October Newsletter 2015
The Project , as originally conceived, has now reached self-sufficiency, which means that the farm, borehole, health post, meeting hall and school taken together can now run day-to-day without any regular contributions from us. However , we still need donations to pay for building maintenance , books and other teaching aids to keep the school at the top of its counterparts elsewhere in Rwanda ; we have just spent over £1500 on new desks , books , etc to coincide with our expansion of the school into Primary education , responding to almost overwhelming pressure from the community and the local authorities in Rwanda .
This signifies a major new phase for ANBR which will require capital expenditure of about £25,000 on new permanent classrooms , almost certainly to be funded from one or more major sponsors , but whilst these are found, please try to help us with whatever you can afford in the way of a donation or as a monthly Standing Order from your bank, this will allow us to make some temporary arrangements to continue educating our pupils as they pass through the various primary stages and receive a significantly better education than is available in the rudimentary state system.
Currently we have converted the canteen into a classroom for P3 pupils and in 2015 we will be using the main hall for the youngest baby classes so freeing up another classroom for the 35 pupils we expect to attend P4 classes , this in addition to the similar numbers moving into P3 from the infant school which currently has nearly 200 attendees .
The Health Post more than pays for itself and continues to go from strength to strength ; recently we have been treating over 900 patients each month, some of whom are coming from over 25 kms away rather than attend the state-owned clinic which is closer. The borehole is back in operation and selling water to nearby villages as well as meeting the needs of Musenyi villagers . However , as we expected might be the case , it has proved very difficult to introduce modern collective farming practice to a group of people with a long history of subsistence farming , so for the present at least , we are simply renting out the land to a group of villagers who pay a regular and reasonable sum and also provide food to the less well- off in the village ; the overall financial impact is beneficial and in line with expectations without the hassle.
Whilst we appreciate regular / one-off donations from supporters , and would welcome more of the same , we also raise funds from annual events . On 1st July 2015 over 75 people enjoyed 9 holes of golf (with a few gimmicks thrown in) on a sunny afternoon , followed by a buffet supper and a quiz ,. Our thanks to John York for his hard organisational work which made it a great success which raised over £900 .
On 26th August 2015 , we held our annual Golf Day with 22 teams enjoying the East course at East Sussex National at its best , followed by a dinner including a conjurer, which thanks to your generosity raised £1850 on the day .
We now have organised a Christmas Golf Day and Dinner Dance on the 18th December at Mid Sussex Golf Club who have helped to organise and sponsor the day. The details are below or attached or on our website………
Thank you……………Thank you
