Proceeds will finance micro-loans
Sara Weinman first learned about Uganda not from a textbook or documentary, but from a young African burn victim named Susan who was receiving treatment in the United States.
After her family housed the girl on behalf of doctors providing medical care in that poverty-struck country, Weinman became enthralled with Uganda and the efforts being made to help its people.
Now, the Bethlehem High School sophomore is organizing a fundraiser to do her own part. As a co-founder of Engeye Teen Connectionan offshoot of a group dedicated to providing medical care and educational opportunities to the residents of one Ugandan villageshe and classmate Adriana King are organizing their first fundraiser to get ETC into the business of helping others.
`I wanted to get more involved with it,` Weinman said of ETC. `We were trying to do little things here and there, so we figured, why not form our own thing?`
The group will be hosting a `Cafe Night` at the Journey Journey United Church of Christ Saturday, June 26, with proceeds going to help provide craftmaking supplies for women in the village of Ddegeya. By making baskets or jewelry, the women can earn money while still being at home with their children, said King.
`Right now, we are focusing mainly on the women in Uganda and helping them make a living for their families,` she said.
The crafts they make will be picked up by Engeye teams traveling to the area and brought back to the States, where ETC will sell them. It’s a micro-loan system, where the investment will get paid back after the benefit is established.
`They’re going to fully pay us back, and when we get paid back we’ll lend the money to someone else, and it will just keep going around,` Weinman said.
Sara Weinman’s mother, Theresa, is also involved in relief efforts in Uganda and has traveled there several times. After learning of the Engeye effort through Theresa, a number of the Journey United’s families have become involved in the Engeye Scholars part of the program by sponsoring the education of Ugandan children, said the Rev. Sandy Damhof.
`Our goal is to one by one adopt these children, with the hopes that as they start coming back to that village they will have a profound impact on that village,` Damhof said.
It’s a good example of the type of work the church likes to get involved in, she continued, even with a relatively small congregation.
`Our congregation from its very beginning a couple years ago has really made a commitment to a mission-oriented church,` she said.
Weinman and King are both members of the Journey congregation, but the teens who will be singing and playing instruments like guitar, piano and ukulele largely come from the circle of friends at BC High School.
Weinman will be making her first trip to Uganda over February break. She hopes to catch up with children the program has sponsored, including her sponsored child, Wilbur, and also help create new opportunities for the women of Ddegeya.
`They don’t really have much over there, because all they do is work,` she said. `At night all the men go and play soccer and the women stay home, so I was going to try to do something there.`
Tickets for the Cafe Night are $3 in advance, or $5 at the door. There will also be refreshments and a bake sale to benefit the cause, as well as a presentation on the state of Uganda and the work being done there.
The event will go from 7 to 10 p.m. JUCC is located at 500 Kenwood Avenue, Delmar.
Damhof said any time teens are looking outside of themselves, it should be celebrated.
`I applaud them, they’re just so into it,` she said. `Instead of spending hundreds of dollars to go on a ski trip, they’re raising money for a village in Uganda.`
Those interested in making a separate donation, helping in another way or just looking for more information can find ETC on the Web at www.engeyescholars.com/etc.“