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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: October 9

There are three short videos in the original post. Please click the link below that says, “View Original Post” to see them.

Happy Thanksgiving to family and friends back home in Canada. Umuganura or Harvest Day in Rwanda is the first Friday in August. Our first Canadian team in Rwanda has so much to be thankful for. We have a great team that bonded quickly so getting 5000 bedkits to the children has been challenging but successful. We have made solid friendships with the Rotarians here. They have supported us by helping with the children, translating, helping the parents, and by providing solid information and crowd control. Thank you!




Thanks to our partners in Rwanda for the laughter that has helped make the distribution lighter and even more joyful!!


Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: October 8

We started our day heading to districts south of Kigali, travelling almost to the Burundi border for our first distribution of the day.  When we arrived at the boarding school, the children were patiently waiting for us. Some of the boarding students who attended the school stepped up to help out, even missing their lunch break to make sure we were able to complete the distribution in good time.  

Then we were off to the next site where, once again, we were met by the children waiting for our arrival. Sometimes the children are scared or excited, sometimes reserved or unsure, but their smiles are wonderful to see when pictures are taken, just before they happily receive their bedkit.  It’s a real joy, as we leave the site, to see the children and their families heading home, bedkits in hand.

Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: October 7

After six days in Rwanda and travelling and working with the Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga members we are learning about some of the unique aspects of this country in East Africa. 

Rwanda is called a Country of a 1000 Hills and as we travelled north to the district of Gicumbi the elevation changed from 1400m in Kigali, the largest city in Rwanda (1.25m population), to over 2,200m (7,000’) at our highest distribution point. We were also at one point just 200m from the Uganda border. 

Interesting facts about Rwanda:

The government owns the fertile valley land and cooperatives farm this with the able but poor people working the land and paid by the government - in order to produce food for the population. These lands are producing rice, kidney beans, vegetables, tea, bananas and more as well as fish ponds of tilapia and mudfish (bowfin).

Motorcycle taxis are everywhere and you can simply flag one down for transportation.

Trucks, buses, vans and other public vehicles have a governor to limit speed to 60 km/hour - traffic is far less hectic here than in any other country we have visited.

Umuganga is the name of the event that happens the last Saturday in the month and from 8AM to 12AM the population cleans their neighbourhood and contributes to community service if vulnerable, elderly or others need help. This is reflected everywhere we go. This country is clean!

Every second Sunday from 7AM to 11AM Kigali is car-free and the streets are full of people walking, running, biking and playing. 

Gender equality: as of 2018, Rwanda ranks in the top five countries for gender equality according to the Global Gender Gap Report - and we see this every day with noticeable leadership by women.


Fascinating country …



Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: October 6

Today was all about the 604 children who received their bedkits. How wonderful that they will have a good night’s sleep on their new mattresses tucked in with the new blankets. 

We did manage to have a little fun with them. They loved the squishy balls and giant size clapper. We engaged them while they waited as some of them had travelled very very far to receive these gifts. 


It was amazing to see them carrying their mattresses on their heads with smiles that made us proud to be a part of this project. 

Thank you SCAW donors. 

Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: October 5

Today was another beautiful day in Rwanda and we settled back in our seats to appreciate the amazing scenery on the way to our distribution site.  We have really enjoyed visiting with the Rotarians and other volunteers as we travel together or meet at the distributions.  It’s quickly becoming apparent what a really good team we have all formed; working well together to put the children at ease, get the pictures taken and then put the bed kits into the children’s hands so they can begin their journey home.  Stories and laughter are regularly shared as we get to know one another better.  



This has been a wonderful opportunity to work with like-minded volunteers who share the same goal of making life just a little bit easier for these children and their families.  That we are having such a fun time while accomplishing that goal is truly an added bonus.

Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: October 4

It was a beautiful morning as we left Kigali and headed north up the mountains to Byumba in the District of Gicumbi.   As we left the city our van was stitched amongst hundreds of motorcycles that threaded their way through bumper to bumper cars, huge trucks , endless bicycles, and pedestrians who scurried through the chaos.  On our travel up the mountain, we tailed a truck with two young men holding on tightly to the bumper for miles so they didn’t have to peddle (or trudge) the huge milk cans tied on the back of their seats up to villages miles away.

