2016 Container Contents

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We will continue to take resources in our suitcases and to raise funds for our life-changing programs.

These are the donated items in our latest container, which set out for port in October 2016;
a heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated resources, time, skills and funds We couldn't do it without you!

MEDICAL

6   hospital beds & mattresses
12 boxes of medical books
42 boxes of medical supplies
4   boxes of crutches/cranes
8   wheelchairs
7   exam tables
2   spinner sterilizers
2   walkers
4   IV stands
4   boxes of medical binders
4   boxes of medical equipment
2   weigh scales
3   medical cabinets
1   microscope
1   pipet washer/rinser
3   hospital cribs
3   medical models & posters
1   x-ray viewer
1   baby weigh scales

EDUCATIONAL / TRAINING

8     boxes of sports equipment
45   boxes of sports uniforms
1     computer
37   boxes books
117 boxes of teacher resources
5     sewing machines
6     boxes of sewing fabric & accesories
42   chairs/stools
53   boxes of school supplies
3      filing cabinets
3      wooden tables

MUVUMA ORPHANAGE

24"  Cooking stove
Yamaha 5000 Generator
12 volt battery

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

19 boxes of tools and supplies
1   set of store accesories
5    boxes of coat-hangers
1    fabric rack
1    shoe rack
1     box of supplies
2    clothing racks
5    brick making machines & parts

A portion of the educational resources are dedicated to the Muvuma Orphanage, as are most of the household and small business supplies.

HOUSEHOLD SUPPLIES

76 boxes of bedding and towels, 12 boxes of dishes and cooking items, 4 mirrors, 107 boxes of clothing and shoes, 3 radio/stereos, 5 bicycles, 2 boxes of seeds, 1 compost bin, an artificial Christmas tree & decorations, 2 microwaves.

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Why we all do what we do

Emmanuel, our wonderful Agent in Kahama, Tanzania

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One Person volunteer, Dr.Glen Burgoyne (middle) wearing a gift from Joseph  (left)
and Emmanuel 

Joseph and Emmanuel are amazing, hardworking men who live in Kahama, Tanzania.  Both have made every effort to help us on our visits to Kahama, acting as drivers, translators and tour guides! We value their friendship greatly. (You can read more about Joseph in my Nov. 15th 2013 blog.) 

Earlier this year we asked Emmanuel if he would be our representative in Kahama, and thankfully - he agreed! Thanks to technology and our annual visits, we were already in regular contact with the officials and coordinators of the programs we are supporting or have set up, but having Emmanuel on the ground has allowed us to act and react much more swiftly: his local knowledge and insights are invaluable.

Emmanuel graduated from the University of Dar es Salaam with a bachelor degree in political science and public administration. He currently owns and runs a day care in Kahama, runs training sessions for the Barrick Gold mining company and teaches written and spoken English to children. We are extremely fortunate to have him on our team.   

Emmanuel and me in 2012. We all got lovely red kangas this time!

For more information or to make a donation contact me , mail to The One Person Project, 10108 Julia Street, Summerland, B.C. V0H 1Z5 or donate on-line   

Strengthen one person - strengthen the family - strengthen the community.

BC Without Borders

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One Person is honoured to be featured in this e-book by Elaine O'Conner of the Province newspaper. Available on Amazon, Kobo and iTunes. There are so many amazing people out there who, like Brenda followed their passion and make a difference in the world.

Kahama, Tanzania

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 Tanzania: Central, East Africa

The Township and District of Kahama in Northwestern Tanzania

The Kahama District has a population of around one million people; split between the township and 240 scattered villages. We chose to work in the Kahama district because it is remote and has little outside help. 

Tanzania's poverty is widespread and acute. Around 85% of the population live in rural areas such as the Kahama region. The arid conditions mean that many of the people are nutritionally deficient and are sustenance farmers only.

HIV / AIDS

According to UNAIDS, about 1.4 million people are living with HIV in Tanzania. Of those 160,000 are children under the age of 15: this in a population of just over 46 million. The HIV rates are higher than the national average in the Kahama region.

