WHEELS OF ST MARY’S

 Wheels of St Mary’s is a voluntary taxi service organised by the Pastoral Committee of St Mary’s Church Abberley.  The scheme was formed to enable a member of the community of Abberley or Great Witley to reach a destination that would not be possible without car transport.  The drivers are not qualified to provide any form of medical support or first aid.  All drivers are volunteers from the Abberley and Witley communities.  At present there are twenty-two drivers on the volunteer list, but many are busy committed individuals so that we can always do with more volunteers.  The original aim of the scheme was to cover only the two villages, but this has been extended to cover inhabitants under the Great Witley Medical Practice in Abberley, Great Witley and Stanford Bridge.   The running costs of the vehicle involved are covered by a mileage charge.

The scheme is mainly used for medical destinations, covering journeys to and from medical destinations.  Journeys to the Great Witley Surgery, the Martley surgery, or to any local hospital for an out-patient appointment or treatment [eg physiotherapy or radiotherapy], dentist and optician appointments are also included.  Trips to visit relatives or friends in hospitals, nursing homes or in their own homes are also included, but the scheme does not cover shopping trips.

All passengers need to be ambulant or semi-ambulent, ie passengers need to be able to walk with the help of one person.  The passenger must either not own a car, or, if a car owner, be unable to drive their car to the required destination.  The passenger must be unable to use the local bus service if requesting a visit to friends or relatives in hospital.  All children under the age of eighteen years must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Wheels of St Mary’s was originally set up by Pat Lakeman, who has been a driving force behind the scheme for many years.  Pat has now decided to step back from co-ordinating the scheme so anyone wishing to use the service should contact Jan Osborne on 01299-896515.

 Jan had previously covered when Pat was away and it is hoped that some kind person will agree to co-ordinate when Jan is away.  She already has one standby [thank you Eleanor], but could do with more, just in case they both go away at the same time.  The only requirement is that you have an answerphone [you do not need to be a driver].   So, if you feel you would like to help, be you male or female - it matters not - please contact Jan. 

 Please also contact Jan  if you would like to be added to the list of drivers. 

Kath Roper in Ethiopia

Following my recent note about being able to send over £1500 to Kath in Ethiopia for her various projects, I have received a wonderful letter, to you, from her which is printed below.

 Kath is coming back to England for a break from mid August to mid September and we are hoping to have a special money raising event whilst she is home so that she has even more money to take back. She will be bringing back with her some pashmina scarves, netellas (which are a type of white scarf), wooden puzzles and leather keyrings. Many of these things will have been made by disabled people in Ethiopia so we will be supporting them in two ways. Please keep a look out in your parish magazines for further details. If anyone is willing to help with this event, which will happen in The Manor Arms, Abberley and will include refreshments, or has any other ideas of how we can raise money on the night then please get in touch.

Sallie Butcher

01299 896837

sallie@psc-abberley.co.uk

Debre Birhan

30.04.09

Dear Friends and Great Supporters,

What an amazing amount of money appeared in my Ethiopian bank account today. The balance stood at 53 birr and 29 cents, worth about £3, before your colossal deposit appeared and once more I am overwhelmed by your continuing and huge generosity.

Although I don’t hear much of world news here I am aware that there are great financial crises everywhere and though Ethiopian people generally have no savings to lose they are very much affected by inflation, especially in food prices. They are also affected by the scarcity of jobs.

The plight of the street orphans is worse than ever, as people can’t afford to give them the little jobs that used to feed them. However, there is much road building going on everywhere in Ethiopia and females are often used as labourers carrying short stretchers piled with stones, soil or cement, or digging or flattening ground with spades. Many look most picturesque in long chiffon skirts, sequinned scarves and floppy straw hats, but it is very hard work for them, especially on little food and in blazing sun.

It seems that beggars have increased in number and I am told that sometimes men will commit some minor crime just to be taken to prison. Having visited two prisons I can only say that I would very much hate having to live there, but I suppose a roof over the head and guaranteed food is much better than having nowhere and nothing.

