Alongside our Administrator, Nick McKenzie, I do the daily office duties such as sending and receiving post, dealing with office incomings and outgoings, answering the telephone and dealing with general emails. In addition, I am in charge of our 35 dedicated Virgin London Marathon runners: I send them weekly emails full of fundraising tips and ideas, any resources they might need such as collection tins and AbleChildAfrica t-shirts and answer any queries they have about reaching their fundraising target of £1500. Our Marathon runners are a vital and highly cherished source of income for a small charity such as ours, and it is very important that we nurture a strong relationship with all of our runners. I have found this element of my internship by far the most enjoyable – all feedback from, and correspondence with, our runners has been extremely positive and it is great to get to know the different characters that make up our Marathon Team.

I decided to join AbleChildAfrica because I wanted to work for an organisation that sought to better the lives of youths with disabilities and that truly valued disabled young people as active members of the community. It was very important to me that AbleChildAfrica supported what appeared to be very impressive grassroots African organisations that find African solutions to African problems. I wasn’t disappointed – our African partners are truly inspiring in what they have accomplished in their communities.

What is brilliant about any internship at AbleChildAfrica is that interns are made to feel highly valued members of the organisation and are given the opportunity to voice the areas they find the most interesting/challenging in monthly Learning Objective meetings. From these discussions, targets are outlined as areas to work and expand on, so that each intern’s experience is tailored to their own requirements. In this sense, internships at AblechildAfrica have been designed to be programmes in which to learn and gain valuable working experience. When I began in January I highlighted that my skills lay in writing, that I wanted to expand on my interest in marketing, fundraising and social media as a promotional tool, and that I struggled with all things IT-related! In just 3 months, I have been trusted with writing up letters to be sent out to donors, have become proficient in Twitter and, much to my surprise, my IT skills have improved dramatically so that I no longer struggle terribly with programmes such as Excel! I will be expanding on the experience and knowledge gained at AbleChildAfrica in my next academic venture as a Masters student in Human Rights at UCL, beginning next September.

We are delighted to announce an anonymous donor matched all donations for 2012 pledged on the evening. This generous donor has just agreed to extend the deadline to make your donations go further! It is not too late – join Friends of AbleChildAfrica by the end of the year (December 31st 2011) and instantly double your donation. Our goal is to raise a further £3,245 before the end of the year to reach our donor’s challenge of raising £20,000 for match funding.

Shikuku Obosi, Trustee

Click here to find out more about Friends of AbleChildAfrica and to join now.

Spakers on the night included Anne Wafula-Strike, AbleChildAfrica Patron, athlete, author and sporting ambassador who is currently working to qualify for the British paralympic team and Shikuku Obosi, AbleChildAfrica Trustee and astute human rights activist, having had a personal experience of childhood disability growing up in his native country Kenya. Performances came from Francesca Martinez, an award winning comedien known for her performances on the festival circuit, London stage and role on Ricky Gervais’ Extras and Venavi Drums, an African drumming and dancing troupe who brought a little bit of Africa to London on the night!

The evening was a lot of fun and we have received some great feedback.

Francesca Martinez, Comedienne

“The speakers were great, the entertainment was fun and the MC was on top form. I especially enjoyed the bashing which Francesca (Martinez) gave the Tories, Bankers and other groups of people, who were all well represented in the hall. No one can accuse us of sycophancy!” – Zia Choudhury, Trustee.

“Everywhere I turn, I see a worthy cause and the list is endless. What last night did for me was to make a particular cause more real. Last night, I felt I was really contributing to something, to making a difference. The programme for the evening was effective at getting me to feel something for the organisation to which I was giving a donation and the people AbleChildAfrica supports. It also made me feel like I grew a little more knowledgeable, a little more empathetic and a little more inspired. Thank you.” –Colin Lyons

“Thank you so much for last night – it was AMAZING. It was beautifully done and I had some of the most interesting conversations with the speakers. I feel very motivated to re-engage and continuing supporting AbleChildAfrica.” – Kat Tucker

Click here to find out more about Friends of AbleChildAfrica and to join now.

Venavi Drums Performance

Steve Broach, Chair & Jane Anthony, Executive Director

Anne Wafula Strike, Patron

Evelyn, who is an international percussionist, literally “played” her way up the mountain with her drumsticks to raise awareness of the challenges faced by Africa’s 52 million children and young people.

Her fellow climbers – who included a visually impaired Ugandan woman, a hearing impaired Ugandan man, a disabled Ugandan sportsman and two Kenyan men with physical disabilities caused by childhood polio –took on the climb ahead of International Day of Disabled People on Friday 3rd December.

Evelyn said:

“We know that rocks and stones do actually sing, they do create interesting sounds, so I took a pair of sticks because I was curious to find out what the mountain might sound like!”

“There are more than 52 million disabled children in Africa and too many are without hope. The only way we can make a sustainable difference is by including these children in Africa’s future development. I chose the challenge of climbing Kilimanjaro because I wanted to make a difference to our next generation.