We engage in capacity-building programs, which means that we are building a long-term, reciprocal relationship with the community, rather than just transferring resources. 

Kahama Town

 The town has a long, busy Main Street with side roads bustling with bicycles and motorbikes. There are some modern hotels and a large supermarket, which cater to the more affluent gold miners who spend their days-off in Kahama. But the townsfolk who can afford to make purchases shop in the small stores and markets. 

                

Scavenging Marabou storks at the rubbish dump.

Kahama lanes

The Kahama District Hospital is the only hospital for the whole district - a population of around a million people! There are also satellite clinics. We have targeted a couple of the clinics with one-off donations and hope that our support filters out to the others in the future.

Villages in Kahama

A typical village school will have few or no resources. 

We send school supplies in our shipping containers and Brenda (One Person President and co-founder) and volunteers take resources in their suitcases on each trip.

Mabula receives a precious soccer ball on one of our annual visits.

Poverty is extreme in the outlying villages

 A typical gas station...the container on the table....

There is much beauty in Tanzania, the countryside can be amazing but the devastating effects of poverty are everywhere. Thank you for helping us to make a difference. 

For more information or to make a donation contact me , mail to The One Person Project, 10108 Julia Street, Summerland, B.C. V0H 1Z5 or donate on-line   

Strengthen one person - strengthen the family - strengthen the community.

Strenghten your own community: Children & Youth

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Some people and businesses tell us that they prefer to support organizations that affect their own community – which we love to hear because One Person provides life-changing opportunities for communities in the Okanagan and in the whole of B.C. (And beyond!)

Since our inception in 2006 our President Brenda Lowe has held presentations in schools, church halls, healthcare facilities, in offices, in community centres and in her own home.  Brownies, Guides, Scouts, school children, school teachers, medical professionals, families, service groups, store/office staff and clergy and congregations have seen our presentations and took part in our Q & A’s.

Local children and youth especially are benefiting from the role that One Person plays. We provide an avenue to help children to become socially aware and to be able to give to a community. Parents understand that it is not just the designated charity that is benefitting from a family’s involvement; children are also learning to be empathetic, compassionate and caring.

Lemonade Stand: Caitlin, Krista, Gabrielle&  Katelyn.  Devyn in the front

A 2013 study by the United Nations found that 88 percent of  (American) children donate to charities – that’s 7 out of 8 children aged 8 to 19!  Interestingly the study showed that role-modelling alone does not affect children’s giving-behaviour.

“Parents’ giving to charity is not enough to teach children to be charitable,” the report states, “Focused, intentional teaching by talking to children about charity is what works. This is true for children in families at all income levels and across gender, race, and age.” 

Children of all ages have talked with us and contributed to our programs in Kahama, Tanzania and Muhanga, Rwanda. Children and youth donate school and soccer resources, they help to collect, sort and pack donated items into our shipping containers – they even help paint our shipping containers and then they help raise funds to ship the containers! From donating birthday money, to recycling bottles, from holding lemonade stands, bake sales and book drop-off points to helping at our fundraising events. 

The children and youth in this community get to see photographs and hear stories of the children and youth they are helping to become self-sufficient in our sponsor-communities in East Africa. The children here learn new skills, feel empowered and know that the actions of one person can make a difference in the life of a child, a family, a community – whether it be on their own doorstep or on another continent.


Go to www.theonepersonproject.org  for more information and to volunteer/donate

Young People Making a Difference

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Canadian and international statistics show that youth volunteerism continues to rise. We at The One Person Project have certainly witnessed young people becoming actively involved in changing lives!

Future Leaders
Matthew, Becca, Jackson and Nathan have been volunteering since 2006! Ethan is a dedicated newcomer!

