NOTDEC "NEWS"
Trustee Mark Shaw says it's all change at NOTDEC - both in Uganda and here in the UK!
Read all about it - or just look at the pictures - by clicking below.
PICKUP APPEAL
NOTDEC’S PICKUP IS "KNACKERED!"
Bought new in May 2014, it’s been averaging 70 miles a day ever since! It’s now done 230,000 miles – on bone-shaking Ugandan roads. So we ’ve been advised to replace it before it falls apart or needs eye-wateringly expensive repairs!
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
Initially, we centralised operations in our purpose-built “orphanage village” at Kabirizi. Most under 6s still live there. But the Ugandan Government then insisted that older kids go to live with any extended family willing and able to care for them – even if they ’re miles away! And NOTDEC must check their well-being regularly. So we now have a team of social workers with boda-bodas (motorbikes) and a Pickup. Monitoring children scattered over a wide area inevitably means high mileages.
WHAT’S IN A PICKUP?
The Pickup is our LOVE– on wheels! With it, we do whatever it takes to give a life to each of the 160+ children now in our care. But love is easily overlooked. With the Pickup, we ’ve done LOTS of things we’re hugely proud of – and we have the photos to prove it. But few of the pictures actually show the Pickup!
A PICKUP BY ANY OTHER NAME …
THE “KIDDY CARRIER”
We've fitted the Pickup with removable benches and a cover to keep rear passengers out of sun and dust.
Here it ’s taking ridiculous numbers of kids to a local Sunday School event, and doing the twice-daily school run. The Pickup was also used to go shopping for the school uniforms, bags and shoes.
RED CROSS PARCELS VAN
During COVID food shortages, and funded by our Food Aid Appeal, the Pickup delivered maize flour, beans, cassava flour & cooking oil to every family housing a NOTDEC child. Further loads were provided later to those still needing help.
They may no longer live on-site at NOTDEC, but we still have their backs.
BOB THE BUILDER'S TRUCK
Many NOTDEC children’ s families have very basic housing – some so poor that our social workers insist on improvements before the child moves in. Upgrades have included new toilets, extra bedrooms, a partial rebuild, and even two whole new houses - all done by our construction team. Day after day the Pickup ferries them, their ladders, building materials and tools to wherever the family lives - until the job is done.
[The Pickup in front of Eldad' s new house was added in Photoshop!]
REMOVALS VAN
When children go to live with family, we don’t just dump them at the door. We deliver their belongings and new bedding – bed, mattress, waterproof, mosquito net and cotton sheets. Here we were delivering replacement items to several kids in one trip. And when NOTDEC founder, Mama Dorothy retired, the Pickup took her - bed and all - to her new home.
IGA COURIER SERVICE
Some NOTDEC families have very low incomes, and are very vulnerable to down-turns, COVID etc. So we fund and facilitate their small business enterprises – in IGAs (“Income Generating Activities”) like goat-rearing, trading in clothing, and tailoring. By boda-boda, we can’t easily deliver pregnant goats, bailed clothing, or a sewing machine. But with the Pickup we can provide a full-blown small business courier service!
WITHOUT A PICKUP NOTDEC WOULD GRIND TO A HALT
(AS THE OLD ONE MAY VERY SOON DO!)
WHAT A NEW PICKUP WILL COST
- New Toyota Hilux 2.4 GD Country Single Cab 6-MT 4x4 £34,000
- First Service £1,000
- Removable frame & seating £2,000 (e)
- Removable cover £1,000 (e)
- TOTAL £38,000
(e) = estimate. Fixed prices only with a firm order.
SO £38,000 ...
PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN THEN
If you 'd like to help us buy a NEW Pickup please tap ...
SMALL PRINT
Capital items are expensive, so NOTDEC has applied to various Charitable Trusts etc for grants. The outcome of such applications is unpredictable. Should the total raised by this appeal exceed the total stated above, any excess will be spent on the acquisition, maintenance and/or servicing of NOTDEC vehicles and/or on any other urgent needs identified by the Trustees within NOTDEC UK's charitable objects. All grants & donations are accepted on this understanding only.
WELL, WELL, WELL for NOTDEC's Tots!
WELL NEEDED! ***APPEAL NOW CLOSED THANK YOU!***
NOTDEC saves the lives of tiny babies in Western Uganda – many, new-borns whose mums die in childbirth.
Tots too young to live with relatives are cared for at our Kabirizi Children ’s Centre.
Kabirizi is dry - and thirsty! It uses 10,000 litres of water/day – for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry and everything needed by 60+ toddlers and their carers PLUS the office/support staff who oversee older kids now living with family. A little is also used on the farm (+ recycled water) to water young plants.
Right now, water has to be hauled by tractor from the river - a round trip of 8 km every day. Last year that cost £5,000 in fuel, servicing and tyres. When full, the bowser weighs 12 tons, so tyres don’t last long. Add on staff time (4 man-hours/day), depreciation of the tractor and bowser and you'll see that hauling water is costing a small fortune.
