Hello! My name is Veronika and I have come to visit SALVE in Jinja for a month of February. I am glad that I can join the charity in the year that they are celebrating 10 years of working with street connected children.
So far, I have been able to support SALVE with some ad hoc fundraising and volunteering – for example at the Peak District Challenge. I am really inspired by the work the teams have been able to do, how the project has grown and developed.
I would like to contribute to celebrating 10 years of hard work and inspirational results with my craft and training skills and I am also looking forward to learning a lot from everyone at SALVE.
Celebrating 10 years of SALVE – arty February and learning and sharing
The wood has arrived, we have a lot of nails of different sizes and many tins of seeds too. And more. The first week in Uganda has been very exciting!
The arty work, learning and teaching activities as well as training for the community members are gradually unwinding following a week of inspirational learning and conversations I have had with SALVE teams. After theoretical planning in the UK, changes to the plans and changes to the changes of the plans, my four weeks in Uganda are now getting a clear shape – there will be string art, colouring, paper planes, plastic car making and much more…
The drop in centre has had a lucky offer of decorating – which ties in just wonderfully with the plan for making the space more lively. The store room can get sorted, creative works of kids can be hung on the walls for inspiration…and more crafty activities will add a bit of colour too. So, action one – let’s get some of the art on the walls, let’s do some colouring and laminating so that we can keep the colours brighter for longer!
After talking to the teams at SALVE’s land, where the halfway house and the drug rehab are, there are a few exciting ideas which seem to resonate with them. Firstly, more creativity – making and flying paper planes seems a good start – we will also be thinking about our aspirations and aims as we do that.
The space for SALVE’s children near Namulesa is wonderful – there is a playground and a football pitch, there is a hill to climb with a view to enjoy. Pretty plants grow all around and mango trees give delicious fruit. We will have a look at creating a few walking trails around the land to help us all be a bit more mindful – don’t we all need a little energiser or calm-downer from time to time? We have already looked at ‘5 ways to well-being’ together so this seems like a good step forward.
I will be also sharing ideas about small gardens with families who are part of the business support programme. I am learning about local planting patterns and we will be able to share some ideas about how to make use of plastic bottles and other small containers to grow food for family or possibly to sell. The date is in the dairy.
So, the string art creating will come in later as it needs a bit more planning and preparation, I will share photos of the drop in after a couple of tweaks and additions. Can’t wait to get stuck in.
If you would like to support the work of S.A.L.V.E. and my learning and sharing trip then please consider donating here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/veronikasusedkova
0 Comments