Tag Archives: Africa

With dusty feet and a full heart

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Greetings from Uganda!

After three long years away, it was so good to be back. I arrived to a full welcoming committee at Entebbe airport led by Dominic, Rose and Henry along with a bunch of the Kiwi Sponsorships students, now graduated and working in the city.

We made our way to our leafy guest house where we spent the next two days joyfully catching up with our students – once hopeful young children, now strong and independent graduates making their way in the world. It was such a thrill for me to hear of their successes and to know that what we are doing is really making a tangible difference in their lives. We now have qualified nurses working in clinics and owning their own drug shops, clinical officers running medical centres, business graduates working in insurance firms, plumbers and electricians, pharmacists, lab technicians, tailors and teachers inspiring the next generation. It’s humbling to see the impact of our work and to feel the ripples flow as these students now help to support their younger siblings and families back in their villages. It was an incredibly heartening way to begin my journey.

We began the long drive south, across the equator and into Kyotera district to where the tar seal gives way to the dirt road. I was so thrilled that Rebecca Roberts and Jennie Lee O’Donnell from Bermuda were joining me on this trip with a very special mission. We drove into the school gates to the pounding of drums and feet, the whole school singing, dancing and stomping as the red dust rose and they welcomed us into the school. We were engulfed by huge hugs and enveloped by love and smiles as we made our way across the threshold and into the folds of my home away from home. Tears flowed as the overwhelming realisation hit me that, despite years of border closures and draconian lockdowns, I had made it back to my Ugandan family at last.

It was an incredibly full two weeks. The highlight was celebrating the official opening of the KATKiDS Main Hall & Classroom block, a project I had been working on with Rebecca and Jennie Lee for the last four years. This two-storied building houses a main hall with a capacity of 1,000 people downstairs, with three classrooms and two offices upstairs. It is a mammoth structure that truly needs to be seen to be believed – it towers over the school and is a shining symbol of how far KAASO has come since the early days of a single grass thatched hut housing a dozen young orphans. The only thing bigger than the hall was Dominic’s smile, beaming with pride as the festivities unfolded. All 707 KAASO students were there, along with around 500 parents and guardians and community members who had all come share in the success of the school. It was a magical day of dancing, singing, celebrations, speeches and ribbon cutting, one etched in my memory forever.

The project was a team effort, but the biggest thanks definitely go to KATKiDS, a registered Bermudian charity led by Jennie Lee who worked tirelessly together with the unstoppable Rebecca, fundraising the bulk of the funds to make this dream come true. Additional funding came via a grant from the NZ Embassy Fund in Addis Ababa which I got through the help of my friends and KAASO volunteers Anna Shattky and Johnny Stokes. The local community also pulled together to fundraise and contribute to the building, and you could see their great pride in what had been achieved. From the early foundations to the final coat of paint, every step was led by Derrick Bwanika, an impressive engineer whose came through the KAASO family, and Dominic himself oversaw the entire process. KATKiDS, Dominic and Derrick were all a dream to work with, carefully managing the budget and ensuring the structure would be enduring and strong enough to last a lifetime.

As always, nothing at KAASO ever serves just one purpose. At its simplest level, the KATKiDS Main Hall is a resource to the school, enabling all 707 children and 57 staff members to fit in one place, but it’s also a symbol of development in the area. More fee-paying parents are now wanting their children to enrol at KAASO, local authorities and MPs are bringing visitors to see what can be achieved in a poor rural village when the leaders are honest and trustworthy, Derrick the head engineer has secured multiple large contracts thanks to the success of his work, and, my favourite benefit – hope. Dominic and Rose have cleverly put the upper classes – Primary Five, Six & Seven – in the three upstairs classrooms as an aspirational goal for the children – if they stay in school long enough, they literally get to rise up and look down on how far they have come. Before the KATKiDS Main Hall, most of the children had never been upstairs in their lives. Watching them walk up the ramp grinning to their classes on the upper floor each day was a joy to behold.

With over 90 students now in the Kiwi Sponsorships, my days were certainly full! We travelled north and south to visit Rebecca’s two sponsor students – both studying nursing from different schools across the district, and it was wonderful to see them reunited after five years since Rebecca’s last visit for my Ugandan wedding. Jennie Lee has also come on board the Kiwi Sponsorships and is now the proud sponsor of a set of twins from Eastern Uganda, both incredibly talented musicians who are on music bursaries at KAASO but whom, without support, wouldn’t make it to secondary school next year. Rose and I clocked up many miles visiting students old and new at their home villages, schools and vocational institutes. I was so relieved to find that the general vibe was overwhelmingly positive and that, in spite of the challenges of lockdown and two years of school closures with no access to online learning, the students had made the most of the situation and spent the time working in their family gardens, supporting their parents, grandparents and guardians around the house and having faith that they would be able to complete their educations eventually. They were all so thrilled to be studying again and so very grateful for the support that enabled them to go back to school at a time when families across the country are struggling to find school fees. One heartbreaking day, we had been visiting a group of our nursing students at their institute and as we drove out, we saw a group of girls walking out the front gates and down the road with their bags. I asked why they were going home when it was still the middle of term and Rose sadly replied that they had been sent home for not paying fees. For our Kiwi Sponsorships students, knowing that they will never be sent away for fees means they can concentrate on their studies without the all-consuming stress of being sent home at any minute. If anyone is interested in joining the Kiwi Sponsorships, there are still students on my list in need of support so please get in touch.

Henry spent my first week with us at KAASO, taking annual from his job at the Uganda Viral Research Institute. He is truly something else. Each time I go back to Uganda, I wonder if it’s possible to be any prouder of him and then I already am and then I see him again and my admiration grows. My 12-year old boy from the village is certainly a huge success – and I’m not talking about his education and job, it’s the way he still comes to KAASO and does all he can to help around the school – everything from helping me manage the Kiwi Sponsorships to teaching computer classes to giving impromptu speeches to inspire the young students to washing Dominic’s too car. Nothing is too much for him. He works tirelessly with Rose to keep the Kiwi Sponsorships family together, meeting up with them, calling them and holding meetings to help guide and counsel them on their journeys. He really is a shining star.

