MAD MAIL PROJECT UPDATE - MARABA VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE SPRING 2015
THE WOOD STORE GOES UP
Storing this precious building material safely is a must and it also means that it can be bought and stored in bulk and saves a huge amount of money and additional transport costs. It is now possible to buy unseasoned wood and season it on site which brings even more financial benefit. MAD4Africa paid for a large consignment of wood which is not only being used to train the woodwork students but also to make items of furniture to sell. The money from this income stream is put back into Maraba VTC to help with the running costs.
THE TOOLS ARRIVE After a long sea voyage the tools finally arrive and Maraba Vocational Training Centre. The much needed tools were donated by "Tools With A Mission" (TWAM) and the shipping costs paid for by MAD4Africa. Many students were sharing tools with up to 6 girls trying to train on 1 sewing machine. Many tools were broken and in a poor state of repair. The Maraba Vocational Training Centre (VCT) were unable to take in any more students due to the lack of training materials and tools. It is a requirement of the Workforce Development Authority (who regulate Vocational schools) that before the facility is accredited and students able to attend a qualifying course with a recognised certificate that students should not share tools whilst training as it does not give them sufficient practical hands on training. The Centre is now accredited and the students will receive a recognised qualification. 1
Simply text MAKE08 followed by the amount you’d like to donate to 70070 and JustTextGiving will donate 100% of the funds to MAD4Africa
THE INTERNET ARRIVES IN MARABA For the ďŹ rst time hundreds of people are able to access the Internet and do all the things we take for granted each day. The income generated is fed directly back into the Maraba VTC where is it used to run the centre and to ensure its future development.
At MAD4Africa we pride ourselves on short term high reward projects. In order to achieve this it is essential to make sure that our projects are sustainable after we have completed our project. After much consultation with the local people and Authorities it was decided that an Internet Cafe would not only generate much needed income but also help local people and other schools learn how to use the Internet. It also provides a facility to print, scan and copy documents. Until now it has taken people a couple over an hour to access the Internet from Huye (the main town) and the cost of travel is prohibitive to many people. We are justly proud of this achievement as the future appears to be on-line and they will now be able to undertake research and apply for work. 2
MARABA VTC GETS A NEW CLASSROOM
Simply text MAKE08 followed by the amount you’d like to donate to 70070 and JustTextGiving will donate 100% of the funds to MAD4Africa
After a huge fundraising effort we have finally buit a new classroom! This facility is already paying dividends. Maraba VTC is one of the few facilities to be selected to train 100 girls every 3 months on the newly created short term training programme for tailoring. A classroom construction standard has been in force for some time in Rwanda and unless a centre has a facility that meets that standard it cannot be considered for accreditation as part of the Vocational Training curriculum. Maraba VTC now qualifies due to the provision of the tools and the classroom. We have successfully increased the number of girls training places already and they are now able to train in a light, clean and study orientated environment. It is essential to keep the momentum going and build another one. The centre is currently extremely over-subscribed as students not only want to learn there but need to learn there as there is a severe lack of vocational training places in the area and costs to travel to other schools make them in accessible to the poorer residents of this community. In addition to the students now using the classroom a large number of local people have already benefited from the building of the classroom as local labour was used to construct it and, where available, we used products source near to the centre giving more income to local shops.
THE CLASSROOM GETS NEW FURNITURE What good is a classroom without somewhere to sit and learn? MAD4Africa have supplied enough furniture to accommodate all the new pupils that will use this classroom and the next one when it is built. We decided to make the furniture for two classrooms so that we could save money by buying bulk materials and also save on transport costs. Everyone knows you get a bigger discount the more you buy so for us it was a no brainer. Up until now many of the studentswere sharing 3 or 4 pupils for each desk meant for two. Not an ideal way to learn at all. This furniture will help their studies and help them get a better education.
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FUNDRAISING UPDATE
Simply text MAKE08 followed by the amount you’d like to donate to 70070 and JustTextGiving will donate 100% of the funds to MAD4Africa
Edinburgh Marathon We are pleased to have two runners in the upcoming Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday 31st May. Our two runners are Stephen Watt and Brian Anderson who have been brave enough to sign up to complete a marathon. Now let’s meet our two runners.
Stephen Watt I'm Stephen Watt. I'm originally from Dundee in Scotland but now live in London, via Ipswich. I work for a localauthority as an internal consultant. I've run a few half marathons but not done any running for a few years. I'm really looking forward to running the Edinburgh Marathon for MAD 4 Africa. I recently volunteered with a small charity in Gambia. It showed me the difference that charities that work to empower people in Africa can make. If you wish to donate please visit https://www.justgiving.com/Stephen-Watt2
Brian Anderson I have always wanted to do something for charity, and particularly a charity that will help African children and communities. I have family ties throughout Zambia and formerly Somalia, and one of the things my parents and grandparents always convey is the opportunities over here in the UK that don't exist in Africa. This is the main reason I wanted to do something and help in any way regarding contributing to African society. If you wish to donate please visit https://www.justgiving.com/Brian-Anderson2
Hackney Half-Marathon MAD4Africa also has 3 runners for the Hackney Half-Marathon on Sunday 10th May. We wish them all the best with their training and fundraising.
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Simply text MAKE08 followed by the amount you’d like to donate to 70070 and JustTextGiving will donate 100% of the funds to MAD4Africa
GET INVOLVED Want to get involved? Then there’s a few ways our supporterscan help
IN THE past MAD4Africa supporters have sel�lessly ran more kilometres that they thought they ever would, hosted fundraising parties, fallen from the sky out of perfectly good airplanes, seen how far they could travel with no money and pushed their bodies to the limits charging up and down mountains. The money those wonderful supporters raised for MAD4Africa has been unvaluable for the projects in Rwanda and Uganda and had helped give skills and hope to hundreds of young people in both those countries. Now that MAD4Africa is moving into a new project, more funds are desperately needed to make a difference for a new group of young people.
Any kind of support is always welcomed and even if you think there is nothing you can do to help, rest assured, there is always something that our supporters can do to help us and our project. Here are some of the more popular activities that our supporters have gotten in in the past few years: - Run a mile, run 10 miles, hell run a marathon! Do something your friends never believe you can. Set yourself a challenge for the next year and raise some money while you are at it.
- Climb some mountains, very quickly. The t3 Peaks Challenge is not only a great opportunity but a mammoth achievement in itself. Climb the highest mountain in Scotland, England, and Wales all in 24 hours and pit your time against your friends. - Jump out of a plane. Skydiving s also a popular way of raising cash as most people would be willing to sponsor their friends and relatives to do something so brave and undeniably crazy as to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!
- If you don’t fancy running, mountains or skydiving then perhaps a god old fashioned BBQ is for you. What sounds better than �iring up the grill and enjoying a few frosty beverages with friends, relatives or work colleagues? There surly isn’t an easier way to raise a few quid!
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Simply text MAKE08 followed by the amount you’d like to donate to 70070 and JustTextGiving will donate 100% of the funds to MAD4Africa
#tailoredtotheirneeds CAMPAIGN The crew of MAD4Africa are pleased to announce our campaign to build the �inal classroom at the Maraba Vocational Training Centre to help 100 young women from the local community enrol in tailoring to give them the tools necessary to rise out of poverty. Please get behind this worthwhile campaign with every £1 you donate will be £1 closer to the £10 000 we need to raise to build that �inal classroom. There are many ways to help out so please do get in touch with the team.
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