“I have good reason to recognize the importance of education and inclusion for ALL children; it empowered me to make my own unique journey in life. The disabled children supported by AbleChildAfrica desperately need inclusion. Enabling these children means enrichment, quality of life, and reduced dependency for them, their families and communities.”

It wasn’t the first time that Evelyn played “Rock” music. Earlier this year she led a project using music to teach geology to children in Cumbria by building a “lithophone” which is a xylophone make of stone.

All the climbers hope their venture will highlight what disabled people can achieve when given the opportunity and help raise money for projects working with disabled children in Africa.

You can make a donation online here.

Tonight is the final night before the AbleClimbsAfrica team makes its assault on the summit.

We’ve talked about some of the disabled African climbers in the team including Florence, Fred and Shikuku.

We’ve also heard about the great contribution that AbleChildAfrica’s patron, Dame Evelyn Glennie is making by being on the climb, inspiring the team and bringer wider attention to our important work.

It’s also worth mentioning that there is a team of UK climbers who are on the climb and raising funds for our charity.

One is AbleChildAfrica supporter Espen Svendsen who is so committed to the cause that he is going to spend his 35th on the mountain this Thursday!

Espen, who lives in North London, was inspired to take part in the climb because he believes that every child should be given an equal opportunity in life.

He was also drawn by the idea of combining a personal challenge with raising money for a worthy cause – and he’s already raised £6,000 so well done Espen!

Speaking the final phase of the climb Espen says he is looking forward to Standing on the very top of Africa and expects to feel elated!

He says that climbing Kilimanjaro is the biggest challenge he’s taken on. Espen says that through life he’s had every opportunity to do what he wants, when he wants to and he realizes that everyone isn’t so fortunate.

He’e pleased to be returning to East Africa because he thinks it is a vibrant place, full of life and joy.

Before the climb he said “no doubt there’ll be a lot of sweat, tears and altitude sickness involved in this, but I’ll be darned if I don’t make it to the top”.

You can send Espen a very special birthday present this year by making a donation to AbleChildAfrica today.

As The BBC website says: “Kenyan Frederick Ouko and his Ugandan team-mate, Florence Ndagire, haven’t let their disabilities get in the way of their success”

You can hear their interview right now by clicking on the following link and forward the podcast to the final third of the programme.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00bwg9d#synopsis

They are lead by our patron Dame Evelyn Glennie who says she has I chosen the challenge of climbing Kilimanjaro because she wants to make a difference to our next generation.

“There are more than 52 million disabled children in Africa and too many are without hope. The only way we can make a sustainable difference is by including these children in Africa’s future development” she said.

Evelyn has now met team of disabled African climbers including the remarkable Florence Ndagire, who has overcome her visual impairment to become of the the tiny proportion of disable girls in Africa who get an education and find meaningful employment.

Florence said:

“We are all tired of being viewed as objects of sympathy alone, what we really want is the chance to help ourselves and make choices about out own lives. So many well-meaning projects still fall short of this by offering young disabled people limited options, but AbleChildAfrica is different”

We wish Florence, Evelyn and the very best of luck as they set off on their remarkable journey today. If you want to show your support please making donation online by clicking here to donate http://www.justgiving.com/Evelyn-Glennie

The Challenge is to swim a one-mile swim in the heart of the capital http://www.greatswim.org/

The Royal Victoria Dock, venue of the British Gas Great London Swim, is situated in the East End of London near Canary Wharf in the London Borough of Newham.

The one-mile course will be set against the magnificent London skyline, with views of Canary Wharf and the rejuvenated London Docklands area, providing the perfect backdrop for a Great Swim.

For many the biggest challenge of the British Gas Great London Swim may be overcoming the fear of swimming in the Thames. However contrary to popular belief the water quality is in fact very good and is acknowledged to be one of the cleanest metropolitan rivers in the world. This is largely down to the Thames being tidal.

We we are really pleased to have Juliet, who is the daughter of one of our Trustees swimming for us in add of our life changing work with disabled children and, if you are impressed as we are by her attempt to swim in the Thames please consider contributing to her fundraising at http://www.justgiving.com/Juliet-Turnbull0

Florence was born in what she herself discribes as ’a very humble back ground’ to Mr. and Mrs. Kayizzi Francis in Mukono district in Uganda in October 1983.  She was premature and in an incubator for three months.  Having developed fully into a baby, her parents realized ten days later that she could not see. They took her to the hospital for medical examination. Following four operations before the age of four years doctors failed to help her cornea to develop.  Florence told me her story:

The Doctor advised my parents to take me to a special school for the blind because he believed that I would never see and some doctors made unhelpful suggestions about the cause of my visual impairment; they said that perhaps my mother took pills that could have caused the miscarriage or that both parents had STDS - on medical examination they found none.

