Help us support and transform the life of Moses and others like him who yearn for an education in a country where their disabilities cast them aside.

THE BISHOP OF ST ALBANS’

Harvest Appeal 2015

Diocesan registered charity number 248887 The St Albans Diocese Board of Finance company number 145227.Mission Direct registered charity number 1107824 and company number 5289161. Up to 12% of the proceeds from this appeal will be used to cover the costs incurred. Printed on 100% recycled paper.

www.harvestappeal.org

MOSES’ STORY

Moses is seven years old and a lovely boy whose smile lights up a room. He is excited to be able to attend school in Rukungiri, Uganda. Moses uses a wheelchair or walking frame because of his cerebral palsy which causes him severe mobility difficulties. In Uganda there is little help for children like Moses. Having a disability leaves them isolated and stigmatised.

It is thanks to the support of an organisation called the Chilli Children project, that Moses is able to attend school. The Chilli Children project works to find and help disabled children and their families in SW Uganda. They help them to access education, surgery,

rehabilitation, and medical clinics, and to provide a self-sustainable income for families through chilli growing.

Moses has ongoing challenges; a trip to the capital city for a medical check takes four days and costs a lot. However, Moses is always positive. He benefits from learning in specially built classrooms and dormitories provided by Mission Direct. He likes playing with his friends and studying. He wants to be an engineer when he leaves school.

Moses is one of the lucky ones looking forward to a brighter future. There are many more like him who hope one day they will be able to go to school.

The Bishop’s Harvest Appeal in partnership with Mission Direct will provide further classrooms and dormitories, and the much needed support for other children like Moses.

We will be sending appeal materials to all our churches and schools at the start of July. Resources and further information will also be available from our website: www.harvestappeal.org

We will be encouraging children and young people to build a ‘Wall of Hope’ - using coin boxes as bricks - and, in this simple way, create opportunities for more vulnerable children in Uganda.

AVAILABLE RESOURCES

A3 posters to display in your church or school.

Leaflets available for every member of your congregation or school community.

Church ideas sheets for those organising your Harvest celebrations, with suggestions for incorporating the situation in Uganda into your services.

Young people and children’s ideas sheets with ideas to involve the younger generation in churches and schools in learning about and supporting our appeal.

Box template - ‘Wall of Hope’ - an idea that schools or groups may like to use to support the Appeal together.

THE BISHOP OF ST ALBANS’

Harvest Appeal 2015

Diocesan registered charity number 248887 The St Albans Diocese Board of Finance company number 145227.Mission Direct registered charity number 1107824 and company number 5289161. Printed on 100 per cent recycled paper.

Having a disability in Uganda is a serious disadvantage – disabled children are often viewed as “without use”. Moses is one of 26 children who started school in 2014 for the first time. Help us support and transform the life of Moses and others like him who yearn for an education in a country where their disabilities cast them aside.

www.harvestappeal.org

MOSES’ STORY

Moses is seven years old and is pleased to attend a new primary school in rural Uganda. Moses uses a wheelchair or walking frame because of his mobility difficulties.

Moses had a difficult start. When he was born, his father evicted his mother from the house blaming her for Moses’ disability, saying she must have done something terrible whilst pregnant. Moses’ father took a new wife, but continued to feel stigmatised by his son. Eventually, he moved out, leaving Moses in the care of just his elderly grandmother. Moses now doesn’t see either of his parents.

Moses has ongoing challenges; a trip to the capital city for a medical check takes four days and costs a lot. Also, Moses frequently picks up germs and is often ill.

However, Moses is always positive. He likes playing with his friends and studying and says he wants to be an engineer when he leaves school.

PROGRESS WITH THE SCHOOL IN RUKUNGIRI

Mission Direct, in partnership with the Chilli Children project started building in 2013. The special classroom and dormitory facilities are attached to a mainstream school. So far, two classrooms and two dormitories have been built.

This year, it is planned to double the accomodation. The dormitories provide safety and security to vulnerable to vulnerable children, who would not otherwise be able to attend school.

