My interview on 100 Huntley will be aired on May 21 on the Global TV network at 9:00 am EST. It covers the book, our climb of Kilimanjaro and our efforts to help out the children in Tanzania. I will post links to the show after the broadcast.

This post is for those in the Ottawa, Canada area and for those who don’t mind travelling a little. We are holding two events this year in support of Plan Canada’s initiative to help young women and youth in Tanzania start small businesses. The businesses lift the participants out of the cycle of poverty they are in and give them a sense of purpose and pride. The money they earn means that they can pay the rent and send their children to school. Every dollar we raise goes to Plan Canada for the project and the federal government contributes $3 for every $1 we raise.  Both events will be detailed soon in the Events section. In the meantime, here are some teasers:

August 25 – 4th Annual Kilimanjaro Golf Fore Kids Tournament – at the Lombard Glen Golf and Country Club in Smiths Falls. This tournament gets better and better each year. It is a fun-filled event for golfers and wannabe golfers. Tournament fees include door prizes, silent auction items and more. It is a great time for all.

October 25 – Education for Africa Variety Show – at Greenfield’s in Barrhaven. This will be a family oriented event with a surprise performer (at least for now), door prizes and silent auction items.

We hope to see you at one or both. Help us help the people of Tanzania!

Yesterday, I received a nice surprise from Africa through Plan Canada. It was another report on the well project at the school in Tanzania. In summary, the report states that the new well is servicing 1,021 households and 13,503 people, of which 930 are preschool and primary students!

The local community has ensured sustainability as they have in place a Water User Group, Water User Committee (16 members split evenly between males and females), Maintenance Committee and a project bank account. The pump is solar powered and the Municipality has contributed a 10,000 litre tank and 3 drip points.

This started out as a project to put money towards a well, but thanks to so many generous donors, the well drilling was completely funded. The municipality bought into the project and expanded it out into the community.

I think by any measure this project can be considered a success. Thanks again to our many donors!!

Take a minute to check out the photos at the Gallery.