Uganda Distribution Day 3: Bright colours, dedicated volunteers

Another 500 children received their bedkits today.  There was slight drizzle at the distribution site, but everyone kept dry under the trees. 

The children await their turn...

Then carry away their bedkits...

The dedicated volunteers work tirelessly and always with a smile...

In the afternoon, the team from the Inner Wheel of Kampala visited the home of one of the bedkit recipients. The thatched hut is home to a grandmother and several grandchildren. The bedkit items were gratefully received and will be shared amongst the children.

Tomorrow, the team will give the gift of a good sleep to another 1,000 children.

NOTE: Permission was obtained to use photos contained in the blog

Uganda Distribution Day 1: Off and Running

It has begun! The team from the Inner Wheel of Kampala travelled to northern Uganda on Saturday and distributed 500 bedkits to the waiting children and their grateful families. An ‘advance team’ had arrived the day before to set up the site and await the arrival of the bedkits. The team left Kampala at 6:00am, aiming for a 2:00pm arrival at the site. They got there at 1:48, after driving straight through with only one pit stop.

The rain in the morning was followed by clear skies in the afternoon while the distribution was taking place. The skies opened up again after the last bedkit was distributed.   

Pit stop en route to distribution site. Can anything fail under such team?

Anxious parents:

Bedkits all assembled and ready to distribute to the children. 

The ladies of The Inner Wheel are at the starting line...

And they’re off on their joyful mission:

Day 1 over, and the ladies of The Inner Wheel are still smiling:

Homes of some of the beneficiaries:

The Inner Wheel team can rest well tonight knowing 500 children have the opportunity of a good sleep.

NOTE: Permission was obtained to use photos contained in the blog

Uganda Remote Distribution August 2022: The Wheels Are Turning...

The Inner Wheel of Kampala is getting ready to start distributing 4,000 bedkits to children in Uganda. They’re busy packing the bedkit items in preparation for a start later this week. The Inner Wheel team has worked hard to pull together all the aspects of the distribution. The children have been waiting for 2½ years to receive their bedkits, so it’s easy to imagine the joy they and their families will experience.

Today’s Virtual Meeting …

The zoom meeting was scheduled for 9:00pm Kampala time. Despite a long day of packing bedkits, the Inner Wheel ladies were inspiringly upbeat and cheerful.

All bedkit components were delivered on time and the Ladies of the Inner Wheel are busy packing the bedkits. Packing 4,000 bedkits and loading on the trucks is a 4 day project for these amazing women!

Not even that mountain of bedkits can dampen their spirits!

They plan to complete the packing by Thursday and will be on the bus heading to the children bright and early Friday morning.  Stay tuned! 

NOTE: Permission was obtained to use photos contained in the blog

Tanzania, 2022: Promises Kept to Our Donors 🇹🇿

Imagine the excitement last week for some donors who received this photo of 19 children with their bedkits.

The money was raised at an event during Christmas 2019 and our donors have been waiting patiently for this very special photograph. Mama Wandoa, Benjamin, her family members and the Upendo team worked tirelessly to distribute bedkits to 5000 children over the past six days - an incredible feat.

During our post-distribution meeting on Zoom, we were impressed with our Overseas Partners’ on-going commitment to our Sleeping Children Core Values and the promises they are keeping to our donors.

Lala salama,

Peggy Morrison

Team Tanzania, 2022

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Tanzania, July 2022: Bright ☀️ and Early on Monday Morning: Another 1000 Bedkits Distributed in Kisiwani

 

The team in Tanzania wants to say ASANTE SANA (thank you) to all the generous donors for helping another 1000 children sleep better tonight.

According to Benjamin and Mama Wandoa the teachers and the school children at the Kisiwani site are also helping the team a great deal.

Mama, of course, is supervising all of the volunteers and her eagle eye does not miss a thing. Here is her grandson, Nathan, sitting by her side tracking the labels.

Her nephew, Peter, checks the mattresses that arrive from Super Banco early in the morning and he counts them to make sure they have sent the correct number. Peter counted twice because the delivery documents showed 1000 but he was getting 999. He checked again and again and still got 999. Mama called Desai at the factory and Desai immediately sent the one mattress by motorcycle to the site. Amazing work, Peter. 👍

In Mama’s words, “I am proud of being surrounded by the hard working young generation of my family.”

With Mama as their role model, we too understand completely why this distribution is progressing so well.

Peggy Morrison
Team Tanzania 2022

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Tanzania, July 2022: It Is A Family Affair!

        

 Mama Wandoa and Benjamin have lots of support from their family and Upendo Volunteers as they continued with another distribution of 1000 Bedkits on Thursday, July 13th.

Nathan is the 15 year old son of Benjamin and one of Mama’s grandsons. We met Nathan in 2019 and he was a tremendous help to our Canadian 🇨🇦 team members. He arrived in Tanzania last Saturday and was eager to help with this distribution.

Here is what he told us: "Today we distributed 1000 Bedkits as we need to do it in 6 days rather than 10. It’s nice to say that things went pretty well. A few boys from the school came to help fold the mattresses and to offload the truck."

