Christmas 2009 Newsletter

A Merry Christmas to all our readers and thank you as always for all your generous support; without your commitment Double Joy could not survive.

News from Double Joy

We asked Mary Hinde to send us her thoughts on climate change as this seems to be having an increasingly devastating effect on rain fall in Kenya. This was Mary’s response:

Climate Change brings unpredictable rainfall

Everyone is talking about climate change and how it is a matter of life and death. It is easy to understand that hurricanes are destructive and that droughts and floods are devastating, but why do reporters make such a point about erratic rains and unpredictable rain falls. Surely, rainfalls are always unpredictable. You decide that on Saturday morning you will go shopping at an open air market. As you set off you look at the sky trying to decide whether or not to carry an umbrella. Of course rain is unpredictable, that is the nature of rain.

However, there are vast areas of the world, the whole of India for example, where the rainfall depends on whether the sun is overhead at Cancer, at Capricorn or the Equator, where the sun is overhead is predictable. In Europe this apparent migration of the sun brings summer and winter. You may argue that this year there was no proper summer, but the leaves did appear on the trees, the grass did grow and the flowers bloomed. Just imagine that summer and winter became so unpredictable that it was possible for the sun to rise at 5a.m on Christmas Day or that on the day you set off for your summer holiday it was still dark at 8a.m. Just imagine how disorientated people would be if suddenly Christmas week in south Wales experienced the weather of the Australian New South Wales and vice versa.

Poor rains mean high cost water and poor harvests

This is how devastating the erratic rainfall is proving in the countries where the rainfall is expected to be as predictable as the position of the sun in the sky, because the latter is the cause of the former. Right now, on 23rd October we should be surrounded by mud and lines of small green shoots should be seen in the fields. Every year the rain starts before October 20th which for historical reason is a public holiday. The Kenya Government, having been “reliably” informed that the El Nino rains were coming, has prepared for floods in flood-prone areas, but here and in most parts of East Africa there is drought. Tomorrow we shall start buying an inadequate supply of dirty water from the lake costing 4 pounds a day. It will be brought by donkeys. We do have an elaborate system of gutters, pipes and water storage tanks to collect rain but it is now two weeks since it rained. The most serious problem is that of food production. Our staff have ploughed their land and planted their seeds, but little grows. Both people and animals are very thin, both are dying. It is hot, very hot.

Double Joy is a source of hope and security for so many

Double Joy Children’s Farm is like a huge tree in the dried up landscape. Not only does its shade provide comfort and protection, but the provision for our orphans, the wages we pay our staff and the purchases we make from local suppliers are like nutritious fruits hanging from branches. Right now DJCF is sustaining 100s of people. We are equipping our children for the extremely difficult lives that lie ahead of them, we are sustaining our staff as they struggle to maintain huge extended families, always including orphans and, to cope with expensive emergencies like funerals. We provide some emergency help for the local community, especially a free ambulance service.

In spite of the low exchange rate and high inflation in Kenya your donations are truly life giving. A little goes a long way, because it has to, and, as it does so, it sings a song of thanks.

Mary Hinde

Donation Cards

New design ‘make a difference’ cards are now available . Please email brenfamp@hotmail.co.uk for details or send your donation, payable to FODJ, to Pauline Brennan, 25 Watery Lane, Lancaster, LA1 2SQ.

Ten Mile Sponsored Swim

The Gladly Solemn Sound west gallery choir based in Lancaster has been supporting Double Joy for several years with the proceeds from concerts and CD sales. When Jasper Neely, one of the basses, who is also a keen swimmer, decided to do a sponsored swim along Lake Windermere, he chose Double Joy as his favoured charity. The lake is over ten miles long and although he had trained by swimming distances of 5 miles in a swimming pool he wasn’t totally confident of success.

On the morning of 25th of September Jasper set off in a boat from Newby Bridge with Bob McKitterick and Alan Nowell to start his swim at Fell Foot at the South end of the lake. Being a Friday, traffic on the lake was minimal and the weather was ideal, overcast but warm with very light winds. Jasper swam for half hour stretches taking a break for a drink or a bite whilst hanging onto the boat. Alan and Bob steered a smooth course up the west side of the lake trying to match their speed with Jasper’s. Crossing the path of the chain ferry was a worry but the timing was perfect. Jasper had estimated 6 hours for the ten miles and he waded ashore at Waterhead, right on schedule to a cheer from the boat and drinkers in a pub garden by the beach. He was a bit cold and tired. After changing out of his wetsuit and drinking a pint of beer sitting in the boat alongside the pub’s jetty, he was very pleased with his performance. Double Joy will be pleased too, he raised around £1600 in sponsorship.

Alan Nowell

The Gladly Solemn Sound CDs

Two CDs, Christmas Music and Songs from a Wyresdale Church are available for £10 each, with all profits to Double Joy. Contact Alan Nowell: Tel. 01524 847794, Email. alan.nowell1@btinternet.com

300 Miles Bike Ride

This summer Roy Stephenson set himself the challenge of cycling from his home in Lancaster the Quaker Yearly Meeting in York and back to do his bit for climate-change and to take the opportunity to raise some money for Double Joy.

Much of his route was off-road, which combined with mud to make the ride more challenging. Roy met many people along the way. “I told them what I was doing and the end result was that, even before I reached York, I’d collected some cash from generous souls, some of whom simply emptied their pockets of the loose change they were carrying.” Roy rode back from York on tarmac roads and collected an amazing total of around £1540 in sponsorship and donations.

Wendy

Our Thanks also go to:

Charles Curran who, on the occasion of his 80th birthday in January, asked for gifts to be given for work with the children at Double Joy, in lieu of presents, raising £ 350.