Due to your great kindness at least some of the young street orphans of Debre Birhan will eventually be rescued from their miserable existence and given hope for a brighter future. As I ran out of money, building the Girls’ House had to cease for a while, but thanks to all of you, work can now begin again.

People have sometimes said to me that they consider I am doing a great job here, but I can only say that I am just an enabler fortunate enough to be in the country, so able to see where the needs lie. Without the support of each one of you I should be able to help no one so I can truly say that it is YOU who are doing the great job.

An enormous thank you then to each and every one of you, to all my very good friends, to Sallie and Richard Butcher who have worked tirelessly to raise, co-ordinate and collect and make sure that donations arrive safely, to Jennifer Burg-Howle (what a brave lady), to Muriel and Trevor Nott, so generous, the Great Witley and Abberley Cubs, the Tuesday coffee morningers and all of those un-named, but no less important, individuals who made personal donations.

I remember reading somewhere that, “Big deeds are a lot of little deeds one after the other”. Well, what a deed you have ensured by your constant support over the two years I have been in Ethiopia. My heart, love and gratitude go out to all of you.

Kath

Following the details that I put in the November 2008 parish magazine there has been a tremendous response. You will see below that Jennifer Burg-Howle did an amazing thing – not only did she leap out of a plane but in doing so she managed to raise over £700. Trevor and Muriel Nott asked guests at their recent party for donations and raised £660. The Great Witley and Abberley Cubs donated their share of the collection taken at Great Witley Carols - £57. A number of individuals made personal donations and the Tuesday coffee morning in Abberley Village Hall has also raised money. If you add all of these together we will be sending Kath over £1500 to spend on her various projects in Ethiopia. I imagine that most, if not all, of it will go towards the housing trust that she is setting up for female teenage orphans obliged to live on the streets. She thinks that she will need about £10,000 before she returns home in September, to have the house completely set up. So, if there are any other valiant souls who would like to raise some money we now have a target and a deadline! Please get in touch if you have any good ideas.

The donations of money and items that we have been able to send to the Teacher Training College that Kath is working at have been much appreciated. The Principal has sent a wonderful “official” thank you letter, which is on show in the Kath Roper display in St Mary’s Church, Abberley.

Thank you so much to everyone that has and continues to support Kath in the very valuable work that she is doing; look out for the talks that Kath is planning to give when she returns in the autumn.

Sallie Butcher - March 2009

01299 896837

sallie@psc-abberley.co.uk

 THANK YOU

To everyone who sponsored me for my parachute jump. £712.20 was raised and will now be sent to Kath Roper in Ethiopia.

Jennifer Burg-Howle

As many of you know from previous articles, we sent four boxes (three of which were very kindly donated by Helix Ltd) of items to Kath way back in March. Unfortunately, it has been very difficult for the college to extricate these from the airport. It has taken some 8 visits by Kath and eventually £416 before the boxes were released. This money may sound like a lot, which it is in Ethiopia, but at one point they wanted £986. Kath has sent the following letter which she wanted me to pass onto you with her thanks.

College of Teacher Education

P.O. Box 20

Debre Birhan

Ethiopia

Dear Friends of Abberley and surrounding areas,

 First of all an enormous apology for you all having to wait so long to receive this letter. I am sure that many of you will have heard from Sallie that there were tremendous difficulties in clearing the cargo from Addis airport, so that it was almost 7 months between the boxes arriving in Ethiopia and my receiving them in Debre Birhan. It was a very frustrating time for all concerned. However, I shall not dwell upon the difficulties, but tell you of the great joy that the contents have given to the college, the Dean, my co-workers and myself.

 Last year’s boxes enabled me to do a really worthwhile job in helping the qualified teachers here to undertake a one year diploma course in Special Needs. They have all be able to make some wonderful apparatus to take back to their areas, to help teachers in local schools who have Special Needs children in their classes. It has been very gratifying that in both the mid and end of year exams that they have all done well. They have all graduated with their diplomas and we now have a new intake of over 70 students, so I am ready to begin again.