The classrooms are specially adapted so that children can access the rooms in their wheelchairs. Children with disabilities are able to learn and play alongside their able-bodied friends.

Your support will enable us to build these much needed facilities, enabling more of Rukungiri’s vulnerable children to attend school. With your help, this year’s Harvest Appeal, in conjunction with Mission Direct, is wanting to support children with disabilities in Uganda to access school – and so give them new opportunities and a brighter hope for their future.

Perhaps the greatest gift we can give anyone is hope; a life without hope is just so tough. Sadly, it’s a life that faces many people across the world.

A MESSAGE FROM THE BISHOP OF ST ALBANS

LIFE IS HARD FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN UGANDA

Most children with disabilities do not attend school. Moses is able to go to school because of an organisation supporting children with disabilities called the Chilli Children Project. Currently they are supporting 25 children in education but know of another 5,000 children who need support.

This is only the second school for children with disabilities in Uganda. Moses stays overnight at the school during term time. Previously Moses had been unable to go to school because of the distance and the difficulties of getting around in a wheelchair on unmade roads.

Moses loves school; he says his best friend is the head teacher, who also lives at the school.

WHERE THE PROJECT IS

Rukungiri is in the South West of Uganda about 6 hours drive from Kampala. It is a beautiful fertile area with green rolling hills.

KENYA

TANZANIA

SOUTH SUDAN

ETHIOPIA

UGANDA

Rukungiri

Moses lives with disability and the stigma that goes with it. The special needs unit at Rukungiri gives him the opportunity for education and friendship that other children have. He is delighted to go to school.

As we thank God for the opportunities and the hope that we have in abundance, I invite you to support this project with gratitude and generosity. Your gifts and prayers will make a difference.

My Harvest Appeal is a great chance to learn and to develop understanding and partnership with the people in Uganda.

With my thanks and my prayers

LAKEVICTORIA

£10

£80

£225

Will buy fifty bricks to help build classrooms and dormitories.

Will pay for a child to travel to Kampala to have their medical needs assessed.

Will buy a much needed wheelchair.

HOW TO GIVE

Churches and Schools participating in this Appeal should send their cheque - payable to St Albans DBF - for the total sum of all donations received, plus proceeds from events, including any Gift Aid reclaimed, to:

The Bishop of St Albans’ Harvest Appeal 2015 c/o Holywell Lodge, 41 Holywell Hill, St Albans AL1 1HE

An Individual can also give directly on-line, at www.harvestappeal.org - it will then be our partner organisation, Mission Direct, who is able to reclaim Gift Aid.

CHURCH IDEAS SHEET

COME AND VOLUNTEER

Join Mission Direct on a two week trip, building at the school in Rukungiri. By joining a trip you will have the chance to get personally involved in transforming the lives of children there with disabilities.

If you are a teacher, you could volunteer to teach at the school. You may also have the experience to participate in a medical team. Other projects can also be visited during the trip. At the end of your trip enjoy a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel where you will see some spectacular wildlife.

For more information contact Mission Direct on (01582) 720056 or visit www.missiondirect.org

SERMON SEEDS

Seeing

Samuel goes to Bethlehem to anoint a new king from among Jesse’s sons. God makes it clear that none of those who look like kings are the one; rather it is David the youngest and unlikely one. We ‘look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart’. (1 Samuel 16.7)

It’s all too easy to judge someone else’s value by what we see and their potential by what we assume. That’s not how it works with God.

The special needs unit at Rukungiri is giving young people with disability an opportunity not because they are to be pitied but because they have – if we see as God sees – individual value and potential.

Harvest time is an opportunity to open our eyes in gratitude to the wonderful world that God has made and all that sustains us. This Appeal is an opportunity to open our eyes and our hands in generosity to the God given identity and value of all our neighbours, whether next door or across the world.

Belonging

A Harvest Festival is a great time to celebrate the diversity and abundance of all that God provides for us to enjoy and to feed and nourish our bodies. It’s an important time to remember those, across the world, who work to produce and transport that food. Food connects us with one another. We need one another.

Paul describes the Church as a body, which is by its very nature a celebration of diversity and connection (1 Corinthians 12.12-26). All are needed. All are connected.

