Washington, D.C. — In the village of Nyanga, in Ntungamo District, Uganda, 18-year-old Edwina gazes out the window of her family's small house, lost in big thoughts. Edwina, the third of nine children, is determined to become a doctor. Her surname, Atusingwire, is a Banyankore name meaning "she has overcome or succeeded" – Edwina thinks of this not merely as a name, but as a prophecy to be fulfilled.
She points to the trees outside her window and breaks her silence. "All these banana plants used to be ours," she says. Edwina's soft-spoken voice conveys a warm spirit and sharp intellect. Her large eyes, yellowed from a lingering case of malaria, tell a story of their own.
At 15, Edwina was an excellent student, but her family had no money left to pay for her education. Her parents sold almost everything – house furnishings, cows, land, and most of their banana farm – with the hope of getting at least one of their children through secondary school. Their resources became depleted, yet the family still banked its hopes on Edwina, perhaps due to her sheer determination to succeed. Her dad took up a job as a night watchman at Rwentobo High School, where Edwina was schooling. But his salary was insufficient to keep her in school, let alone meet the basic family needs.
"We had almost nothing left," recalled Edwina. She wouldn't let her parents sell their last piece of farmland, an act that would have left her siblings without any means of sustenance.
The Headmaster of Rwentobo High School, Justus Gumisiriza, realized the desperate situation in Edwina's household. "There was no future left for her," he said.
Edwina's case was reported to Africare as preparations were being made to conduct interviews for Africare's Orphan and Needy Child Scholarship Program in the district. Edwina was included among the candidates, and she later emerged among the 70 successful recipients of the program's educational scholarships.
Today, after three years on this program, Edwina is an illustrious graduate of Rwentobo High. She is now a first year student studying environmental health at Makerere University. She is the pride of her family.
"Africare is a parent to me," says Edwina. "They took me up and made me a success."
The Africare educational support activity in Ntungamo was started in 2001 by the founder and former President of Africare, Mr. C. Payne Lucas, after his visit to the district. Since then, Africare/Washington has continued to raise funds from private sponsors to pay for educational materials and school fees for disadvantaged children like Edwina at Rwentobo High.
"We are indeed very grateful to Africare for helping our school support these orphans and poor children," said Headmaster Gumisiriza.
This activity has been a seed project from which larger and more comprehensive support has been provided for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Uganda. Africare now provides clean water sources, nutritional support, scholastic grants, peer education and psycho-social support in HIV/AIDS, vocational skills training (to out-of-school OVC), and income generation opportunities to caregivers, as well as organizational capacity strengthening to local governments, NGO partners, and community coordination structures in OVC service delivery.
"It has been well established that economic empowerment of women and their free participation in economic activity are essential to achieving sustainable growth in Africa," noted Africare Senior Vice President Jeannine B. Scott. "Improvements in the key areas of education and training, agricultural productivity, health and nutrition, and access to water and sanitation are necessary to bring about these changes."
On Thursday, October 18, 2007, Africare will celebrate the stories like Edwina's and the empowerment of women in Africa at the seventeenth annual Bishop John T. Walker Memorial Dinner, the largest annual event for Africa in the United States. The Africare Dinner was first held in October 1990 in memory of the late John T. Walker, the first African-American Episcopal bishop of Washington and the longtime chairman of Africare's Board, who passed away on September 30, 1989.
This year's theme of "women's empowerment Africa-wide" will be exemplified by a salute to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, Africa's first elected female head of state. At the event, the Africare Board of Directors will present President Johnson-Sirleaf with the 2007 Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award. Given each year at the Bishop Walker Dinner, the award recognizes those whose work has made a significant impact on raising the standard of living in Africa.
Prior recipients include former Presidents Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and other distinguished persons such as Andrew Young, Dorothy I. Height, Graca Machel, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates.
Proceeds from the event help support Africare's mission of assistance to the people of Africa in the areas of food security and agriculture, health and HIV/AIDS, water resource development, environmental management, literacy and vocational training, microenterprise development, governance, and emergency humanitarian aid. The Africare Dinner is a top multicultural affair as well, embracing all races and a wide array of cultures and nationalities from around the world.
For more information on the 2007 Bishop John T. Walker Dinner, contact the Africare Dinner Office at (202) 328-5364 or e-mail dinner@africare.org.
To purchase tables or tickets online, click here.
To purchase offline, contact the Africare Dinner Office.
