End of term 1 at AASU Nursery & Primary School!

March 2011

The month of March was definitely a very busy one for Arise and Shine Uganda and a very successful one at that. It saw two of our main projects (Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School, Kibuye; andArise and Shine Nursery and Care Home, Jinja) really start to stabilize, allowing us more time and opportunity in the up and coming months to focus on developing the rest of our projects.

Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School opened in February and throughout March has seen more pupils enrolling. Those already attending the school are progressing in leaps and bounds, particularly with their language skills. It is really satisfying to witness that all the hard work of fundraising, building and opening the school was worthwhile, giving these students the opportunity to begin the achieve their potential. In April AASU is completing the ‘aesthetic’ finishing touches to the school as well as conducting additional teacher training workshops during Easter holidays. We also hope that more students register for classes after the break.

During March Arise and Shine Nursery and Care Home relocated to a great new house in a safe area with plenty of room for our increasing number of children. After the initial chaos of moving, we are now fully settled in and (with great thanks to Eric and The Madhivani’s) we have been able to establish a regular feeding program ensuring a varied and nutritious diet for the children.

Now that we have entered April, we at AASU hope to be able to turn our focus towards expanding ourCommunity Education and Community Outreach programs, ahead of our first interns arriving in May (who we hope will be able to help us continue with establishing these projects). It looks like it’s going to be another busy month - and with rains finally arriving in the village, we hope to be able to precede, full steam ahead.

Drought in Kibuye Village

At the moment in Kibuye village, as across much of Uganda, we are experiencing drought conditions. Most of the people in rural Uganda depend on subsistence farming for food and daily life. However, due to recent changes in the climate, the rains came unexpectedly early and the sunny months have extended further than predicted. Farmers planted their crops with the expectation of early rain which never came. Due to this, many crops have dried in the fields and for the past 2 months the village has been faced with famine. Live stock which would have been an alternative source of food has also been massively affected. All grass dried up as have all many water bodies. As a result animals are dying due to starvation and lack of water. Even the AASU bore hole - like many others across the village - has dried out. We are hoping to be able to fix this week by digging further down and creating a bigger water tank to be able to sustain the growing water needs of the community.

Arise and Shine Uganda, as a community based organisation, has stepped in to try and help reduce the immediate struggles in Kibuye Village. We are also trying to introduce more sustainable methods of farming and food storage methods throughout the community to ensure this situation does not happen again next year.

Volunteering for AASU

Volunteering for Arise and Shine Uganda provides a great opportunity to donate your time and knowledge to helping a worthwhile cause. Whether its for one week or one year AASU will put your to very good use, whilst making your time with us fun and memorable. Moreover, you will be able to see the positive impact of your work every step of the way.

As a charitable organisation, AASU relies upon the time and skills of volunteers. Without you, we simply wouldn’t be able to function and we are eternally grateful to those who have - or in the future will - donate their time and skills to our projects.

The rate in which the organisation is expanding is too great for our current staff and volunteers to keep up with - therefore we really need all the help we can get.

As a young organisation we try our best to give volunteers and interns an opportunity to make a real impact on the organisation - you bring the ideas and enthusiasm and we will do all we can to assist you in bringing them to reality. We taylor work routines to each volunteer - whether you would like to donate your time to a specific project, or mix between two or more, we can arrange it. We also try to make sure our volunteers get to have a real experience of Uganda and its cultures - to ensure you benefit from your time we us as much as we do.

If you are interested in volunteering with AASU (or know someone who might be) please visit our volunteer page or contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!

Arise And Shine Nursery & Care home.

Arise and Shine Uganda Nursery & Care Home opened in December 2010. There are many orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children living in difficult situations throughout Uganda and when the opportunity arose for AASU to help - of course we couldn't say no.

Following the success of AASU and BEHOD's joint awareness raising project 'the festival to make THE difference' many organisations, companies and corporate bussinesses offered to donate funds and various items towards the cause of opening up the Nursery & Care home in Jinja.

Since opening, we now have 10 children in the home and it has been a great joy to watch each one of them blossom in health and spirit.

Initially, the Care Home was temporarily located at wako close but with great joy we have now moved to our permanent residence in Mpumudde division.

We hope to be able to house 20 children in total, 15 children being under the Arise and Shine Uganda program and 5 sponsored by our partner organisation Bulungi Uganda.

If you are interested in donating either your time or any useful items to the home, we are always grateful for any support we can get. For images of the children please see either Nursery & Care Home or or our Project Gallery.

Beads, beads, beads

Those of you who are fashion conscious will already know that this season’s must have accessory is AASU beaded jewellery. For those of you who don’t know – no need to worry - it’s a well kept secret but we’ve decided to let you in on it!

In order to fund its projects AASU makes and sells a huge variety of high quality, handmade, beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Each one is lovingly and painstaking made by hand from paper and securely varnished to ensure its longevity . . . . so you can wear it time and time again!

AASU necklaces are truly unique and beautiful, with such variety in styles and colours, there is something for everyone, you will be spoilt for choice!

Other products  

We also have an exclusive range of bags that are perfect for almost every occasion.

Whether it is a ‘slouch’ or ‘fashion’ bag, as with all our products, each one is handmade to the highest quality. Again colours are styles vary . . . . and if you have something specific in mind we will do all we can to help create it.

 
AASU has recently expanded its range to include earrings. From brightly coloured options, to more natural tones and traditional patterns, AASU has such a vast selection of earrings there’s bound to be a pair that takes your fancy. And of course we couldn’t miss the opportunity to bring you our intricate and delicately crafted ‘paper bead’ earrings.

Look and feel great

Not only will you look great wearing AASU products but your conscience can rest easy knowing that you have contributed to a worthwhile cause. To date, the majority of funds for AASU’s work have come from its income generating ‘beads’ projects.

AASU provides local Ugandan women, from the Kamuli and Jinja Districts, who have either low paying or no job, with the opportunity to make an extra income. We supply the women with materials, tools and technical knowledge, as well as ensuring a regular and decent wage. With the women’s permission, the remaining profits are channelled into funding AASU projects.



N:B My photography does not do these beads justice!

As there are far too many styles and colours to display on here, if you are interested in finding out more about any AASU products (buying or selling) please contact information.arise.shine@googlemail.com. We will happily supply samples to any one that would like to see them.

Kibuye Community Education - hygiene class 1

At the end of last month Arise and Shine Uganda (along with 8 of its trustee volunteers) lead its first (hopefully) of many successful personal hygiene classes in Kibuye.

The turnout to the session was much better than we could ever have hoped for, with over 100 adults and children attending and actively participating in the class, demonstrations and fun that ensued. Whilst general hygiene was discussed, the main focus of the session was dental hygiene – with hopes for other complementary hygiene classes to come to Kibuye soon.

Staff and volunteers took turns in leading the session, passing on vital healthcare knowledge and practical advice. One of the volunteers (thank you Crystal!) was even able to bring along enough toothbrushes and tooth paste for everyone, which were generously donated by ‘Colgate’. These were a huge hit, especially when we discovered that none of the children at the session had ever even used a toothbrush – and that only a very few of the adults used them ‘once in a while’.

After being shown how to look after their teeth and taught the reasons why it’s important to do so, most of the attendees returned home, toothbrush in hand, promising to clean their teeth after every mean or at least twice a day.

After the session, some of the villages’ children (all of which will be attending Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School, when it opens in February 2011) joined the AASU volunteers on a guided tour of the village, proudly showing them around their home.

All in all the day was a massive success and we are planning to establish many more regular community education events in the future. Arise and Shine Uganda would like to thank everyone who attended and donated their time to the session. Webale nyo!