See also the Review and Report on 2005 for details of all containers sent in 2005.

When we are not loading a container on a Saturday morning we are preparing goods for the next one - sorting, packing, stacking etc..

A few more pairs of hands on these occasions would be most welcome.

Just turn up any time between 8.30 a.m. and 12 noon.

In 2005 over 23,500 items in 27 containers were sent to 16 different countries. Compared to the goods sent in 1999 you can clearly see the emphasis that is now put on development - education, health and self help projects. This was a conscious decision of the Trustees and Management Committee.

1999

See also the Review and Report on 2005 later in this page for further details of our work last year.

Anne Price, who sends containers on behalf of CART to the Gambia and visits regularly to oversee the distribution of the contents writes:

“During my month trip to The Gambia in December I was invited as Cart’s representative to the Banjul Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital’s Annual Breakfast meeting for Donors – a meeting which was addressed by the President’s lady amongst other notables and heads or representatives of business who support wards or health initiatives, and sat next to the Ambassador of Cuba - so CART’s involvement in sending beds and various medical stuff on a regular basis was duly acknowledged.

"I have been in contact with a planning man and an MP on the North Bank and hope to set up a community based organisation which I have insisted has to be headed by Ms Forbes as a Christian president no matter who else is on the board from the community. This organisation would be entitled to get automatic duty waivers for goods for it which should help future containers.

"I have asked if it can be called CART Gambia Branch and in the constitution have provided that it should receive and distribute goods specifically nominated for projects whether on north bank or south bank.
Two men who went to school with me could only fashion to stay 3 days – sleeping on hay type sacks on a cement bed and having frogs jumping around not to mention no doubt the mice, mosquitoes and other creepy crawlies and the heat, not being conducive to their staying longer.

"We have provided about twenty bikes for ladies to get to and from the garden area from the 3 Saami villages, many garden tools, a water barrel, buckets, bowels and wood, mesh and paint for beehives to collect bees to assist in the pollination things like tomatoes and peppers. I hope the resulting easier way to collect the honey will be good for the villagers and also the beeswax can assist in tie die batik work once we get the skill centre up and running which has been provided with a dozen treadle sewing machines and sufficient wood work and metal work tools to get started with.

"The Primary school also had tables had chairs donated as well as the usual mixture of second hand clothes.
I am pleased to advise that the headmaster of the school on the South Bank, Youna School (which we have supported very heavily over the years)has now arranged with the Catholic priest to provide for Bible teaching for the Christians who attend Youna primary and secondary school. Guildford is always keen that we propagate the Christian Gospel in delivery of relief. I said to the headmaster that I was particularly pleased with him about making this contact and provision as I have been very much aware, as a minority person myself how vulnerable Christians must have felt when hundreds of kids were gathering for Muslim prayers and nothing was being done for them. Whilst he is a Muslim his concern is for all the kids having as level a playing field, so to speak, as possible. The school has about 1,200 pupils with approximately 120 of these being Christians – a higher proportion than in other areas. So hopefully I’m meeting some of Guildford’s strictures."

Thank you as ever for all your support. God bless," Anne Prince.

In April 2005 CART sent two 40 foot containers to Zambia. One to our regular consignee Grace Mwanalushi of CINDI-KITWE and one in partnership with Mpika Village of Hope Orphanage Trust based in Denholme. Grace shared the CINDI goods with a number of other recipients amongst which were:

Kamfinsa State Prison
“Thank you for the container which arrived in Zambia last month. As you indicated, soap was given to inmates, all the female prisoners. (We included female prison officers.) Thank you for the bike. Grace gave me some tins of paint for my house.
Kindly continue stretching your good hands to the prisons as God will richly bless you.”

Yours in Christ’s Love,
Rev. John Zimba, Prison Chaplain.

Kitwe Central Hospital
“Management and staff of Kitwe Central Hospital wish to acknowledge with thanks receipt of your donation of various medico-surgical items. We are encouraged by this kind of support in our continued efforts of looking after the sick. Your donation will go a long way in supplementing the hospital’s meagre resources. We wish to assure you that the items will be used for the intended purposes.
It is our prayer that the Lord will bless you for the good works you are doing. May God richly bless you.”

Yours faithfully,
Eneless Hakalebula Mwape (Mrs), Client Relations Officer

Luanshya Trust School
“On July 14th 2005 Luanshya Trust School wereprivileged to receive an assortment of books, toys, computers, desks and chairs from CINDI-Kitwe. The items donated to us are a great addition to the equipment and learning/teaching aids our school needs in order to create a more effective environment in which we can impart knowledge and skills to the youth. On behalf of all the pupils, staff and parents and, indeed, on my own behalf I wish to pledge our careful use of every piece of the materials received and thank you most sincerely for the kind donation."

J S Muleya, Headteacher
There were also 27 letters of thanks from the pupils.

