February 2011

Dear friends and supporters

Christmas may seem a long time ago but many of the folks whom we support in Uganda and Rwanda are still benefiting from the generosity of those of you who supported our annual Alternative Christmas Gift Scheme once again in 2010. Just look at the happy face of these brothers in Rwanda whose family received some soap and flour as part of their Christmas Food Hamper. The young teacher from His Grace Primary School in Butangaala, Uganda, shows off his new bicycle with pride, the basic form of transport which will save him (and probably a colleague) a long walk to work each day. School books and other essentials are also gratefully received and again will make a great difference to pupils and teachers alike. Many of you helped to make a difference in similar situations so we would take this opportunity to say a big thank you on behalf of those who so gratefully received your gifts.

 Happy Christmas Faces                            A Bicycle For Christmas                        School Requirements

The administration of Rock Ministries (NI) Trust continues to keep us busy in the office and we appreciate the voluntary help we receive, especially from Suzanne Mearns and Mary Durkin. We continue to support a number of charitable organisations mainly in Uganda and are very much into helping them to become self-sufficient so that, eventually, they can exist on their own. Some of these organisations have already started  income-generating projects such as chicken keeping, maize milling, outside catering etc and we are continuing to encourage, and assist with funding, similar projects where possible. We explained in our previous Newsletter that we were reviewing our support for RCF and our trustees have recently made the decision to withdraw our support for that particular project. However, we are very encouraged by the wonderful work being undertaken by the other organisations which we support and their determination to help the needy and under-privileged is an inspiration to us. When we see the difference that they  are able to make, with your very necessary help, we are encouraged to do all we can to help these needy people. Currently Rock Ministries (NI) Trust is able to sponsor around 300 children plus a few teachers. We appreciate that sponsorship for a teacher is more expensive but we feel that this is an excellent way of  ensuring good quality teaching within the schools we support and ensuring that well qualified teachers are employed. If you would be interested in sponsoring a teacher, please get in touch with us.

Just to bring you up to date with some of our partner organisations. Hope and Dignity, Uganda, have set up a chicken project for both layers and broilers and this continues to supply nutritious eggs and meat for the children as well as generating some finances which can be ploughed back into the organisaion. Similarly, their outside catering minibusiness can generate some useful income and they are grateful for the equipment which was supplied to them from our Christmas Appeal. Other income-generating ideas are in the pipeline, including a carpentry project for teaching vocational skills and also for generating income. They are also in the process of opening a small shop to sell surplus nearly new baby and children’s clothing. We recently sent 5 boxes of such clothes out to them and we are hopeful that this income generating project will be successful. We will keep you posted but, in the mean time, if you have really good quality nearly new baby or young children’s clothes which are no longer required, please get in touch with us.

Compassion Driven Ministries continues to expand and develop. They too have enabled some needy families to set up little income generating minibusinesses which can make a real difference and help essentially with survival.

His Grace Ministries have constructed the 3 classroom block for their little Primary school thanks to the generosity of a number of our supporters over recent months. Although the building has not been completed internally, they are happy to make use of it already. This is a great step forward and they are also now in the process of constructing a kitchen and dormitories. They have also rented land which is producing valuable crops such as maize, beans and cassava which provide school lunches for the children. The new maize milling machine allows them to mill the grain to make posha.

    New Classroom Block, Butangaala              Pupils At Work In The New Block              Maize Miller – Income Generating

Thanks to a generous sponsor, Daystar Christian Secondary School, Hoima, has recently appointed a new headmaster who is very well qualified and experienced and will hopefully be able to take the School on to even higher things. Our friends from Second Dunboe and Ringsend, who visited this project last summer and did such a great job on the guest houses, have continued to help with finances for the construction of the bakery at the school.  Foundations have also been laid for new premises for teaching other vocational crafts.

New Headmaster Daystar     New Bakery At Daystar     Foundations –New Vocational  Training Units

As well as supporting and encouraging all the above organisations, through them, we have been assisting various individuals to set up little income-generating projects which help them along the road to self-sufficiency as well as providing them with hope for the future and a sense of dignity. For example, Esther has been able to set up a little shop for selling beauty products and this has helped her and those in her care enormously towards independence. Michael was given a grant towards training on video editing, again so helpful in allowing him to support other family members, some of them for education. Angel and his family have set up a little poultry project and are now able to sell the eggs to support their growing family.  Thank you to all our supporters once again for allowing us the privilege of seeing such people prosper, in many cases where they saw little hope or help for the future. Thank you for standing with us to help make this difference.

