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

[Guest]

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[Diane R]

I received from Florence three brief video clips which I have uploaded and am making available here.  Each of them is only partial, and in all cases they end in mid-sentence and without completed thoughts, but they are worth viewing.  The audio quality is not very good (the third is the least audible), but if you listen carefully you will hear what she is saying.  If desired, I can make a transcript of her words in each and post those either here or on the youtube video page.

In this first clip, Florence describes three special types of students served by Mirembe School: part-time students who are also working, current teachers who want to expand into school administration, and "elderly" students who also want to train to open a nursery.




In the second clip, Florence discusses some of the subjects which are taught to their nursery teacher students.




And finally in the third clip, Florence is addressing the audience at the recent 3rd graduation ceremonies this year, touching on the vision of Mirembe School.




--Diane.

[Diane R]

I have heard again from Florence with a revised budget for the coming year at Mirembe School, along with some updates on students, including several photos and a letter written from one student herself.  I will post them both here and on the fundraising thread, as we are going to start up a fundraising drive for one month only, so as to get the funds to Florence in time for the coming term which starts in February.

Thanks for gathering all of this together, Steven.  (And as usual, clicking an image will open a larger version for you in another window.)

--Diane.

"Christine in class during school practice"



"Real-life experience" from Peninah Ndibogeza
 

[KivanSteven]

From now on this thread will be updated in a progression of events manner--rather than keeping pics with pics and emails with emails--it gets too difficult keeping it that way and the thread isnt set up to work that way- though the page numbers will grow, it wont become excessive or difficult to natigate and it should be easier to follow and to know when new material is posted.

Recent emails from Florence:

(snippet)
Registration for TEEN MOTHER SUPPORT ORG. is in the process. I concieved the idea after realising that 75% of the girls who have benefited from our services are mothers and according to the information they provide is that the majority had their babies during teen age. Through this organisation I will be able to bring many partners on board, hence better exposure and support. . .

The school calendar is as follows: Term one runs through early Feb-May, Term two runs through June -August, Term three runs through September- Decmber.



(new email)
It is always my pleasure to let you know that my family and I are fine .I hope you are fine too. In Uganda it is examination season and primary pupils have just completed the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Secondary Schools (High schools) are completing Ordinary Level (O level) and Advanced Level Examinations (A-Level).One of my sons Enoch is completing his papers in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. Twenty years ago I had a dream of becoming a Doctor to treat people who were in pain. I hated to see sick people, especially when the sickness went on for a long time. I battled with the challenge of being denied the opportunity to try out with the tough subjects I had loved to. Today, I choose to help a small section of vulnerable people in this part of Africa.
   
The girls are preparing to go for holidays and we expect them back on Feb, 1st 2010. However, I will be busy next week with the in-service school teacher’s course for 20 teachers who are teaching without prior training. To remind you a bit these are girls who pay for the services from Mirembe Community College. The schools pay them small allowances which are not enough to support them and for that matter we do not charge them highly.
             
My plan is to establish two more courses; hair dressing and catering courses. Besides helping girls get skills for employment; they can easily attract other girls and women who can pay. I am also happy to let you know that one of our graduates, Zaina, started a mobile catering services and she is working with some of her colleagues former students of Mirembe. She also runs a pre-school and she offers catering services on request. She will be a big inspiration to other girls.
   
I am presenting a proposed budget for the 1st Term 2010 review, comments and consideration.  Convey my sincere thanks to the Kiva friends for their suggestions, additions and comments that I read from Mirembes thread.   

Your friend,
Florence

[KivanSteven]

Another recent email:


I read the mails with lots of joy.  Greetings from Kampala-Uganda.  I am happy to be reading the remarks and suggestions made by the Kiva friends.What your are doing for me and the girls can not be compared to anything easy.  The sugestions  made by the Kiva friends are very encouragig.You  have bullt a lot of confidence in me during this time the new students have started coming to make  inquiries  about next years programs.   In case of any clarification or additional pictures I am ready to send more.
 
Convey my gratitude to the Kiva friends that responded to our requests.