The Harvest Appeal, Building Hope: Opportunity for All, is a celebration of exactly that. It’s a celebration of our

diversity – whether in culture, language or ability. It’s also a celebration of our connection – through our faith, through our humanity, through trade. And, through the building of the Special Needs Unit, it’s a celebration of the truth that no one can say “I don’t need you” and no one can say “I am not needed”.

We all belong. We are all needed. We are all connected. We celebrate that with gratitude, in prayer and in practical generosity.

Giving

“You give them something to eat”, Jesus tells the disciples. (Mark 6.37). The needs around us and across the world are a challenge to us; in fact, God’s challenge is to do something.

“How many loaves have you got?”, Jesus asks. (Mark 6.38). We don’t start with needs or what we don’t have; we start with what we have. It might seem little, it might seem totally inadequate, but that’s where we start.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples (Mark 6.41). We receive what we have. We give thanks. We offer to God. We share with others. We see what happens.

It’s exactly what a Harvest Festival is all about. Receiving. Thanking. Sharing. Making a difference.

It’s exactly what the Harvest Appeal is about. Seeing the potential in the lives of young people like Moses in Uganda. Like the boy’s picnic in the feeding of the 5000, the life of Moses could so easily be overlooked and discarded. Through the Harvest Appeal we can celebrate his life, recognise his value and potential, and give him, along with many others, an opportunity to live a full life and for him to make a difference in his community and nation.

FUNDRAISING IDEAS

Coffee is the main export from Uganda and they grow the most amazing pineapples.

● Why not hold a Ugandan coffee and pineapple cake occasion? Using as many Fairtrade ingredients from Uganda as you can find. Add some fun with a game of Jenga® charging an additional £5 donation to anyone who makes the tower fall.

Take your fundraising event one step further:

● Hold a Ugandan themed evening. Get everyone to dress in black, red and yellow - the colours of the Ugandan flag. Download some Ugandan recipes to make and play some Ugandan music to bring an authentic African feel.

MOSES’ STORY

Moses is seven years old and a lovely boy whose smile lights up a room. He is excited to be able to attend school in Rukungiri, Uganda. Moses uses a wheelchair or walking frame because of his cerebral palsy which causes him severe mobility difficulties. Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects muscle control and movement. It is usually caused by an injury to the brain before, during or after birth. Children with cerebral palsy have difficulties in controlling muscles and movements as they grow and develop. In Uganda there is little help for children like Moses. Having a disability leaves them isolated and stigmatised.

Thanks to the support of an organisation called the Chilli Children project, Moses is able to attend school. The Chilli Children project works to find and help disabled children and their families in

THE BISHOP OF ST ALBANS’

Harvest Appeal 2015

Diocesan registered charity number 248887 The St Albans Diocese Board of Finance company number 145227.Mission Direct registered charity number 1107824 and company number 5289161. Up to 12% of the proceeds from this appeal will be used to cover the costs incurred. Printed on 100% recycled paper.

www.harvestappeal.org

South West Uganda. The project helps them to access education, surgery, rehabilitation and medical clinics. Also, through chilli growing, families are able to provide a sustainable income for all their children.

Moses has ongoing challenges; a trip to the capital city for a medical check takes four days and costs a lot. However, Moses is always positive. He benefits from learning in specially built classrooms and dormitories provided by Mission Direct. He likes playing with his friends and studying. He wants to be an engineer when he leaves school.

Moses is one of the lucky ones looking forward to a brighter future. There are many more like him who hope one day they will be able to go to school, like Anita. Anita is one of the many children who have been identified by the Chilli Children project and could attend the school when more dormitory facilities and classrooms are completed.

Anita is now nine years old, she would love to go to school but because she has spina bifida she cannot travel the five miles to get there every day.

Anita loves knitting and making clothes. She helps her mum around the house; looking after the children, cleaning the house and caring for the coffee and chilli plants. Anita grows chillies and her family

HARVEST PRAYER

Loving God, your world overflows with beauty and goodness; you bless us with food and breath and life. As we receive so may we give; thankfully and generously.

