THE BIANNUAL NEWSLETTER FROM FIELDS OF LIFE www.FIELDSofLIFE.org
SPRING/SUMMER 2019
ISSUE 12
PROJECT 25
Last year, to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, we challenged you to organise 25 fundraisers throughout the year to raise funds for our WASH programme in East Africa.
What a year it has been! Across United Kingdom, Ireland and USA there have been golf days, cycles, marathons, afternoon tea parties, concerts, mountain treks, bake offs and much more! We are so grateful to everyone who got involved and put their all into organising these fantastic events. Thanks to your dedication and support over £88,000
On behalf of the girls at Dara Christian High School, in Lira, Northern Uganda, we send a big Ugandan thank you to Claire Houston and all the lovely ladies from Lenham who are busy making I AM GIRL kits including re-usable menstrual pads (RUMPS). At the last count they had made 70 kits, and they are still sewing! This inspirational group meet on Thursday afternoons at the Parish Church of Saint Mary in Lenham, Kent. Claire Houston said: “We now have a pool of about 15 wonderful volunteers who join us at various times throughout the month. We’re never sure when the funds for the fabric and items needed to complete the kits will run out, but the Lord keeps providing so far.”
Welcome to our latest edition of Field Notes. I am thrilled to report that 2019 has got off to a great start with thanks to your incredible support. We have been involved in some truly inspirational activities; One Child Campaign, Maiden Factor, new school openings, Head Teachers Conference, sewing, baking, quizzing, walking, running and trekking. A few of these phenomenal stories will unfold in the following pages and there are heaps of opportunities for you to get involved and maybe write your own stories for our next edition! In March, we celebrated World Water Day; the theme this year is ‘Leaving no one behind,’ which is the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The lack of available clean water in East Africa is deeply concerning and it’s hard to believe that in 2019, 844 million people around the world still don’t have access to clean water. I am sure that you will share our belief that this is a basic human right and we hope that you will stand with us to help bring about positive change. Providing a community with access to a clean, safe water source does more than just reduce the number of water-related illnesses and deaths, it reduces the number of hours spent collecting water, which therefore allows children to attend school and gain a quality education. It also reduces the risk of attack on young girls who have to fetch water alone.
has been raised towards providing clean water, sanitation and hygiene to communities in East Africa. This will change the lives of tens of thousands of people. Thank you! LADIES WHO SEW!
Over the years, with thanks to your support we have been able to bring safe clean drinking water to 750 communities and together I know we can continue to make a huge difference.
Maybe you would like to join us and experience first-hand the tremendous welcome that awaits you at our projects. If so, please do get in touch. We are hosting a number of fact finding trips this year for which dates and details are available, so please email [email protected] to find out more.
Finally, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who is already playing a part in this life transforming work. We hope that you will share this newsletter with your friends and family and encourage them to get involved and help change the world for someone.
Yours faithfully,
Debbie Cameron
12TH ANNUAL FIELDS OF LIFE HEAD TEACHERS CONFERENCE
“Thank you, thank you. The Government of Uganda is saying a big thank you for the love you have for Uganda, for what you do on behalf of the government. You have built schools, you are our greatest friends.” This heartfelt appreciation came from Uganda’s Minister of State for Higher Education, Honorable Dr. John Chrysostom Muyingo, as he officiated at the opening ceremony of the 12th Annual Fields of Life Conference in Mukono, Central Uganda under the theme “Schools’ self-reliance, a road to Sustainable Quality Education”.
Each January, Fields of Life hosts an annual conference where representatives from its supported and partner schools from across East Africa share their experiences and strategise on how they can share Christ’s love and positively impact lives in their schools and communities. Dr. Muyingo is a teacher by profession and respected for his distinguished professional track record in education and contribution to the education sector in Uganda. In a room filled with government officials, church leaders, head teachers and school directors, he recounted how a lack
of funds almost cost him his education. Coming from a very humble background in Luwero district, central Uganda, Dr. Muyingo’s entire education was funded by what he called “good Samaritans.” “Now, here I am from that background and I am now a minister in charge of schools. That is why I am hard on head teachers who use the money, meant for needy children, on other things” he added.
He commended Fields of Life for investing in education because it is contributing to national development. “I love the theme you chose for this conference. It is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal Four. Investment in Education is perhaps the greatest investment one could ever make for the future of a country,” he said. He challenged the conference participants to use whatever platform and opportunity available to them to impact their communities. “Ninety percent of my salary that I receive from government, I use to pay school fees for over one thousand students. I believe that I am just a channel, a conduit for God, that is why I like a head teacher who has a heart for the weak ones. If you are such a head teacher, God will bless you,” he said.