Katimavik volunteer service program.
Painting one of our shipping containers

This brother and sister asked family and friends to donate to
One Person rather than buy birthday presents

110 Clean Birth kits for the Kahama District Hospital

One Person received a donation for cleaning up at
the Iron Man Expo


'Crate Day' Support

This is just a small selection of the amazing children and youth who 

have given their time and energy towards building a better future for children in our sponsor communities. 

A brief overview of One Person

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It’s hard to believe that it is 7 years since Brenda Lowe headed over to East Africa on a World Vision trip and on her return set up The One Person Project with friends and family. We are based in Summerland in the Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada.



We have two sponsor-communities. The primary community being the isolated Kahama District of Tanzania, with a population of around a million people – and only one hospital! The City of Summerland has created a formal Friendship Agreement with Kahama, and the Okanagan community and others around Canada have made major steps towards helping the citizens of Kahama reach their goals of self-sustainability and social transformation.

We are about to ship our third forty-foot container to Kahama. It is filled with medical, educational, children/family and entrepreneurial resources, including one or more portable brick making machines that use locally sourced materials (earth and a 6% cement mixture) and run on man-power rather than electricity. On our One Person trips we have assisted in making identical bricks by hand – a laborious process!

We also support the Terimbere Rwanda Organization. TRO works in the Muhunga region of Rwanda to implement a genocide reconciliation project, which supports genocide survivors through community reconciliation and rehabilitation programs.

TRO received our first shipping container in 2010.  So – four shipping containers in total – you can imagine how much work it is to solicit and collect the thousands of items for each container, which, with the help of volunteers, we sort pack and record. And then the fundraising to buy and ship the containers – up to $20,000 each time!

We have a core group of around a dozen on our hard-working committee plus our amazing volunteers – including children, teenagers and seniors.  

We have visited both sponsor communities 6 times (not including Brenda’s initial trip). We make these self-funded trips to deliver the donations, monitor progress, ascertain needs and to maintain a connection with the villagers, officials and organizations that we work with - and to bring back photographs, family stories and evidence of progress to the people of B.C.  

We recruit professional and non-professional volunteers to take part in the trips to ensure that we are on track, to identify needs, distribute items and provide training in our sponsor communities.

Medical volunteers have taken part in four of the trips and a fifth is planned for late 2014. Our first education-focussed trip took place in 2012 with Train-The-Teacher-Workshops, and more sessions are planned for July 2015.

Click the links to see photos and stories in this blog.

One of our major programs is the Amani Clinic at the Kahama Distict hospital and the associated Food Program and Poultry co-operative.

 We support the Faraja Orphange and have recently added our support to the Muvuma Orphan Group - including supporting children with albinism.  

And of course we continue to support our friends at TRO in Rwanda.

Is it worth it you ask? Does aid work? Can we really make a difference? If you clicked that last link – and the others before it – you will know the answer is – hell yeah!

What is Project Aid?

Project Aid is a partnership whereby the villagers participate in the process with the ultimate goal of self-sustainability. We endeavor to create opportunities rather than dependency. To provide a hand-up rather than a hand-out. 

Our June 2012 blog  Does Aid Work? outlines the research we did before we set up One Person; and we continue to try to make sure that any impact we make on the community is a positive one. But of course  - we have made mistakes along the way!  But the beauty of our project is that we are in constant touch with officials and contacts in Kahama and are aware when we take a wrong turn, and rectify it. 

The 2012 blog describes the folly of our planning to donate milk goats to an orphanage. Makes sense hey? Milk for orphans? But it was a well-meaning assumption that would have created a great deal of work for the orphanage ladies who already volunteer their time!  Our first 40' sea-container, which was shipped to Rwanda, carried far too many clothes. Clothes can be sold cheaply on the black-market damaging (or sometimes destroying) the livelihood of the villagers who make and sell clothing. We now send clothing only for identified families or groups in dire need. 

At present we are giving, but in a structured, planned way; we are shipping resources to Kahama that would be prohibitively expensive to purchase locally, or cannot be found in the area. In this way we can give the healthcare and educational system a major boost. 

