The Story So Far...

We had our first gift day back in October 2008 and exceeded our target of £100,000. In April 2009 a small team of leaders from Kerith visited Serenje and were so encouraged to find out that 190 orphans and vulnerable children have been supported to go to school, 402 farmers have received seeds, 62 church leaders have received training and 66 church volunteers have been trained to support people living with HIV and AIDS.

Sandy Lane Primary School is developing a relationship with Kankoso Basic School and has raised money to provide seeds and tools so that Kankoso can establish a school vegetable garden and give its pupils a daily meal. Garth Hill College, Crowthorne C of E Primary School and Hammond Community Junior School are also partnering with us, raising money to help orphans and vulnerable children to go to school.

Binfield Football Club has kindly donated shirts and shorts to the football team in the Serenje secondary school that Garth Hill College has partnered with, where we support 40 children in their education.

In one community we met children who can’t go to school when it’s very cold because they have no shoes or warm coats. EFZ identified families who would benefit from some extra support. Children from Sandy Lane Primary School, mums and children from Sparklers and church contributed 240 pairs of shoes and 160 coats to Serenje.

Blackboard

In the summer of 2009 a team of eight of us from church (Peter and Barbara Knight, Jonathan Hanbury, Rob Plant, Pip Reeves, Helen Cottee, Ed Garton and Zoe Hayes) visited Serenje for two weeks. We had tea with the Vice President of Zambia’s wife and had the opportunity to pray for her. We visited several local schools and ran sports lessons with over 3500 children. We ran training sessions in business planning, worship, and sex and relationships. We also had the privilege of accompanying the church volunteers on visits to some of the families we’re supporting. This was incredibly special but also very emotional.

‘We visited a child headed family. Naomi, the eldest, had left school in order to be 'mum' to her 6 brothers and sisters. The youngest of these was 11 months old. They had very little food and slept in a small concrete room which got very cold at night, particularly during their winter. Because of our visit Leah met with the team of pastors in Zambia and is hoping to find Naomi and her family a home closer to the pastors so they can be looked after more easily.’ Pip Reeves

There are lots of ways you can get involved in what we’re doing in Serenje, including being part of the team going in 2010. Details of the 2010 trip will be communicated via the website.