There are celebrations at St Peter’s Church this month after the Teso Development Trust charity (TDT), which has been supported by the Ruddington church for over 15 years, won a major grant from the UK government to expand its work in a deprived area of Uganda.
The £50,000 grant from the Small Charities Challenge Fund – part of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office – will enable the charity to work with a Ugandan partner to provide four boreholes to access clean water, as well as training and materials for local workers to build 35 latrines for vulnerable households in Kalakai sub-county in the Teso Region of Eastern Uganda. The work and training is set to significantly improve the health and living conditions of around 2000 people.
Three years ago, Andrew and Louise Third, members of the St Peter’s Church community, visited Kalakai as part of a TDT team assessing the needs there, and were told they were the first white people to have ever visited these remote villages.
Andrew, who is a member of the operating committee of TDT, says: “There is a very strong connection between Ruddington and the work of TDT in Uganda. For over fifteen years St Peter’s has supported TDT projects, particularly helping the Parents’ School at Ngora, and we also support TDT’s general funding from church charitable giving. Separately, many connected with the church, together with their friends and families in Ruddington, have supported TDT water and sanitation projects on a personal basis.”
Andrew continues: “The accumulated experience of working with partners in Uganda on these projects was important in equipping TDT to win this grant, so Ruddington has undoubtedly played its part in helping these communities. The provision of clean water and hygiene facilities will transform the lives of the people reached, allowing them to begin to lift themselves from poverty and to give a hopeful future to their children.”
Ruddington has also been helping the people of Uganda in recent years through the work of The Mustard Seed Project. You can read about some of their many initiatives and projects >>HERE<<.
{Top photo: Members of Angarok community, Kalakai Sub County, Teso, Eastern Uganda, 2017}
