When Brenda Layden made her first visit to Uganda in 2010 she knew that it was not going to be just a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Yes, it was an opportunity to see a part of the Dark Continent that for centuries inspired adventurers and explorers to learn more of all its haunting mysteries.
But more importantly for the local Rotarian a trip to the African nation was an opportunity to help people. A Ugandan Rotarian named Mesach, a farmer with a ìhuge heartî, was building a school, and there was so much more work to do.
Next month Brenda and her husband David, along with seven others, are heading back to the Ugandan city of Masaka. It will be her third trip. For David, a former president of the Rotary Club of Innisfail, it will be his fourth mission to Uganda, a landlocked country in East Africa.
This time the nine are not going on behalf of Rotary. But their cause is still the same. They want to help, and this time they hope to bring $16,000 in donations that will assist the children in Masaka with their school fees. This will help cover the $295 cost per child to go to school for one year, and it will include administrative fees, one meal per day, school supplies and transportation to and from school.
To raise the $16,000, the group is hosting the Uganda Evening Fundraiser on Sunday, March 2 at the Innisfail Alliance Church, located at 4804 ñ 42 Ave. There will be a dinner, silent auction, dessert, raffle and entertainment. Tickets are $15 per person, which are available from any of the nine team members.
ìThis is a team effort. It is not about David and I. Each one of the nine of us is paying for our own airfares. The cost to get there does not come out of the donations,î said Layden. ìOne hundred per cent of the money that is donated is going to the people of Uganda.î
Layden said that when she visited Uganda in 2010 a village was adopted. Money had been raised to help the community and its people. To ensure that money was spent for what it was intended, a followup mission in 2012 was essential.
ìWe are big believers on followup,î said Layden. ìWhen we have the trust of people that they are going to donate, we want to see where that money has gone and that it got there and it's been put to the proper use.
ìWe want to give a hand up, not a handout. It is not, ëHere, just take this money',î and write a cheque,î she added. ìWe are trying to raise money to buy chickens and pigs so they can be earning money on their own, not just always depending on donations.î
Included in the group of nine is John Hand, a retired principal from Innisfail Jr./Sr. High and Dawn Peters, an educational assistant at Innisfail Middle School. They will be bringing supplies and going to the school, which is still undergoing construction work, to assist local children and teachers.
As well, the group includes four people with farm backgrounds ñ Shirley and Kathy Lentz, Bev Carson and Bruce Stevens -- who will share their agricultural expertise with locals in the field. Zane Nicholson is coming to Uganda to help build a chicken coop and repair a pigpen.
ìWe are not going there to tell them what to do. We are going there to work side by side,î said Layden.
Helping the Ugandan locals learn to sustain themselves is critically important for the nine travellers. The March 2 fundraiser will feature a gift catalogue that will enable guests to choose how they want their donation spent. Those choices include livestock such as chickens and pigs.
ìThe money that is made from the farm goes towards the school. You have to pay the teachers,î said Layden of the importance of livestock for Ugandan locals. ìThere will also be photos of kids. People can actually pick out a child they would like to sponsor.î
For more information on the March 2 fundraiser contact either Brenda or David Layden at 403-227-4343.
