Abaana: raising funds for African children

Scott Baxter writes… It has be two months since we were struck by the devastating news of the Tsunami. It was one of the worst ever natural disasters, and through an excellent response from many people, lives are being rebuilt. We would like to encourage you to keep up the efforts and prayers for the Tsunami.

Just before the Tsunami the United Nations estimated that there are currently 1,000,000,000 children in need of help. In Africa alone, there is the equivalent of a Tsunami every month. Many babies like Emmanuel are abandoned and never found. Over 500,000 children will die this month and unless we all do something the devastation on the scale of the Tsunami will keep happening in Africa. We have the chance to act now to prevent some of the problems.

Abaana is a local charity set up to raise funds for children in Africa. The word Abaana means children. Last year through many people’s generous giving and the work of many young people, Abaana raised over £100,000 for various projects from medical to educational. Through regular supporters we are able to support over 500 children on a daily basis. But still there is so much more to do.

Let me tell you about one of the many children we have been able to help this year. Emmanuel is one of the cutest and funniest babies I have met in Africa. His smile and giggles however, are far removed from his tragic past. Emmanuel was found in a rubbish tip in Uganda. He was only discovered because a passer-by heard a faint cry and his small, malnourished body was found wrapped in a plastic bag. Emmanuel was taken to a home for street children. There they took care of him, fed him and restored him back to health. In the last year through the gifts and fundraising of many people from the U.K and abroad, we have raised over £60,000. We have been able to support many projects, including this home, by sending out money for food, clothing and other essential needs to care for over 90 children like Emmanuel.

One of our main projects for this year is a school in Mpata. If you visit the website at www.abaana.org you can see some of the pictures of the old school. It’s simply a shack. Mismatched pieces of wood nailed together. The black board sits on the bench and leans against the wall, while children squeeze together on other benches and use their knees as tables. When I first went to Africa I was struck by how many children spend their days working or lying around with no school to go to. I will never forget the day when I was painting a new school and over 300 mothers, grandmothers and children arrived to sign up for free education. They stood for three days in the heat waiting to be interviewed. It saddened me when I realised that with only 30 places available, most of these children would have no hope of an education.

Education is essential for a country to reduce the loss of life in the long term, developing future leaders, doctors, farmers, engineers, and all the people who will help to build a country. So far we have already raised over £25,000 since September through schools, churches, youth groups and our yearly sponsored fast. We have just bought the land and started to build the first stage of this school which will cater for 300 children. Our target this year is to raise over £60,000 for various projects helping many more children like Emmanuel.

We also want to help children like Grace who has to walk for forty minutes to get water each day. She eventually arrives at the water hole which is being shared with the wild animals. She waits for them to clear before filling her water can with the brown stained water. Suddenly she doesn’t feel so thirsty. “More people die from water related disease than Aids and Cancer together.”

We can only achieve this through the support of people like you. If you would like to make a contribution towards these projects in our ‘March appeal,’ please visit our website at www.abaana.org or send a gift to Abaana March Appeal, Po Box 999, Bangor, BT19 6YU.



Thanks for your support.



Scott Baxter