We do give when we provide support for the most vulnerable children (as identified by professionals in Kahama) but this is the context of emergency aid rather than building a dependency. In a planned process we are now beginning to provide educational and entrepreneurial support. 

Once a strong foundation is laid, we will stop shipping resources and continue to work with officials to determine the best way to move forward. We envisage sponsorship for education/vocational training and loans for small business ventures. 

We look forward to working in partnership with the community of Kahama for many years to come but we greatly look forward to the day when the region is self-sustaining. Though we will still continue to visit and enjoy the company of friends… 

For more information, to volunteer or to make a donation contact me , mail to The One Person Project, 10108 Julia Street, Summerland, B.C. V0H 1Z5  donate on-line or make a payment into our account at the Summerland & District Credit Union.

Kahama District - Distributing the Shipping Container Resources / 2013

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Dr Andrew and Athanis happy to see the shipping container arrive at the Kahama District Hospital. The leaves on the Kahama Friendship tree were purchased and signed by our supporters in Canada;  we raise around $16,000 to purchase and ship each container. See the Nov. 9th 2012 blog for a list of contents.

Beds and other medical resources were carried in to the hospital and a further160 barrels and boxes went to the Amani Clubhouse at the far end of the compound. Classroom and teacher resources were taken into the Teacher Resource Centre, and library and text books were transferred to the previous shipping container to be stored before processing. Both beautifully decorated containers have been donated to the hospital.

LeAnne, Brenda and a team of helpers from the hospital spent a 12 hour day visiting 11 schools in 11 remote villages to distribute soccer/netball uniforms and pumps and balls.

The children hold messages thanking Iron Man Canada for the donated shirts

A decent soccer ball costs $50 US, about as much as many Tanzanians earn a month in a full time job!

One Person believes in the concept of sport for development – that sport is not just an end in itself, but also an effective tool to help improve the lives of children, families and communities. Participating in sports allows young men to have a sense of pride and something to strive towards and allows girls to have status and opportunities they do not usually receive. Even the presence of one soccer ball can increase school attendance, which is doubly important as most schools and sports teams have HIV Prevention Programs.

Next the truck headed out to the men's woodworking co-op in Llomelo. We passed on donations of hand/power tools and a much needed generator.

The delivery team were entertained with food, and traditional dance and music. The woodworkers then presented Brenda with this beautiful wooden map of the Shinyanga Region (North Tanzania) with the district of Kahama in the middle.

 We have supported the Llomelo men's co-op for a number of years, donating tools and commissioning desks and tables for the Kahama Teacher Resource Centre.  The photos below are from the 2012 trip.

Before

And after

 Strengthen one person - strengthen the family - strengthen the community

For more information or to make a donation contact me , mail to The One Person Project, 10108 Julia Street, Summerland, B.C. V0H 1Z5 or donate on-line  

6th One Person Trip - The Team

Back row: Dr. Glen & Anna. 

Middle: Twyla,  Dr. Andrew (Kahama District Medical Officer) Brenda, Nancy & Pene.

Front:  LeAnne

 

 

One Person couldn't do what we do without our volunteers, here in B.C. and on our trips to our two sponsor communities. (Kahama in Tanzania and Muhanga in Rwanda.) One Person members and volunteers pay their own way on these visits and after donating their time and skills, return home as Ambassadors who advocate and fundraise to help us provide long-term support, which is designed to lead to self-sustainability.

 

This is Dr. Glen and Twyla Burgoyne’s second volunteer trip with One Person. Twyla, Pene Berthelsen, Anna Toon and LeAnne Davies are RN’s (Registered Nurse) and Nancy Comeau is a psychologist. The medical teams assist in the hospital and work with Dr. Andrew to asses future needs. You can find more details on Brenda's travelogue.

 

This is Brenda's sixth One Person trip and her seventh visit to Kahama, Tanzania and Muhanga, Rwanda. Dr. Andrew took over from Dr. Subi (who visited us here in B.C. in 2010) as the Kahama District Medical Officer.  

