Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. Col 3:23
Hello and Happy New Year to everyone! Whilst we have been enjoying Christmas some of our partners have been busy drilling boreholes, feeding children and running literacy projects – all thanks to your generosity. I am always amazed at what we manage to achieve from a small base in Beverley.
The picture below is Ruby in Ghana with school children from Sanouri school in the North of Ghana. The Souter Trust has funded a project that will set up a farm to feed the children and also fund their food whilst the food is growing. The school population had fallen to 138 after the government had pulled their feeding program and we applied to the Souter Trust for a grant to cover the cost of setting up a farm with land that the community had given to the school. The teachers had already grown food in a garden at the school to try to improve the children’s nutrition and were keen to expand this with help. Since this intervention the number of children attending school has already risen to 225.
Last time I spoke about a lady called Agnes who is living in Uganda and tries to look after 700 orphans. She and her partners had asked us to build a dormitory for 120 teenagers, to help keep them away from drug addiction and hopefully reduce unwanted pregnancies. The dormitory is now complete and we have also build a toilet block for the orphans who will soon be moving into the dormitory. We are now trying to raise funds for the borehole so they do not need to drink the pond water. Below is the completed toilet block.
We also extended one of our dry season gardens in Ghana and the ladies are so pleased with their crops and so grateful for your generosity.
Above is a picture of bean plants and the ladies from the community saying Thank you!
Below is a photo of pepper plants and the ladies working hard to erect a fence. You can see just how dry the soil is and how hard the work would be, especially in temperatures above 30degrees. A fence is needed because goats roam freely in Ghana and eat absolutely everything.
Finally, it is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Alistair and I are stepping down from Jacob’s Well Appeal. This has been a very hard decision but unfortunately I have been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and have been started on immunosuppressant medications which means I can no longer visit Africa (malaria risk etc) and our growing family in Inverness need our support. We have found this last year quite challenging with so much travelling.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful support that you have always given us and also for the hard work you have done for Jacob’s Well Appeal. We are so grateful to have had this opportunity to meet so many wonderful people and helped them through the generosity and effort of our partners, supporters and donors. We pray that God continues to bless you and Jacob’s Well Appeal. We are so grateful that Jacob’s Well Appeal will continue its amazing work.