Cirencester curate Angela Austin is doing a series of sponsored runs in which she aims to ascend 5,109m, the height of the highest mountain in Uganda.
Angie’s ambitious challenge was inspired by desire to help the people of a remote area of Uganda, with medical aid and school support and supplies.
Angela and her husband David, who is also a member of clergy serving in Cirencester Deanery, are aiming to raise £3,000 by the end of this year to fund an administrator in a Ugandan charity.
Longer term, they hope to be able to raise £50,000 a year through fund raising, membership donations and supporting the development of small businesses within the tourist industry. This will fund the building and running of a Rehabilitation and Training Centre for people with a disability.
Angie said: “Our friends Neil and Helen Lambert lived in Rwesande, Uganda in the early 1990s. In 2010 we went out to visit their project, Hope for Uganda. The terrible lack of resources and poor state of repair of the local health clinic shocked me. I was working in a health clinic in Basingstoke, which closed down, and I was able to send redundant medicines, dressings and equipment, including a dental chair to the clinic in Rwesande, which has since been upgraded and a dentist provided.”
Angela and David joined the board of a new organisation called Erithoka-Uganda in a remote, mountainous region of Uganda. In March, the organisation launched an initiative called ‘Education, My Power’ to provide schooling materials for 30 of the poorest local school pupils. Supporting education in Uganda is a priority as there is a high drop-out rate due to early pregnancy and marriage, abuse and child labour. Girls in Uganda often do not attend school when they have their periods, so the organisation started a project to train girls to make reusable sanitary towels. The organisation also works to support disabled children and their families and people with various medical needs.
Angie admitted she sometimes feels overwhelmed by the needs of the developing world, but was encouraged by a friend who said: “You cannot change the world but you can do something to help to change someone’s world.”
She has given herself a deadline of the end of October to achieve her running target. You can sponsor her by contacting her at moc.d1725739653uolci1725739653@yram1725739653eigna1725739653ver1725739653
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