9,000 Miles to School

Students from St Andrews Secondary School in Matale, Uganda will soon be making the 9,000 mile trip to visit their Sister School, Southridge High School in Beaverton, Oregon.  Martha (10th grade), Daisy (10th grade), and  Moses (9th grade) along with Head Teacher Sajjabbi Andrew will represent Matale in this cultural exchange.  They will live with Southridge host families during their 3-week stay and attend classes with their Southridge counterparts.

The Harambee Centre will host a reception for Martha, Daisy, Moses, and Mr. Sajjabbi and we’d like you to join us in welcoming them to Oregon.  Keep a look out for an e-vite from The Harambee Centre, we will send this invite out as soon as the dates are confirmed!

Other News from St Andrews Secondary School

Construction of the Girls’ Dormitory is underway thanks to ZoomUganda and Harambee Centre donors. This is only the beginning of the large project. When completed, the dormitory will provide 300 girls with a safe learning environment that will enhance their chances of academic success.

There’s still a lot to do and with your help,hundreds of girls in Uganda will be able to go to school.
To support the education of girls and the Girls’ Dormitory construction,click here.

Sewing Together for a Brighter Future

The Harambee Centre is pleased to announce that the Naisosion Sewing Project has a new management partner in Tanzania, the Rural Community Network (RUCONET). Founded in 2008, RUCONET is a Tanzanian NGO that works with rural indigenous groups to improve local community and household welfare. RUCONET manages projects targeting women, including sunflower cultivation and the making and selling of beads, textiles, and garments.

Naisosion’s new training facility, constructed in 2012 and funded by you and other Harambee Centre donors, will continue to provide sewing and business training to under-educated young women and girls, PLUS house some of RUCONET’s beading and textile classes. This partnership ensures a brighter future for Naisosion and the women it serves. The combined strengths of Naisosion and RUCONET will help more rural women build sustainable livelihoods and improve the lives and education of their children.

Opening Ceremony

On August 17 a very symbolic ribbon was cut. The Chwele Amani (Peace) Center in the village of Chwele-Namwela, Kenya is now open to serve the community! Construction of the 7,000 sq.ft. center was made possible by hundreds of Harambee Centre, Tigard Community Friends Church and Portland area donors. Located on the slopes of Mt. Elgon in Western Kenya, Chwele-Namwela is a rural community of nearly 60,000 people and one of the most densely populated areas in the country. Its high HIV prevalence rate coupled with the fact that 43% of its population is under the age of 15 underscores an acute need for effective, preventive community health education and economic development. The Chwele Amani Center will support much needed programs in HIV/AIDS, nutrition, dental hygiene, computer literacy and micro-credit enterprises in the Chwele community.

Giving Back

Meet Jessica Harn
Harambee Centre Intern

I first became interested in Africa when I was in elementary school, watching documentaries I could barely understand and listening to music from sub-Saharan Africa. In high school, a friend and I decided to get involved with the cultural exchange between my high school, Southridge, and St. Andrews school in Matale, Uganda (2009). We became wrapped up in the enormous task of bringing four students and a teacher from Uganda to Beaverton, succeeding with bridging the gap between two seemingly different cultures, and learning more than I will probably ever be able to describe fully. Seeing my world from their eyes and learning about a culture so physically far from what I had ever known steered me towards a life of traveling and learning about different peoples across the globe. Since graduating high school, I have studied abroad in three different countries and am now living and studying in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East with a focus on International Relations. Being involved with the Harambee Centre changed my life in not only being connected with a different culture and people, but it also gave me a deep insight into how small but powerful organizations operate and change the community around it. The Harambee Centre changed my life and opened up dreams and possibilities, and through my internship with them this summer I hope I can give back a tiny portion of what they had given and are giving me. — Jessica Harn