Esther In Her Little Shop          Michael In The Video Editing Suite                 Angel’s Poultry  Project

Last August, Colin, Ashley and Rachel Rankin, along with Teresa Mullen, Darren Hanna and Adam Hayes spent some time visiting some of our projects and they were also able to meet some of the children whom they sponsor. Prior to their trip they held a series of events in order to raise money to assist those who would require some help and they also took some children’s clothes and school stationery for distribution. Many families and individuals benefitted and the team appreciated seeing the gratitude of those beneficiaries. Members of the group travelled to a remote village with Pastor Eddie and were able to put foundations down for a house for a blind lady and left enough money to complete this project. Imagine their joy when they received a recent photograph of this elderly lady outside her almost completed house! They also were able to purchase 2 Singer sewing machines so that ladies from the same village could set up a mini business and, once again, be able to support themselves and their families. They managed to fit in a lot during their brief stay and were privileged to attend a Ugandan wedding as well as visiting and providing supplies for The Loving Hearts Baby Home. Colin reflected, “Our trip to Uganda was the experience of a lifetime. It was so amazing to experience Ugandan culture first hand and to witness the African way of life which is so vastly different from our own. On the other hand, it was harrowing to see the extent of the poverty that exists there. Our trip has taught us to be much more appreciative of our own circumstances and not to take things for granted as we have so often done in the past.” – sentiments so similar to those expressed by many others who have had the opportunity to experience such a life changing visit to Uganda or similar countries. The montage of photographs below provides an indication of what this group were able to achieve during their visit.

We continue to be grateful to all our supporters and sponsors who enable us to make a difference where it is really needed. Please be assured that the valuable work in which you are involved is so very important and that the projects currently being supported are trust-worthy and efficient. We are grateful to those on the ground in Uganda and Rwanda who are able to monitor our partner organisations and provide valuable feedback when we cannot be present ourselves. However, we do hope to visit Uganda later in the year and we look forward to seeing all the changes for good on the ground. Uganda is currently going through an election campaign and we trust that this process will be carried out fairly and peacefully. The lovely people of Uganda deserve good government, a government which has their good at heart and which will endeavour to work towards a sustainable and successful future for the country.

Please remember that we are always available to give talks about our work to any Church group or indeed to any organisation which may be interested in hearing about our Christian and humanitarian work in Africa. If you know of any such group, please give us a ring and we will be happy to go along and outline our charitable work.

Just enough space to let you know about our fourth annual Sponsored Walk to be held this year on Saturday 30 April. Once again, the walk will be from the East Strand car park, Portrush, to the White Rocks and back, starting from 10am – an opportunity for you to walk off all those Easter eggs which you have consumed!  Please register your intention of joining the walk by completing and returning the attached form or simply by giving us a ring. If you cannot take part yourself, we would ask you, once again, to sponsor Ian and Phyllis so please make use of the sponsorship form enclosed to do so and thank you in advance. This year the money collected will go towards the provision of self-generating income projects for the organisations we support in Uganda.

If you pay income tax and we have been able to reclaim this under the government’s Gift Aid programme, we would like to thank you for this extra income which obviously costs you nothing. If you are eligible and have never signed a Gift Aid Form for us, please get in touch and we will forward a form to you for completion. For those who have signed a Gift Aid Form previously and are no longer paying income tax, we would ask you to get in touch with us immediately. Thank you very much.

Every blessing

Ian and Phyllis

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I wish to register for the Rock Ministries Sponsored Walk to be held from the East Strand, Portrush, to the White Rocks and back, on Saturday 30 April 2011 commencing from 10am.

NAME:       ________________________________________

ADDRESS: ________________________________________

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TEL NO:    ________________________________________           No of participants in group ______________

PLEASE COMPLETE AND RETURN THIS SLIP, PREFERABLY BEFORE 16 APRIL, TO REGISTER YOUR INTENTION OF PARTICIPATING IN THE SPONSORED WALK AND TO ALLOW US TO MAKE OUR ARRANGEMENTS – OR SIMPLY GIVE US A RING ON 02870344319.  THANK YOU.