Scottish Charity No. SC020111 April 2015

fountainservices@tiscali.co.uk http://www.directlink.org.uk

“Look! Direct Link has given me beans!”

47 Fountain Road, Bridge of Allan, Stirling, FK9 4AU 07761 976102

THE KIDS’ KITCHEN (KK) FUNDED BY DIRECT LINK

Helen comes out of retirement to oversee

the Kids’ Kitchen

Helen oversees the

meeting of the grannies

Granny Wilfrida

Granny Jeniffer Granny Iska

THE GRANNIES HOLD A MEETING FOR FOOD DISTRIBUTION DONATED BY DIRECT LINK

Helen distributes donated foodstuffs to the grannies

INDOOR SPORTS FOR THE DISABLED CHILDREN

Our sponsored children wear the new T-shirts

JUNE, JACKLIN AND FRIENDS

June is progressing well , she is very agile, happy and making academic progress

DANCING IN THE SCHOOL GROUNDS

Staff members watch the dancing

THE ARRIVAL OF THE SOLAR LAMPS DONATED BY DIRECT LINK

There is great excitement when the solar lamps arrive. There is one for the boys’ dormitory, one for the girls’ dormitory, one for the housekeeper and one for the common room

ART CLASSES, TEXT BOOKS AND ART EQUIPMENT DONATED BY DIRECT LINK

June draws with her feet, sitting in her special chair

DIRECT LINK’S PHYSIOTHERAPIST ASSESSES THE DISABLED CHILDREN

Jacklin

Gabriel Daniel

Gabriel

Jacklin: She said that amputation could be the solution.

OUR PHYSIOTHERAPIST MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS

Gabriel June

June

Gabriel: Gabriel has a problem on his spinal chord which needs an Xray to reveal what the problem is, because the boy’s legs are healthy and have no problems, but the deformity is at the waist which has become thin.

June: She said June needs a lot of physiotherapy because her hands can still be helped with a lot of practice

Finally, she has recommended that there should be a room with some exercise equipmnent, especially for June and Gabriel

Fredrick: His knees need an Xray because the problem seems to be genetic as his sister also has a physical deformity

Fredrick

Peter: Peter Chacha, (no photo), needs an operation to be done on his burns, which, if left alone, will deform him and, from her observation, the boy has already started bending.

She recommends that he be taken to the local Mission Hospital

ARRIVAL OF THE T-SHIRTS, DONATED BY DIRECT LINK, FOR ‘WEARING IN BED’!

Gabriel June

The children loved their new T-shirts so much that they asked whether they could wear them during the day instead of just in bed

MORE FOOD ARRIVES FOR THE BOARDERS’ KITCHEN (KBK), FUNDED BY DIRECT LINK

JANE AKUJO AND FAMILY - NEWS FROM HER LATEST LETTER

Savior: He has been sick, with rashes, which have been difficult to diagnose, so he has had to stay at home while receiving treatment. Jane has moved Savior to the same school as Peter and Josphat because she is very worried about kidnapping, with appears to be very common and causes much fear in parents. Now Savior can move around with the other boys and he is very happy in his new school.

Peter: He is doing well in his new class, Primary Three.

Jacob: His exams are out ( Primary Leaving Examination) and he did very well, achieving a second grade of 14 points. He has joined a secondary school as a day student.

Josphat: He is now in Primary Seven and is very busy preparing for his PLE at the end of the year. Just like Jacob, Josphat is weaker academically but Jane is trying to encourage Josphat to do well.

Alice: She is now a candidate for ’O’ Level exams as she is in Senior 4 preparing for her exams at the end of the year. She has been having bad toothache and needs to have a tooth removed.

Jane’s Mother: She went to Sudan in January. She said it was the best Christmas present she has ever received. Since leaving Sudan in June 1991, she had never been back. Her brother died the same year and she had to abandon the desire to go home due to lack of money. When she was sick, the one thing she longed for was to return to see her people before she died. She has a sister still living there as well as some other relations but her great sadness was not to be able to see her sister again. Jane gave her mother some of the money that she received from Direct Link for another purpose, and the mum went by herself on the hazardous journey, to save money. When she arrived she went deep into the countryside where there was no network communication. She was so thrilled to be able to undertake this journey, and so very grateful.

Jane Around mid- January, Jane did some teaching, being given two classes which were too much for her when she had so many other responsibilities at the same time, having no spare time left whatsoever. Unfortunately she was never paid for this work.

Pit latrine. Direct Link received a donation for the provision of a pit latrine at Jane’s mother’s house as the local authority had given her an ultimatum regarding the installation of this facility. However, disaster struck as the man who was digging the pit was killed by the soil falling in on top of him and covering him. Jane said that it was very frightening because journalists rushed to the very rural village. Unfortunately other diggers have now taken fright and are reluctant to dig pit latrines, so no progress has been made. The money for the pit latrine was the money that Jane gave to her mother to go to Sudan.