United Church of Zambia
“Thank you very much for the wonderful items we received. We gave them out and people were very thankful. We have also started a women’s knitting club using the machines we received. Please, next time, you send some items, if possible, we need more knitting machines. We are also using the knitting wool you sent. It has been very helpful to the women. We really thank you for that.” Yours in Christ, Ellen Mulenga

Mpika Village Orphanage – this is a new initiative. June Matley of the Trust based in Denholme writes of Jenny Musakanya, her contact in Mpika:

“Jenny is going to officially open the orphanage on 28th January 2006, there is much work still to do but much
has been achieved. There are now seven children resident in the orphanage and they are all very happy. The
things sent on the container have helped many people". Best wishes, June Martley

Jenny has sent details of the children in the orphanage. Freeman Chola is one of them:

“Freeman was brought in by two old women from the local church in his village. They think he is 7 years old. They decided to bring him after seeing his suffering. His father and mother died when he was 5. There was no one to look after him apart from his 86 year old grandmother. He used to do a lot of work for her, such as collecting firewood, fetching water and sometimes gathering wild fruits from the bush. Sometimes if other villagers failed to give them food they would sleep without eating that day. He started going to school but stopped because he lacked pencils and books. Life just went on like that; he also sometimes was pinched by
his grandmother when he failed to do the work given. When he came you could physically see the suffering in his face: he was very pale looking and had a very bad cough and a swollen tummy. He was immediately taken to the hospital. When examined he had a swollen spleen, malaria and an upper respiratory infection. I am told he never had bedding and used to sleep with no covering. Now he is very fine and happy but he doesn’t want to go back to his grandmother. He wants to have a good education and be a doctor when he grows up. Please continue to help and support him as you already have done.”

Jenny Musakanya

A Review of 2005 from the Treasurer:

During 2005 we sent 27 containers - 5 of these were financed by others and CART paid for 22 at an average cost of £4,300 each. We supported a fly fishing project in Kenya; sent a vehicle to Gambia; and purchased land in Ghana, for our consignee for storage purposes, and in Liberia for a new school. Through our supporters we also sponsored the education of 5 children in Kenya, 25 children in Liberia and 27 children in Malawi. The extension to the shop was completed and this helped to increase the takings to £40,000. We have set a target for 2006 of £50,000.

We could not have achieved this without the generous support we receive from individuals, churches, schools, businesses and other organisations.

Please accept this as an acknowledgement of all the amounts we receive, large and small, including those who pay by regular standing orders. To all of you who are able to gift aid your donation this has increased our income by £7,400 for 2005.

During 2006 the Trustees hope to be able to complete the fund raising to build a school in Liberia. The building will start in September 2006 and we need to raise approx. £10,000 by then. We are also looking at ways to increase the floor space in the warehouse.

We pray that you will continue to support the Trust in its important work to help relieve poverty and hardship to those in need in rural Africa.

Alan Sims

In order of dispatch Average cost of containers sent £4,300

Sub-total £94,596

In lieu of container:

GRAND TOTAL £109,296

CART has received a number of craft items from Kenya, manufactured by craftsmen hoping to sell their art to support themselves. There is a wide variety of articles: jewellery, wood carvings of various sizes, soapstone carvings, also of varying sizes.

Some of these items will be on display at CART charity shop, and samples will be taken to craft fairs and to illustrate talks given by CART members.

All items are for sale and the whole of the money will be sent back to the craftsmen in Kenya.

Anyone interested in purchasing some of these articles, which make ideal gifts and are very reasonably priced, should contact Mrs Brigitte Matthews on 01484 687353.

Don’t count you chickens before ……………

…… but we have counted them and so far we have 83 following
our appeal in the winter newsletter to buy a chicken for £5. We need
money for a further 117 chickens so that the refugees in the displaced
persons camps in Lira, Northern Uganda, can start their chicken farm
to support themselves and their families.
Will any Easter chicks pop out of Easter eggs this Easter
to help us towards our total?

WANTED Sponsors for the education of children in Liberia and Kenya

Most countries of Africa are very poor, for example, in Kenya almost 80% of the people live on less than $1 per day. HIV-AIDS has compounded the problem, claiming many lives mostly from the productive sector of society, meaning that orphans are left behind, having to fend for themselves, without any government support.

CART is committed to helping these children get an education thus helping them acquire skills for future self-reliance, hence prevent the vicious circle of poverty. At the moment, we sponsor 25 children in Liberia, but due to the change in the circumstances of their sponsors, 2 children are now without support. Can you help? It only costs £40 to educate a child for one year in Liberia!

CART also sponsors 5 children in Kenya where education is much more costly, and we would like to expand the scheme.

• it costs £130 to educate one child for one year at primary school
  
• it costs £250 to educate one child for one year at secondary school
  
• it costs £70 to provide the uniform for one child
  
• it costs £80 to provide the books and writing materials for one child

If you are willing to help by making a contribution, however small, towards these schooling costs, please contact Mrs B Matthews on 01484 687353.

WHAT OUR SECRETARY DOES (but won’t be doing after 6 August 2006)

• Correspondence with UK supporters by mail or e-mail.
• Correspondence with the African recipients of containers of relief items by e-mail or mail.
• Maintaining files on the above.
• Responding to telephone enquiries about donations of relief items and arranging for their collection with a team of collectors.
• Arranging for delivery of relief items to the warehouse.
• Organising relief items to Africa (ordering containers from our shipping agent to be delivered to the warehouse; notifying the loading team; and dealing with subsequent paperwork). This was done 27 times in 2004 and 27 times in 2005.
• Publicising the charity via the local press; the 3 in-house newsletters; and the presentations to schools, church groups etc.
• Organising the annual Harvest Appeal for local churches and schools.

Gordon is retiring from the secretaryship on August 6th 2006, his 70th birthday.
The management committee is looking for volunteers to help with any of these tasks. If you would like to know more about what is involved before deciding whether or not to you are able to help please ring Gordon on 01484 311287.

With thanks to Greenhead College for producing the paper version of this newsletter.