Making a difference in Uganda

Dec 30 2008 by Kieran Westbrook, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

A TEAM of volunteers from the region returned from Uganda recently after a week-long fact-finding expedition.

The six volunteers belong to a Dumfries-based Christian group which donated £5,000 to an orphanage it supported, earlier this year. The money was spent on a well, giving the orphans and people in their community a local supply of fresh drinking water.

The six members of the Glen Aros Christian Fellowship volunteer group visited Uganda to see how their money had been spent and also to survey what more needed to be done to help the community further.

The volunteers visited the orphanage which is in Kagala, a village on the outskirts of the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

The village’s orphanage homes 300 children, many of whom have lost their parents to HIV, AIDS or the Ugandan civil war.

Kagala is a particularly deprived area of Uganda and the investment made by the church has made a huge difference to the people’s lives.

The group members made strong ties with the community and were humbled by what they saw.

They were given leaving gifts that included hand-crafted rugs and a rooster, which is considered the highest honour.

The trip was arranged to give members of the Christian group the chance to see the positive effects the money has had and report back to their congregation.

But more importantly, it allows them and their members the chance to see what else needs to be done for this community.

The area still has no sanitation and there is still lots to do there.

The church’s long-term plans for the area is to make the people living there completely self-sufficient and focusing on improving the area’s education.

It was the team’s first trip to the country, but will by no means be the last, with another visit being planned for next year.

To celebrate the success and allow local people the opportunity to hear some of the experiences the team went through during the expedition, the church held a Uganda Night at the start of December.

The night featured a talk from members of the team and gave a chance to see some of the photographs taken of the village and the orphanage.

The special night was held at the Glen Aros building on Steel Avenue in Dumfries recently.