Another incredible success story is Brenda, my little friend from Primary One back in 2009 who, in the time I have known her, has lost both of her parents and her beloved jajja (grandmother) and yet who always approaches life with a smile and is now a beautiful, independent young lady. It was with huge pride I was able to give Brenda a copy of my book, full of photos of her and for her to read her own story in print. Brenda is now studying Tailoring and Fashion Design and LOVING it! My suitcases are full to bursting with all the beautiful placemats, tablecloths, and napkins she has made for me to sell to help her continue towards her dream of one day establishing her own fashion and design business. I’ll be posting photos if anyone is keen for any of her gorgeous products!

I was given the most beautiful send off by the students as I left KAASO and while it’s never easy to leave, I know I will be back. Looking back on the last two weeks, my heart soars and my cheeks ache from smiling from all the beautiful reunions I have had – Anthony the journalist and entrepreneur running his own computer workshops, Lilian now a teacher at KAASO, Marvin the electrician working in Kampala, Teddy the aspiring TV and radio presenter, Phionah the lawyer who has just sat her bar exams, Ritah the theatre nurse in training, multiple other nurses and midwives, Sharon the budding agriculturalist, over 30 secondary students and so many others. I continue to be inspired by my amazing friend Kim who came out from the Netherlands to volunteer at KAASO 15 years ago and never left. She now lives down the road in the village and has set up a project to take care of abused and abandoned children, adopting three girls of her own and establishing a malnutrition ward in the local clinic while also running a farm to produce food to feed the children in the clinic. She is an inspiration! Together with Rose we shared beautiful evenings up KAASO Hill, watching the sun set over the hills while the full moon rose over the banana plantations behind. My final night was spent with my dear friends Sonia and Paul who have also lived in Uganda the last 15 years running AfriPads, an impressive social enterprise that empowers girls with washable sanitary pads to help keep them in school. Seeing Sonia & Paul and their gorgeous little girls made me so excited to bring my own boys with me to Uganda – I have made many promises to many children that next time Jack, Charlie and Nath are coming so I’m not sure I’ll be allowed back in the country without them!

So now I begin my journey home with a full heart, dusty feet, a head spinning with so many wonderful stories – and a growing excitement for the moment I will hold my boys in my arms again. Nath has done an incredible job of holding the fort with huge support from both of our mamas and our amazing nanny Phoebe, all of whom have made my trip possible. I’m so grateful to everyone who helped with my boys while I was away, I know it wasn’t always easy! I’m feeling so full of love from everyone in my Ugandan family, and now all I want is to get home and be engulfed by hugs from my Kiwi (and Aussie!) family.

Till we meet again Uganda – I can’t wait to bring my two worlds together next time.

Much love,

Em xoxo

Africa on my horizon

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Greetings from Tarifa,

Fourteen years ago I came to this hidden gem in the south of Spain, a mecca for wind sports, a stumbling maze of whitewashed buildings, an endless stretch of white sand dotted with colourful beach umbrellas, a never-ending steam of ships making their way out the mouth of the Mediterranean and into the open expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.

And, just above those ships, the mountains of Morocco, once again hovering tantalisingly on my horizon, so near and yet so far. Fourteen years ago, I caught my first glimpse of Africa, at the time still a dream, a hazy mirage I hoped I might one day grasp and find something solid. Today, nine trips and over a year spent in Uganda later, ‘Africa’ is very much a defined place to me. And yet, once again, it hangs hazily on my horizon – it could be the early morning light on a stormy morning but it’s also the fact that I truly don’t know when I’ll be able to return to my African home.

Uganda is in the grips of a second nation-wide lockdown. This one began in early June and we don’t yet know when it will end. My latest conversation with Dominic painted the rather bleak picture that it is predicted to be next year before schools will reopen. The mind boggles – 15 million children out of school since last March with only intermittent studies for some – and those are the lucky ones; some students have been out of school for close to two years. It’s beyond comprehension. Distance learning is impossible in remote villages with no connectivity and many children are suffering from a multitude of threats – violence, child labour and teen pregnancies are rising at frightening rates. It’s a difficult and uncertain time for my friends on the continent that hangs on my horizon and I’m so painfully aware that across the thin Straits of Gibraltar here in Spain, life continues largely as normal. Yes, there are masks and hand sanitiser and I’m sure there are those doing it tough, but there are also tropical juices, tapas and cafes con leches. How vast the divide this narrow stretch of water brings.

Despite the challenges faced, Dominic never finishes a conversation without his usual optimistic enthusiasm and overflowing gratitude, and he took great delight in updating me on the success of our latest fundraiser – a teachers’ project fund which is enabling KAASO to retain, pay and keep motivated their out-of-work teachers. With no government funding, KAASO is classified as a ‘private school’ so when students stop attending, school fees cease, making it impossible to keep paying the teachers who then have no way to support themselves and feed their families. Thanks to our new fund, KAASO teachers now come to school each day to work on their various projects – a piggery, a poultry project, goat-keeping, brick-making and various agricultural projects, including growing crops and seedlings. These projects not only generate much-needed income and sustenance for teachers, but also help keep them connected to KAASO and give them a purpose during these difficult times.

As Dominic wrote in his recent progress report:

Sustaining staff during a time when the main income generating route is closed is so hard in a developing nation like Uganda. As KAASO management, we are so grateful to our supporters and donors for that hand they have rendered to us especially during this challenging time. We know ‘’we can’t do everything, but we can do something’’.

Let blessed be your Hands.

Leaving NZ straight after my book was launched meant I had very little time to actually reflect on the enormity of achieving my lifelong dream and it’s only been the past couple of weeks here in Tarifa, staying in one place for more than a few days, that I’ve started to catch my breath and begin to take in the messages of love and support – and to realise the impact of my words and the awareness they are generating for KAASO. It’s a wonderful feeling. We now have 80 children sponsored through the Kiwi Sponsorships – something I never imagined when we first set out with just Henry. I’m so grateful to all our new sponsors, as well as to those who have donated to the teachers’ fund and also to all those over the past few months who have read my book and got in contact with me with messages of support and encouragement – it really has meant the world.