The family and friends of Bill Jeavons, who at Bill's funeral in April of this year generously gave gifts totalling £520 to Friends of Double Joy. We thank you Carol. This kindness will do a very great amount of good in the lives of the children.

Brian and Jean Hoy in St Albans for hosting garden parties for friends and neighbours, raising £150.

Jan Worthington, who celebrated her 50th birthday with a ceilidh and invited her guests to make a donation to Double Joy instead of buying gifts, raising more than £600.

Thank you to all Double Joy supporters for your magnificent fundraising efforts and for raising people’s awareness of Double Joy. Double Joy relies on you supporters, to raise funds and to let people know about Double Joy, which you do very well. If we (trustees) can support your efforts by providing flyers or pictures on disc, please get in touch (wpattinson@yahoo.co.uk, with FODJ as subject). And if you have a sponsored event in mind and need help or logistical support, contact Alan Nowell (01524 847794, alan.nowell1@btinternet.com).

Meet 2 Children at Double Joy

My name is Helen, I am 10 years old. My friends are Lilian and Jocinter. My sisters are Vera and Lorraine. I like reading story books. My best subjects at school are Maths, Science, RE, and Social Studies and I would like to be a teacher in future. Something that makes me happy is games time. I like rainy season best because our crops grow well.

My name is Max and I am nine years old. I have friends Meshack and Kevin. My sister is Magdeline. I like to eat fish. My favourite football team is Manchester United. I like playing football and reading story books. My best subjects are English and Luo (my mother tongue). Something that makes me happy is when our farm animals give birth. I like the rainy season best because we have enough water in the house. When I grow up I would like to be a doctor.

Double Joy now has a home for 7 elderly residents

I met Samuel Onyona at Double Joy in June 2009. I already knew his face from the photos that I had been sent but it was especially good to meet him, and the other older residents, in person. I spent some time listening to his story and how life is for him at the moment.

On our 2nd meeting I learned that Samuel had been a sergeant in the King’s African Rifles and had fought in the 2nd World War against the Germans and Italians. He described how he was ferried to Port Said (Egypt) via Aden and how he and his comrades fought from the Sinai desert, through Palestine and Lebanon, to Aleppo in Syria. Demobbed in 1946, he told me he had never received his pension from the Army, and he is not clear if this was due to an administrative error or fraud.

He spent the intervening years as a subsistence farmer near Double Joy, but recently he and his wife were supported by Church Funding for Children and Aged (CFCA) as they had become too infirm to tend and harvest their crops and maintain their house. Samuel and his wife Magdalene came to Double Joy’s Residence for the Elderly in November 2008, when CFC relocated their office to Bondo, some 15 kilometers away.

I asked him, “How’s life here at Double Joy?” He replied that although he was grateful for the security that living here affords him he thought the food portions are small. Later Mary explained that, although the amount served was adequate, it is customary to prepare surplus food to ensure that those eating should be completely ‘full up’. This seems like a healthy custom and means all sizes of appetite will be appeased. However it may also mean that some food may go to waste and funding for the elderly is limited. Due to a poor harvest this year, most local people are having to eat even less than previously. If you want to make Samuel’s 3 meals a day more filling please join us by giving to Friends of Double Joy.

Samuel told me he and the other residents would like to keep up with the news. I bought a radio, and supplied a solar powered charger, to alleviate their isolation. Now they listen to music and news in their first language (Dholuo) on Radio Ramogi every day. I think Samuel and his co-residents would really appreciate letters and greetings from friends abroad.

On the Sunday before I left Double Joy (6th July, 2009) a newcomer was introduced to me as Theresa. She seemed a shy lady and I spent a little time talking with her before encouraging her to come and sit amongst the other residents. She settled in amongst them and went on to tell me how she had asked to come to Double Joy because her house was falling apart and, having become infirm and with no family left to support her, she was unable to rebuild it. She was afraid at night because youths were sneaking into her compound and stealing her belongings and meager food supplies. She felt relief to be in the sanctuary of the Residence for the Elderly where she felt safe. I was sad to hear in August that she had passed away and to realise that those were her last few weeks alive but glad she had died in a secure and caring home.

Eric Roseden
Please Google fodj.posterous.com for more about Double Joy.

FODJ Charity News

Since we brought the plight of elderly people in the vicinity of Double Joy to your attention last Christmas, many of you have risen to the challenge of providing additional donations to help Mary Hinde meet this need. She has converted the old CFCA building to provide basic accommodation for seven elderly people, who now have basic accommodation and regular meals.

At present, this lies outside the charitable objectives of FODJ so cannot be funded by us. Donations are made directly to Mary and don’t benefit from Gift Aid, which would increase their value.

Trustees have considered the situation carefully. We regard the central function for Double Joy to be providing for the children. However, we recognize that elderly people from the same community have real needs too, and that providing this is compatible, both with the ethos of Double Joy and the wishes of our supporters.

Trustees intend therefore to contact the Charity Commission to seek their advice with a view to enabling us to incorporate the small group of elderly people into our charity statement.

Jenni Stephenson, Chair of Trustees

Ernest Marsland

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death in early August of the person who must, without doubt, have been the oldest supporter of Double Joy. Ernest died at the great age of 105. He was born, lived all his life, and died in the same house in Morecambe, where he brought up his own large family.

His funeral became a real celebration of his life and was attended by his seven children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as many friends. Up until the end of his life he continued to take an interest in the children of Double Joy and helped financially to support them. He was a lovely man who will be greatly missed.

Jenni Stephenson