I came across this very interesting article in The Guardian from 2015 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/apr/23/uganda-succes.... It describes the many reasons why children drop out of education at a young age. Some anecdotes describe: not having a school uniform, which can then prohibit access to school.
GETA is inviting all children from Year 1 up to Year 6 to design a Christmas card to send to St Theresa's School in Uganda. The card (in an unsealed envelope) should be a maximum of A5 size (210 x 148mm) when folded in half, and can have whatever illustration you like on the front and a greeting inside. There will be a £10 National Book Tokens spend card for the best design, so get creative.
GETA chairman David Rose & his daughter Rachel ran the Cabbage Patch race to raise much needed funds for St Theresa's school in Uganda. David and Rachel completed the race in an impressive time of 1hr 39m 56s.
Harris + Hoole very kindly supported our fundraising Afternoon tea with complimentary brownies and coffee. We would like to pass on our thanks to them for assisting us with our event and helping raise over £500 for our cause.
On Saturday 27th August, GETA and the parishioners of St Margaret's parish warmly welcomed our Patron Fr Paul Bigirwa to join us for a late summer afternoon tea. This was the first time Fr Paul had been back to visit since making such an impact on his initial placement here two years ago.
GETA and Fr Paul extend grateful thanks to the parishioners of St Monica's, Palmer's Green, for their very generous donations at their Coffee Morning Fundraising event after all their morning Masses on 14th August 2016. It was a joyous experience being able to share in both their 10.30 Mass and the coffee morning afterwards, to meet so many inspiring members of the St Monica community – and chance to catch up with Fr Paul as well.
I was recently moved by a facebook post about a young Malawian man called William Kamkwamba. After having to leave school due to a severe famine in the area which meant his family couldn't afford the $80 annual school fees, William embarked on a journey of self-education. He borrowed library books from his former primary school and taught himself how to build a windmill out of junk and bring power to his village. He then built a second, larger windmill to power irrigation pumps and carried on making huge improvements to the lives of the people in his village.
GETA was founded to support the work of Fr Paul Bigirwa in Uganda, where he helped to set up St Theresa’s Nursery and Primary School.. Fr Paul is currently in the UK until 6th September on a “working visit” to St Monica's Church in Palmers Green. As always, Fr Paul is an inspiration wherever he goes and the Faith Sharing Groups at St Monica's are pleased to have the opportunity to support Fr Paul's work through GETA.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this very successful event. The total is made up of £67 from sales, £168 from donations and £40.50 from Gift Aid on eligible donations. This last amount highlights the benefit of increasing the value of donations with donors not having to pay any more - the extra comes at the rate of 25% from HMRC - the Tax Collection service - and is very much appreciated.
Since the inception of GETA in 2015, the team in association with the support of the Lenten project at St Margaret's parish, Twickenham, has managed to raise over £5,000 to support the running of the school. These funds will be put towards acquiring additional teaching staff, completing the building work and decoration of the classrooms & school buildings, paying off the loan for the school van - the list is endless.
