Service Projects 2015 

Outreach Uganda | Nurture a Nursery School
–– Now Booking

International Mother Earth Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is excited to announce that we are working with Outreach Uganda, another nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping empower Ugandans rise out of poverty. We will be visiting a small village in Agwata, in Northern Uganda to help build a school that will serve as a nursery and a center for empowerment programs for school children and women.

This community is still in the process of being resettled after the 20-year old war with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which ended in late 2008. One tragic legacy of the war is that all the original homes, schools, clinics and churches that existed before the war, were destroyed by conflict or decades of neglect when locals were forced to flee. The region’s fertile land remained unfarmed for the duration of the conflict.

Our focus in partnering with Outreach Uganda is to help communities like those in and around Agwata rebuild and restore the best of their Acholi culture. The project of rebuilding lives, infrastructure and a culture fractured by war requires sensitivity and the need to respect the varying paths each local community chooses to pursue.

Agwata is a small village of 1,000 people in central Uganda, some 100 miles east of the Nile River, where it explodes through a narrow gorge and cascades down to become a placid river whose banks are thronged with hippos and crocodiles. Nearby Murchison Falls National Park is home to lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, oribis, chimpanzees and many bird species.

We plan to also work to support the local women’s community based organization, Konye ki Cingi, which means “Help Yourself by Your Hand.” Its 90 members are keen to develop new skills to supplement the making and selling of their beaded jewelry. The group has also begun beekeeping and growing cash crops to supplement the livelihood of village families. One of their biggest initiatives was to work with the entire community to start a primary school, which now has more than 230 students.

So many parents wished to send their toddlers to its nursery school, the primary school turned them away for a lack of space. The chief goal of International Mother Earth Foundation’s Uganda Project is to build a second block of classrooms for nursery school students.

Attending nursery school is a life-changing event for these children as well as their older female siblings. Without the school, these toddlers would be either alone at home, or at their mother’s side while they toil in the fields. If not, one of the only alternatives is for an older sibling—almost always a girl—to stay at home and miss school to care for them. Just as in the U.S., attending nursery school is an important signifier of future success.

International Mother Earth Foundation also plans to help local children with their studies as part of our educational project ‘The Stars in Africa.’ Most of these children were born in refugee camps during the war and many may have never had their own toy or doll due to the extreme deprivation of the war and life as refugees.
Volunteers will help teach children English, poetry and writing, along with other forms of empowerment work and movement work.
We are seeking volunteers as well as donators of dolls and other toys to bring with us as gifts for the village children. Agwata lacks electricity though it does have sporadic cell phone reception.

Service Project Itinerary:

We seek volunteers who are flexible and with an ability to “Go with the flow.” While we carefully plan our trips there is always the risk of unforeseen events from delayed flights to poor weather. Our intention is to look after our volunteers so you are able to share your love and expertise. On all of our trips, volunteers report that they feel buoyed up by the spirit of service and the warm welcome by locals and through discovering the richness of the local land, people and culture.

We thank you in advance for your willingness to step out of your comfort zone to share love and light and meaningful change in the form of a new school and opportunity for village men, women and children.

Dates*

May 12, 2015	Departs LA for Entebbe, Uganda
May 17 – May 22	Construction of nursery school
May 23 – May 24	OPTIONAL: Two Safaris in Murchison Falls National Park, with a boat trip and stay at a luxury hotel.
May 25	Return to Los Angeles

*Dates may change due to seasonal weather conditions.

Participation fees:
Lodging, meals, and local transportation and construction materials: $2,100

OPTIONAL: Murchison Falls National Park Safaris: $800:
This includes 2 nights /1 full day at an upscale lodge in Merchant Park, Uganda, as well as two morning safaris + an afternoon boat ride on the Nile River.

Total 10-day cost: $2,900 + airfare

Application Deadline:
April 17, 2015 $500 deposit to secure your spot

Orientation Meeting:
May 2015 (TBA) Meet the organizer of the Agwata Center.

We are looking for people who want to volunteer their time and/or donate money to support our sponsorship. We also seek people who wish to sponsor volunteers. Families are also welcome. Space is limited.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization; all contributions can be deducted for tax benefits.

For further information, please contact Project Organizer, Linda Slade:
310 500-0850.
Lindaxslade@aol.com

Additional Updates will be posted on our Facebook Page:
International Mother Earth Foundation