[KivanSteven]

Late 2009 email replies from Florence:



Hello Diane,
Greetings form my family, the girls and myself. It is rainy and harvesting season as well. I reside near a market and I am privileged to be accessing fresh fruits and vegetables from the villages. Most of the foods we eat is brought from the villages to the city. Heavy vehicles,ferry foods, vegetables and fruits and business people make their sales throughout the nights till morning. The trick is if you want to buy cheap vegetables and fruits you go to market very early in the morning to compete with the market vendors.

I am happy to hear that our friends from abroad are responding positively to request for great intervention. I was prompted to propose the establishment of the catering and hairdressing courses because some people in the community have  shown interest in the two courses, secondly, two organisations have approached us with interest in sponsoring the girls in the two areas of of vocational training.

Currently,the school stiil depends mainly on the following
-  membership fee
-  sale of gowns and uniforms
-  sale of crafts
 - Contribution from a few of the pre-school children
-  contribution from students on  in-service courses

I would love to see graduates from tailoring and hair dressing go away with a  machine and perhaps a drier respectively,to enable them start their own small scale business. I am selling the idea to organizations in my community so that the first beneficiaries make returns which we can recycle to the next one. I am sure this will work out sometime next year.

I am of the opinion that the idea of dropping one course will be determined by the support we may get next year. We may have to start small by using the locally made ovens to bake and sell  the products in order to raise funds for other utilities.

We are still finding out other alternatives for other projects that could support the institution in future and as soon we conclude I will let you know.
 
Convey my greetings to the Kiva friends. Assure them that their intervention in to the development of Mirembe school is evident in the increase of the the number of students that we shall graduate in the month of August.

Florence.







On Christmas day, i had a wonderful time with my family.
In my community, people usually celebrate Christmas with a lot of feasting!
They treasure feasting more than Christmas cards and sms messages.
I read the messages and the development of the fund raising and i was very happy.
Thank you so much for your time, care and love.Convey my gratitude to all Kiva friends for their donations.
I wish you and all Kiva friends a happy New year.
                            Your friend,
Florence   



“… I am very happy to read about the comments that the Kiva friends are making about me and the works of my hands. As a counselor these comments can add, not only joy to my life, but also prolonging my life span. As for the donations I  promise not to let down the Kiva friends. I will make sure the impact for their input is evident (in) my output…”

[KivanSteven]

From this point begins 2010 correspondence, pictures, videos, and further fundraising efforts that kicked off Spring 2011.


Lets start with some YOUTUBE Videos!

[KivanSteven]

Emails from Florence shared by Diane, Jill, and Ulrike from early 2010 - April 2011.  Much thanks to you ladies for your time, diligence, and commitment to Florence and KF, along with much gratitude to Florence for opening up her life and her self to what were once a bunch of generous strangers.

Some of it might be difficult to follow and understand only because the context in which the information was discussed is not also provided, but the emails bring Florence to life, and are a great means of introduction to both she and her mission.  There is a tremendous amount of information relating to the school and much insight can be derived from it.  Any pictures mentioned in the emails can be viewed within this post (a few would not save correctly if you notice a couple missing).  Enjoy!

[KivanSteven]

2011 Salon Start-Up Fund Detailed within the attached file, followed by photos of some hair-do's!

(the fund info can be found in that almost hard to spot link just before the pics)

[KivanSteven]

KIVA - MIREMBE LENDING TEAM

http://www.kiva.org/team/mirembe_cc


Become a member of this special group at Kiva.org through the link above, and make loans in the name of Florence and Mirembe College for the world to see!

[KivanSteven]

Florence's reply dated 4/26, upon learning that Kiva Friends, in their third Mirembe School fundraiser, had raised more than enough funds to support her salon start up proposal budget:


"It's wow wow on my side. I am pleasing to learn that you and the Kiva friends have already raised more than what we presented for the start up salons. This kind of spirit does not only encourage me to work hard but also gives me ao opportunity to plan for the projects of the school effectively. Thank you so much Diane. Thank you so much Kiva Friends. Sometimes I would pretend to be happy at what people in Uganda would call "selling my wisdom" when I shared my knowledge with some organisations about the importance of helping young people start income generating activities. I feel very happy at Kiva's intervention in this project. I will not let you down.
 
. . . I would like to wish you and all Kiva friends a happy Easter season. "
 
Florence.