And in the rainy season, with the river in spate, the water is full of muck – wholly unsutable for bathing babies let alone drinking! So hauling in water is not a cheap, clean, “green” or robust solution.
WELL PLANNED!
With God’s help & your support, we ’d like to give NOTDEC a better water supply.
Our solution – all on NOTDEC land – is boring! We want to bore a well.
For this, we will need:
- the borehole, a pump and a solar panel to power it
- a brick compound to protect the Installation (deterring elephants and making it much harder for anyone to steal the solar panel)
- a 1.5 metre deep trench taking the pipe from the borehole to our water tanks
Cost Breakdown:
- Drilling borehole £7,000
- Pump & solar panels £5,000
- Site work £3,000
TOTAL £15,000
WELL BETTER?
After drilling in 2010 we were told there was no water under NOTDEC land. So what has changed?
In 2010, hydro-geological surveying was not available in Uganda. Drilling was guesswork: our advisors tried in 3 places and found only granite. Now, hydro-geological surveys have reached Uganda.
In May 2023 we commissioned a hydro-geological survey – sounding every 11 metres, and covering all NOTDEC’s 30 acres down to a depth of 200 metres.
Almost all our charts were red/orange/yellow, indicating granite and other impervious rock.
However, in one small area of 5 metres diameter the chart (left) showed a fault-line in the rock and a sweet spot with water. There, 3 flows meet, making water highly likely. Water was detected at 30 metres and below (blue & green in the chart).
For NOTDEC, this is a breakthrough.
We’ve been advised to drill to 120 metres, where there should be water even in the dry season. Yields might be 1,500 - 5,000 litres/hour (meaning pumping 2-6 hours/day.)
How Do We Know it Will Work?
A neighbour 2 km away recently had a hydro-geological survey and then drilled a 100 metre borehole based on its findings.
He can get 2-3,000 litres/hour – though when we met him he still had no tank to put it in!
Coupled with our own exciting site survey findings, this is as close to a guarantee as we are ever likely to get. But until we actually drill, an element of risk will always remain.
WELL ... GO ON THEN!
If you would like to help us give NOTDEC's kids (and the support staff!) a water supply that is
- cheaper,
- cleaner,
- greener,
- and more reliable
please "tap" here!
And, if you can, please Gift Aid your donation.
ALL REQUIRED FUNDS WERE RAISED VIA ST PAUL'S GIFT DAY
Many thanks for your support.
Janet Johnston
ZOOM TO NOTDEC'S INFO & PRAYER EVENING
There will be an Information & Prayer Evening on Monday 26th June 2023 at 7:30 PM.
Here is the link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87031683524?pwd=ODdIYTNxOHhVQkQ3NHMzaklYT3UvZz09
[Click on the link to activate it. Any problem, then copy the link and paste it into your browser.]
NOTDEC in Pictures
In late April – May 2023, three trustees and two volunteers visited NOTDEC Uganda.
See here what they saw. And read what happened there.
Changing Lives
Pondering recent achievements, current challenges, and future opportunities, Trustee Janet Johnston puts NOTDEC in a nutshell.
Read her Newsletter for the essence of NOTDEC now.
Newsletter 230213: Changing Lives (1.25 MB)
TWO “HATS-OFF” REVIEWS
Newly returned from NOTDEC Uganda, intrepid explorers Jonathan Tidd and Mark Wardle report back to you. Read what they did, and saw – and what they thought about it all.
Open the original Newsletter below to read their full report,
PRAYERS FOR NOTDEC - and music too
Latterly, NOTDEC has seen some very difficult times.
Please pray for them - and for a brigher future.
And there's music too!
Open the original Newsletter below to read the full story,
Newsletter 220307: Prayers (& music) for NOTDEC (PDF 859KB)
It Never Rains...
Joshua is four. And he ’s not happy.
The picture was taken at NOTDEC – where Joshua lives in House Five cared for by housemother Gorret.
Right now, he ’s not there. He ’s 400km away at Mulago Hospital in Kampala – Uganda ’s best hospital. Already you know that Joshua needs our prayers.
You are right. Joshua has cancer.
Diagnosis & Treatment
Not long ago, Joshua had a swelling in his jaw and was taken to nearby Kagando Hospital. Kagando quickly referred him to Mulago.
At Mulago, he was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma – a rare and aggressive childhood cancer found mainly in tropical countries and associated with malaria. It develops fast: Joshua ’s had already reached Stage 3, with tumours throughout his body.
Overall, 80-90% of such cases can be treated successfully.
So Joshua has been started on an intensive course of chemotherapy in the Cancer Unit.
He is likely to be there for at least 10 days more, and will probably need to go back to Mulago again later for further treatments to ensure that the cancer is eliminated. If you're thinking that sounds expensive, so are we: but we don't yet have firm costs.