Up and down the mountain we encountered bikes laden with lumber, bananas, grain bags and so much more.

Rwanda is pristine which is shown by women cleaning the roadways with corn husk brooms while other women plant crops on strips of soil along roadways.

The greatest mode of transportation here though is walking! It is free for everyone. Children raced home along the busy roads as we too headed home once again under the safe hands of Jean Claude at the wheel.

Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: October 3

Day 2 started out as a beautiful, sunny day.  We were on the road in good time, passing through some amazing farmland.  Fields were on hills so steep they could only be farmed using hand tools.  We turned off the paved road and onto a clay road, battered and potholed from all the rains endured during the soon-to-be- ending rainy season.  An hour and a half later we arrived at our first distribution for today.


Compared to the bumpy ride to get to the site, the distribution went very smoothly.  As we were heading to our second distribution, we were surprised to see the children heading home carrying their new bed kits so many kilometres from where they had received them.  It was such a clear message of the importance and value of the gift of a bed kit for these children.

Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: October 2

Day 1 was a first for everyone - the very first distribution for the SCAW/RCKV (Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga) teams. Today we visited two sites. In the morning things went okay at a Kamonyi school. The second site was higher in the hills of Rwanda at a school in Rukomo and was immediately delayed by torrential rain (see and listen to the video). The rain abated (sort of) enough to finish in the dark. 

This was a long and challenging day for both teams; however, we learned a lot and most importantly 565 bed kits were successfully given to very appreciative (and wet) children. 

Helping the World, One Child at a Time.

Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦



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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: October 1

Well we are on our way! We couldn’t tell who was more excited for the first in-person Rwanda distribution - the SCAW team or the Rwanda Rotary team!


After the pre-distribution meeting and a wonderful sponsored dinner we are ready to see 500 children at 4 sites tomorrow and share with them the wonderful donors’ gifts of bedkits!


We look forward to sharing this journey with all our followers but mostly to see and share this journey with the children who lives have been greatly enriched because of the SCAW donors.

Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Rwanda, 2023: September 30

The team has arrived and we were met by Jenipher and family. They have already planned their first meeting for tomorrow with the Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga.

All raring to go!

Stay tuned!

Team Rwanda 2023

Rotary Club of Kigali Virunga 🇷🇼 and SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Honduras, 2023: August 22

The last day of distribution always brings a moment of sadness that we have to depart for our home and we know we will miss our partners - the Rotarians and Rotaractors, who we now call our new friends.  We will miss seeing the smiling faces of the children. All of us worked for the last 12 days as one team, to see the smiles of the children. 

It is moments like this that give us happiness that we were able to come here to distribute 4000 bedkits.  

Sleeping Children always believes that children who have a good night’s sleep will wake up with a more positive outlook about life, and opportunities. 

Our last day here was also the biggest bedkit distribution with 701 bedkits being handed out.  Everyone was excited to hit that milestone, and clapped and hugged when the last child's picture for the donor had been taken.

Masud

Team Honduras

Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 + SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Honduras, 2023: August 21

Today was a day filled with special moments.

First, we were all serenaded by a school band. September 15th is when Honduras celebrates their independence from Spain, so in preparation for this upcoming event, a school band was practicing their marching and performance.  It was wonderful to watch the young ones really get into it ... even dancing as they played. There were xylophones, percussion, horns, drums/drums/and drums.

Second, we had several special needs children at today's distribution.  Each one came with at least one guardian, some with two.  Everyone jumped in to help get the children ready and into the photos.  I am sure that the donors who get these photos will feel truly blessed.

I was fortunate enough to be on the camera today, so got to capture the faces and characters of each of the 506 kids.  

While we have responsibility for things that happen at each distribution (and before and after), we do find humour and have some fun.  For example - so far this week we had a bunch of strangers jump into the back of one of our pickup trucks when we were stopped on a steep hill (they thought we were a community pickup); Neil got asked for his passport when he tried to buy a coffee at the local coffee shop (apparently they offer a senior's discount with ID); one of the floor signs at a distribution kept falling over in the wind so we left it lying down and a stray dog walked up to it and peed on it; and we convinced a new local volunteer that the first day you have to wear a bucket on your head.