Living God, bless the Special Needs Unit in Rukungiri and the work of the Chilli Children’s Project, that through our Harvest Appeal more children will have opportunity to learn and flourish with happiness and freedom.

Through the Harvest Appeal may we see more clearly the true beauty of others and know more deeply our shared humanity; as we give may we too receive.

For Jesus’ sake.Amen.

CHURCH IDEAS SHEET

sell them to a supplier who takes them to the local market, helping her mum raise money for the family. She knows that with a bit of help she will achieve her goal of attending school and has high expectations of herself.

The Bishop’s Harvest Appeal in partnership with Mission Direct will provide further classrooms and dormitories. Please join with us to build hope for Anita and other children bringing opportunity for them all.

£10

£80

£225

Will buy fifty bricks to help build classrooms and dormitories.

Will pay for a child to travel to Kampala to have their medical needs assessed.

Will buy a much needed wheelchair.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Sometimes it is hard with all the challenges in the world to think you can make a difference. But even a very small act of kindness can make a difference - like the story of the starfish:

A man was walking along a beach. As he walked, he could see a young boy bending down picking up starfish from the thousands that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water. The man asked what he was doing, the boy replied,” I am throwing these starfish back into the ocean, or else they will die. “But”, said the man, “You can’t possibly save them all, there are thousands on this beach. You can’t possibly make a difference.” The boy smiled, bent down and picked up another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied “But I made a difference to that one, and that one….”

HOW TO GIVE

Churches and Schools participating in this Appeal should send their cheque - payable to St Albans DBF - for the total sum of all donations received, plus proceeds from events, including any Gift Aid reclaimed, to:

The Bishop of St Albans’ Harvest Appeal 2015 c/o Holywell Lodge, 41 Holywell Hill, St Albans AL1 1HE

An Individual can also give directly on-line, at www.harvestappeal.org - it will then be our partner organisation, Mission Direct, who is able to reclaim Gift Aid.

YOUNG PEOPLE & CHILDREN’S IDEAS SHEET

BUILD A WALL OF HOPE

In your pack we have supplied you with a sample template for a coin box.

Cut out the template and design your coin box.

Once it is full of coins build a Wall of Hope, take a photo and send it to us to publish on our website.

For more templates, please contact the Church and Society Team at the Diocesan Office on 01727 818148 or bcs@stalbans.anglican.org

We will endeavour to fulfil all requests but these will be issued on a first come first served basis.

CEMENTING OUR PRAYERS

Ask all your young people to write a prayer for the Children of Uganda on a rectangular piece of paper and use the prayers to build a prayer wall.

FUNDRAISING IDEAS

● Ugandan Dress Up Day Everyone dresses up in black, red and yellow - the colours of the Ugandan flag and makes a donation to the appeal.

● Be Sponsored Why not raise some funds by holding a sponsored event such as keepy-uppy football or a 3-legged race.

WHERE THE PROJECT IS

Rukungiri is in the South West of Uganda about 6 hours drive from Kampala. It is a beautiful fertile area with green rolling hills.

KENYA

TANZANIA

SOUTH SUDAN

ETHIOPIA

UGANDA

Rukungiri

ACTIVITY IDEAS

Sit and discuss with your young people some of the following ideas:-

● Do some research on Uganda, what are the similarities and differences between the UK and Uganda? You might like to consider areas of education, housing, food, weather, disability awareness and support.

● In the context of the story of the Good Samaritan can you think of an act of kindness you received from someone unexpectedly? Who was kind to you and what did they do?

● Can you think of a time you have made a difference to someone else?

● Can you think about what it would be like not to receive an education?

● Can you put yourselves in Moses’ place and imagine what he feels like now that he can go to school?

● Ask your group to write letters and draw pictures which can be taken out to the young people in Uganda.

LAKE VICTORIA

THE BISHOP OF ST ALBANS’

Harvest Appeal 2015

MOSES’ STORY

Moses is seven years old and a lovely boy whose smile lights up a room. He is excited to be able to attend school in Rukungiri, Uganda.

