The Africa Fund

A team of 8 people led by David Hewitt will be traveling out to Uganda on 3rd September to continue the link with friends and churches we know there, and visit Africa Fund projects.

Initially we will fly to Arua in the North West, and cross over into DR Congo for a few days. This is where the Honey Project has been established; while there we hope to talk to some of the farmers who have benefited and meet with the new Development Board.

Following that, it’s off by road down to Soroti in the East, calling at some local village projects en route. Here the Carpentry Project received a grant of £12,000 in March, so we will have opportunity to see how this has been spent. Finally, the team will go to Mbale and spend a couple of days at the CRO street children’s project and the JOY Hospice.

While in Soroti, we will be holding a forum for our contacts and friends from the Africa Fund (on Friday 11th September, extending over to Sunday 13th). This will be the fourth year we have held such a forum, which we have found to be invaluable to maintaining the strong relational links that have characterized the Africa Fund’s approach. At this time, there is opportunity to hear from the various areas, and also to give some skills training in management and project development.

Taking part in this weekend will be George Mcomwanda from Kisumu and his younger brother Peter, who is based in Nairobi. Both theses Kenyans are pastors, and we had the pleasure of hosting them in Edinburgh during May this year. It was good to develop the benefit of two-way traffic in the relationship.

The team will be taking out suitable in-date medicines and also un-locked mobile phones, if anyone would like to give them. We will also be taking our annual offering at CCE on Sunday 30th Aug, to provide funds for donations to the churches and individuals we meet while there, according to need. If you would be able to contribute to this, please either donate online or on the day.

We’ve had a really exciting set of reports from our partners in Soroti, Uganda, letting us know how they have got on in the last year.  Some of you will remember that two years ago we ran a campaign before Christmas to give goats to villagers in Northern Uganda.  Here are some of the results of our fundraising during 2006 and 2007. Continue Reading »

So, it’s not yet Christmas, but soon after the festive celebrations and the parties on Princes Street, it will be Burns Night.  This year there’s a massive number of Burns Night gatherings, not just in Scotland, but around the world. Continue Reading »

There’s a provisional date in the diary for an arts weekend on the 9th and 10th of May 2009 where The Africa Fund will be exhibiting photos from our trips to Africa (taken by David Hewitt), craft items including jewellery and animal figures as well musical instruments. Continue Reading »

This is a report from Dalmas Oleko, our main project contact in Kisumu, Kenya - sent to us in mid April.

“We continue to be grateful for every help to the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) here in Kisumu. We have continued to assist where we can with the resources at our disposal. Continue Reading »

We’re going to be at the Open Glass Doors event at the King’s Hall on South Clear Street on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th of May. The Community Arts Exhibition will include artworks from members of Community Church. Each artist is donating some of the proceeds to the Africa Fund or the CCE Building Project. Continue Reading »