We came from Kampala and as we got closer the roads vanished. We had to go through bush to get to Baraba’s house. I really wasn’t prepared emotionally for it. I had a range of feelings – from excitement, nervousness, to apprehension but when I saw him I was so happy. He is such a beautiful child, with an amazing smile. His family welcomed me into their home. I was quite emotional and upset to see how a big family could live in such a small and basic dwelling. I was very sad to hear that Baraba hadn’t been able to attend school recently as he had malaria.

Baraba showed me around the farm and I was delighted to see their goat, which had been purchased with some of my sponsorship money. I was overwhelmed at their generosity to me. They gave me so many gifts of fruit and vegetables and a chicken!

I also had gifts for them– but I still didn’t feel like it was enough. I felt like I had done so little, yet Barbara’s family were so grateful for it. It made me realise how a little sponsorship from us in Ireland can make such a huge positive impact on families and communities in Uganda.

I wish all sponsors could visit their sponsored child, to see how proud they should feel about themselves for the huge difference they are making to homes across the developing world”

Eilish fundraised when she got home with an 80’s night and sold jewellery and organised a pub quiz which raised €961 to help build a playground for school children.

My visit was to a project in Kongelai, West Pokot, Kenya to build a school dormitory to which myself and my wife Anne had contributed. All of the ActionAid people I met as part of my visit impressed me greatly with their dedication and the obvious rapport that they have built up with the people they seek to empower. I met with the Head Teacher, Mr Michael Kakuko along with the Chiefs, Members of the School Management Committee, the Local Councillor and the people and children of the district.

These are all people who persevered without the support they deserved until ActionAid began work in the area. The appreciation they express for the work and support of ActionAid cannot be understated and they were anxious to extend that appreciation back to the sponsors who make ActionAid’s work possible.

ActionAid ensured that the people in Riwo themselves had ownership of the project by encouraging input and involvement from all stakeholders in the community. They also provided training in various relevant skills and organised different children’s and women’s rights awareness campaigns to ensure that the provision of the dormitory infrastructure would be backed up by the necessary support to make it sustainable into the future. This included a food programme and a commitment from government to provide additional resources to support the increasing demands on the school. The project has become a model for other communities to follow and the people have been passing on the training, knowledge and skills that they have gained and so, they will empower other surrounding communities to change their lives also.