Meaningful Volunteer at the Fair Trade Gala in Vancouver

Meaningful Volunteer cordially invites you to attend the Fair Trade Gala on December 3rd.  

We will be joining with an array of local businesses and non-profits offering beautiful hand made goods from artisans producers around the world.  We will be personally offering items from Grassroots Uganda and Mama Pamba (both based in Uganda) and the Payawpao Orchids (based in the Philippines).

This is a great oppurtunity to get your shopping done early knowing your gifts this year will were ethically sourced and traded - it's like giving twice.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

When: December 3rd from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Cantu Building, Kingsway and 10th, Vancouver (see map).

 

Bottle Drive to Purchase a Cow For Uganda

Meaningful Volunteer together with the U14 Coquitlam Adanac's team successfully held a bottle drive fundraiser for the purchase of a cow for Meaningful Volunteer's solar powered school in Uganda.

Over $900 was raised. Some of this will go towards the purchase of the cow and some of the money will go towards team funds.

The cow is part of Meaningful Volunteer's effort to make its school in Uganda as sustainable as possible. The cow should provide about 30 litres of milk in Uganda. Together with the edible school yard, this should provide the students with nutritious school lunches.

Malaria Net Distribution in Buyaya, Uganda

Malaria nets have been distributed far and wide in the small rural village of Buyaya in Eastern Uganda thanks to Julien Guizetti, who is volunteering with Meaningful Volunteer's and its Malaria Operation program.

The community lessons were held in the recently completed solar powered school.

Fair Trade Event in Coquitlam

There will be a fair trade event in Coquitlam, BC, Canada with part of the proceeds going to Meaningful Volunteer's cow project in Uganda.

Details below:

F I D D L E S T I C K S
Christmas Craft Open HouseSaturday, November 26 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

3190 Bowen Drive, Coquitlam, BC 604 941 7776 (Bev)

Bev Filmer and Debbie Boles invite you and your friends, family and neighbours to enjoy some festive hospitality.  

Complete your Christmas shopping with our handmade wood crafts. Santas * Snowmen * Ornaments * Trees * 

Angels Door prizes – Refreshments

Fundraising for Meaningful Volunteer – “Udder Madness” 

 

New Solar School Announced

Meaningful Volunteer together with the School for Andy movement is delighted to announce the construction of a new solar powered school.

The organizations successfully delivered a school in Uganda in September 2011 and are keen to do it again.

The first of stage of the planning process will be to decide where to build the school.  Options range from expanding the school in Uganda, to new constructions in countries as diverse as the Philippines, Nepal, Ecuador, Ghana and Thailand.

The start date of the project will be sometime in June 2012.

Further details will be released as the planning process progresses.  

School For Andy in the Wisconsin State Journal

Meaningful Volunteer in conjunction with the School for Andy movement recently built a solar powered school in Ugandan as a memorial to Andy Manley who died tragically in a house explosion.

Andy was a resident of Madison Wisconsin.  The Wisconsin State Journal recently ran the following article about the school

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In the year since his death in a Sun Prairie home explosion, family and friends of Andy Manley have turned their grief to good works with a training academy in rural Uganda and a scholarship honoring him and his late nephew. 

The School for Andy in Buyaya, Uganda, was made possible in part by donations made to memorialize Manley, a 26-year-old aspiring teacher who died a year ago Wednesday when the home he shared with two friends exploded as a result of an apparently faulty furnace installation.

Read the rest of the article. 

 

The Malaria Operation Up and Running in Buyaya

Meaningful Volunteer's Malaria Operation is up and running in Buyaya thanks to the efforts of Julien Guizetti, a volunteer from Germany.  

Check out pics below.

Classes are taking place at the School for Andy, a recently completed solar school.  The school was built as a memorial to Andy Manley.

Julien personally raised over $US700 to bring mosquito nets to protect the people of Buyaya.  $200 of Julien's program fees ensures even more nets are distributed.

Just handing out nets is not enough to tackle malaria. Training is also an essential part. Check out the process Julien is following here.

Help to Purchase a Cow for Uganda

Meaningful Volunteer is committed to providing children in developing countries with a quality education and know that a full stomach is vital to the children's education.

Meaningful Volunteer already has an edible school yard to help feed children at the School for Andy - a solar powered school in Eastern Uganda.  But we want to do even more!

We are aiming to raise about $US500 for a hybrid cow that will provide students with milk.  Our students in Uganda lack protein, so milk will be a valuable addition to their diet.

Coquitlam Adanacs get behind the project

We've had great support for this project even before it has been officially announced.

The Under-14 boys team for the Coquitlam Adanacs are doing a bottle driver on November 19th with part of the proceeds going towards the purchase of the cow.  Check out their flyer here.

Get Involved

You too can get involved with fundraising for our cow.  Maybe we can even get more than one!  Send us an email to cow@meaningfulvolunteer.org if you're interested.

Julien Arrives in Uganda

Note: The following is taken for Julien's blog. You can keep up to date with Julien's quest to reduce malaria rates by checking out his blog here.

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Mulembe,

I can already say that this experience is and will be quite exciting. Actually, I do not know where to start; I will try it in a chronological order. Also I will keep it short as the solar powered batteries at the school next to the village are critically low and my laptop will also run out of juice quite soon.

Yesterday morning I was picked up by Mary and her hired taxi at Entebbe backpackers. First of we had to drive to Kampala to buy the mosquito nets. What to say about Kampala? it is very very very crowded and traffic is a continuous jam, in the air is a smell of charcoal fire, diesel and tar. Every house entry is also a small shop and people are constantly bumping into each other while navigating through motorbikes, taxis and other cars.

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