As our time on the road comes to a close (all going well, in just over a week we’ll be flying to Australia to spend the rest of the year there before finally heading home to NZ in January/February), I take this moment to look back on the last few months travelling across Europe with Nath and our two young boys to Nath’s various sailing events. What a whirlwind! It’s been incredibly busy looking after our wee boys (Jack is now just over 2 and a half and ready to take on the world and Charlie is coming up 9 months, bobbing his way through each day full of smiles), but I’m so very grateful that we’ve been lucky enough to be together as a family and to experience the freedoms of European life right now while so many of our family and friends back in NZ and Australia are in lockdowns.

I don’t know the answer to this strange global predicament, and I often feel conflicted by all that is going on in the world around us. One thing I do know is that it’s a time for unity not divisiveness and that polarising opinions do nothing to bring us together. So I’m trying to simply embrace an open mind, to listen to all sides of each argument and not let the weight of the world weigh me down, something my huge heart often struggles with. Everyone has the right to their own beliefs, everyone’s life experience is shaped by different forces and people’s minds work in different ways. There’s a lot I don’t know, but what I do know is that we just need to keep loving and supporting each other and that no one can underestimate the power of hope and positivity. I want nothing more than for my boys to grow up in a world of openness and love, not fear and separation. Time will tell where all this ends up, but for now I am just trying to live each day with my old mantra from years ago – open your eyes. And heart and mind. The world needs more openness.

As the sun climbs higher in the sky and the day begins to unfold, it’s time to rejoin my boys for the day. I feel clear-headed from my morning walk and from taking this brief moment to capture my thoughts. I hope this finds you well, wherever you may be, whatever shape your days may be currently taking.

I leave you with a beautiful moment from a few days ago when I took Jack down to the beach for an evening swim. The sand was warm and, unlike this morning, the horizon was spectacularly clear. I was looking over Jack’s head at the outline of the mountains, that undeniable magnetism that constantly pulls me towards Africa, when suddenly he stopped and grabbed my hand.

‘Look mama, look!’ he said, pointing the peaks of Morocco, jutting across the sky. ‘That’s Africa!’ he told me proudly, repeating what I’ve told him each day.

I smiled.  ‘That’s right Jack, it is Africa.’

He stood staring, eyes still fixed on those mountains. ‘Yes, and our friends are there. Dominic and Rose and Henry. They’re in Uganda.’

‘They sure are.’ I said, marvelling at the way he absorbs everything he hears, a little sponge.

‘Yes.’ He nodded solemnly and then looked up at me, his face wise beyond his years. ‘And mama, one day you’ll take me to Africa, won’t you?’

It was all I could do to stop the tears from falling. I nodded and crouched down to wrap my arms around his little waist to we could look over at Africa together.  

One day my boy, one day. 

Much love,

Em xoxox

If anyone is interested in donating to our teachers’ project fund, you can do so here:

NZ & rest of world: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/kaaso-covid-relief

UK (tax deductable donations through our partner charity, Unity is Strength): https://unityisstrength.org.uk/covid-19-measures

My big fat Ugandan wedding – and other stories…

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My trips to Uganda are always incredibly busy but I think this one has to take the cake. Somehow I didn’t quite get my head around how manic it would be juggling my 56 sponsor visits, the official opening of the Bermuda Water Project, the Kiwi Sponsorships Graduation, starting up a placemat and crafts business, going through all the Suubi Sanyu student microloan fund projects, celebrating our very own Ugandan wedding and hosting 10 muzungus (Swahili for white people – literally means ‘one who wanders aimlessly’ after the early missionaries in Africa!) in the volunteer house… Throw in a safari, the nursery students’ graduation, an accounting workshop, a day at the lakeshore for the teachers’ annual staff party and a visit to a local coffee producer, and there hasn’t been much time to breathe! But I can’t help but love every second.

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As I write, Nath is outside with a team of Kiwi Sponsorship boys building much-needed pathways through the school, stopping the students from skidding through pools of mud when the rainy season hits with force and preventing the waves of dust that billow through the dry season. Work is also underway on a netball field thanks to funds from St Paul in Australia – Nath’s old school where his mum works – as well as the St Paul Australia/St Paul Uganda garden. Other donations are going to construct a latrine and changing room for the teachers – for 18 years, the teachers have shared the children’s pit latrines and it’s about time they had a toilet of their own. These are just some of the many projects on KAASO’s priority list that are being tackled and, as always, the vision of the school continues to blow me away.

Our Ugandan wedding was only 10 days ago but I have to pinch myself to believe it actually happened. Of course I knew that it was going to be huge but it’s another thing to actually experience the full weight of the love of a school, a village and a community. The day started at 6:30am, in the dark, being told it was time for me to leave to get ready – had I bathed? I was still in bed but jumped out and tried to quickly prepare myself for what was about to be one of the biggest days of my life. Mama, Jas and Haylee came with me to the local Bridal Salon in Kyotera where absolute hilarity ensued as they tried to work out how to style my hair – no one had ever worked with Western hair before, never mind long blonde locks – most African women wear synthetic weaves. Haylee fortunately stepped in to help create the bun required to prop up my (compulsory) crown and veil. Being sewn into my enormous princess dress, having high heels strapped to my feet and jewels bedazzling my neck will forever be etched in my memory – not to mention the moment we all stepped out onto the main street of Kyotera which didn’t know what had it hit it – a giant muzungu meringue with a team of hot pink bridesmaids (I love that Haylee’s first time as a bridesmaid was in Uganda!) and two muzungu mothers in satin gomesi, the traditional Baganda dress. We certainly caused a stir! We drove through the streets of Kyotera to the home of a parent from KAASO who hosted us for a wedding breakfast of beans, rice, chapatti and spaghetti. An hour and a half late, the boys joined us, inverting the tradition of the bride being the one to keep the groom waiting… We had a you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it photo shoot in the back streets of Kyotera before starting our police-led convoy through the town, Dire Straits’ ‘Walk of Life’ blaring as our 25 car convoy hooted and bounced its way through the pouring rain, creating a spectacle I don’t think will ever be forgotten in Kyotera.

