by Emma Wood
This is my last night!
On the day I found out that our trip to Rwanda later this summer had been cancelled due to Covid-19, I came up with the slightly random challenge of camping in the back garden every night for the month of June, to raise money for Comfort International. And now there is just one more night to go! June has not been as dry as I had hoped, but my tent has been a watertight and cosy refuge. I have enjoyed/endured raucous birdsong from about 3 am every day, a stiff back every morning, and varied weather, including rain, wind and even thunder and lightning one night. But it has honestly been an enjoyable experience, and definitely worth it for the generous donations that have been made! I’ve been joined on several nights by my husband Paul, and the whole family will be sleeping outside for my last night tonight (30th June) to help me complete the challenge!
I first became involved with Comfort International 3 years ago when, inspired by my friend Katherine who had visited Rwanda with CI the previous year, I decided to get involved. In 2018 I had the privilege of visiting Rwanda myself (with Katherine, her daughter Tana and other people who are now firm friends), to visit several of the projects supported by Comfort International. This was an amazing experience, and it became clear to me that the work being done by Comfort International and their local partners is really providing hope and changing the lives of those they support, including genocide survivors communities, kids in the street-kids rescue projects, and mums and babies in the Comfort babies project. During the visit we made contact with a group of kids living in a swamp area in Kigali, taking them breakfast at sunrise, and hearing their stories. Later in the year, Comfort set up the Nyabisindu Street kids rescue project to support these kids, and we were delighted to be able to sponsor Simbi Ariah, a vulnerable 8 year old girl we had met that day. It has been a delight to hear about her progress over the two years since then, and very special to spend time with Simbi in 2019 when I went back on a trip with my daughter Molly. The transformation in such a short space of time was incredible, and I barely recognised the energetic, mischievous and happy little girl we met. Simbi took great delight in showing us the Nyabisindu house, showing off what she had learned in school (which she was attending for the first time in her life), and introducing us to her Nyabisindu family.
On that trip we also spent a few days in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where we were lucky enough to visit some of the CI projects including several schools and the hospital in Rusayu which provides maternity and infant care, general surgery, rape survivor surgery, emergency care and general medical care free to those who cannot afford to pay. We also had a memorable visit to meet the inspirational Children of Liberty where we heard the incredible stories of some of these ex-child soldiers.
The vulnerable people supported by Comfort International are suffering the consequences of Covid-19. Lockdown has meant loss of work, and no income to buy food. Food prices have escalated and food is scarce. Schools have closed, so education is suffering. Please consider donating to my camping-out-for-comfort challenge to help raise money to support the vulnerable and inspirational people supported by Comfort International.
www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/camping_for_comfort
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