UPDATE ON THE RACING WHEELCHAIR AND AN EXCITING NEW PROJECT

Since choosing to fund-raise for a racing wheelchair, circumstances have changed at the Primary School for the Disabled as it transpires that they would be the only contestants available to compete, from their area, and this would make it difficult for them to continue to higher levels. It has also taken months to find out details of chair specifications, locations/surfaces for competitions and available training, as it seems that sports facilities for the disabled are seriously lacking and contact names have been very difficult to source.

While I was still carrying out the above investigations, my GP told me about a very exciting new project, and I am now very hopeful that we will be able to provide the

School for the Disabled with a machine that produces sanitary napkins made from local materials. It has to be shipped from India, having been invented by an Indian man who spent 4 years developing it so that it would be available to small projects/businesses/groups throughout the third world.

Statistics show that girls lose one third of their school life by having to stay at home during menstruation as they cannot afford to buy any protection and have to use rags. If this machine can be purchased at an affordable price and shipped to the school for the disabled , they will be able to start up a small business producing napkins for the girls in the school as well as to sell them at a low price to local villagers.

You can see more about this project at http://www.newinventions.in/ and do watch the little video on the right side of that page. It explains all about this innovative invention and is also very amusing.

The plan now is to put the donations raised for the racing wheelchair towards the purchase of this machine which would benefit so many girls and women as well as raising much-needed funds for the school. Information is currently being sourced into the availability of the required plants in the vicinity of the school and also into the costs of shipping, installation etc. This plan has been received with great enthusiasm by the school staff and has been voted as being more important to the school than the provision of the racing wheelchair.

DIRECT LINK’S SPONSORED CHILDREN ATTENDING OTHER PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Direct Link is currently sponsoring the following children and two grannies:

Tony Local primary school Class 7 James Local primary school Class 7 Christine Local primary school Class 7 Anna Local primary school Class 5 Josephine Boarding secondary school Form I Lillian Day secondary school Form I Brian Just completed school Awaiting exam results Johnson Just completed school Awaiting exam results Collins Boarding secondary school Form II Vivian Boarding secondary school Form III Everline Boarding secondary school Form III Dorothy Boarding secondary school Form III Alex Carpentry course Rose Institute of Technology Catering course David College of Tourism & Hotel Management Felix University 3rd year Edward Technical Training Institute Final year Christine Primary School for the Deaf Class 7 Martin Secondary School for the Deaf Form I Larry Primary School for the Deaf Class 8 Irene Primary School for the Deaf Pre-Unit John Secondary School for the Deaf Form II George Bush Secondary School for the Deaf Jackline Left school to have a baby Returning to school Benard Primary School for the Deaf Early Childhood Education Certificate George Otieno Boarding Technical Institute for the Deaf - Training as an electrician Granny Wilfrida Sponsored granny 13 at the Primary School for the Disabled 5 children of Jane Akujo plus the Granny

If you would like to make a donation towards any project, or just for general emergency purposes, please print out and fill in the form below and send it to us at the address shown below, enclosing your cheque made out to ‘Direct Link’. If you just wish to make a donation, rather than purchase a gift, please ignore the green edged boxes. If you are in a position to do so, please maximise your donation by Gift Aiding it. (For further details see below).

DATE

HOW TO DONATE TO DIRECT LINK OR ORDER A GIFT OF HOPE

I understand that not one penny of my donation will be spent on administration and that all my money will go direct to my chosen project

I wish Direct Link to treat all donations that I have made since 6th April 2000, and all donations that I make from the date of this declaration, until I notify you otherwise, as Gift Aid donations. I declare that I pay an amount of income tax and/or capital gains tax at least equal to the tax that Direct Link can reclaim on my donations in the appropriate tax year.

NAME PHONE

ADDRESS EMAIL

POSTCODE

RECIPIENT’S NAME TO BE PRINTED ON THE CARD

DONOR’S NAME TO BE PRINTED ON THE CARD

AMOUNT OF DONATION (Please Gift Aid this if you are eligible)

SIGNATURE

DESCRIPTION OF GIFT (e.g. 2 mattresses)

Direct Link, 47 Fountain Road, Bridge of Allan, Stirling, FK9 4AU 07761 976102

PLANS TO START A SCHOOL TO TEACH DEAF SIGNING LANGUAGE

Julius, the Headteacher of the Primary School for the Disabled, is planning to start a small school where parents and children can learn how to use sign language for the deaf. He was previously the Headteacher of a Primary School for the Deaf, so he has knowledge of the use of sign language and has recently been requested by his church to hold classes as an interpreter and teacher. Already 8 people have signed up for his lessons and he believes that there are many more who will appear when they hear about the classes.

The situation of deaf children is very sad as the ones who are born to poor families will have parents who have no training in sign language and are not, therefore, able to communicate with their children. They often don’t understand what is wrong with the child and believe that their intelligence is impaired. They also can look upon the child’s affliction as a curse that has been visited upon the family. The child will be the last of the children in the family to receive an education as they are perceived not to be able to earn

their own living and are just a financial burden upon the family. There are very few schools for deaf children and those that there are, are boarding, as they often have children from quite a long way away.

Julius will set the school up in a small way, to begin with, and then employ helpers so that he will be able to continue with his work at the school for the disabled.