A young couple, one from Canada, the other from the USA have been working diligently for a few months on a huge fund raiser and on May 31, 2008, surpassed their ambitious goal. Pauls Grinvalds from Burlington, Ontario and Sonia Klumpp from Connecticut, USA are coming to Tekera at the end of July, 2008 and will spend several months learning the native ways while sharing their knowledge and experience to their Ugandan friends. This coincides with their interests in third world development and we are sure that we learn from each other. They met at McGill University in Montreal and have been together ever since. They have traveled to several places, getting first hand knowledge of the difficulties facing less fortunate people.
They started their endeavor by contacting friends and relatives. They rented a location to hold a fundraising gala which, I hear, was a great success. Considering that they were also involved in their own business venture, this event was remarkable indeed!
One of their tasks will be to teach the teachers how to use a computer. It may be surprising but computer knowledge is very limited here and all the teachers are anxious to learn.

The two have a website to keep in touch with their friends and family. It will also be a record of their experience in Uganda. Those wishing to know their perspective, can view this at  http://www.goinggrassroots.com

Sonia has a saying at the bottom of her e-mails and I found it so appropriate to life.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Winston Churchill