What a year it has been, so many firsts!
First visit by Ugandan partners to UK
First visit by Val, Gareth and Jane to Uganda
First visit by Llanfyllin High School pupils to their link school in Kamuli
First visit by Emyr and Tim to the projects in Uganda
I never cease to be amazed by the generosity of the communities here in Wales and around Oswestry. Once again with your help we have increased the funds available for distribution to our oh so worthy causes in Uganda. Thanks to Derek, our website designer, everybody has been kept abreast of all the action as it unfolds by means of our brilliant website, www.dolen-ffermio.org.uk
Val through her tireless work firing off emails and tying up loose ends, keeps us all on our toes and without her, the incredible success that we are seeing, would not be possible. After her visit to Uganda she can now put faces to names, and understand first-hand the gratitude of those orphans and volunteers that have benefited from her labours.
Emyr paid his first visit to the projects along with Tim and realised the huge potential that is latent in Uganda just waiting for the pumps to be primed. I would like to thank him for his unstinting hard work during the year in helping with events and in using his extensive contact list to produce a star-studded conference programme for December, of which I shall say more later in proceedings.
Early next year we are hoping that we will see our pure-bred goats arriving from South Africa to begin a much needed injection of improved genetics into Uganda. Lorna has been hard at work with our Ugandan partners, making sure that everything will be ready to receive these precious animals and ensure that they are going to be well looked after. Without her unconditional kindness and donations, the project would have ground to a halt long ago.
It is with sadness that we say farewell to Hilary Rees as a trustee. I would like to thank her for the valuable contributions that she has made during her association with Dolen Ffermio. We will miss her bright ideas and industry.
Having just arrived back from Uganda yesterday morning, I am still trying to acclimatise to the cold. However I am still glowing inside from the wonderful 2 weeks of welcome and song that I am sure will carry me through the winter gloom.
It has been 4 years since I was in Uganda last, so it was good to catch up with old friends. The school trip to Kamuli, I felt was wonderful, a great bunch of students, who under the watchful eye of Barbara Maycock, blossomed as the week went by, rising to the challenges they were confronted with and in the process altering their perspective of the world. Barbara and Kate will give their own accounts later.
Finally, I would like to give a big thanks to all our friends in Uganda, who by their tireless efforts are making an invaluable contribution to increasing the prosperity of their beautiful country.
Richard Jones
9 November 2009