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Arriving at KAASO, all 600 children along with hundreds of parents and people from the local community were standing in the rain waiting to welcome us, chanting and singing our arrival. We performed the traditional Baganda wedding ritual whereby Nathan has to offer a cock (a rooster!) to Nick, the muko – brother in law – at which point Nick must decide if Nathan’s cock is big enough to trade for his sister… Needless to say there were plenty of laughs! The day continued with speeches, traditional dancing, a song from Brenda which she had written for me, a beautiful tribute from Kim with the Primary Five students, an insane procession of gifts and no less than three outfit changes – from my huge Murial’s Wedding-style white dress to the traditional gomesi to my final ‘party dress’ made by an old student of KAASO who is now a fashion designer in Kampala. I never could have imagined when I first came here that one day I’d be back marrying the love of my life (again) with my entire family there to witness. Beau was a legend, capturing it all and I’m sure there will be a rather entertaining video to come… To top it all off, Ugandan TV was also there and last week, our wedding featured on the national news!

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We barely had time to recover from the wedding celebrations before it was time for the Kiwi Sponsorships Graduation, celebrating two of our nurses – Irene and Teddy – as well as Brian who has completed his secondary school. The day began, as always, with a meeting of the sponsor students who all began by introducing themselves and sharing their dreams of what they hope to become – young doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, accountants, plumbers and businessmen in the making. It always makes me so proud to listen to the students inspiring each other, encouraging their fellow students in reaching their dreams. The guardians’ meeting is always one of the highlights of my trip, while being one of the biggest heartbreaks. I struggle to get through my speech each time as I am floored by the humility, strength and gratitude of these guardians, many of whom are elderly jajjas, grandmothers. Having my family there to bear witness to it all was especially moving for me as I am so often overwhelmed by trying to take it all in alone. The graduation ceremony that followed was a time of festivity, laughter and dance as we celebrated our three students who have now completed their education – and thus ending their 6-year Kiwi Sponsorships. That now takes us up to a total of 13 graduated students, all of whom are now making their way in the world in various vocations around Uganda – nurses, vets, pharmacists, plumbers and lab technicians. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child, you can find more information about it on our website at KAASO Kiwi Sponsorships or contact me directly – I have a list of 11 students who won’t make it to secondary school next year without help so any new sponsors are highly welcome!

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Time is spinning way too fast and while we have already been here a month, it has passed in a heartbeat. With less than a week to go, I wish I could slow down the clock. I love my Ugandan family with all my heart and I love even more that my three families are now joined. When people around the world ask what I do, I always smile and simply say, “KAASO.” It is the most rewarding thing I could ever imagine doing and everyday I feel grateful to have left my heart in this magical little corner of the world.

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Back in the world again

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And now, seemingly in the blink of an eye, it’s September. All my best intentions and New Year’s resolutions to keep in touch more, to write more, to share more stories seem to have gone by the wayside. But yesterday, while cruising with Nath through Ely’s Harbour, brainstorming book proposals and future plans, he reminded me that it’s never too late to get back in touch with the world. So here I am.

My last post, A Year of Milestones, summed up 2016 and all that it was. 2017 has been similarly epic, but also interspersed with the moments of calm and reflection that come from (finally) having your own space in the world, a place to rest your travelling shoes. From January until July, with the exception of a brief Easter trip to Newport, RI, we went almost half a year without getting on a plane, a record for us given the past four years of frenetic travel. It was such bliss to have a home of our own, a fixed, immovable place on a far-flung island, one that has come to mean the world to us. The people we have met, the opportunities we have had and that breath-catching view that never ceases to fill me with joy – Bermuda, we will miss you.

The America’s Cup came and went like a hurricane. After over three years of trying to convince people that being married to Nath did not compromise my ability to work on the Cup, I finally got a job. I spent the event period running the Longtail Lounge, a corporate hospitality lounge filled with Bermudians and international guests who came to fill themselves with Moët and gasp at the flying rocket ships that sailed before them. I put together a team of fabulous girls, friends old and new, and together with Mark and Ben, the Longtail Legends rocked the Cup village.

Being part of Artemis Racing was an experience I will remember for the rest of my days. I was so immensely proud of Nath and the entire team for what they managed to achieve – from where they started to where they ended up was a phenomenal leap. To me, most importantly, was also how they did it – the spirit, the sense of family, the determination and the refusal to give up right to the very end was extraordinary. “We are Artemis,” is a cry that will echo in my ears for many, many years to come.

Nath and I left Bermuda two weeks after the Cup ended for a whirlwind month around Europe – Nath competing in the moths, flying at a thousand miles around Lake Garda, a huge contrast to cruising with my parents along the south of France on their new boat, Sojourn II, Nath learning how to sail slowly. A brief stopover in England, sharing stories with friends and family before heading on to Sweden to celebrate the wedding of Nath’s teammate and his gorgeous bride on the Stockholm archipelago before returning to our Bermudian home for the last time.

So now is a time of reflection, of gathering our thoughts, of hypothesising about what the future might hold – something entirely out of our hands now – and, inevitably, packing up our home. To go where? That is still uncertain. What is absolutely certain, however, is that we are going to Uganda – together – in November. After five years of hearing stories about the village that stole my heart, it’s time for “Mr. Nathan” to meet his Ugandan family. Oh, and we thought we’d just throw a big, fat Ugandan wedding in there too. A date has been set – 24th November – the planning committee is underway, and family and friends are starting to book flights from around the world. Dominic and Rose have timed the date so that not only can the 638 KAASO students and 46 staff members attend, but also the majority of the 53 sponsor students, their families and those from the surrounding community. As the preparations get underway, Nath just watches me with a patient, albeit slightly terrified, smile, knowing how much this means to me but struggling to comprehend just how huge it is going to be. Even I have no real handle on how the day will unfold. When I ask Rose what exactly is going to happen at this wedding of ours, she simply laughs and asks, “But Madam Emma, you want to spoil the surprise??” No, no I don’t.