 Thank you so much to everyone who has so generously contributed to the boxes that I have received. Not only will they enable me to complete the next academic year without worries, but there is sufficient apparatus for me to distribute supplies to both the art and maths departments. The Dean and all members of those departments are so grateful for your help. College struggles always to teach with very limited resources and the staff consider me very blessed to have such generous and supportive friends.

The longer I stay here the more that I feel that I should. There are so many diverse problems and I feel that I want to help with them all, although obviously, I can’t. College is my priority because that is the reason I am here, but I am also involved in other educational and some social problems.

 Many of you will know of the Baby Club which I hold in my house every Sunday morning. The youngest is 11 months old and the oldest 7 years. I have run this club for almost a year and it has been very successful, so successful in fact that it has grown too big and many more want to come. Because of this I am starting a club for the older children where they will be able to do art and craft, learn more English and generally do English Infant School activities. Children here don’t begin school until they are 7 and even then, education is only half time, either mornings or afternoons. Teaching is usually “Chalk and Talk” so they love the activities here.

 During the summer I was asked to go to Dire Dawa to deliver some training in Special Needs to Somali refugee teachers. This was at the request of the UN who run a huge refugee camp at Jigjiga. There are over 2000 people in the camp and life is not easy for them, but  it must be better than life in war-torn Mogadishu. I am told that there are many with dreadful injuries and many children with a variety of impairments. The teachers have problems in dealing with these. Sadly, I could not visit the camp, as I had hoped, but I learnt as much as I could from the three UN representatives on the course. The standard of both written and spoken English was very good and the teachers were glad of all the help they received.

 Some of you will have heard of my sheep sharing project set up as a result of a generous donation from Abberley. Pairs of sheep are given to poor families who are taking in young orphaned kin. There is no public money available to help them and they suffer hardship as a result, but in Ethiopia the extended family is important. Given time, and when the sheep are breeding, the families give a pair of Ewes back to the scheme, to pass on to another poor family caring for an orphan. In this way the scheme is growing and is self sustaining.

 By far my biggest project, however, is my setting up of a housing trust for female teenage orphans obliged to live on the streets. Some as young as 13, orphaned by Aids in some cases, often have to live on the streets because they have nowhere else to go. Many just want to return to school to finish their education. Because the girls are much more vulnerable to violent attack than the boys, a safe house for the very youngest seems a very worthwhile objective. Here they will have security, be able to go to school and, hopefully, flourish in the warmth and trust of a regained family feeling. At least they will have hope for the future.

 It took 7 months of repeated visits to the town managers to get 500 square metres of land and in the beginning, we had some NIMBY from the local residents. Having talked to most of them now, they have become actively supportive and will take the girls, when they move in, under their protective wings. With donations from interested people at home we now have the roof on the house and water laid on, but there is still so much to do. Mamuye, the Dean of College, has agreed to us raising money locally by holding a concert here, assisted by the music students. I think we shall have a good mix of African and Western music.

 You can see, then, that life is far from leisurely in Ethiopia. I have, though, been fortunate to see quite a bit of the country, a holiday in the South last year and a tour of the North this year, which took in the awe inspiring Lalibela rock churches.

 I really am so very grateful to every one of you for the enormous help and support that you have given me. Without this I could not have achieved half of what I have done and it is my full intention, before I leave, to complete everything that I have begun. Thank you, thank you everyone.

 My love and best wishes to you all.

 Kath

 Following the receipt of this letter we have been able to send £740 to Kath to cover the “duty” that the airport required and to help towards her other projects. This has been raised by the Girl Guides (£200) several individual donations, and from a raffle held at the Manor Arms, Abberley(£240). If you would like to help me send some more money out to Kath, who is doing such an amazing job under very difficult circumstances then please get in touch with me (Sallie Butcher, 01299 896837, sallie@psc-abberley.co.uk)

 If you would like to see some photographs that Kath has sent of some of the places that she has visited or to read some of her letters then please see the new “Kath in Ethiopia” display that the children of the PAWS Saturday Club have put up in St Mary’s Church, Abberley.