Practicalities
A 4-year-old can ’t go to hospital in Kampala by himself. Joshua has been taken there by housemother Gorret and social worker Barbra. Gorret is with him all the time, and sleeps on a mattress under his bed! But Ugandan hospitals don’t feed their patients!! So besides consulting with the doctors (in English), Barbra takes in food for Gorret and Joshua, and provides relief, encouragement and moral support.
Worries
Joshua is on an open ward where some patients have cancer and COVID. Poor Gorret, camping out under his bed, and Barbra passing to-and-fro with food, have had only their first jab. Naturally they are very worried that they (and Joshua) might get COVID. But no COVID-secure options are available.
What is more, Barbra has been concerned about the open-ended costs of Joshua ’s treatment, plus all the on-costs of travel, accommodation and food. We have, of course, assured her that all these costs will be met; but that doesn 't stop her worrying. So while you ’re praying for Joshua, please spare a thought for two people who are putting themselves on the line to help him.
The Bigger Picture – more worries
COVID Vaccination levels in Uganda are tiny, false rumours are rife, and vaccine supplies so low that NOTDEC staff may never get their second jabs. Now, the Delta (Indian) variant is taking hold, particularly in Kampala. Three ex-NOTDEC youngsters who live there have got it, and it 's spreading further afield too. Even before the first lockdown restrictions have been completely removed, President Museveni has had to announce a second lockdown – initially for 42 days. As before, travel between districts has been banned – and then, just this week, even more draconian travel restrictions have been announced – leaving Gorret and Barbra wondering how they will get back to NOTDEC when Joshua is discharged. Of course, once they do finally get there, all three will have to isolate for 14 days before they can mix with others on site.
Please pray that, when the time comes, they will get the necessary travel permit, have a smooth journey home, and be helped through isolation back into the heart of NOTDEC with all the other kids.
Meanwhile … at NOTDEC
Though schools and colleges had begun to re-open, they are now completely closed again. The children and young people are upset that, yet again, their lessons and vocational courses are being disrupted. There seems no end to it all – which can be very demotivating. Please pray for wisdom for NOTDEC staff in these difficult and distressing times, which seem set to continue for some months.
The Home Front
All children living in the community with wider family are back at home full time, and not getting the school meals for which we have paid. This time, markets are open; but transport to-and-fro is difficult, hitting those needing to buy or sell foodstuffs. Crops are poor because there has been little rain, so the food situation icould even be worse than in the first lockdown. Food shortages are inevitable. Deputy Director Annah is monitoring the situation.
More Food Deliveries Soon
To avoid spreading the virus, staff who live off site are not currently going in to work (they work from home if possible); and children in the community are no longer visited routinely. But food will be delivered when it is needed. We have funds from the Lockdown Food Aid Appeal 2020 ready and waiting – with plenty to cover any food deliveries that Annah and her staff judge necessary to feed the families caring for NOTDEC children.
We Need to Talk About MONEY
This is NOT a begging letter. Thanks to your astonishing generosity in 2020, we DO NOT NEED any more money for Food Aid during lockdown.
We will need money for Joshua ’s treatment and associated costs – but as yet we don’t know how much. We have already received a few offers of support; but please understand that any donation would go towards Joshua ’s medical treatment and other related expenses – like transport, food, accommodation and extra staff costs. Should more be received than we need for Joshua, we will put the sum remaining towards any future major treatment costs for another NOTDEC child.
But above all …
Please pray that the Lord will shower down His blessing on Joshua, on Barbra, Gorret and the others caring for him, on all NOTDEC staff, on all the kids in their care, and on the NOTDEC farm – where showers of any kind would truly be a blessing.
Janet Johnston
Big Smile for 2021!
The grin belongs to Mark Peers one of NOTDEC UK's Trustees. What with COVID-19 lockdowns here AND in Uganda, you wouldn't think he's got much to smile about.
After the Plague and the Great Fire of London, John Dryden wrote his poem Annus Mirabilis calling 1666 a 'year of wonders'. Samuel Johnson said he'd meant that it was a wonder things weren't far far worse! Is that the story behind Mark's smile?
Well Mark is NOTDEC UK's Treasurer. Treasurers don't do poetry. So believe me, Mark's facial expression is not just "Annus Mirabilis" relief. I'd say it's more of a smirk!
Mark's Two Word Ditty
You see, Mark has come up with a poem – a Treasurer's poem!
It's just two words – almost a magic spell – calculated to bring a smile to any Treasurer's face. With it, anyone can send the charity money without it costing them a penny.
Sadly, Amazon has since taken the smile off all our faces - by closing Smile!
Just tap or click the orange image and shop at Amazon – then Amazon will donate 0.5% of your elegible spend to NOTDEC UK. The cost to you does not change. The donation comes from Amazon's back pocket. They won't pay it to you, only to a charity. Or let them keep it if you prefer.
So now, in Hard Times, if you buy a few Christmas presents, you can also donate to NOTDEC UK at no cost to yourself.
No wonder Mark is all smiles. It was his idea – providing a painless way to support the kids in Uganda.
Go on – make his day!
Mark Shaw