end of summer update

At last I am able to bring you up to date with ABANA's news.
Donations have been trickling in slowly but steadily since April: we have sold all the bottles of Akabanga and now have a new supply to sell, thanks to Jean Marie Vianney. Once people have tried this wonderful almost pure chilli oil, they always want more it is quite addictive! We make a profit for ABANA which goes back into the charity and also helps JMV who is now studying at Kigali institute of Education and without us would have been unable to do anything.

Sonia sold some more of Valerie's wonderful earrings - this makes a profit for ABANA and helps Valerie who is now in her final year at catering college. When we knew her she had never even been  to secondary school and now she has a career before her.

One of my star students, Valens Nsengyumva, is now studying in the hotel trade. He is a brilliant boy who wanted to be a journalist, but in Rwanda you take what is offered- you can very rarely choose your course of study.

We are very happy to be sponsoring a new student - Mary Rose Nyiranzeyimana, Sister of Jean Bosco; part of the letter she wrote is reproduced here:

"My family have tried to find school fees in hard manner, but it seems like a mean of not to give up.
When i inspect well, I find that they have no capacity therefore I,m likely to drop again. My favourite person I want to be is a NURSE if possible. I will achieve it because I'm fond of chemistry and biology.
I really want to step in my Bosco's shoes - a hard working in my opinion.I think I have to believe that i wont be thrown out because of schol fees. I would do well and succeed better than expected. so if find me a sponsor, nothing wont pain again and therefore i could have a hope of better life in future..." 



It is always good to sponsor a girl in Rwanda, because as i have said before, girls very rarely push themselves forward. One of our students - Marie Aimee, is being sponsored for the whole year this year.

Plans for October? Sonia is organising a halloween event in Derby and here in Carnforth we are planning a coffee morning and raffle and also an ongoing quiz.

If you read this blog and feel there is anything you would like to do to raise money for ABANA, please let me know. Your generous gesture can change a life forever. thank you

Whats been happening since October?!

Where does the time go?

Last time I updated the blog, James was about to start his epic cycle from John o' Groats to Lands End. Unfortunately, his friend dropped out and by the time he reached Preston his knee had given out completely. it was still an amazing thing that he did and he raised £60 for ABANA and plans to complete the journey one day soon.
Bad news from Comic Relief - they turned down our request for a grant to build sports' facilities at the school on the grounds that the project wasn't sustainable. I wont give up though there are many other large charities I intend to turn to - the school needs so much. The trouble is, applying for a grant is so time consuming!
The school has now sent me a series of smaller projects and a strategic plan which we might be able to obtain some help with;
We have continued to sell the wonderful Akabanga - via Ebay and also I was allowed to sell some at Lakeland where we raised £25 and at the school in Blackpool where I have just done a terms' work, I raised a further £45.

The wonderful Sonia has just completed a 10k run and she has raised the amazing sum of £150 and counting!!
Valerie, one of our students in Rwanda has just sent some more lovely earrings for us to sell.
I recently had a rather significant birthday and several friends donated money to ABANA to mark it - I am so grateful to everyone who takes the time to find out about us and help us; The smallest amount of money can do so much;.
We are now able to help a number of students who would otherwise be unable to continue with their education and whose only alternative would be to stay at home and help their families to subsist.
All the students that we help are so grateful for what we are doing - they dont take anything for granted and in fact they work as hard as they possibly can to show us how grateful they are. They know that there are many people thinking about  them and this gives them confidence and a feeling of self worth which many rwandans dont have.
Here is part of a letter from Jean Bosco Nzeyimana from April 4th:
i really appreciate how your presence comfort me and I will never cease to thank all those generous people who have accepted to do something.I can stand somewhere and say something, this is because of people like you and my parents who didnt give up to give me a hope
April is a very sad time in Rwanda - the anniversary of the 1994 Genocide and I know that every single Rwandan is suffering in some way. This years' theme for the commemoration of the Genocide is -
LET'S LEARN FROM OUR HISTORY TO BUILD A BRIGHT FUTURE   

ABANA with your help is helping them to do this    THANK YOU
www.charitygiving.co.uk/abana

James and Matthews' wonderful adventure (for ABANA)

Haven't updated the blog for some time but that doesn't mean we havent been active: we took part in a 'vide grenier' (car boot sale) in our french village in July to help raise funds for ABANA and we were also selling earrings made by by Valerie in Rwanda, Akabanga (pure rwandan chilli oil) sent to us by Jean Marie Vianney and beautiful cards that we had made using photographs I had taken of local rwandan children. Unfortunately, the french dont give to charity and dont eat spicy food, so we didnt make very much; this is one of the reasons we are now back in the UK
The following shops are very generously displaying and selling the Akabanga for us: Soundbites in Derby, 65 in Longridge and Baba Ganoush in Kendal. All proceeds go to ABANA and quite a generous trickle of money is coming in through that.
By the end of August, I had managed to complete the mammoth task of applying for a grant from Comic relief to finance the building of volleyball, basketball and handball courts for my school in Cyanika. I wont hear anything until January.
And now to the wonderful adventure which starts on 11th October when my nephew James and his friend Matthew begin an epic cycle from John o' Groats to Lands End and they plan to do it in 7 days - yes that's right A 1000 MILES IN 7 DAYS!!!  and all to raise funds for ABANA.
You can read all about it and also donate by going to www.charitygiving.co.uk/jameskelly1
Even as I write, they are on the train to Scotland. They have never done anything like this before.
I will keep people updated as to their progress on this blog and also on facebook and twitter @SheilaBurns

THANK YOU

Thanks to all the wonderful people who made donations to ABANA during April, we have been able to help 5 students this month: Jean Bosco, Valens, Jean Marie Vianney, Valerie and Marie Aimee and there is still money left to help a couple of others.
With your help, we have been able to help them regularly and they are beginning to realise that people care about them and the have a bright future.
Money paid in via Charitygiving, is paid one month in arrears so we havent received  the donations from Sonia's charity event yet.

