ULLADULLA residents will learn more about the volunteer work of Katie Davies and Amazima Ministries International at a fundraising afternoon tea next month.
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Women will come together for the Ulladulla Colour High Tea Fundraiser in the Baptist Church auditorium on Saturday, August 26.
Coordinated by members of local churches, the high tea will support Katie, the founder of Amazima - an organization that feeds, educates and encourages the orphaned, poor and vulnerable in Uganda.
In December of 2006, 18-year-old Katie travelled from Brentwood, Tennessee, to Uganda for the first time and was immediately captivated with the people and the culture.
In the summer of 2007 she returned to the African country to teach kindergarten at an orphanage and was shocked by the number of school-aged children sitting idly on the side of the road or working in the fields.
She learned there were few government-run public schools in Uganda and none in the area where she was working.
Katie was compelled to start a child sponsorship program, matching orphaned and vulnerable children, who were unable to afford schooling, with sponsors anywhere in the world.
An annual gift of $300 enables one child to go to school and provides the necessary school supplies, three hot meals each day, spiritual discipleship and medical care.
While she intended to have only 40 children in the sponsorship program, Katie had 150 signed up by January 2008 and today the program sponsors more than 600 children.
Amazima means truth in the native Luganda language and the organisation seeks to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people of Uganda who need it most.
Now a mother of 13 orphaned girls, Katie also runs a feeding program, providing weekday meals to more than 1,200 children which allows them to attend school instead of being forced to beg on the streets.
She initiated a self-sustaining vocational program to empower women in the village of Masese to generate income by making Ugandan magazine bead necklaces which are sold in the United States.
One of the high tea organisers, Mandy Lee, is encouraging people to go a long and find out more about the organisation that is changing lives in Uganda.
She said all money raised would help feed and educated the needy.
Ladies from throughout the community are invited to join in the high tea and make a gold coin donation to the charity.
There will be an exciting live auction, a silent auction and massages on offer, as well as information about the Katie’s charity from 1pm until 4pm.
Organisers hope women from all walks of life will come together and be inspired by Katie’s story.
Women from combined local churches will make all the goodies for the afternoon tea and hope to entertain more than 200 guests in the newly renovated hall.
Mandy said, while it wasn’t held last year, the high tea had been popular in the past and she expected the community to support the event again this year.
“There's plenty of excitement around it happening this year within the town, as last year it didn't go ahead,” she said.
To book a seat or table, phone Fiona on 0415 533 865 before August 9.