Long overdue update!

Hi Everyone,
Sorry that we have been out of touch for a while. The last couple of months have been very busy for all of us individually
A few things have happened in June, July and August that we should tell you about, so I will give you the rundown of it all.
So, we had our garage and bake sale at the end of June, this went pretty good. We started at 8:00am and finished at 2:00 as planned. Our sales were not tremendous, but every little bit helps. We carted off the leftover sale items to the Salvation Army and ate the last of the baked goods :)
In July we had a change in our team numbers. A few members had to withdraw from the trip due to various reasons but we know that their thoughts and prayers will be with us while in Uganda. On the up-side we did gain a last minute entry to our team, Teresa Gripping. She is a friend and co-worker of Shannon Sim, one of our existing team members. We are very excited to have her. Our team is a nice round number of 6.
Also in July, Tanya Witzke (our team leader) received a letter from a lady named Shirley that is working in Gulu, Northern Uganda, with the children that were once child soldiers and now are being rehabilitated. In this letter a heartfelt request for "new" girls undergarments for the young ladies came. Tanya sent a copy of this letter to all of us and it touched our hearts. In this letter Shirley had written " Can u imagine having one pair of underwear for more than a year? That is all they have… "
As a team we thought that maybe we could do something for these young girls, so Meghan Bellamy had suggested that we collect some underwear and ship them to Uganda or bring it with us. In turn I contacted Shirley Broback, creator of the Vancouver Island Baby Fair and asked if she may know of local businesses that would be willing to donate some undergarments for these girls. Little did I know, Shirley likes a challenge and posted on various websites including her own business website www.vancouverislandbabyfair.com our need for new girls underpants to take to these "ex-child soldier teen girls" in Uganda. A tremendous response came...Amy Bronee of C-Fax contacted her and wanted to help in some way and suggested an interview with me (she does a parenting show on C-Fax and I am a mom going to Uganda and leaving my family home) so, we did that the end of July. In the meantime because of Shirley's posts Underwear started pouring into Shirley's business UPS box. The interview also sparked the interest of many Victorians and the underpants kept coming. Shirley then contacted Hanes and they donated 200 pair and a company in Ontario called Nummies generously donated 200 pair. All in all, with these donations and the donations from individuals, groups and orginizations, the grand total collected on July 31st was 1464 pairs of ladies underwear! Amazing!!!! But that's not all...On August 10th A-Channel news did a story on this project and interviewed Shirley, Sarah (PR manager with Watoto) and myself. Without the help of Shirley Broback this would not have been possible. It was a pleasure to be able to work with her.
Hopefully all these undergarments will fill a need for a while and when we are in Uganda we may be able to find other ways to help these young girls with things that seem so simple to us but are so crucial to them.
Thank you to all who donated and supported this great cause.
Charlotte

Charity Garage and Bake Sale :)

The next fundraiser has come upon us! There will be a huge garage sale this Saturday June 06th, 2009 at 430 Peter's Street in Esquimalt (Work point Military housing). Starts at 8:30am and goes till 2:00pm. There are a ton of great items for sale, such as a tv, digital camera, numerous small appliances, picture frames, mirrors, children's toys, baby items and lots lots more! We will also be having a small bake sale and fresh coffee brewing. Come check it out!

Our first fundraiser is completed! The spaghetti dinner was a success.
Thanks to all of you who came out to support our group. We all really appreciate the time you took to have dinner with us and for your donations. We raised close to $700!
Thank you to all the volunteers who helped set up the venue, cooked and helped clean up. We could not have done it without you., especially you David :)
A special thanks to Thrifty Foods for donating a $100 gift card to help with the purchase of food for the dinner and to Cobbs Bread for the fabulous rolls that they donated.
More fundraisers are to come. We'll keep you posted.
Thanks for your support!

How to Donate

For more information on how you can support this team, please contact Tanya Witzke at tanyaw@watoto.ca
For financial contributions $10 and above, tax receipts will be sent out early next year.
Thanks for your support!

Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser

On Friday May 22, 2009 the ACF (Arbutus Christian Fellowship) chapter of our group heading to Africa, will be hosting a Spaghetti Dinner with all the fixings donated by Thrifty Foods.

This dinner will be held at 1841 Fairburn Rd, the Montessori Academy. Please come at 6:00 pm to enjoy dinner and some light entertainment. The dinner "cost" is by donation. You can get tickets from Tanya Witzke or David Longchamps.
There are only 100 tickets to be given out, so get yours before they are gone!
Hope to see everyone there :O)

How can you help?

How can you help? you ask...
Well there are a few ways:
1) You could volunteer your time and help with some of our upcoming events.
2) You can tell everyone you know about this blog and our events.
3) You could make a cash donation to our group or an individual of the Victoria Team.
4)If you are a business you could donate an item or service to be auctioned/raffled off at one of our events. Or you could make a cash donation to our group.
5)You could sponsor a child from one of the Watoto villages (see Watoto.com for info)

ABOUT WATOTO CANADA

Watoto Canada is a charitable organization that is registered in Canada.
Watoto Canada raises funds within Canada to support projects in Uganda, East Africa. Supported projects focus on providing access to quality education, health care, and a home for children in a healthy family environment. Gender equality and environmental sustainability are overarching themes in all supported projects. Supported projects correspond to the UN Millennium Development Goals and the Canadian International Development Agency’s five priority sectors. Currently, there are approximately 1700 orphaned or abandoned children living in Watoto’s two Children’s Villages in Uganda. In addition, the building of a new village in Northern Uganda has now begun. Once complete, this village will provide former child soldiers with a home and necessary counseling and recovery services. Baby Watoto, The Bulrushes opened its doors in January 2007 to provide quality care and attention for babies under the age of 2 years old in Uganda. Other current projects in Uganda include a sustainable agricultural project and a clean water project. Upcoming projects include a children’s hospital project and a university project. Another aspect of Watoto Canada is its local involvement. The Watoto Children’s Choir travels from Uganda to Canada each year where they travel across Canada performing Concerts of Hope. The goal of Watoto’s Concerts of Hope is to raise awareness about important issues in Africa, such as the impact of HIV/AIDS and conflict, and to inform the Canadian public about Watoto Canada and opportunities to get involved. The Watoto Children’s Choir performs in a variety of venues and also visits schools across Canada, where the children have a chance to meet Canadian children. Currently, Watoto Canada is working to establish a scholarship program that will provide one Canadian student and one student in a Watoto Children’s Village school in Uganda with a scholarship, payable in their name to the post-secondary institution of their choice. Educational materials are also being created to educate Canadian students about important issues in Africa and to give them a chance to get involved. By choosing to support Watoto Canada, individuals, businesses, and organizations participate in fulfilling the dreams of boys and girls and men and women in Uganda by providing them with hope for a positive future. The goal of the projects supported by Watoto Canada is for boys and girls to receive the care and education that will empower them to make a positive impact on the development of their country, in the areas of health, gender issues, education, and environmental sustainability within the private and public sectors. Watoto Canada ensures that 90% of all donations are used for projects and that a maximum of 10% of all donations are used to cover administrative costs. By keeping administrative costs low, every donation received makes a sizable impact on the lives of many in both Uganda and Canada.
Thank you for your consideration!