More about the Mpora Rural Family

Having completed a very pleasant stroll through Kew Gardens this morning, narrowly avoiding coffee and cake but burning a sizeable hole in my wallet to pay £3.25 for what was basically a tuna sandwich (oh well, I guess I'm keeping them in compost) I now find myself back in front of my laptop.

The reason that I am putting myself through the potential torture of ongoing podiatry hell is in aid of the Mpora Rural Family Home situated in Western Uganda near the frontier town of Fort Portal. I visited this great project last year and was blown away by the vision of its founder, Morence Mpora and the aspirations and hard-working attitude of the children and young people who benefit from the project.

The project supports orphans and needy children in the area. Some of the kids are alone because their parents have died of AIDS or have been victims of rebel fighting. Others belong to families where illness, usually accompanied by abject poverty, means that without the help of the Mpora Rural Family Home there would be no hope of education, sustenance and a chance to make a better life.

The Mpora Rural Family Home, which was set up by Morence Mpora in the 1980's, offers a home to upwards of 40 children at any one time. It also supports other children in the community by paying or subsidising school fees. The Home has a small farm with cattle and crops for subsistence, dorms and a dining room for the kids, a library for use by everyone in the local community and lots of space for playing football and running around after chores are finished. It also has two 'banda' huts which are part of the eco-tourism initiative that I have been trying to support. (See later).

The Home receives no government funding and is dependent on donations to function. Once you've been there, and been trully humbled by the drive, commitment and belief in the face of adversity of Morence, his family and the children themselves, it is practically impossible to stop yourself getting involved and so there are travellers all over Europe, the world even, who have gone back home and tried to think of ways to help.

My sister first went to the Home over ten years ago and made sure that she got our family and friends interested in this worthy project. Gabs has done lots of fundraising drives over the years and set up a bank account in the UK that people can pay into on a regular basis as a contribution to the school fees needed by many of the children. About £60 will pay for annual school fees. £100 helps pay for uniforms, mattresses and bedding (lots of the schools are a long way off and students have to board) as well as fees.

My sister's friends Tim and Rob English have been very supportive of the project. Both have been out to visit and Rob had a bit of a coup this year when he successfully bid to a UK trust fund to provide some funding for school fees on, what we hope, will be a five year basis.

If you would like to contribute, your donation would be MORE than welcome! Email me at [firstnamelastname]@yahoo.co.uk to know more.