A BEACON OF SUPPORT FOR GIRLS AROUND THE GLOBE
The Maiden Factor crew finally set off from Hamble back in October 2018 with guest skipper Nikki Henderson at the helm, on a two-year world tour to raise funds and awareness for girls’ education. We are thrilled to be partnering with Maiden through I AM GIRL and are delighted to bring you this update on her progress.
Their first stopover was Malta with Her Excellency the President of the Republic of Malta,
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. The crew then headed off to Jordan, through the Suez Canal to Kerala before a quick ‘pitstop’ in Sri Lanka to refuel and pick up supplies. She also picked up more crew and Skipper Nikki Henderson handed over the wheel to the next legendary Skipper, Wendy Tuck! As I write, the crew are about 700m West of Australia and are charging upwind in 20-35 knots of breeze! Tracy Edwards and the land team have been busy with the launch of the ‘Maiden’ film and have been travelling all around the world to promote this inspirational campaign. The film is Tracy’s own incredible, against-all-odds story of triumph over diversity and gender inequality. It was previewed at Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and won the Dublin Film Festival Audience Award! The film will be coming to cinemas near you and full details are available online at
www.maiden.film. I am sure that you will join with me and wish the crew and team all the best.
This year, we are challenging you to become a Water for Life Champion to help us to raise awareness and vital funds to provide clean water in East Africa. Why?
At Fields of Life, we can not accept that there are 844 million people worldwide who lack even a basic drinking-water service and globally at least two billion people use a drinking water source which is contaminated with faeces. This dirty water can transmit diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio (World Health Organisation, 2018).
It doesn’t have to be this way! Clean water changes everything!
Just £4 can change lives in East Africa! Together we can change lives, transform communities and build hope through the life-saving gift of clean water. What is a Water for Life Champion?
As a Water for Life Champion, you will join a movement of change makers who are passionate about bringing fresh, clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene to communities in East Africa!
You will tell others about the work of Fields of Life and share your passion with friends, family, work colleagues, churches, schools and youth groups, telling them about the challenges faced by vulnerable communities who are forced to walk
long distances to collect dirty, contaminated water every day.
Being a Water for Life Champion will allow you to meet like-minded people in your community who share your heart for justice and speak out on behalf of some of the world’s most marginalised people. Through becoming a Water for Life Champion, it is our hope that you will encourage others to support the work of Fields of Life and sign up to become a Water for Life regular giver from as little as £4 a month.
What can you expect from Fields of Life?
The Fields of Life team are here to support you and are always on hand to provide any advice. As a Water for Life Champion, you will receive a Water for Life Champions toolkit which includes resources such as videos, leaflets, PowerPoint presentations and stories to help you to tell our story and encourage others to support our work and get involved.
Fields of Life will share regular updates on water, sanitation and hygiene projects, reports and stories from the field and bi-annually we will meet to share in all that is being achieved.
The Parenta Trust Rally Maidstone to Monaco is back! The drive to Build a School will be setting off on Wednesday the 26th June and returning on Sunday 30th June 2019. Eight countries and 2,000 miles in a car worth around £350! A minimum sponsorship of £1000 per car and a route that takes in some of the best roads that Europe has to offer. Since the first Maidstone to Monaco Rally, back in September 2013, the charity have raised enough funds to commission the build of five nursery schools across Uganda, the brilliant team at Parenta are on target to build one a year for the next 10 years.
The first nursery school was sited in Luwero, at Good Shepherd. The second is in Dokolo, at Opilitok. The third is at Wakiso, at Kiti Parents. THE DRIVE TO BUILD A SCHOOL
The fourth at Kasese, at Nyakabale. The latest to be commissioned and built is at Komoret in Karamoja. Together these nursery schools are providing access to quality early key stage development to upward of 750 pre-school aged children in Eastern Africa, every year.
Our thanks go to Allan and his amazing team at Parenta who have helped raise funds, to everyone who sponsors a child at any of these nursery schools, and to everyone who has taken part in the rally over the years. Your support is making a real difference to the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in East Africa.
You are invited to join Fields of Life on a thrilling cycling challenge through some of Africa’s most beguiling landscapes. Cycling through sections of the Tour du Rwanda, through tea plantations and along the Virunga Mountains, home to some of the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas and visiting the training base of the Rwandan National Cycling Team, this two-wheeled adventure is set to be epic.
Join us on 23rd-30th November 2019! For more details visit https://www.fieldsoflife.org/news/ rwanda-cycle-challenge/
Or contact [email protected]. THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME! GIVING BACK FOR GENERATIONS
Do you remember your first day of school? Were you nervous? Well…not like this!
In 2019, can you imagine meeting school children who had never entered a classroom?
On 22nd January 2019, at the official school commissioning, twenty children were terrified when they were asked to go inside their classroom and sit down in Komoret Primary School, Karamoja, North Eastern Uganda.
