Home : News : UK Scouts help Kenyans rebuild their lives after election violence
UK Scouts help Kenyans rebuild their lives after election violence
10/06/2008
Hampshire Scouts have been providing clothing and financial support to help Kenyan refugees living in Uganda, after the violence following the disputed Kenyan elections in December last year.
An estimated 600,000 people were displaced by fighting among Kenya’s political parties, with many crossing the border to Uganda where they have since been living in temporary accommodation.
Hampshire Scouting has had links with the area since 2000, when as part of an expedition several parties of UK Scouts visited the region to climb Mount Elgon, a 14,000ft mountain on the borders of Kenya and Uganda.
Hampshire’s Deputy County Commissioner, John Dohoo, built a friendship with Ugandan Scout Leader, Aramathan Dongo. With the start of Kenya’s troubles, Aramathan contacted John about the situation they were facing.
John explains, ‘The [Kenyan] refugees had literally fled for their lives to Uganda, bringing nothing with them. They were in urgent need of food and clothing, especially for the children.
‘Local Ugandan Scouts were at the forefront of organising the reception of the Kenyans. They asked us to help them with their response.’
Providing help
It was proposed that Hampshire Scout Groups should encourage individual Scouts to send one or two small items of clothing, using the International Signed For service from their local Post Office.
‘We have learned from past experience that large consignments can be held up by Ugandan customs,’ said John, ‘whereas smaller packages generally get through.’
In addition to sending clothes, they also started raising money. A collection held at a County District Commissioners’ Conference was sent as a first contribution for purchasing food. Inspired by this, other Districts donated collections from their St George’s Day services.
With the situation in Kenya starting to become more stable after the recent formation of a coalition government, many refugees are now looking to return home. The money collected will be used to provide the transport to enable this to happen.
International friendship and understanding
Hampshire Scouts’ efforts have helped a number of them towards achieving their Global Challenge and International Friendship Partnership Awards.
As John says though, ‘I think the greatest value to our young people of making such events in Africa real to them, is to bring home the value of so many things that we take for granted – perhaps most notably our stable and democratic political system.’
You can find out more about the current situation in Kenya and ways of providing support yourself by visiting AMREF.
AMREF is the leading health development organisation in Africa. They save and transform lives in some of the poorest and most marginalised communities.
Comments
|
Search
