- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Professor Hasmukh Shah BEM, a trustee of Vale4Africa who organised the dinner which was attended by more than 130 people and £2,622 were raised.
By: Shubham Ghosh
VALE4AFRICA on October 13 organised a charity-fundraising dinner at the Mercure hotel in Cardiff to raise funds for their work in Tororo in eastern Uganda. The occasion saw participation of more than 130 people and £2,622 being raised towards supporting the charity’s goal.
Professor Hasmukh Shah BEM, a trustee of the organisation who organised the dinner, said, “With our partner organisation called Advancement for Community Empowerment in Tororo (ACET), we work in Tororo district to support rural based initiatives in developing improved health and education outcomes for its residents.”
Speaking about the charity’s current projects in Tororo, Shah said the funds raised at the dinner would aid purchasing of equipment to support health services provided by the Benedictine Eye Hospital and Tororo General Hospital to thousands of people.
Prior to disruptions caused by Covid-19, both hospitals in collaboration with Optometry and Ophthalmology teams from Wales and local health centres, ran joint eye care camps between 2014 and 2019 and treated more than 5,000 patients.
Shah also spoke about two education projects being overseen by the charity based in Barry in Vale of Glamorgan — a library and provision of water.
“ACET rural library is one of several private libraries in Tororo offering services to school children and those in secondary school. Funds raised will go towards the purchase of educational reading materials like textbooks and maintenance of a library so that the registered users who are over 3046 in number have a safe place to study,” he told India Weekly.
The second project is about providing water to schools. Under this, clean water has been supplied to 32 primary and one nursery school. Over 8,000 pupils have benefitted from the provision of drinking water and school dinners over a period of nine years. Girl students do not have to undertake long treks any more to fetch water during classes, Shah said, adding that it has reduced the attrition rate among girls.
At the dinner, Vale4Africa’s former chair Ted Arbuthnot gave a presentation on an eye-care camp while Maureen Owor, trustee, spoke on the charity’s current projects in Tororo.
