Many of you are generously sponsoring young children in Uganda in their education. Ted Fawcett, parishioner at St Joseph’s and chairman of EVC Uganda, gives us an update on the achievements of the charity during 2020:
EVC Uganda Chairman’s new year message
As I look back on 2020, with all its disruptions, I am pleased to report much positive news about our work in Uganda. The building of a boys’ and a girls’ dormitory at one of our primary schools has been completed and work has commenced there on the building of a five-classroom block, which will be used for the teaching of IT and vocational skills. This is due for completion in April and all of this work is a great step forward for the school. Regular inspections are carried out by qualified people on all EVC building work and the standard is consistently very high.
With the closure of schools in March, due to the virus, our team in Uganda has worked tirelessly and successfully to provide outreach education to the EVC sponsored children in their homes. On 15th October, those children due to sit their Primary Leaving Examination and those secondary students due to sit GCSE and A level exams returned to school. We hope to see the schools reopen for the remaining children in early January.
The numbers of new people taking out child sponsorship for education has increased steadily during the year, but not at the levels of previous years, due to the lockdown and, our ability to promote our work, being restricted. We now have over 270 children sponsored in education.
The enormous generosity of our donors continues to provide the vital resources we need to ensure real hope for the future for poor Ugandan children. We cannot thank donors enough. Workaid has provided tools for use in vocational training in the larger of the primary schools we use and additionally, we have received funding from the Nesta Ferguson Trust. We have also just heard that we will receive funding from Wilmslow Wells for Africa in the early new year. This will enable us to build the toilet block for the new classrooms and, also enable us to provide water harvesting facilities on all three new buildings. Shortly a Wills / Legacy leaflet for donations will be available and this will be placed on our website. We are also starting to use ethical social media outlets to create wider awareness about our work and seek further funding.
This year we established the Gifts’ Register on our website, to ensure that our donors are able to check that their gifts have reached their sponsored children. The EVC Newsletter continues to provide regular updates on our work to donors and supporters.
We continue to work in partnership with St Georges RC Church community in Wembley and EVC will be their 2021 Lenten charity. We constantly seek partnership working with other relevant and ethical organisations.
EVC is built upon cornerstones of Christianity, integrity and trust as, at this time, we look to the Child Jesus in the Crib and understand the message of light and hope He brings to the world. I am proud to say that EVC Uganda is a vibrant part of that message. As donors, volunteers and Trustees we have not walked past on the other side of the road when seeing the plight of the poor children we serve. Rather we have all worked together to provide real hope for the future for those who have so little. We will continue to work tirelessly to this end during 2021 and beyond.
Every good wish for a happy and successful New Year.
Ted Fawcett, EVC Chairman
31st December 2020
To find out more about EVC Uganda, or if you wish to become a volunteer, please visit their website.