A community growing stronger

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Greetings from the village where the rains are thundering gloriously and the banana palms are lapping up the drops,

So much has happened since I last wrote – it seems a lifetime can happen in just two weeks here. We celebrated the nursery students’ graduation and end of the school year at KAASO, as the students packed their metal suitcases and rolled their mattress in preparation for their departure.

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Emirinah graduating from nursery to Primary One

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Students heading home for the holidays

It is a time of rocketing highs and lows as some children are reunited with their parents while others stand tearfully waiting for those who never come. By the end of the day, over 100 of our 638 students still remained at school, glumly kicking around trying to work out why no one came for them.

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A very happy little girl being picked up by her father

That number has slowly dwindled and now there are only around 20 for whom KAASO will remain their home for the holidays. The school bus transported a bunch of Tanzanian students back to the border and yesterday the bus departed on its first official charter – rented by a group of teachers going to a function in Eastern Uganda. It’s being put to good use!

Around this time last year, I sent an email requesting support for community piggeries. In addition to the Kiwi Sponsorships programme I created to help students finishing KAASO get through secondary school, I also witnessed the need for assistance for families with children still studying at KAASO, those struggling to pay school fees. So, following up on the great work started by a Spanish volunteer, Lara Briz, I launched an appeal for a community piggery initiative. The response was staggering and we got sixteen piggeries – which meant that sixteen families would receive assistance and a chance to help themselves to pay their children’s fees.

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A family supported by the piggery project initiative

Yesterday, Rose , Teacher Gerald (who has been helping to oversee all the piggery projects) and I completed the last four visits. Fifteen piggeries visited (the last one was apparently “too far” – considering one of yesterday’s visits was almost a two hour drive away, I’d hate to see what “too far” really meant), fifteen families helped and dozens of pigs growing stronger each day. It was astounding to see what a couple of rusted iron sheets, a few logs nailed together over a concrete slab and two grunting pigs can do for a family here.

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The pride in each family we visited was evident as they showed us their project, and the way it was integrated into their gardens, using the manure to help fertilise their banana and coffee plantations. Parents spoke of teaching their children about rearing pigs and excitedly outlined their plans for expansion. Most of the pigs are now 5 months old and at 9 months will be able to start “producing” piglets which can then be sold to help parents pay their children’s school fees. Each of the recipients of each piggery farm were carefully chosen by Rose based on those she believed would best be able to make the project work, taking into consideration those who were capable of doing the work (many families here are headed by elderly jajjas – grandparents – whose children have either died or abandoned their young children, a frighteningly popular trend that never ceases to astound me).

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A family supported by a piggery project

The chosen families were then brought together for a community meeting here at KAASO where the project was explained to them and they all agreed that the main focus would be to use the profits to pay school fees with the profits as soon as it was feasible. A local vet explained how best to care for their pigs and provided each project with the necessary vaccinations and deworming pills. The funds supplied by each donor covered not only the construction of the pig stys and purchase of a male and female pig for each project, but also this medical treatment, feeds for the first nine months and the supervision of Teacher Gerald who travels on the back of a motorbike to each project once a month to offer guidance and support. It’s incredible what $200 can achieve. A huge thanks to all those who got behind this project – individual stories and photos from each project to come!

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Rose and Teacher Gerald – the piggery team!

Last weekend, I drove to Kampala with Beth, Rose and a carload of tiny children heading home for the holidays. The journey was, as always, rather eventful with the 4 hour trip taking over 10 hours thanks to another run-out-of-petrol incident (the fuel gage on Dominic’s car doesn’t work when you’re on dirt roads which is a challenge when you live a 20 minute drive down a long dirt road…) and the gear shaft blowing up and needing to be replaced. Fortunately for us, in true Ugandan fashion, having just driven for an hour over atrocious dirt tracks after a piggery visit, we conveniently broke down in a roadside trading centre right in front of a local mechanic who happened to be hanging on the side of the road. By the time we finally pulled into Kampala at 9pm, having handed over our little passengers and Rose to Rose’s brother, Beth and I were exhausted and I was more than a little frazzled – Kampala driving at night feels like driving through Space Mountain at Disneyland, with full-beam lights, trucks, motorbikes, people and fully-loaded bicycles coming at you from all angles. Needless to say, arriving to a home-cooked dinner and a bottle of red wine at John and Mirriam’s house was absolute bliss. I love my Ugandan home-away-from-home and that I can walk into a house in Kampala and have little Laria come flying at me, welcoming home her Auntie Em. Each year she gets a little taller, a little wiser and a little more irresistible.

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Rose, Teacher Sarah, Beth and Dominic say farewell

Our time in Kampala was filled to the brim, visiting schools, sponsored students, craft markets (getting ideas with Rose about new projects for the Suubi Sanyu student microloan fund – full story to come next email!) and then saying goodbye to Beth. It was amazing to have her here and to share this KAASO world with a good friend. Thanks Beth for not just talking about it but for actually coming and for doing so with all your heart and soul. KAASO is forever grateful – as I am.

Each of my annual visits to Uganda seems to get busier and busier as I take on more and more and the support grows. Since arriving here, I have had some wonderful new sponsors come on board, giving seven students the chance to begin secondary school next year, in addition to the 34 students already sponsored. Along with our 6 – soon to be 9 – graduates, it certainly keeps us all busy here! I never could have imagined when I first came here that seven years later we’d have grown so much and have come so far. Thank you all for sharing this journey and being a part of the KAASO family from all your corners of the world. I am incredibly proud to know that so many people near and far now know the KAASO name and are helping to spread the web of support, pushing the school forward, giving children hope for the future and helping a community grow stronger.

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A hand up

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Children at KAASO eating jackfruit

At long last the rains have come, bring relief from the endless drought that has plagued the area. The land has been so parched, creating huge issues as crops dry up and food supplies become scarce. Thankfully, two nights ago, the heavens opened and everyone is rushing to the gardens – and out into the night as the rains bring flying ants which are hugely popular as fried snacks in Uganda. Beth and I have politely declined the handfuls of crunchy ants offered our way…

My trips back to Uganda are always shaped by the sponsor visits I plan out with Rose and the hilarious off-road adventures that follow as we bump our way around the district visiting the sponsored students in their villages, at their schools, universities and vocational courses. It has been incredible catching up with all the students and seeing their progress made over the past year since my last visit and what has blown me away the most has been visiting the students in their vocational courses – those who are able to follow through on their dreams thanks to the support of their sponsorships and mentorship from the Kiwi Sponsorships programme.

