Thank you to everyone who bought Christmas cards! Sales exceeded £800 which is a significant contribution to our annual funds.
Blog
2021 Christmas Cards
Our 2021 Christmas Cards are now on sale. They are £4.50 plus postage for a pack of ten (with envelopes). Please email your orders to paulevans@blueyonder.co.uk.
We also have cards from previous years available. If you want to order some of these, please let us know.
July 2021
Justice Project 2020-2021
We have just released a report explaining what Butoke’s Justice Project 2020-2021 achieved. Please have a look at it and see how Butoke has helped make a real difference to the lives of ten women and girls over the last 12 months for just over $3000.
We explained at the beginning of the year how we hoped to be able to raise further funds so that the Justice Project could run again from 2021 to 2022. We have had discussions with several donors and hope to have something to announce about that soon.
Maternity Unit
We also explained at the beginning of the year that we hoped that work would begin on the Maternity Unit in Tshimbundu this year and, perhaps, even be concluded.
We are pleased to say that the building went up at quite a pace in spring this year as these pictures demonstrate:
In addition, thanks to the Methodist Women in Britain, Butoke has bought a significant part of the basic equipment it needs to get the Maternity Unit going.
However, further work needs to be done on the inside of the building before the Maternity Unit can open properly for business. Paul Evans, one of our trustees, will be running two sponsored half marathons in September and October to try and raise money to pay for this.
February 2021
Annual newsletter
We have just published our annual newsletter. Please do have a look and see what Butoke has been doing over the last twelve months with your assistance. The newsletter also contains information about what Butoke hopes to achieve this year.
If you would like to sign-up to future editions of the newsletter, you can do that here.
Projects for 2021
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.
The Friends of Butoke Charity 