days 3 and 4 Barrow to Millom

This was the first decent sign I saw - in Broughton in Furness, generally the route is VERY BADLY SIGNPOSTED, if at all and has resulted in me getting lost a couple of times.
Yesterday was the most difficult day of all. Getting out of Barrow was just as complicated as getting in and seemed to take forever! but  it was all worth it when I reached Roanhead which is absolutely beautiful.

The beach is lovely, with the Cumbrian hills in the background and there were some pools where natterjack toads breed; I saw lots of toadpoles - they should have been toadlets but like everything else this year they are behind.
The walk to Askam was superb. I was nearly in Kirby in Furness when things went a bit wrong and I ended up nearly stuck in the marshes and had to retrace my steps somewhat. I was exhausted by the time I met John. we stayed in a lovely B and B - the square café - really lovely people and felt fairly refreshed this morning for my walk to Millom.
I spent most of yesterday looking across the estuary at Millom, which seemed so close and most of today looking back at the other side and still not getting any closer. 
I am exhausted now and having a day off tomorrow to rest my poor feet.

 

Day 2 Ulverston to Barrow

Not quite as long a day today - only 14.5 miles but in the heat it was difficult to walk fast. Also, I walked for about 8 miles along the shingle beach and that really took its toll on the bottoms of my feet.
It was very beautiful walking on the beach, just me and the sea and the birds. I passed the Conishead priory now a Buddhist temple and a lovely, ancient little church dedicated to St. Cuthbert.
 This changed as I started my approach to Barrow: still on the coastal path with the sea and the tide fully in but on the other side- the offshore gas fields the onshore gas fields (I don't know what you call them), the power station, the slag heaps and the sewage works - not lovely.
I made good time though and reached the railway station about 3 pm.
Tomorrow I shall be staying over in Broughton in Furness, if I reach it!

If you haven't read this blog before, go back and read some of the posts from 2009, when we were living in Rwanda - it makes for fascinating reading, even for me. I seem to be a long way from that life now and not in a good way. I thought I would never go back to living a materialistic, wasteful western life after experiencing the way most Rwandans have to live - how quickly we forget!

walking for ABANA from Silverdale to Whitehaven day 1-

Set off at 7.30 this morning to walk to Silverdale station to catch the train to Kent's Bank - having already done the first part of the walk - across Morecambe Bay with Cedric Robinson a couple of weeks ago.Today's walk was 17.5 miles and it was sooo hot!
My first challenge was 3 fields all with cows and bullocks in and I am rather nervous around these creatures but they weren't really interested in me and all fields were passed without incident.
The walk went through fabulous countryside from start to finish - along country lanes, through forests, over moorlands, over rivers, up to the wonderful Bigland Tarn where we cooled our feet. At one point I came upon the Cartmel sticky toffee pudding factory - tempting!
I met up with Margaret (my sister) in Cark when I had been walking for 2 and a half hours. We plodded on together and reached Ulverston about 5 30 - very hard work but worth it.
Hope I am not too stiff to carry on tomorrow.

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.