Last week, Rose and I drove out to Villa Maria Hospital, about 15 km north of Masaka where Juliet and Winnie, two sponsored students are in their first year of their two-and-a-half year nursing course. We found Juliet in the wards and she was so thrilled to find us there, proudly showing us around the hospital. Winnie was out in the fields doing community outreach through the hospital’s free child vaccine and adult HIV-testing programme so we sat under a tree with Juliet to catch up on her year. Just as we were finishing up, an ambulance pulled up and out jumped Winnie, back from the villages and she threw her arms around us in delight and we all had an amazing catch up.

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Winnie and Juliet

From there, we drove to another hospital where another sponsored student, Charles, is training to be a lab technician. We met with the head teacher who sang Charles’ praises, saying how well he was doing in his course and how proud he was of Charles, who couldn’t stop grinning.

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Charles and his head teacher

Our final stop was to Anthony, another of Charles’ sponsored classmates from KAASO who has almost completed his certificate in Journalism studies and is soon to start his diploma. I have never seen a student so excited to be studying, or so grateful to have the opportunity to do something that he would have had no chance to do without external support. Anthony’s dream for as long as he can remember is to become a broadcaster and, after my chats to his lecturer, it seems that Anthony is well on his way to fulfilling that dream. It was such a satisfying day for both me and Rose in that it really demonstrated that the programme is working. While we once sent students through to the end of secondary school, they now branch off after their fourth year of secondary to do vocational courses – meaning that by the end of their sponsorship, they have a qualification which enables them to get a job, to start earning money and to begin the road towards upgrading their studies further down the track. It’s very much a case of helping them to help themselves – “teach a man to fish,” Dominic keeps repeating with a grin.

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With Anthony and his broadcasting lecturer

If that wasn’t already satisfying enough, I had the pleasure of also visiting a bunch of our sponsored students in Mbarara – now graduated from the Kiwi Sponsorships programme and now walking on their own two feet. Both Henry and David are studying at universities, paying their fees through a combination of agricultural and entrepreneurial projects and family support – their families have all pulled together what they can to reward the efforts of the boys’ studies over the years and as a way to acknowledge the incredible support they have received from their sponsors over the past six years. Henry told us animatedly about his new hibiscus juice business which he has launched as a way to help support himself through university. It’s been a great success so far, with his juice selling out daily. Here’s to scaling up! I really couldn’t be prouder of what these students are doing.

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Mbarara sponsor student visit

It’s been wonderful having Beth share in the beautiful world of KAASO. Together we have travelled across the district visiting piggeries and sponsored students and Beth has quickly been adopted as the computer teacher at KAASO, educating teachers on how to use computers and taking on the mammoth task of helping Teacher Sarah input all the student fees data into Excel – a huge modernizing step from the hand-ruled notebook she has been using in the past.

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Beth and Rose en route to visit a community piggery project

It’s time to get back to the village – via the home of Brenda, a girl I first met in my P1 class in 2009 who has now just graduated from her final year of KAASO and will next year be joining secondary school. It never ceases to amaze me how much these children have grown up and how far they have come. I can’t wait to see where the next ten years will take us…

If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child, you can read more in the Kiwi Sponsorships section of this blog.

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With Henry outside his university hostel

 

Inspired Magazine

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Feeling very honoured to have been profiled in the beautiful Inspired Magazine.

Emma Outteridge was standing in the Nice Opera House on the glittering French Riviera, champagne glass in hand, a little black dress adorning her svelte frame, and mingling with VIP guests of Louis Vuitton here to watch a yacht race for the world’s sailing elite. This young Kiwi woman was living the high-life, hobnobbing with European high society in her role as events manager for the luxury Louis Vuitton  label. Yet Emma’s mind was elsewhere – thousands of miles away in a remote poverty-stricken village in Uganda. Emma had just returned from six months’ volunteering in Uganda, and found herself smitten by the people, particularly the orphans at the village school.

While the people around her discussed yacht prices and champagne varieties, Emma’s mind wandered, her face warming into a smile as she recalled the Ugandan orphans – the wide smiles that flashed so readily upon their faces, their shining eyes and their thirst for education. She realised the recent end of her six-month volunteering stint didn’t have to mean the end of her relationship with the village. Since that day seven years ago, Emma has gone on to help dozens of orphaned children in the village to access the education they’d otherwise have been denied…

Click here to read the full article.

 

 

 

 

The school bus has reached its home

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I have always been truly humbled by the reception I receive each time I go back to Uganda but arriving with the school bus was one of the most emotional, incredible, heartfelt, inspiring and beautiful moments of my life.

I will let Beau’s stunning photos speak for themselves….

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A school bus sails into the village…

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Greetings from the shores of Lake Victoria!

Two days and several thousand miles later, from an island in the Atlantic to a land-locked nation in East Africa, I have arrived back in Uganda. This is my seventh annual trip here and I’m so excited to catch up with everyone in my village home, to hear about the highs and lows the year has brought and to share in the celebrations of those who are soon to be graduating from the Kiwi Sponsorships programme. However, this trip also has a particularly special purpose. For years, KAASO has had a dream dangling on the horizon but, until now, it has remained just that – an unattainable, far-off dream. Tomorrow though, that dream will become a reality. KAASO is getting a school bus.

Since 2009 when I first came to Uganda, Dominic and Rose have been telling me how much the school needs a school bus. The alternative – children riding on the barred tray of the school truck – is both illegal and incredibly dangerous. The truck has tipped several times and fortunately none of the children were badly hurt but we all feared that it was only a matter of time. It was not a sustainable option. A couple of years ago, KAASO began reaching out to the community requesting funds towards the school bus and over $1,500 was raised but, in a community where it’s hard to find the money for school fees, coming up with the remaining $30,000 for a bus was a colossal challenge.

And here’s where my story begins.

