenge yourself to complete 10 kms, not a gruelling 40 kms.
Last year we had four entrants and between them they raised several thousand pounds for upgrading the showers, dormitories and water systems at our school, which was a fantastic effort. Come on – either contact me now and book yourself on a short notice trip to come out to Uganda , or if this definitely not possible then please support our staff and Denis on our BTDonate page here
Ruhanga Development School has just finished Term 1 of 2016 and over 500 village children are taking advantage of getting a good quality education at a very minimal cost to each family. This is thanks to our International sponsors who all help towards paying the teachers salaries, free breakfasts and other essential running costs at the school.
Child Sponsorship Special thanks must go to Simmy – whose company are sponsoring 84 of our children for a further year, also David who sponsors 12 children each month, Ian sponsoring 8, Elaine & Keith 6, Alison & Sonia each sponsor 5 and Nick & Mike both make regular monthly donations to our UK charity. Thanks also to the many others who sponsor between one and four children each per month, or continue to renew on a yearly basis. All your sponsorship money goes into the school fund rather than to individual families and this enables us to give a very good education and a free breakfast to over 500 children. In addition the families themselves are asked to contribute about 50p a week for each child so they don’t expect foreign aid to take over complete responsibility for their children.
Some children that we have accepted in school don’t have sponsorship at all and you can see their photos here We ask if you or any friends are willing to make a donation of just £3.50p per month for each child you choose – less than a cup of coffee! This can be done by standing order to our bank account or by using a card direct to BTDonate
The McNeil Medical Centre – Numbers of patients are increasing each month as these rural village families are beginning to see the benefits of having a no-for–profit medical centre in their midst. Babies are being vaccinated, school-children are being screened for both dental and medical conditions and adults are being given treatment plus health & hygiene education. As well as providing most of the initial building costs, the UK company – ASE Consulting Ltd – have been supporting the staff salaries and helping with the cost of drugs each month. We have just heard that they are willing to continue with this good work so our clinic will remain open and continue to give the same support to the villagers over the coming months. Thankyou so much.
School Links with sponsored children. I am returning to Uganda on 1st June so if any of the schools who would like to make a link with Ruhanga Development School can get a small booklet, or letter with a few photos to me by the end of May I can take them out with me. I hope to finally get the WhatsApp system in place when I am there – so please add your contact name, address & details such as email & WhatsApp to any info you send me.
Queen Elizabeth projects at Kasenyi and Kisenyi Work is still ongoing but more slowly than Denis would of hoped, due to low volunteer numbers and thus little profit coming from the Lodge and the safaris he runs. Tourists visiting Kisenyi on the shores of Lake Edward keep asking him to complete building a shelter for visitors to eat & camp under which will compliment the excellent western style WC/Shower block he has built. You may remember he first built four local-style latrine blocks for these fishing villagers to use and now they wait anxiously for more guests to spend a longer time there. This will bring them in additional money which will help supplement their very meagre earnings from fishing.
Bathrooms are nearly ready and once the Bandas and a dining shelter at Kasenyi on Lake George are completed they will start to generate an income which will be channelled back to helping families in Denis’s home village of Ruhanga.
Please tell all your friends and colleagues about us – those who may be looking for an opportunity to volunteer in a beautiful, safe, rural environment, or do their Medical Elective Placement without it costing a fortune, or perhaps you know a family or older people looking for a ‘Holiday with a Difference’ Singles and Groups, Backpackers and Seniors – ALL ARE WELCOME
I still need more volunteers to help in the UK with promotion on social media, admin and marketing, and of course to help us move forward with our Vocational Training Centre for giving a Trade and Business Skills to the young people of Ruhanga we need DONATIONS and SPONSORSHIP https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/denismarathon
We love hearing back from you so please do keep in touch through Email, Facebook or WhatsApp
Greetings to all our friends and supporters, past volunteers & child sponsors
Within 3 months of leaving Uganda he had sent us $15,000 and this enabled Denis to organise builders to add roofing timbers and iron sheets on the roof of both the main building & the WC block and also build a covered veranda around the outside for al-fresco dining. This money has now run out but his son has promised to see how he can continue his legacy; we send our condolences to his family & friends.
Another sad loss to the village Community is the death of Justine – Mama Nicholas – as many knew her by. She suffered with TB for many years, but she was always very strong. In the early days of development at ‘Uganda Lodge’ her hard work and also her knowledge of all the local remedies to apply when there was a need was always admired. We send our sympathies to Nicholas and his family.
LATE AVAILABILITY for UGANDA MARATHON ENTRANTS – There is still an opportunity for International runners to enter the race on Saturday week & you only need to run 10kms. Flights are available to Entebbe from UK for under £400. Do you fancy a couple of weeks or longer out in the sun – and possibly follow the run with a safari or a gorilla trek? 
Please note this is a 
Child Sponsorship Special thanks must go to Simmy – whose company are sponsoring 84 of our children for a further year, also David who sponsors 12 children each month, Ian sponsoring 8, Elaine & Keith 6, Alison & Sonia each sponsor 5 and Nick & Mike both make regular monthly donations to our UK charity. Thanks also to the many others who sponsor between one and four children each per month, or continue to renew on a yearly basis. All your sponsorship money goes into the school fund rather than to individual families and this enables us to give a very good education and a free breakfast to over 500 children. In addition the families themselves are asked to contribute about 50p a week for each child so they don’t expect foreign aid to take over complete responsibility for their children.
The McNeil Medical Centre – Numbers of patients are increasing each month as these rural village families are beginning to see the benefits of having a no-for–profit medical centre in their midst. Babies are being vaccinated, school-children are being screened for both dental and medical conditions and adults are being given treatment plus health & hygiene education. As well as providing most of the initial building costs, the UK company – ASE Consulting Ltd – have been supporting the staff salaries and helping with the cost of drugs each month. We have just heard that they are willing to continue with this good work so our clinic will remain open and continue to give the same support to the villagers over the coming months. Thankyou so much.
School Links with sponsored children. I am returning to Uganda on 1st June so if any of the schools who would like to make a link with Ruhanga Development School can get a small booklet, or letter with a few photos to me by the end of May I can take them out with me. I hope to finally get the WhatsApp system in place when I am there – so please add your contact name, address & details such as email & WhatsApp to any info you send me.
safaris he runs. Tourists visiting Kisenyi on the shores of Lake 
Edward keep asking him to complete building a shelter for visitors to eat & camp under which will compliment the excellent western style WC/Shower block he has built. You may remember he first built four local-style latrine blocks for these fishing villagers to use and now they wait anxiously for more guests to spend a longer time there. This will bring them in additional money which will help supplement their very meagre earnings from fishing.
