Changing lives one child at a time.....

Celebrating 10 years of Sylvia's Children in Uganda with Ugandapallooza! 

Ten people on this trip .... All mothers with their children!  Great fun and celebration!

Sylvia Allen

www.sylviaschildren.org        sylvia@sylviaschildren.org

732-946-2711

   

Sylvia’s Children Update

It only takes one person to make a difference.

After devoting the past 10 years to her nonprofit, Sylvia’s Children, anyone who has met Butler building owner Sylvia Allen, 76, would undoubtedly agree she has helped make life better for more than 1,000 children in Mbiriizi, Uganda.

Eye-opener

Allen journeyed to Africa with another mission group over a decade ago. It was an eye-opening trip; the last stop was the village of Mbiriizi, where she witnessed extreme poverty and one-third of children living as orphans due to the AIDS pandemic. They visited the Mbiriizi Primary and Day School and as they were leaving, Allen was invited by the head of the school to be the children’s adopted grandmother.

The elderly are revered and respected in Uganda, and Sylvia said she was honored to have been asked. She happily obliged, but knew right then that she needed to do more than accept an honorary title.

She returned to the States and founded a non-profit called Sylvia’s Children to raise money so that more orphans could attend school.

With little more than sheer determination and grassroots efforts, Allen has helped to raise over $800,000, all of which has gone directly to the school.

Trip planned

In addition, she has been to Uganda 18 times with the 19th trip planned June 13-25. Each trip features a number of repeat travelers – those who have traveled with her before – and people who are going for the first time.

“What’s exciting about this trip is that it is our 10th anniversary celebration and we have 10 people going,” said Allen.

On Monday and Tuesday Sylvia’s daughter, Michele Costa, has planned “Ugandapallooza” featuring games such as duck duck/goose goose, three legged races, potato sack races, relay races, soccer competitions and more. On Wednesday the entire school is going to clean the village of trash … reinforcement to the children about protecting the environment. On Thursday there will be a parade through town and Friday is party day. There is a special birthday cake for the orphans at the school (250) because they don’t know when their birthday is. In addition they serve lunch to the children, parents, guardians and local community officials. Lastly is an afternoon of singing and dancing and performing by the children.

On the final two days, the group goes to Paraa Lodge in Northern Uganda for a safari. This is the only area in Uganda that has giraffes (and, of course, lions and elephants and warthogs, too).

Accomplishments

Sylvia’s Children has been able to build a well for fresh water, a boys’ dormitory, an addition to the girls’ dormitory, three new double classroom blocks, a school playground, 10-unit housing for teachers, a fully stocked library, an Internet-equipped computer lab, a building and sewing machines, and will soon finish construction on a medical clinic. In addition, the school hired a full-time nurse, a sewing teacher and also started a science club and arts and crafts club, making it the only school in Uganda offering electives.

In 10 years, enrollment has grown nearly 30 percent and the charity’s mission has expanded to include cultivating a sustainable, entrepreneurial economy at the school. Sylvia’s Children has been able to incorporate a chicken farm, corn-milling business, uniform sewing trade and an arts and crafts cooperative, in addition to the medical clinic. All of these will not only strengthen the economy of the village, but also provide essentials on a practical, every day level for the school.

‘Voluntourism’

Early on, Allen saw the benefit of donors experiencing firsthand what the money was supporting. She began enlisting travelers to go with her to the school, a concept now commonly called “voluntourism.” She travels there three to five times a year and has brought doctors, dentists and nurses, who have helped save lives by providing vaccinations and identifying and helping treat serious illnesses and injuries in addition to creating medical files for each child at the school to track their growth and progress.

Many of these people were inspired to go one step further for Sylvia’s Children. One such person is Vicky Tucillo. Tucillo traveled with Allen to the school in 2006. That Christmas, knowing what an impact the trip had on her, Tucillo’s husband donated funds to build the school a library in her name.

With the dogged determination of an evangelist, Allen has spent the last 10 years talking to practically every person she meets about the charity; soliciting sponsors, donations and items for the school and its children. Allen, whose business requires her to travel throughout the country and world, also involved her friends, family and local community, many of whom have chipped in their time, money or other support.

An example of what Allen likes to call “children helping children,” she partnered with one of the local elementary schools to develop a global relationship so the students from each school could exchange letters and learn from one another.

The students at the Joseph J. Catena Elementary School in Freehold Township were even able to talk to their counterparts via a Skype chat. So moved were the children to the realities of life in Mbiriizi, they held fundraisers and raised enough money to pay for a playground at the Mbiriizi School.

All of this activity is culminating in the widespread exposure Allen has sought for so long for the school and its students, giving millions of people a unique glimpse into an important issue and different culture.

Sylvia’s Children was recently featured on Fox 5 News in New York, Fox 9 KMSP in Minneapolis-St. Paul, in The Huffington Post, and in a special segment entitled, On the Road: Hope from Minnesota, on ABC’s Minnesota affiliate, KSTP as well as ELLE and other international magazines.

“This has been the most exciting project I have ever undertaken in my life” said Allen. “I am so lucky to have this opportunity to help other people have a better life through empowerment and education.”

For more information on Sylvia’s Children, visit www.sylviaschildren.org, or call 732-946-2711.

What $850,000 accomplished

•    1,000 pairs of socks and shoes

•    Addition to girl’s dormitory

•    Building for corn and vegetable storage

•    10 unit teacher’s housing

•    Facility for 40 sewing machines to teach sewing

•    6,000 sq. ft. medical clinic

•    Playground in memory of Kasozi Moses

•    Two chicken coops + 800 chickens

•    Well

•    Three new stoves

•    Three new double classroom blocks

•    Desks for the classroom blocks

•    Medical supplies for the nurse     (on-going)

•    School supplies

•    Seven Christmas parties with gifts

•    Complete new playground

•    New item of clothing for each child at Christmas (4 years so far)

•    New 14 unit latrines

•    New beds for the boys/girls’ dormitory

•    New kitchen

•    Orphans’ birthday party every summer

•    Flags

•    T-shirts for the children

•    New library and books for the library

•    Computers

•    Internet service

•    Full time nurse

•    Eight acres of land

•    Solar lights for safety

•    Support for orphans going on to secondary school

•    School Bus

•    Solar power for the clinic

•    1,000 blankets, one for each child

•    Three new cooking pots to extend ability to feed all children

•    Boy’s dormitory

•    Support 68 orphans in secondary school

•    Support for orphans going beyond secondary school (4)

•    Increased student population from 439 to 1,015

•    Increased support for 250 orphans