It all started in the most unlikely of settings – a beach-front restaurant for a rosé-infused lunch with a friend called Rebecca. I was explaining how much KAASO needed a school bus but how daunted I was by the task of trying to raise $30,000 USD to make this happen. You can gather donations for buildings and piggeries, I explained, brick by brick, sty by sty, but wheel by wheel doesn’t really work for a school bus. You kind of need the whole thing.

So Rebecca and I teamed up with the mission to make this actually happen. Her company, RenRe, was hosting their annual sailing day in early June and Rebecca suggested we use this day to help raise our funds. If I could get a bunch of America’s Cup sailors to helm the boats that RenRe’s clients and brokers would be sailing on, we could ask for bids to secure their favourite Cup sailor on board their boat. I emailed sailors from Artemis Racing, Oracle Team USA and Softbank Team Japan asking if they might help out – ‘an afternoon sail for a school bus?’ was my pitch. Within an hour, I had Dean Barker, Chris Draper, Jimmy Spithill, Tom Slingsby, Grant Simmer, Iain Percy, Francesco Bruni and, not surprisingly, Nathan Outteridge, committed to helping. We were on.

The team from RenRe, spearheaded by Rebecca, did an impressive job of rallying up support and enthusiasm and, once again, Claire’s amazing graphic design skills came into play, helping to create an infographic to explain what we were trying to achieve. All six America’s Cup teams donated signed merchandise which I had gathered at the America’s Cup World Series event in New York and, along with some LV Cup products from previous editions, I also had donated experiences from America’s Cup – and from my very obliging husband!

The day of the fundraiser, I felt sick with nerves. There was so much riding on this day and while I knew anything we could raise would be amazing, I was acutely aware of how much money was needed and that it might in fact take several fundraisers to achieve our goal. I so badly wanted this to work.

I boarded RenRe’s superyacht where I spent the day on board with a bunch of wonderful people, drumming up support for the silent auction items as well as encouraging those on the boats to bid higher and higher for their favourite sailors to join them for the final race of the day. Momentum gathered quickly and I was blown away not only by people’s generosity but also by how interested they were in the cause and how much the idea of providing a school bus to children in Uganda struck a chord with a bunch of people on an island in the middle of the ocean.

The final race was incredible. The Cup sailors did an amazing job of showing everyone a good time – and doing all they could to ensure that they were ahead of their team mates. By the time everyone rolled into the RenRe dock, the day had already far surpassed my expectations. And that was before the live bidding even began.

Originally there were only supposed to be two live auction items – a two-hour foiling sailing session with Nathan and a 4-person ride in an America’s Cup chase boat to watch the boats training on the Great Sound in Bermuda. However, a combination of much excitement, many drinks, and overwhelming support saw these two auction items multiply to six. Iain Percy from Artemis Racing, realising that there were multiple groups willing to pay good money for the chase boat ride, threw in two extra rides on the Artemis chase boat, spurring on Grant Simmer from Oracle Team USA to donate a ride as well.  That act alone raised us $12,000. Then, the CEO of RenRe, deciding that his wife should also have the chance to sail with Nathan, asked if Nath would donate another foiling experience (the first had already been won) which he gladly agreed to and the bidding opened once more. While Rebecca was helping coordinate the auction, I was madly running around trying to calculate where we were at so far between the boat bids, the silent auction items and the ever-growing live auction funds. As the live auction closed, I pushed EQUALS on my calculator, and then stood staring at my screen, stunned. Then the tears began to fall. We had raised $30,190.

I gave an impromptu – and hugely tearful – speech, letting the room know that we had reached our goal – we would have our school bus. A sea of smiling faces erupted into applause and cheers and I just stood there, crying and grinning dumbly before engulfing Rebecca in a huge hug. We had done it!

In the weeks that followed, Rebecca did an incredible job of helping me collect each and every dollar and I was amazed to find that our total amount just kept going up and up – people were so moved by the experience that they wanted to donate more, to give more, to help more. I was blown away.

In the end, we raised over $40,000, all of which has now reached the village and, on Wednesday, Dominic purchased the bus. As if that wasn’t enough, a few weeks ago, Rebecca decided to join me to help deliver the bus along with my brother-in-law, Beau, who is going to make a short film about the bus delivery. Things couldn’t have worked out more perfectly.

So now I sit looking out across Lake Victoria with Rebecca at my side, and I have to pinch myself to realise it’s not just some amazing dream that I’ll soon wake up from. Beau flies in tonight and Dominic will pick us all up in the bus tomorrow morning and together, we will drive to the village.

I am so hugely grateful to each and every person who helped make this happen – to the sailors, the donors, the far-away cheerleaders and of course to Rebecca, whose huge heart and incredible determination that this was going to happen has meant, quite simply, that is has. Tomorrow is going to be one for the record books – and one requiring quite a few tissues I feel…

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Lake Victoria, Uganda

Guest Post: The Starfish Story by Jessie Craven-Francis

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Three months ago, I was hugely inspired by a conversation I had with a friend called Jessie. I was in Rio at the time in the lead up to the Olympic Games at which my husband was competing and life was all about sailing and sports. However, for a couple of hours one July afternoon, I was transported back to my village world during a Skype conversation with Jessie. Now back in the UK, Jessie shared with me the amazing updates from her recent trip to Uganda. I listened with a smile to her stories, her words reminding me so much of my own Ugandan experiences, but what struck a chord most was her talking about the ‘Starfish Story’ – a story so reminiscent of the motto of KAASO’s co-founder, Rose: “We can’t do everything, but we can do something.” I have just completed a memoir about this very issue – the fact that we so often feel paralaysed by inaction, the problems of the world seeming too big, unsurmountable, beyond us. However, for each and every person, a single act can make a huge difference. That was the case with me and Henry. And the same goes for Jessie. I invite you to read on and challenge you not to feel inspired…

Emma xxx

 

jessie-on-a-bodaI’m Jessie, a physiotherapist from the U.K. and this is my first ever blog. It’s taken a while for me to write but here goes… So why the ‘Starfish’ story? Well, it reflects some of what Uganda taught me. The main lesson – you can’t help everyone but we can all help someone.

