“Rathgar-
Friends of Kyuso”-
A Partnership with Africa
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Kyuso parish
celebrated St Patrick's day 2008 in style, and dedicated
the celebrations to their partners in Rathgar. Click on
"ST Patrick's Day" on the left to see the photo
record of the day.
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Update-
November 2007
The
response of the parishioners of Rathgar, and other friends,
to our appeal for support for Kyuso has been phenomenal. We
have now raised €100,000 since April 2007. This was
achieved through private donations, small and large, and by
fundraising events, such as the Ladies Club cake sale which
raised €6,000! That's a lot of cakes!
The
Celtic Tenors Concert, held on November 23rd, was a
resounding success. Fr Paul Lavelle, just back from a visit
to Kitui and to the parish of Kyuso, welcomed the audience
to the concert, which was compered by Miriam
O'Callaghan. Our own Rathgar Gospel Choir challenged the
Celtic tenors themselves for the affections of the
audience.
Fr
Paul told the audience of the conditions he witnessed at
first hand in Kyuso, and pledged to undertake a number of
badly needed projects in the coming months.
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What
we plan to do:
Rathgar
parish wish to establish a long-term partnership with a
third world parish, based on mutual respect, and from which
both parishes will benefit.
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Which
parish have we identified?
We
have identified a parish in Kenya, called Kyuso,
which is located in the most northerly part of Kitui
diocese.
Kyuso
is a very remote Parish, with great needs. It is a
relatively new parish-it was only set up in 1972-by an
Irish priest-and already has a population of 80,000 and has
20 out-stations.
50% of the population are Christian, of
which 20% are Catholic.
Kyuso
faces many issues food…famine, water shortages, HIV/Aids.
It has significant educational and medical needs. A typical
day for women is a 5am start, a 20km round trip on foot for
water, working until 11pm. Men work in the bush.
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How
did we decide on Kyuso?
A
few months ago, Fr. Gerry Whelan, based in Kenya, and
originally from Rathgar, spoke at Rathgar mass. As Parish
priest within the Kitui diocese he spoke of great hardship
and need in the area and of the many opportunities to
create lasting partnerships. His colleague, Father Paul
Healy, originally from Dalkey also works in the area and
indeed has helped both Dalkey and Cabinteely set up
successful, similar ventures with other parishes in the
area.
In
November we learnt that two committee members from the
Cabinteely parish were visiting the diocese of Kitui and
they agreed to visit Kyuso on our behalf. They travelled 4
hours to Kyuso in difficult conditions, met the parish
council and identified how exactly we could help. Kyuso
have no other parish working with them and they are very
eager to develop a relationship with a parish like ours. |
What
we want to do
We
intend this to be a long-term partnership-developing over
the next 10-15 years. Initially, however, as Kyuso is so radically
under-funded, we wish to focus on fundraising for specific
projects. Later we will explore other partnership based
options.
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There
are 3 immediate key areas for our attention:
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Basic
Infrastructure Projects
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Income
Generating Projects
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Other
projects including education
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Basic
Infrastructure Projects
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Kyuso
Parish
Church:
From
our picture to the left you can see it’s not what you’d
expect for even the most basic Church! We’d like to help
them complete the building of their Church.
€8000
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| Water
Well:
Today
women walk 20 kms everyday to fetch water. €800 has
already been invested in a well (see picture to right), the
other €1200 to complete it must be found. For just
€1200 we can sink a borehole for domestic water and make
a real change in the day-to-day life of the community.
€1,200
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For
more information on friends of Kitui's water projects click
here
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| Parish
Junior School:
Help
us build a basic Polytechnic school for those who can’t
afford secondary education or have no parents. Polytechnics
are similar to Vocational Schools and provide education in
subjects such as dressmaking, hairdressing, carpentry.
€5,000
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Parish
Motorbike:
Car
fuel is too expensive to run a car. In any case roads are
often inpassable to a car. The parish priest /
parish council members need to travel between centres to
say mass in the 20 out-stations, each of which are 20km
apart, attend urgent pastoral matters, plus visit the sick.
This will cost €3,500-€4,000
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Income
Generating Projects
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| Bee
Keeping/ Goat rearing
Targeted
at women, these are self-sustaining projects, which have
been rolled out in other parishes and countries in Africa,
with much success.
Friends of Kitui already runs a project for the Empowerment
of Women which provides beehives to give women an
additional source of income for their families.
€2,000 per project
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Mission
Tractor
(second hand)
The
purchase of a second hand mission tractor can be used in
local cultivation and in construction and can be rented
out.
€10-15,000
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| Health
Centre Dispensary
Needed
to cater for the locals, many of whom are too poor to
afford medical care. Fully stocked it costs
€7,500
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Photocopier
For
parish/ locals use. Charged by the page also, for self
financing €1,500
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| Bookshop
Catholic
bookshop. €1000 to set up, then self-financing. €1,000
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Diocesan
Bookshop in Kitui town
Click
to enlarge |
Other
projects
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| Sponsor
a Child
For individuals/ families who would
like to sponsor a schoolchild in the parish (see photo
opposite of some kids in parish) through their secondary
school, this is coordinated through the Friends of Kitui
project and costs €500/ year. Already over 100 children a
year in the greater Kitui diocese are sponsored by Irish
people to great success.
€500
per child: covers board and education for 1 year
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School Children in Kyuso
Click to enlarge |
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Please
get Involved!
We
would love you to get involved in any of these projects.
Resolving just one area would have a huge impact in the
parish, however if we were to raise the €44,200 required
for all of them, it would be truly life-altering for all
parishioners of Kyuso.
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We
see many benefits in such a venture
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It
will benefit another Christian/Catholic community, less
well off than Rathgar
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It
will encourage Christianity through action
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It
will allow us involve various groups, of all ages and
interests within the parish, including many parish
members who may not have had an opportunity to get
involved in other parish activities
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We
will all learn from the vitality of African Church
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How
you can help?
Join
or lead a temporary fundraising group
for just as long as it takes to raise the project funds.
These amounts are not high in today’s Ireland. Come up
with great ideas to raise the funds, implement it…and
make a real difference! |
Make
a donation
to the general Kyuso fund or to a specific project. 100%
of any monies you donate will go directly to Kyuso.
Funds for the Diocese of Kitui will be routed through Trócaire,
without deduction of
any administrative costs or expenses.
Contributions qualify for charitable status tax relief. |
| Please
send any
donations,
in a clearly marked envelope, to the Church
of the Three Patrons, 49 Rathgar Rd, Rathgar, Dublin 6,
or place your donation in the safe at the back of the
Church.
You
can also make a direct lodgement into the Rathgar/
Kyuso account: AIB Terenure Road East, sort code: 93-10-71,
account no: 35707124. Cheques should be made out to
“Rathgar -Friends of Kyuso”. |
Contact:
Friends
of Kyuso Committee: Eugene Hillery , Sandra Lawler, Ronan
Davy or Mary O Rourke by e-mail: friendsofkyuso@gmail.com
Or
contact Fr Paul Lavelle at 01-4971058 or
Rathgar
Parish office at 01-4972215.
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