Well, that's all for now.  Our last day is tomorrow and we have to be up and out of the hotel by 5 am for the last 701 bedkits.

Danielle

Team Honduras

Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 + SCAW 🇨🇦


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SCAW Blog: Honduras, 2023: August 19

How times have changed!

 

Sleeping Children relies on all our volunteers to help spread the word about this awesome organization. One of the ways in which we do this is by doing presentations to schools, service clubs, church groups, etc. To help us do this, in the past we would take lots of candid pictures of the local culture, landscape and the children that we would use in our presentations.

But times have changed.

Social media and the issue of respecting privacy has changed the way we photograph people. We get the parents’/guardians’ permission to take the childrens’ photos showing their faces for the SCAW donors. However, SCAW believes in respecting the dignity of all children so we no longer take candid pictures of children’s faces. Instead, we now take pictures from the side or from behind the children. I have attached two sample pictures - one of a side view of a child and one of me in my happy place with the children.

 

Another awesome day in Honduras yesterday. Thanks to our donors, 410 more children had a good night’s sleep last night.

 

Clarence Deyoung

Team Honduras 2023

Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 + SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Honduras, 2023: August 18

Orchid, the National Flower of Honduras and the Flame Tree.

The moist and humid environment of Honduras is ideal for orchids to thrive. The 'virgin orchid' was designated as the National flower in 1969. Its genus-species name is Rhyncholaelia-digbyana. This orchid species is green-white and grows on trees throughout the country. The flower is highly respected and protected much like the Ontario Trillium. This orchid flower has a characteristic frilled lip that makes it fluffy looking and grows up to 18 cm in diameter. Its lemon fragrance is released at night to attract the moths for pollination.

Hondurans take great pride in the national orchid flower and grow many types of orchids in their home gardens. They often share pictures with each other of their beautifully coloured orchids.

Another tree sprouting beautiful flowers the SCAW team has noticed is the African Tulip tree. Its common name is the 'flame tree' due to its bright orange-red flowers that grow in clusters. The genus-species name is Spathodea-campanulata. This ornamental tree grows abundantly throughout the country. The large flowers capture rainwater that quenches the thirst of birds and insects. 

Team Honduras 2023

Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 + SCAW 🇨🇦



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SCAW Blog: Honduras, 2023: August 16

Part of the distribution process is the children putting on their new t-shirt, getting a new backpack and supplies, then waiting for their turn for the donor photo to be taken.  Today there were some children waiting so I decided to talk to them about who we are and the Sleeping Children charity.  They had no idea where Canada is. I told them it is 'muy frio' (very cold) and they laughed.  I don't know if they were laughing at my pronunciation or the fact that Canada is cold.  I showed them the Canadian flag  on the arm of my SCAW team golf shirt. Some of them told me they love the flag.

The children often don't understand that they are getting the t-shirt, the backpack plus the bedkit to take home. When we hand them this big bag with the bedkit in it they are surprised and sometimes overwhelmed.  Once they understand they are leaving with it all, we get big smiles.

Looking forward to seeing more smiles.

 

Masud

Team Honduras 2023

Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 + SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Honduras, 2023: August 15

Hola from Honduras!


Another early rise and off we go to the next distribution.  This school was further out/up into the hills than the distributions of the last two days. 


At first I didn't really notice how steep the hills had become because I was enjoying the lush greenery, until one of our team vehicles stopped ahead of us and we had to stop.  What an incline we were on!  We had left the paved roads already and were now on dirt roads only wide enough for one and a half cars.  We even had to take a run at it to get some traction to keep going up.  (Where is an ATV when you need one?)  Our driver, a fellow Rotarian, was skilled at judging the width of our minibus - and prevented us from going into a ditch or down an embankment. 

Upon reaching the school we recognized that this area was in dire need of our assistance, and I took a moment to reflect as I adjusted to the altitude.  While the ride was a little nerve-wracking the view from the top was 'estupendo' (wonderful)!


You could see for miles and miles over thousands and thousands of homes all leaning up against each other in the valleys and on the hillsides. 


One of the main challenges about being so high up is the lack of available water.  All the water must be trucked up, by either the government or a private company (which is expensive to purchase).  Water is a luxury here. 


We completed the distribution and headed back into the city centre knowing that our three day total of bedkits distributed neared 1500 today.  That's 1500 children (and families) sleeping up off the floor and protected from mosquitos.