The team will be identifying needs at the hospital, following up on equipment and resources sent and assisting with and teaching procedures. They will also be helping to unload and distribute the contents of the forty-foot shipping container, which will be arriving in Kahama during their visit.  

Brenda and the Ambassadors will also be meeting with officials and organizations and most importantly with children and families.

 

 

2012 Trip / Tanzania/ Kahama / Faraja Orphanage

 Sheena is a One Person co-founder and Director. She is a teacher at the Summerland Montessori School (B.C. Canada) which supports the Faraja Orphanage.   

Most Tanzanian orphanages are not the traditional institutionalised facilities that most of us are familiar with.  Orphans tend to be absorbed into extended families or are taken in by neighbours. The extra child/children put a huge strain on the families who take them in, so the children spend time at an orphanage each day to receive care and food. 

In this instance a group of women from the Isegehe area formed a committee and put money together to form the orphanage, which they continue to fund and run. The orphanage pays for the children’s medical and schooling fees, and sends soap and other valued items back to the foster-family to help decrease the burden of an extra child/children.

  

EXCERPT FROM SHEENA'S ENTRY ON PLANET RANGER

"In previous years we have sent money to buy the orphanage meat goats and pay school fees, and we sent them supplies in the crate sent last year. Since I was meeting them in person, families from the school put together bags for each of the orphans and I brought some donated money and the money from our recycling program to help them. I have been carrying all of the stuff with me all this time, and I was excited to finally be able to deliver it.

Of course, getting there was not quick and easy. The ride we thought we arranged didn’t work out due to an uninsured vehicle and despite numerous calls to a variety of people, we were stuck for a little bit as to how to get out there. Eventually Joseph found us a taxi driver willing to take us out there (it is in a village outside of Kahama) and we set off, with our 32 gift bags loaded up in the trunk of the cab. We had been unable to make direct contact with the orphanage yet, so first we went to the World Vision office, where someone else jumped into the cab to direct us to the orphanage. Through channels we are still not certain of, Scholastica (who runs the orphanage with the help of other ladies in the community) had heard we were coming and was waiting for us.

When we arrived, we were very warmly welcomed, with lots of hugging and hand shaking and hand holding and hugging and laughing and more hand shaking and cries of “Welcome!” Once Brenda explained that I was the teacher from the book we sent them last year, I was re-welcomed and there was even more hugging and hand-shaking and an elderly woman was kicked out of her chair so I could sit there! There were orphanage kids and random neighbour kids there and some of them were really breaking my heart! All of the people I have met so far here are very clean and tidy (which I find hard what with all of the dust and lack of water pressure!), but quite a few of these kids were dirty, with torn clothing, and bellies protruding from malnutrition. One little guy, a year old or so, ate a handful of dirt.

I only had stuff for the Orphanage kids, so Brenda and Joseph went to get food for everyone from the store. Mary and I stayed and, with Scholastica’s son Isack translating, made conversation with the Faraja ladies. They were very surprised that Mary was only 17, comparing her to a girl there who was 17 and asking, “Why do you look so much bigger than her? What are you eating over there?!” When Brenda and Joseph came back, we fed all of the children some bananas and biscuits.

After that I handed out the gift bags and took pictures of all of the children. It was awesome! I brought pictures of the kids from my school to go with each bag and showed them to the children as they received their bags, explaining that that child sent the bag for them. It was chaotic and busy, but really great! Afterwards, we took more pictures and they all sang some songs for us. Then I discreetly gave Scholastica the money I had brought and after a lot more hugging and hand shaking and thank-you’s, we were off. I would have loved to have stayed longer, but our taxi driver was only willing to wait so long, so away we went! "

Thank you - from the children and youth in Kahama, Tanzania

Click here if you would like to volunteer here in the Okanagan B.C or offer support from elsewhere.

Click here if you would like to make an on-line donation or email us at info@theonepersonproject.org if you can save us the on-line fees and mail a cheque!