They first stood at the entrance of the classroom taking in the brightly coloured desks and benches. After overcoming their initial shock the children, aged seven to ten years old, entered the room and innocently sat on top of the desks while others had their backs to the blackboard.
Lemukol was among the first children who sat behind the desks for the first time. The ten year-old recalled that the first and last school she had attended was the community nursery school in the area. “After nursery school, we didn’t have another school to go to, so we stopped going to school,” she said.
In a society that is still very traditional and nomadic, where families still live in Manyattas (traditional houses made of sharp thorns) and wealth is measured by the herd of cattle that one has, getting an education is not highly valued. As a result, the region has the highest illiteracy rates in the country with seven out of ten individuals unable to read or write.
With this new school, children like Lemukol and her best friend Chemuzungu are getting a chance to dream big and write a new chapter of their lives starting in February 2019 when the school year began.
The Fields of Life Alumni, staff and Founder, Trevor Stevenson, attended the school opening which was filled with emotion and celebration. Trevor reflected that this was the harvest of the harvest. The Fields of Life Alumni, many of them sponsored and whose lives were transformed by the opportunity to go to school, have grown up and decided to do for the children of Karamoja what they had gifted to them! Komoret Primary School is the first Fields of Life School constructed in the Karamoja region. The School was built in partnership with Nakapiripirit District Local Government and was funded by the Fields of Life Alumni Association. The Nursery School was funded by Parenta Trust.
So, if you are looking for adventure and feel inspired to get involved then please get in contact or register online at www.parenta.com/charity.
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In-memory donations and gifts left in Wills have been a huge part of our mission to change lives, transform communities and build hope in East Africa.
Through planned giving, Fields of Life has been able to drill at least 30 wells and build at least eight schools providing the life-saving gift of clean, safe water and empowering children to complete their education. This has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people, helped to raise up the change makers of East Africa and left a legacy that will extend throughout generations.
Anyone can make an in-memory donation or leave a gift in their Will. It really doesn’t matter what size. After you have looked after your family and loved ones, your donation can be as small or large as you would like. We truly value these gifts of all types and sizes.
Join us for a culinary adventure with lots of nostalgic and unctuous dishes from Africa. Music, dancing and so much more! Tickets are £19pp and include a donation to provide a child in East Africa with clean water for a month. Booking is essential - please call 01622 299359 or email
[email protected] for more details. AFRICAN NIGHT!
We would like to give thanks to everyone who supported the Haggai Quiz Night in Kent on the 9th March. It was an incredible evening, with over 120 people testing their general knowledge skills. Together this group of inspirational quizzers raised an astonishing £6,500! This will fund the drilling of a new borehole, providing clean, fresh drinking water to a remote village in Uganda. We were truly blown away by the generosity of so many and are so grateful for the support we received. A big thank you to team Haggai for hosting the evening.
The Albion Inn, 1 Church Street, Boughton Monchelsea, Kent ME17 4HW
Thursday 25th July 2019
We would like to say a massive thank you to the Glasgow-based automotive giant Peter Vardy Group and all of their customers for their inspirational support of the hugely successful One Child campaign. More than 9,460 children have benefitted from this ground-breaking campaign and it has provided daily meals, school uniforms, text books and scholastic equipment, trained teachers, trained communities in Child Protection, WASH and child rights, provided school management training and set up agricultural projects. Enrolment has increased by 36.3% and retention and performance
have increased in the 25 schools in Uganda and Rwanda that One Child has supported. This incredible campaign has enabled us to change the way that we support the children, schools and communities that we work with, providing them with the skills and tools to effect lasting change, improving the quality of education and ultimately transforming communities. The sustainability and impact of this programme continues to grow day by day, car by car, school by school, child by child. We give heartfelt thanks to everyone who is involved in One Child.
Fields of Life is committed to sharing the Christian faith by collaborating with local communities and churches in East Africa to bring about positive change through the provision of quality education, clean water, health promotion and other community based projects.
Email:[email protected] Charity No: 1173249 Company No: 09642193 Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com Follow us on Twitter @FieldsofLife Follow us on Instagram @fields_of_life
Visit our website
www.fieldsoflife.org
You are receiving our Field Notes because you have signed up to our mailing list at an event, online or through a member of staff. If you would like to stop receiving our Field Notes please let us know by emailing [email protected].
Over the past year our Founder, Trevor Stevenson, has been working on an exciting book project! His Fields of Life memoirs “Life in the Killing Fields” will be released later this year and we can’t wait to read the story of how God has used a humble and faithful couple from Ireland to help change lives and transform communities in East Africa. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with the official launch!
GREAT BRITAIN
FIELDS OF LIFE
1090b Galley Drive, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne, Kent, England ME9 8AG
