A lot has happened at Action in Africa over the last two months. Between new volunteers, a stolen motorcycle, wrapping up holiday break, the kids going back to school, repainting The Center, and a Women to Women conference; life at Action in Africa has been very busy!
Here is a brief summary of what has happened along with two easy ways to support Action in Africa.
Enjoy!
N E W V O L U N T E E R S
L A U R E N
Lauren volunteered with us for a few weeks back in January. She helped with our youth programs and was incredible. Much to our dismay, she, unfortunately, didn't accept our offer to be a full-time volunteer. Come back soon!
D Y L A N
Dylan, a volunteer from our 2015 June high school group, is back at The Center for a few months. He will be helping us with the garden project, photography and miscellaneous jobs around The Center.
N E W S T A F F - B R E N T D A V I S
Brent, our new Director of Programs, has arrived at The Center. He will be with us in Nankuwadde for 12 months, helping develop and direct our creative based programs. He's already doing amazing things; leading a rhythm group, art group, and creative writing. We are so excited to have him here.
Welcome to the team, Brent!
L A W R E N C E & H I S N E W B O D A
BODA STOLEN
Most of you have probably heard about our friend Lawrence. His boda (motorcycle) was stolen out of his house back in January and we decided to do something about it.
Click above to see the video!
THE NEW BODA
Action in Africa rallied together, and we were able to raise enough money to buy Lawrence a new boda in a period of two days. It was truly incredible!
Click above to see the video!
E N D O F H O L I D A Y B R E A K || B A C K T O S C H O O L
In January we added some new programs for our secondary students. They consisted of debates, spelling bees, and revision sessions with a secondary teacher. The kids were quite busy! Holiday break came to an end on February 12th and was wrapped up by the secondary students taking two exams to see their progression from the daily sessions with Teacher Taata Bella. We concluded with a huge party full of food, dance parties, and speeches from the students. We are already missing them and cannot wait until the next holiday break!
February 22nd was officially the first day of school. Pictured above is Oliver who is an extended family member to Maama Melan (our lead chef and one of our first Muganda recipients). She recently moved in with Maama Melan for a better life, away from the village she was previously living in. Olivier is 8 years old and has never been to school before, until this week. She just completed her first week of school ever and we couldn't be any happier!! We are so proud of Maama Melan for making the courageous decision to take on another child.
T H E C E N T E R - R E N O V A T I O N S
Given the end of holiday break, we decided that The Center desperately needed a facelift. The walls were caked with fingerprints, dirt, snacks and slobber. The walls used to be white but the traffic of holiday turned them an unfavorable color. We let Brenda pick the new color, which is a washable paint, so goodbye to the mess and hello to clean purple walls!
PICTURED: top (the workshop), bottom left (the NEW library), bottom right (the NEW office
R E S O N A T E - W O M E N T O W O M E N
On February 26th, we hosted our first Women to Women conference in partnership with Resonate Workshops. Our women learned about leading positive change in their lives and how it doesn't take a title to lead change and take action in their own life situations. It was an incredible conference that 30 of our women, mothers, and neighbors participated in. Alex will be posting more photos and a blog entry about the entire conference at some point this week. Keep your eyes peeled!
G E T I N V O L V E D || W A Y S T O S U P P O R T U S
PURCHASE MUGANDA
The perfect gift for your friends and family, our Muganda bracelets are handmade in Africa and help put children in Uganda back in the classroom. We currently have 5 moms stringing the bracelets to help cover the cost of their kids school fees. Sold in packs of 3 or 5, our Muganda bracelets are sure to bring a smile to your friends and family. Click the link above for more information and to shop!
DRINK WINE
Action in Africa has been chosen as a featured charity for (c)3 Wines spring quarter. 100% of their profits from February 15th-May 14th will be donated to their featured organizations. We are excited to offer you the ability to purchase wine (something you're likely to do throughout the year anyway!) that gives directly to our programs. Click the link above for more information and to shop!
