Mother and daughter to travel to Uganda on humanitarian mission
The February break is nearly upon us, and many families will take the week away from school as an opportunity to flee the snowbound northeast for a few days.
That’s the plan for Theresa and Sara Weinman, but instead of kicking back on the beach the mother/daughter duo will on Feb. 12 board an airplane bound for Africa with a medical and humanitarian outreach team to spend 15 days without running water or electricity in a small Ugandan village.
For Theresa Weinman, this will be her second trip to the Village of Ddegeya, an agrarian community of about 3,500 in the south of the country. Her 16-year-old daughter Sara will be traveling there for the first time, though, as part of a team from the non-profit group Engeye.
Despite the serious mission and the risks inherent to traveling in Africa, Theresa said she has absolute confidence in her daughter’s spot on the team.
I think she earned her spot on the trip, Theresa said. `She’s worked so hard…she did everything we asked of her.`
Sara Weinman has demonstrated her commitment to the cause not only by raising money for her trip (members of the team must pay their own way) but by starting the Engeye Teen Connection group, a small but dedicated contingent of youths that have been working for about two years to raise money to help out the Village of Ddegeya.
Sara became interested in Engeye in much the same way as her mother did, when the family hosted a young burn victim from Uganda in their Bethlehem home. The BC High student and the ETC group have since raised over $1,000 for the cause, and Sara will be mapping out a way to spend that on her trip to the country.
She envisions creating a micro financing program for the women of Ddegeya, perhaps teaching them a skill like craft making and setting them up with supplies so they can sell their wares locally or in the U.S., bringing some much needed money into their households.
Most of the women in Uganda don’t have an opportunity to make an income. By making it a micro-loan program, ETC would in time receive the money back, enabling them to put that money back to work for other Ugandans, too.
`Not only would they be able to support themselves and their family, but they would be able to send their kids to school,` added Sara.
Still, Sara said she realizes her understanding of the situation in Ddegeya may change once she gets on the ground.
`I’m going to ask the villagers themselves what they in their opinion need the most, and then use the proceeds for that,` she said.
Besides helping out in Engeye’s clinic in the village ` the only opportunity the residents there have to access medical care ` the team will visit the 21 young scholars whose education is supported by donors here in the U.S.. Sara will also be working at a program run by Union College fellows for children whose parents cannot afford even the few dollars for a public school uniform, barring them from an education.
She’ll bring games, puzzles and educational materials donated locally to the program.
Sara Weinman said she hopes her trip will also help her find more ways to get local youth involved in the cause. ETC has about 10 dedicated volunteers who work to organize fundraisers. Last year, the group ran a successful `Cafe Night` at the Journey United Church of Christ, for example, that featured local youth talent.
She said she’s been preparing for the trip by talking with other members of the organization who’ve made it before.
`One of my main goals is pretty much to survive through it,` she said. `I don’t really know what to expect. I’m a little nervous but I’m also excited.`
For more information on Engeye and ETC or to make a contribution, visit engeye.org or engeyescholars.org.
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