Together, we can make such a difference, your generosity is so highly valued.

LATEST SUCCESFUL FUNDRAISING EVENTS

2 new fund raising events have raised over £600 for ABANA (money is still coming

I gave up drinking any kind of alcohol for 50 days - very difficult for me but i was spurred on by the thought of the people we are helping.

A very big thank you to all those people who sponsored me!

My wonderful daughter, Sonia, held an 'event' on may 1st in Derby, which took an amazing amount of organising; finding and booking performers and caterers; obtaining raffle prizes and publicising the event.

The day was an incredible success:£450 was raised on the day plus others made a direct donation via charity giving. People were very interested in ABANA and what we were doing and there is talk of the event happening every year.

Thank you so much Sonia and all the people who supported her by helping and attending.

young rwandans we are helping, thanks to your donations

Since ABANA became official in December 2010, and in fact even before that because we held a couple of fund raising events (a car boot sale and a sponsored walk across Morecambe bay)and due to generous donations from wonderful friends, we have been able to begin helping young people on a regular basis. here is some information about all the people we are helping so far: NTAKIRUTIMANA JEAN VIANNEY - a wonderfully gifted boy who speaks very good English, writes plays and is very musical - whilst at school, he conducted the school choir. He has now left school with excellent results but without our help he has no possibility to go to university; his father is in prison and his mother abandoned him and his young sister some years ago. At the moment he is trying to run a little shop but has no money to stock it! NSENGYUMVA VALENS - one of my star students, bursting with life and enthusiasm for all the things he wants to achieve, but without our help has no prospects; he comes from a very poor family in Kigali, he is now in his final year at school, working as hard as he can so he will have good results. NZEYIMANA JEAN BOSCO - another star student; he has now left school and received the highest results of any student in Rwanda in the National Exams; We are so proud of him. however, as his school fees were not up to date, he was not allowed to get his certificate unless they were paid. We were able to help him; he comes from a background of desperate, desperate poverty. in his final year at school, whilst studying for his National exams, his father became seriously ill with TB and Jean Bosco had to take time out of school and then their house fell down! The family are desperately trying to build another one out of traditional mud bricks (which they make themselves) so they can keep their things dry! KAYISIRE VINCENT - a young street boy who makes his living by selling hand made cards. Despite his circumstances, he is always smiling and cheerful.He was recently involved in a traffic accident and had to spend time in hospital so he lost his livelihood; The whole of the time we knew him, he never asked us for money, he just wanted our friendship.We would like to help him now. THEOGENE HANYURWIMFURA - a lovely boy who always sat at the front of the class and who always asked lots of questions so he would understand everything and he was desperate for me to find him a pen friend (which i never managed to do) After doing well in his National Exams, theogene is now at home with his parents and 5 siblings helping them to grow food on the tiny bit of land that they have. He is deperate to go to university. if anyone would like to write to him, that would be wonderful MARIE AIME MUKAKABAYIZA - one of the few girls we are helping, in fact girls never ask for help, they defer always to the boys but things are changing for girls in Rwanda. She is 17 but still at primary school; She now hopes (with our help) to go on to secondary school. VALERIE MUKAKAKWAYA - used to work for us 2 mornings a week; She is the most wonderful person you could ever meet, very shy,but would do anything for you. She never went to secondary school but since earning money from us (the grand sum of £15 a month) she has had the courage to go to catering college in Kigali - a big step for such a self effacing person. With our help, she will complete college and get a good job so she can support all her relatives. There are obviously many more people we would like to help, we would also like to help the school improve the terrible state of most of its' buildings. (more about this later)

ABANA

Childrens' voices (everywhere)

Chidren running (barefoot)

Children singing
Children clapping

Children asking for money, for bread (amafaranga! umugati!)

Children shouting

Children in rags

Children carrying water
Children carrying firewood
Children herding goats

Children digging the family plot
Children playing with wooden hoops (the lucky ones)
Children riding wooden bicycles (the lucky ones)

Children playing football with balls made of rags and elastic bands
Children carrying babies on their backs

Children hungry, alone, crying

Children walking, walking, walking
Children smiling -beautiful eyes, beautiful smiles, lifting your heart
Beautiful rwandan children!

I wrote this in May 2009 surrounded by these children. They are still with me.

Here are a few facts to think about:

50% of the population is under 18

The average Rwandan family has 7.2 children

The average Rwandan family lives well below the poverty line. Dwellings are so small, children only go inside to sleep (on the mud floor)

There are so many children that the Rwandan Education Authority (MINEDUC) has introduced a shift system in primary schools so that no class will have more than 49 pupils at any one time.

Half the children go to school from 8-12 30 and the rest from 1 - 5. Teachers stay all day for no extra pay

Primary schooling is free but there are books, pens and uniforms to buy

Many children dont start school till they are 11

Some never go at all.

You can help by giving to ABANA - http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/