Florence & Mirembe School,,,,Info - History - Pictures - Emails

[Guest]

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[KivanSteven]

The following is going to be my best efforts at condensing the 40+ pages of threads to include strictly information about, or pictures and emails of/from Florence Kaluuba.  The original thread itself is still good inspiring reading and please continue posting to it at the following address where you will find updating information on future fundraising efforts:

http://www.kivafriends.org/index.php/topic,1492.430.html

...but for those KF who have a desire to help and want to familiarize themselves with Florence and the girls at her school, you can find pretty much all the info you need right here within this thread.  I only ask that the thread be used strictly for the purposes in the subject line and that we refrain from discussing Florence within this thread.  I know we dont need any additional threads on the forum, but at least Florence's story can now more easily be referenced and referred to, and in the future, potential contributors can have better organized access to the cause that gets us so very excited and puts us in an even extra giving mood than we already seem to be in. 

If anyone has any additional pictures or info not covered in the following posts, please feel free to submit it here.

Let me also point out that KF, through two separate fundraisers, have raised approximately/nearly $10,000 for Florence over the course of less than 2 full years.  Quite remarkable indeed.  There is absolutely no pressure to join a third fundraiser should one take place--that is not the intention of this thread, but it will hopefully be an inspiration to those who want to know and understand why Florence and the girls she leads are so very dear to us.

Rather than introduce Florence myself, since Jill and Diane would be in a better position to do that than myself, I will post links to Drew Kinder's blogs relating to his Kiva Fellowship in Uganda.  He was incredibly generous, delivering our first contribution to Florence and played a critical critical role in making this all happen the first time around.  His blog posts are very informative and provide a very thorough introduction to the Mirembe Youth Development School and the storyline between KF and Florence.

Following those I will post the link to Florence's actual Kiva loan, along with various documents forwarded to us from this wonderful lady that gave us great insight into the schools needs and progres...which will in turn be followed by all the relevant pictures and emails from the school that I could gather as made available to us through Jill, Diane and Drew.  I hope this is helpful for us all. 

One last tidbit of information mentioned by Jill in the original thread...Mirembe apparently means "peace" in Luganda.

[KivanSteven]

12/11/07 - Intro to Florence Kaluuba and the Mirembe Youth Development School in Uganda
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2007/12/11/mikembe-youth-development-project/   


1/30/08 - Presentation of funds to Florence at her school
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/01/30/kiva-friends-donate-4430-to-mirembe-youth-development-projects/


2/26/08 - Drew Kinder leaves Uganda and offers his gratitude for KF donations toward the end of his blog
http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/02/26/farewell-uganda/ 

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Link to Florence's Kiva loan which began 5/25/07 and was repaid 2 months early on 11/26/07.
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=9970&_tpos=10&_tpg=1 FLORENCE KIVA LOAN


The loan write up from 2007 states:
"Florence is a 48 year old woman. She started a community training college to offer nursery teaching, computer, and counseling courses to 12 students. The college now has 40 students.

Florence is an innovative and hard-working woman who wishes to borrow funds to renovate the college buildings and purchase a printer. She has 10 years of experience in education. Her dream is to expand the capacity of the college and to publish books.

Florence has 5 children aged between twenty three and twelve. They are all at school."


As you can see there were a few Kiva Friends on this loan to begin with, and WoodFairyGlenda (Glenda) herself can offer a first-hand account of the school since she made a trip to Uganda and had the privilege of seeing the school and learning about it firsthand...Here is the picture included with the Kiva Loan along with a picture of Florence and the computer and printer purchased with her Kiva Loan:

[KivanSteven]

These are Word Documents provided by Florence, depicting various things from objectives, to progressions, to goals, obstacles, budgets, needs, and expectations--some of the most valuable and insightful info we received and will definitely continue to receive from her should we offer further assistance.  These are important reads if you want a strong understanding of the goals and outlook of the school.  If you cannot open the files for some reason and would like the text provided please let me know.  I didnt post the text itself due to the length.

[KivanSteven]

And finally, what we all love, a variety of pictures from the many students to Florence, from Drew and our contributions to the students to the many noticeable school improvements.  They are in no particular order.  Click pics to enlarge.  Take notice of the way they recognize Kiva Friends on their desks and sowing machine tables.

[KivanSteven]

Some of the following pictures also came from Glenda--thanks Glenda!

[KivanSteven]

The following were all the Florence emails posted in the original Florence thread as kindly provided by Jill and Diane over the last 2 years.  I found about 22 in total I believe.  Their order is based on date of posting from earliest to most recent, though most are not dated--most took place from late 2007 through early 2009.  Again, if you find you cannot access the notepad or Word file, let me know and Ill be happy to email it to you or provide the actual text through PM.

[Wood Fairy Glenda]

Thanks for the good work, Steve 
I take great pleasure in re-living the Mirembe School-KF experience and the feeling of community the Kiva Friends had at the time these things were happening! 

[Jan & John]

Steve, thanks for an amazing job done in such a short time...

Just looking at those photos again is inspiring...

and Florence is an inspiration in herself.

Jill, the 2 previous fundraisers helped Florence with her budget at the beginning of her year...

Would this be the plan again? to have the funds for her by January??

-jan-

[KivanSteven]

Hey Glenda and Jan--no problem--I think its actually very convenient to have just about all the Florence info together, glad it brought back positive memories for you both 

--but if possible though please use the other Florence thread for any questions or fundraising discussion--otherwise...well, we know how that goes--just dont want two threads with the same discussion, so Jan I posted your question in the original Florence thread for you already--this thread will just be for actual information about or from Florence, such as pictures, emails, or documentation from her--I mean if thats ok with everyone--makes sense to me I think 

...anything else here is perfectly fine, comments and what have you--I figure if and when more pics come in they can be posted with the others pictures, along with any additional documents or emails--that can all be integrated into the first page so any future correspondence or info doesnt become lost in the thread and anytime someone wants to access info about Florence, its all basically right there on page one.

[KivanSteven]

10/26/09

1.  New emails added to the email files - Post #5
2.  Five new pictures added - Post #4
3.  A new budget proposal from Florence - text document (non converted figures) - Post #2