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During the inter-communal violence that followed the disputed Kenyan elections there was videspread violence across much of Kenya. It is estimated that over 1,000 people were killed. Amongst the victims were six young Scouts killed in the Rift Valley town of Naivasha.
The Naivasha Scout Leaders arranged for the whole Troop to leave the town and they drove North-west until they crossed the Ugandan border near Sironko.
They are being looked after by the local Ugandan Scouts. This "refugee camp" has since grown to over 400 people, mostly young Scouts and their brothers and sisters. About a third have no parents. Tents were provided by the UN High Commission for Refugees but the focus of the main aid agencies is on the larger "Official" refugee camps such as the one at Soroti.
The group continues to be supported by the Ugandan Scouts, who are sharing what little they have but the burden is great.
The good news is that about one-third of the Kenyans in Sironko have volunteered to return home now that the Kenyan "government of national unity" is beginning to be formed and there is a chance that Kenya will stabilise. This would obviously reduce the cost of food for the camp and so enabling this to happen is a priority task for the Dongo and the other Scout leaders running the camp. For this, they obviously need the money for fuel.
Donations may be sent to the Hampshire Scouts County Office as cheques payable to "HCSC". Just write "Uganda Appeal" on the back. The money will be transferred to the Sironko Scouts to help them support their Kenyan refugee guests and to enable them to return home as soon as possible.
Very heavy rain is making life in the camp difficult with a high malaria risk.
It is now colder than is usual for Uganda and there is an urgent need for children's clothing.
Large consignments tend to run into trouble with the Ugandan customs so these are best sent as single envelopes of clothing by individual families from the local Post Office.
The address is "Dongo, Aramathan, Elgon Scouts of Uganda, PO Box 1664, Mbale, Uganda".
Use of the International Signed-For service is recommended for small packages.
One Group has sent a much larger consignment (over 100kg) by "Interparcel" ( www.interparcel.com ) and found this to be the best and quickest way. By booking the parcels through one at a time, they were able to get a better price than all in one hit, and also were able to benefit from a 5% discount on each charge. The parcels were actually sent via DHL. The use of Interparcel was much cheaper. The Group could track their progress and the clothing has now arrived safely.
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