This month the decision has been made to give the Lundie Memorial Award to an amazing young woman who has dedicated herself to the work of the Sanyu Babies' Home in Kampala, Uganda. 

Emily Cheer is 24 and was nominated by the minister of Beulah URC, Martha McInnes. Martha told us of Emily's calling to serve the  babies and toddlers cared for by this Christian organisation which cares for up to fifty little ones.Many of the children they take in are found abandoned in garbage heaps, pit latrines, diches, taxi parks or are left by the side of the road. 

"Emily volunteers at Sanyu Babies’ Home in Kampala. She first went there in a gap year between school and Uni, then again in Uni hols the following two years – for three months at a time. She found her way there, having opted to volunteer in Kampala as she knew of one contact – a friend of a friend of a friend – by local research.

She knew she wanted to go back for longer so worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Hollies Special School for a year to fund her trip (something she plans to return to – eventually). She had various ideas of things she could do, working with the staff who had got to know her, which would really make a difference. She had observed that the children get excellent physical care, and are loved, but had no 1:1 time with any staff, so speech and fine motor skills were often delayed. She also knew that the children hardly ever stepped outside the perimeter wall, because outings cost money. The only way they happened was when a volunteer funded a trip – usually to a local play centre with pool, for all the children who could walk.

When she arrived this time – 15th August 2019 – the children had not had an outing since the last one she had run 2 years previously. She set up a programme of small scale outings, run by the Sanyu driver, one Mama and her, for a small group of children travelling in the Sanyu car. She was in the process of withdrawing herself from the actual trips to evidence that they don’t need her – just a small stream of dedicated funding and a programme to follow. She’s really keen that everything she does is sustainable. Trips included the zoo, the airport, shops – massive experiences for children who only knew the home. And vital preparation for being fostered or adopted and entering the outside world.

Emily does 1:1 sessions with all the children except the tiny babies every week. She has devised a programme, with the ‘teachers’, of month long themed activities that can be repeated every six months. Her idea is that volunteers (there are usually a number of international and local volunteers – none except her at present of course) can run the activities, supervised by the teachers; this would be a good way of employing the volunteers who often struggle to ‘be useful’.

She is responsible for writing quarterly reports on all the children who are sponsored, and for compiling and editing the quarterly Sanyu Newsletter. And in-between she changes umpteen nappies, feeds numerous children, washes up, sorts mountains of laundry, plays……"    

We are sure that the money that Emily receives as part of the Lundie Memorial Award will find a really good home. What an inspiring young woman!