What an incredible family and I know we at Sleeping Children thank them for all their hard work and dedication.

Peggy Morrison
Team Tanzania 2022

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Tanzania, 2022: They're Off and Ready to Go!

 

                        Beginning the Distribution with Mama Wandoa and her team

Jambo,

The incredible Mama Wandoa is doing it again during July as she is ready, along with her family members and volunteers, to distribute 5000 Bedkits to children. Mama has stored these Bedkits in her home since 2020 as Covid prevented that distribution from happening. 

The above photo shows Mama and her helpers getting ready to take the backpacks from her house to the truck as the distribution starts on Wednesday, July 13th. Her son, Benjamin, is her capable co-leader and he will be taking our Sleeping Children photographs.

Due to the country census (happens once every ten years) taking place in Tanzania at the end of this month, Mama and her team are facing the challenge of compressing the number of days available for this distribution as the schools are being closed early. The government needs their teachers to help gather the census data.

Stay tuned as we follow this amazing woman and her team of dedicated and caring volunteers.
Lala salama (sleep well).

Peggy Morrison
TeamTanzania, 2022

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Bangladesh 2022: Crossing the finish line!

Dhaka, Bangladesh: Another day of superb achievement by committed Rotary Club of Dhaka volunteers, led by SKD Chair, Rtn. Sheikh Nahar Mahmud. We have reached the magic number of 3,000 bedkits handed out, and completed the distribution.

April 10th has been the most satisfying day for all active volunteers of the Rotary Club of Dhaka. On that day, we had our final distribution camp at one of our deserving areas in a place called Raja Bazar, where most of the school children are from surrounding low-income families. Our team distributed 105 bedkits in this camp, and with that we reached the finish line of 3,000 bedkits!!!

Prior to this we had another two camps at Dhaka; one of them was at an orphanage for girls or children picked up from streets. It was quite heartening to see blissful smiles from all of them and the scenario touched each and every volunteer of the day.

The Uganda Bedkit Distribution is Complete!

The Inner Wheel of Kampala distributed the final 1,000 bedkits to children at two sites in northern Uganda. The rain held off until near the end, and now 3,000 children will enjoy the contents of their new bedkits. There will be sweet dreams tonight and for the future.

Assembling the bedkits - The bedkit mattresses are ready to be rolled up:

Getting ready for the children:

Lots of volunteers are needed to get things ready for the distribution:

A bedkit makes its way to a new home:

Uganda 2022 - Challenging Conditions Didn't Deter the Dedicated Volunteers from Their Mission

The Inner Wheel of Kampala overcame some early challenges with rain, early darkness, and a sparsely populated area, which meant longer driving distances to deliver 2,000 bedkits to children in northern Uganda. This is an area where bedkits have not been distributed before, and where poverty is severe. At the end of the distribution 3,000 children will have a more comfortable and safer sleep. 

The truck drivers who delivered the bedkits take a break to have breakfast:

Heavy rains didn’t stop the children from attending the distribution sites, or the Inner Wheel from making sure they received their bedkits:

Ladies from the Inner Wheel of Kampala set up the bedkit:

Children lined up for photos in groups of 4:

Even our feathered friends want to join the fun:

Bed kits going home:

Bangladesh 2022: Dedicated Volunteers Reaching Deserving Children

March 25, Sreemangal, Bangladesh: Another day of accomplishment by committed Rotary Club of Dhaka and local volunteers led by SKD Chair, Rtn. Sheikh Nahar Mahmud. 2,817 children reached, 183 to go….

The Sreemangal Zone distribution was originally planned for two days. However, due to the favorable on-ground situation, we were able to finish distribution of 240 bed kits in one day. Credit goes to all inspiring and dedicated volunteers. 

Sreemangal is a sub-district of Moulvibazar District in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. It is located at the southwest of the district, and borders the Habiganj District to the west and the Indian state of Tripura to the south. It is famous for its tea gardens. 

Rain occurs all the time here. Nature has adorned Sreemangal with green trees. Its natural scenery is very charming. It soothes one’s eyes. Birds are twittering always here. The terraced tea gardens, plantations and evergreen hills of Sreemangal are wonderful treats for the tourists. 

However, historically the tea garden workers are from a small minority group both in terms of ethnicity and religion, and are economically very deprived. We have purposefully selected 240 children from this tea workers community and distributed 240 bedkits.

Children were selected by the school teachers in consultation with village heads popularly known as “Panchaiyats” or village headmen.

Prior to Sreemangal we also attended two small camps at Dhaka and distributed 77 bed kits. Out of 300 bed kits for Dhaka, so far we have distributed 117; distribution of the remaining 183 will be completed soon to reach the magic number of 3,000!!! 

More photos from the Sreemangal & Dhaka distributions:

Children of these hard working women received our bedkits at Sreemangal:

Happy Rotary Club of Dhaka Volunteers after an excellent distribution at the Sreemangal camp:

Bangladesh celebrated its 52nd Independence Day on March 26th:

Reported by:

Sheikh Nahar Mahmud, SKD Chair