Author: paulevansbutoke

The projects that we have planned for this year are very much a continuation of those we worked on last year.

The Maternity Unit

The scope of the Maternity Unit project in Tshimbundu grew following a visit by a Canadian supporter of Butoke to the DRC last February. We concluded that the project would be more sustainable and effective if a building were purpose built for the Maternity Unit. We and Butoke’s Canadian supporters have raised the necessary funds for that. We should particularly mention the Methodist Women in Britain who have donated £2500 towards the cost of equipping the clinic.

The beginning of the building work was delayed by COVID-19 and by Butoke’s desire to see all the work on the school building it has funded in Tshimbundu complete before the work on the Maternity Unit began. This reflected an agreement with the local community: finish all the work on the primary school and then we will provide the funds to build the Maternity Unit.

We hope that the work on the Maternity Unit will certainly begin and perhaps will also be completed in 2021.

We are again selling Christmas cards to raise funds for Butoke. As ever, the trustees pay for the Christmas cards to be printed so 100% of the sale price goes to Butoke. The cards are £4 for a pack of ten (including envelopes) plus postage. To order, please email paulevans@blueyonder.co.uk.

The cards have “Season’s greetings” written inside. Alternatively, we also have some with no inscription inside to be used as greetings cards throughout the year.

We also have stocks of our cards from previous years available:

Annual newsletter

Our annual newsletter has just been published. Please have a read so that you can see what has been going on at Butoke over the last twelve months and what we are hoping to help Butoke achieve this year.

 

We are trying to help Butoke with two different projects this year. The first is to open a small maternity unit in Tshimbundu. This was prompted by Butoke’s director, Dr Jean Lumbala, twice having to deliver babies in makeshift surroundings after the expectant mothers failed to make it in time to Butoke’s main clinic. We need to raise about £3500 to provide the necessary equipment for the unit.

The second is a “Justice Project”: Butoke has in the past worked to enforce the legal rights of rape survivors, widows, orphans and those accuse of witchcraft. Dr Jean has often involved himself as an informal arbitrator and legal assistance has been provided for those most in need of it. However Butoke currently has no funds to pay for legal assistance (which costs $150 to $200 per case). In addition, Butoke would like to train a network of volunteers who will gather information about rapes and other crimes to reduce the tendency of local communities to brush them under the carpet. Butoke would also like to use the same volunteers to raised awareness in local communities of how the legal rights of women, widows and orphans should be respected.

There is no fixed budget for this project at the moment. Even a relatively small amount of money would enable the programme of legal assistance to be reinstated.

It’s that time of year, nearly… We have two different packs of Christmas cards on sale this year. A pack of 10 (5 of each card) is £3.50. Email your orders to paulevans@blueyonder.co.uk

UPDATE: the sale of Christmas cards raised just under £900. Thank you to all who contributed. To anyone who wants to stock up early, we have plenty left. Email Paul on paulevans@blueyonder.co.uk.