'Hands Around the World' is a charity involved in various third world projects, with the motto of the charity being 'Giving a hand, not a handout'. I like that; it reminds me of the saying I first heard in Africa 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; give him a fishing net and you feed him for life'.
Our parish had for five years supported a girls school in West Nile, Uganda, and we raised money for them and had seen classrooms built and teachers employed. But when our commitment was concluded, 'Hands Around the World' (HAWT) sent out a team to build another classroom, which they did in February of this year.
HAWT have done work in India, Brazil, and West and South Africa, as well as other projects in Kenya. Volunteers with all sorts of skills or none ... doctors, teachers, physiotherapists, technicians ... are sent out to do unpaid voluntary work for a month or longer, AND have to raise funds for the project in order to do so.
(The lady who told me I'd have a nerve asking people for sponsorship in order to have a months holiday in the sun ... just had no idea what 'charity' means ... )
I'll write more in future entries about the project, the Luo people, my preparation, fund-raising ... but in the meantime, have a good look at the charities web-site ...
http://www.hatw.org.uk
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