03-09-10 Another chance to help our Ugandan cousins (Charity Event)
Fundraising at Asda in Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
This year during March and April I embarked on an adventure with the charity Building brighter futures to help two primary Schools in Uganda.
At the time of going forward with this adventure I was convinced that this would be a “once in a lifetime experience”. Little did I know that I would be wrong on two counts! Firstly, I never would have imagined how much these fantastic people would influence my life and secondly, I could never have imagined the draw this Country would have on me to return.
When I was leaving Uganda I spoke to Livvy the Director of Bukeka School in Mityana about what he really needed over the next
year. Through this discussion we highlighted 3 main areas of concern:
- School uniforms for the Children that cannot afford them.
- A new classroom for the children to have their lessons in. This is necessary as Uganda often has torrential rainfall and currently half of the children learn outside due to lack of space.
- Help with the local well. The well provides water for both the School and the local village, but the water quality is very poor and many locals have become very ill when they drink from it, but unfortunately this is their only source of water.
Once home I realised that I was naive to think that I could just walk away from Uganda and the people I had spent time with. The experience that I had whilst in this country meant that I knew that I would have to fundraise to try to help these deserving people with their main concerns.
To get my fundraising activities underway I was lucky enough to be able to arrange a bag packing day at ASDA in Antrim to raise funds for the School.
I once again met with my Directors Will and Hilary with my begging bowl in hand. Earlier in the year the Directors at Quell helped me greatly with time off and with donations so that I could work in Uganda. This time they were more than keen to help me out again by supplying fundraising equipment and giving moral support on the day. (Thanks guys)!
On Saturday 28th August I was to enter a real world of Conflict Management (getting between a shopper and a perfectly packed carrier bag)!
I learned two things that day;
- People who pack bags in a busy shopping centre deserve every penny they earn.
- Never believe you know more about packing a carrier bag than a woman that has been doing it every week for the last 40 years … you will be put in your place, back down and agree with her to prevent the risk of triggers to aggression!
All joking aside I also learned how generous the Northern Irish community can be for a good cause. I am very grateful to all those that donated to the charity even though they probably cursed my bag packing abilities by the time they got home and unpacked their shopping!
During the day I and my fellow slaves, (sorry volunteers) managed to raise £435.00. This is a great achievement and will make a massive difference to the parents and Schoolchildren of Mityana
Even though I am still recovering from the trauma of a full day in a supermarket I seem to have already “volunteered” for another bag pack before Christmas. I suppose that gives plenty of time to strengthen the arms and sharpen the conflict management…. sorry customer service skills.
Seriously I would like once more to thank my family and friends, ASDA Antrim and the shoppers of the store, and Will and Hilary for helping me make such a difference to these deserving people of Uganda.
John Morris Senior Trainer at Quell Training
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