The ‘Starfish’ story I know goes like this… There was a young girl walking along a beach with her mother and there were hundreds of starfish washed up on the sand. ‘What will happen to these star fish?’ asked the child. ‘Sadly,’ said her mother, ‘without the sea they will die.’ So the little girl started to pick up starfish as she walked along, throwing them back into the sea. Her mother said, ‘You can’t make a difference sweetheart, there are just too many of them.’ The little girl picked up another one and as she threw it back into the sea she looked up at her mother and said, ‘I can make a difference to that one!’

This story has always stuck with me and often helped me on crazy days at work or in life when I feel like I’m treading water and helping no one. On those days I take a deep breath and tell myself… One person at a time, the starfish effect!

UGANDA: Africa for me had always seemed a magical place I wanted to one day visit. I thought and daydreamed that maybe one day I could go and help a country that always seemed to be developing but, at the same time, struggling when I saw the images coming through on TV. Like many of us, I have limited funds so can’t address all the needs of a world that is crying out for help. It’s so easy to sit on a comfy sofa, feel sympathetic – and then hopelessly overwhelmed – and say to ourselves frankly, ‘What can I do?’ I’d donate £5 or £10 and hope it got to that kid with the sad eyes that desperately needed a hug, some love, some hope, all the things you can’t give from the comfort of your home.

Then, two years ago, I was asked to lead a team of sixteen-year-old boys who wanted to volunteer at a school in Uganda. I was super nervous, but I agreed to go. The boys raised money and, together with my parents, we ran a fund-raiser that got us all out there. So as soon as the boys finished their GCSEs, off we went, five boys and me to a rural school in the outback of Uganda. I had no idea what to expect – none of us did.jessie-the-boys

The first thing I discovered when we arrived was that Africa is not at all like what you see on the charity programmes. This was the first shock. Uganda is a very green and beautiful country, dusty from a lack of tarmac on the roads but so full of colour, life and beauty. The cities are crazy and full of life with everything from shanty towns to exclusive shopping centres. The rural areas are green and very beautiful. Not surprisingly, the sanitation isn’t great and while it’s not that hot, it is incredibly humid, which means the mozzies love the place. But overall, my first impression of Uganda was that it was an incredible country.

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Our first challenge: of the 12 charity bags and 6 personal bags we had checked in, only two arrived which meant we had no clothes other than the ones we had on (and a few we later bought) for ten days. Needless to say, this was not part of the plan and it definitely made things slightly more interesting for the first week or so, however, this did not stop the boys getting involved with school life, and me getting involved with the small medical centre on the school grounds.

Towards the end of our stay, while the boys were playing sport with the kids during break time, I noticed one of the young boys sitting out. He was a good footballer and was normally one of the first to be out playing football so I was surprised to see him sitting on the side of the field. I went to check he was okay and he told me he was fine, he just had a sore foot. I hadn’t noticed him limping but I simply nodded and was about to leave him when I noticed his finger – it was raw. I asked him what happened but he refused to tell me until eventually, with the help of Jude, the school nurse, we managed to get the truth out of him. His answer literally stopped me in my tracks.

‘It’s from the rats,’ he said, ‘they come into the dorm at night and bite on our fingers and feet.’

I was so shocked. I asked why he hadn’t told someone. Jude gently explained that the boys didn’t want to get into trouble as the school is supposed to be a girl’s school and the boys are there mostly because they are siblings of orphaned girls with nowhere else to go so the Sisters who run the school have taken them in. The dormitory was a tiny, dark room with little comfort and in the rains it sometimes flooded. When the rats came in, they didn’t tell anyone for fear of being kicked out of the school.

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I sat with him while Nurse Jude patched him up, then I went to explain to the boys I was with what was happening in the boys’ dorm. They were hugely upset to discover this and after some serious discussions about the situation, we made a decision: we would build a new dorm for the boys. Before leaving Uganda, we helped clean out the boys’ existing dorm and laid rat deterrent. We promised we would return.

Two years later, the boys had completed their ‘A’ Levels and managed to raise £8,000 which they sent over to the school to get construction underway. In July 2016, we all went back out to Uganda to paint the new dormitory and be there for when the young boys moved into their new home. It was an incredible moment and I am truly grateful to have been on this journey over the past two years. I am so proud of these five eighteen-year-old boys and the sustainable difference they have made to the school and the boys that currently live there. I hope this experience has inspired the boys in the dormitory and the girls of the school as well.

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Nurse Jude was also waiting for us when we returned to Uganda and on this second trip, I learned more about his story. Jude is from a local family and was trained as an assistant nurse. He was employed by the school nurse but only qualified as an assistant nurse due to lack of funding. I thought back on the Starfish Story, and decided that this was one person I could help. With the assistance of friends and family, I am now funding him to become a fully trained nurse so he can further help his local community. There is a shortage of nurses and he is hoping to work at his local medical centre, the Busembatia Grade 4 Health Centre, once fully trained in a few years.

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What Uganda taught me: There is a fragile balance in Uganda. On a basic level, most people we came across seemed to be doing well – they had food, great community spirit and clean water. Although life was simple and in no way easy, everyone wore huge smiles, no one complained, people were not starving and, on the most part, they were in good health – a far cry from what is portrayed on TV. However, when you look closer, you do see the problems that poverty brings –  one mosquito bite and a child dies in its parents’ arms, unable to get to a medical centre that could provide free treatment if only they had the transport to get there. The failure of a single crop can mean the loss of a nutritional source, leading to malnutrition and illness. And yet the strength of the communities in the rural areas is inspiring.

The problems and fragilities in Uganda are huge and if you focus on the big picture, all you see is what you can’t do. Life can be overwhelming and complicated, however, if you keep things simple and look at the individuals around you, you realise that there are small things that can make a big difference. If we take a deep breath, find someone we trust and invest our efforts in small projects, we can lay a foundation so the people we help can then move on and help others. As in the Star Fish story, you can’t always help everyone, but if you can help and inspire the right people, then you can create a circle of goodwill that inspires the next generation and flows like ripples across a lake when you drop a stone.

Uganda taught me you can help people one by one, and that looking up and out, not down and in is the best way to help each other in this world.

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