Hurricane Katrina Relief: Resource Center

New Orleans' Reaching out to Uganda

December 1, 2005

Give and you will receive….

On Thanksgiving morning, a story by Bruce Nolan appeared on the front page of The Times-Picayune paper in New Orleans, entitled “A Wealth of Compassion,” which related the efforts of women from Meeting Point International in the slum of Kireka, outside of Kampala, Uganda, to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region of the US.

A few hours after the story appeared, I began receiving emails and phone calls from people from New Orleans, expressing their gratitude for the testimony of love given by the women of Kireka. Some of the people wish to send money to Uganda to reciprocate the generosity of the women of Meeting Point; all of them want to send their words of thanks.

Last week I had the opportunity to meet Rose, the director of the Meeting Point, and to give her a big hug on behalf of all the people in New Orleans who wanted to thank her and the women. She was very happy to hear from their new friends in New Orleans, and assured me that the women were going to be thrilled to hear that people had responded in this way. I discussed with Rose about the possibility of receiving donations for the women and the center and she proposed that the money be channeled into a revolving fund for income generating activities and loans which the women at Meeting Point rely on to buy materials and meet household expenses.

I will serve as a facilitator to make sure that this surge of generosity from New Orleans reaches the lives and hearts of the women in Kampala, and that the new friendships that have been born can flourish.

Use the following address to send correspondence or donations to the women of Meeting Point. Checks should be made out to "AVSI USA" with "Katrina-Kampala" in the subject line.

 AVSI-USA

1000 Connecticut Ave, NW Suite 403

Washington, DC 20006

 AVSI-USA will collect the letters and checks received and will send them to Uganda, and will communicate with the New Orleans’ friends any news received from Uganda on a regular basis. 

 Some New Orleans residents have organized collections of clothes and other goods to send to Uganda. I will communicate  with Rose to get a better idea of their material needs and will share this with you soon. In the meantime, gather ideas of what people want to contribute, but hold off until I confirm what they can accept and put to use.

Jackie Aldrette

Program Manager, AVSI-USA