Moses uses a wheelchair or walking frame because of his cerebral palsy which causes him severe mobility difficulties. Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects muscle control and movement. It is usually caused by an injury to the brain before, during or after birth. Children with cerebral palsy have difficulties in controlling muscles and movements as they grow and develop. In Uganda there is little help for children like Moses.

BEING BORN WITH A DISABILITY IN UGANDA

For many, the challenges to living a ‘normal’ life are great. Travelling long distances to school results in the

children being physically exhausted before they arrive. Moving around at school is difficult and most won’t have the money for lunch. With these challenges you can begin to realise why 90% of disabled children in Africa do not receive regular schooling. But there is hope, and with your support disabled children can contribute to their community and their economy. Education can help them build a better life and realise their potential.

Your donations to the Bishop’s Harvest Appeal will help to build additional facilities and provide support for more children like Moses to go to school.

CHILDREN HELPING THEMSELVES

Children like Moses are also helping themselves. Through the Chilli Children project, disabled and orphaned children grow, pick and sell chillies. The children are given the plants and taught how to look after them which they then grow around their homes. Once the chillies are ready, they sell them at the local market. This money enables the children to pay for their school

YOUNG PEOPLE & CHILDREN’S IDEAS SHEET

Diocesan registered charity number 248887 The St Albans Diocese Board of Finance company number 145227.Mission Direct registered charity number 1107824 and company number 5289161. Up to 12% of the proceeds from this appeal will be used to cover the costs incurred. Printed on 100% recycled paper.

www.harvestappeal.org

HARVEST PRAYER

Loving God,

thank you that you have made a beautiful and good world;

thank you for the food we eat and the clothes we wear.

Please help the Special Needs Unit in Rukungiri.

May our prayers and our money help Moses and all the children

to enjoy being at school,

to have good friends and so a better chance for a happy life.

Thank you that you love us alland ask us to help each other.

Amen.

lunches.

THE BISHOP OF ST ALBANS’

Harvest Appeal 2015

www.harvestappeal.org

Help us support and transform the life of Moses and others like him who yearn for an education in a country where their disabilities cast them aside.

HARVEST PRAYER

Loving God, your world overflows with beauty and goodness; you bless us with food and breath and life. As we receive so may we give; thankfully and generously.

Living God, bless the Special Needs Unit in Rukungiri and the work of the Chilli Children’s Project, that through our Harvest Appeal more children will have opportunity to learn and flourish with happiness and freedom.

Through the Harvest Appeal may we see more clearly the true beauty of others and know more deeply our shared humanity; as we give may we too receive.

For Jesus’ sake.Amen.

£10

£80

£225

Will buy fifty bricks to help build classrooms and dormitories.

Will pay for a child to travel to Kampala to have their medical needs assessed.

Will buy a much needed wheelchair.

HOW TO GIVE

Churches and Schools participating in this Appeal should send their cheque - payable to St Albans DBF - for the total sum of all donations received, plus proceeds from events, including any Gift Aid reclaimed, to:

The Bishop of St Albans’ Harvest Appeal 2015 c/o Holywell Lodge, 41 Holywell Hill, St Albans AL1 1HE

An Individual can also give directly on-line, at www.harvestappeal.org - it will then be our partner organisation, Mission Direct, who is able to reclaim Gift Aid.

Diocesan registered charity number 248887. The St Albans Diocese Board of Finance company number 145227. Mission Direct registered charity number 1107824 and company number 5289161. Up to 12% of the proceeds from this appeal will be used to cover the costs incurred. Printed on 100% recycled paper.

COME AND VOLUNTEER

Join Mission Direct on a two week trip, building at the school in Rukungiri. By joining a trip you will have the chance to get personally involved in transforming the lives of children there with disabilities.

If you are a teacher, you could volunteer to teach at the school. You may also have the experience to participate in a medical team. Other projects can also be visited during the trip.

At the end of your trip enjoy a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel where you will see some spectacular wildlife.

For more information contact Mission Direct on (01582) 720056 or visit www.missiondirect.org

COMING

SOON