2500 more kits (and kids) to go while we are here.


Hasta luego.




Team Honduras 2023

Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 + SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Honduras, 2023: August 14

Today, six energetic and committed Rotaractors from the Rotaract Club of Tegucigalpa participated in the SCAW distribution at Camara Junior School. This Rotaract Club has a 30+ year history of service in Honduras. Today, club members are either attending or have recently completed University.



When asked their stand-out moments from today's distribution, they responded:

  • One little girl gave me such a big hug and squeeze when they received a bed kit.

  • I was able to recognize the unique characters in the students by their facial expressions and poses they wanted to do for the camera.

  • I had a great conversation with Masud, a SCAW member handing the bed kits to the little ones.

  • Moving the bed kits from one location to another was a fun activity and I enjoyed the work.

  • We had an opportunity to make a connection and interact with the students who were receiving a bed kit.

  • The smallest children were so cute and funny as they tried to hold the bed kit on their way out of the school compound (see photo below).


The Rotaract Club has been involved in three more projects this year:

  1. "Help us Educate" distributes school supplies to students in grades one - four throughout Honduras.

  2. In southern Honduras (Marcovia, Isla Boca del Rio Vigo) they have been providing clothing and shoes, and assisting with infant care and health.

  3. They are participating in a safe baby turtle release program.



These six Rotaractors and others scheduled to attend, will participate in the eight SCAW distributions providing volunteer assistance. Today their service was outstanding!

Thank you for making the day a success and helping children get a good night's sleep.

Team Honduras 2023

Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 + SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Honduras, 2023: August 13

The SCAW team arrived safely in Honduras on Saturday, August 12th. We were given the gift of two additional hours in our day as Honduras is in a different time zone than Toronto.

Today, the SCAW team met with the Rotary Club and Rotaract (Junior Rotarians) Club members of Tegucigalpa for a pre-distribution meeting. There was a large turnout of members from both clubs (see photo below). Superior preparations have been completed by the Clubs for a successful distribution. A substantial and detailed review of finances, partnerships, and planning was provided. We recognized the tremendous amount of work and effort of the Rotary Clubs here in Tegucigalpa.

Following the meeting the SCAW team attended a Sunday Church Service and then explored a near-by shopping mall. 

In a local grocery store we shopped for water and small snacks in preparation for the first of eight distributions, beginning tomorrow. We are excited to get started. We are looking forward to putting a smile on 543 children’s faces and creating an opportunity for them to have a good night's sleep.

Team Honduras 2023

Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 + SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2023: August 1

IT IS A WRAP!


After ending our final distribution day we celebrated with a group photo of our team but then Mama Wandoa insisted that we include Dave Dryden as well.

Then we were off for our ‘50 +3’ birthday celebration with all the Upendo volunteers at Mama’s house for soft drinks and cake.

Peggy presented Mama with the 50th anniversary book with a message from Debbie and Sandra.


A very successful post-distribution meeting followed, including some new ideas for next year.

This is one of the memories we will hold in our hearts ❤️ as we leave beautiful Tanzania.


Lala Salama,
Team Tanzania 2023
Upendo🇹🇿+SCAW 🇨🇦

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SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2023: July 31

THE WEATHER TODAY - WE HAD IT ALL.

A very rough road took us to our distribution today. The skies opened up on our arrival, just after our first set-up. We quickly moved the parents’ meeting inside a classroom and it worked out quite well.


After our second set up we were ready to go but fortunately we found a covered verandah area for the photos as the rain continued on and off.

Our sheltered area was only available until 12:30 when all the children would be fed so we did not waste any time. The Upendo/SCAW efficient teamwork prevailed and we finished at 12:29!

Wendy and Benjamin had arranged a home visit for us at Rashid’s house. He was thrilled to receive a bedkit today. His grandmother and mother gave permission for us to take photos to show everyone where they lived.
Rashid’s new bedkit will allow him to sleep alone on his own mattress.


It is humbling to visit these communities and drive on their roads.

Another successful and uplifting day and 750 children are sleeping peacefully tonight.


Lala Salama,
Team Tanzania 2023
Upendo🇹🇿+SCAW 🇨🇦

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