Liberty Wines, our enthusiastic London-based funding partner recently held a gastronomic fund-raising lunch, bursting with delicious Italian specialties such as Tuscan Wild Rabbit Casserole, Butternut Squash & Pinenut Stuffed Ravioli, and Vanilla Panna Cotta & Red Berry Compote. The dishes were prepared by Adrienn & Diana, with ingredients generously donated by the company. The feast was accompanied by several lovely wines which were easily to hand! Perhaps less work was achieved than on a normal Friday afternoon – all in a good cause though. Around half the staff attended, raising the magnificent sum of £231!
Liberty Wines began supporting Network for Africa’s work in Uganda in 2009 and has held many lunches and other foodie-based functions since then. They raise money to support a group of resilient women called Ribbe Aye Teko (Together We Are Strong) in Patongo, Northern Uganda. Part of a large influx of internal refugees during the brutal and protracted twenty-two year long civil war in northern Uganda, these women were identified by Network for Africa as being particularly vulnerable and impoverished – mostly single mothers often caring for siblings and orphans, around a quarter of them are HIV+, suffering from trauma with minimal education, land ownership or income opportunities other than selling small amounts of produce in the local market. Almost £5,000 has been raised to support Ribbe Aye Teko and the women have chosen to spend it themselves on oxen, ploughs and gardening equipment, bicycles for all 53 of them, a small plot of communal land, goats and seeds for various grain crops. Their latest project is a piggery which is just starting with the planting of food crops for the herd during the rainy season which started recently.
The lives of the women and their families have improved dramatically, with improved diet and health, especially noticeable in those women with HIV, and better access to hospital when needed. And everyone at Liberty Wines enjoys the social interaction of their fundraising events as well as the satisfaction of seeing every penny of their donation go to the vital Ribbe Aye Teko-N4A projects.