My mother accepted me as a child who was God-given and she said that God had a purpose for creating me the way I am.  Although she faced several accusations from my family members contending that she had brought a misfortune to the entire family and clan, that did not discourage her at all.  She loved me so much and took good care of me.

At the age of five years, she took me to school to start my primary education. My mother was a housewife and did not have any money. She had other young children and she used to knit table clothes from which she gained income for providing my essentials while at school. My father too realized that I could study but I was never the first priority. My first school was Spire Road Primary School in Jinja and I was there for only one year.

From primary two to primary seven, I went to Bishop Wills Demonstration School in Iganga district. My parents would always take me to school but without enough money to pay the fees. I used to sing so well and with that, I got a sponsor who paid for my entire primary education. I completed my primary education in 1996 with top grades.

I joined senior one at St. Francis School for the blind Madera in Soroti district with the help of Father Widmyre the then parish priest of MBIKO parish where my parents lived. He paid my fees for two years and when he was living for Kotido, he referred me to Lilliane foundation who paid my fees up senior six.  I got excellent grades at O level and joined Iganga secondary school for A level. I passed and got government sponsorship for law.

I joined Makerere university faculty of law in 2003 and graduated in 2008. While at the university, I held several leadership positions. I was a commissioner for national youth council elections, guild representative for C.C.E constituency, deputy speaker Makerere university disabled students association, minister for disability faculty of law, female youth representative on the national committee of NUDIPU, the national disabled people’s unioin in Uganda. I received a presidential award for being the best affirmative action student. I also pursued a post graduate diploma in legal practice though I still have some issues. I did my clerkship at the parliament of the republic of Uganda with the department of legislative services and my work was commendable.  During the three months at parliament, I drafted petitions, notices of motion, summarized acts and bills, and gave legal opinion/advice during parliamentary committees.

I attained other trainings with the British council as a trainer of trainees on debate to action and the millennium development goals which included proposal writing, project planning and management, and marketing among others. I was also trained by the African Union of the Blind on knowledge on democracy and development and this taught me issues of advocacy and leadership. With this training, I implemented a project in the central region of piggery and goat rearing which was very successful.

I also facilitate in schools to help build students self esteem and I am currently employed as a programme officer lobbying and advocacy at the Uganda Society for Disabled Children in Kampala.

My work involves advocating for the rights of children with disabilities, developing policies for the staff and the parent support groups, simplifying the legal instruments for the child rights clubs and the parent support groups, sensitizing these groups about the fundamental rights of children with disabilities, popularizing the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities whenever required. I also attend important meetings and workshops for the cause of children with disabilities and also make presentations on deferent topics on different fora.

I think Florence’s story speaks for itself which is why I have used her words for most of this blog post.  Sadly very few disabled girls in Africa are able to excel like this.   The Canadian International Development Agency puts it like this, ‘Women with disabilities are the poorest of the poor around the world and in ever sphere of life, women with disabilities in the developing world experience a triple bind; they are discriminated against because they are women, because they are disabled and because they are from the developing world.  There are few educational opportunities for disabled girls.  When there are opportunities for education in special schools, boys usually recieve them.  Women with disabilities expereince a high incidence of abuse – physical, emotional and sexual.  Since most disabled women are hidden away in homes, this often happens within the family.  The unemployment rate for disabled women in developing countries is virtually 100%’.

So you see Florence really is one in a million, and that, is why her story is so vitally importanat to me…..

By supporting our campaign you can help us make sure that many more disabled girls have opportunities to excel like Florence has.  In November she plans to climb Kilimanjaro with our fundraisers to help make a difference, can you help us to by signing our petition or even signing up to climb Kilimanjaro yourself?

The spirit in which John has set himself such an ambitious challenge is inspiring to me.  When I first came to work at AbleChildAfrica I’d never thought of undertaking physical challenges like these!  Yet here I am 6 years, a Marathon, a Triathlon and a Half Marathon later.  I hardly have the shape for it and, I have to confess, I dont always throughly enjoy it (!) but I love the discipline of setting yourself a challenge and going for it!  These physical challenges have taught me a lot about focus and determination and keeping going when the going gets tough.  I always say that as long as your ‘reasonably fit’ most people can physically achieve these challenges – yes they are hard and, you might not be fast – but your body can rise to the challenge!  The question is always whether your mind can rise to the challenge?  Whether you want to suceed enough?  When I was struggling (and I mean struggling) around Silverstone in the Half Marathon earlier this month I quite literally kept myself going by thinking about the people we work with.  By remembering the times when I have visited children in villages in Africa who have been kept locked up inside because their parents are afraid and ashamed of their disability, by thinking of the women, mothers of disabled children who have given up their lives to change the lives of their children and by remembering that Anne, who had polio as a child in Africa herself was racing ahead of me and wouldnt be impressed if I gave up!

John will need all the mental courage and positive thinking he can muster to make it through 3 marathons this year.  Why not give him a push by leaving a comment on his website or a donation on his giving page.  Every little positive action – when they are all stuck together – can make the changes we want to see in this world.