4th Big Festive Fry will make a difference in Uganda
Earlier this month, Charlene’s Project 4th Big Festive Fry was held in St Saviours Church in Dollingstown. Incredibly almost 800 frys were served in the 3 and a half hours and £18,000 raised for the work of Charlene’s Project in Uganda.
It is just over 4 years since Charlene Barr passed away. Before she died she had raised over £120,000 to build Hidden Treasure Primary School, just outside Kampala in Uganda. The money she raised not only built the two block school but also built teacher accommodation and provided a well to bring clean water to the school community. The project she started continues to impact the lives of vulnerable children in Uganda today.
In 2012 the money raised in the Big Festive Fry paid to put a bore hole and well in the second Charlene’s Project school, Kahara Primary, in rural western Uganda where many of the children go to school barefoot.
In 2013 the money raised put a Community Hall at Kahara Primary School. When the Charlene’s Project team visited this July we saw the new school community hall in Kahara nearing completion. It is just wonderful seeing the impact of the monies raised from previous Big Festive Frys.
This year’s Charlene’s Project 4th Big Festive Fry has raised enough money for the development of the third school the project is supporting. Kilwara Primary School is close to Kahara Primary School but the school has so little by way of resources. Like in Kahara many of the children go to school barefoot. Charlene’s Project wants to work with a cluster of primaries in the Kahara/Kilwara community so that more pupils complete primary education. In the longer term the aspiration would be to provide a secondary school opportunity for some of these wonderful children in this rural community. During our recent July visit we heard of one boy who walks 16 km to and from the nearest secondary school each day.
The team of 37 who visited Hidden Treasure and Kahara in July composed of young people from Ireland, England, USA and Canada worked in both Hidden Treasure and Kahara Primary Schools and in the other projects that Charlene’s Project supports. Kids Clubs, Sports programmes, Health Promotion work, Teacher training and humanitarian distribution was all part of the teams work. It continues to be encouraging to see the ongoing development at both Hidden Treasure and Kahara Primary Schools.
As demonstrated by the incredible support of this month’s Big Festive Fry the event has become a “must” in many folks Christmas calendar. The atmosphere in St Saviour’s was electric and those present enjoyed a visit from the African Children’s Choir who joined the many families gathered for breakfast and gave a wonderful rendition of “Amazing Grace” for everyone to enjoy. Charlene’s Project thanks all who attended the 4th Big Festive Fry and everyone who supported so generously the ongoing work being done with children in Uganda.