Carolyn Corwin, Author at The Greater Contribution

A Wonderful Day Ahead

Carolyn Corwin — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 03:52:00 +0000

We have been hard at work preparing for tomorrow’s final loan repayments for 3 groups and for new loan distributions!! Karon and I can hardly wait to reunite with our borrowers of Lwaboba, Kimwanga, and Tororo. It will be a very busy day, but one filled with love and gratitude!! And how appropriate that it will be Valentine’s Day!! I wish you all a very wonderful day of love and happiness. I am so grateful for the support of my family and friends, and for all of the wonderful Greater Contribution supporters and donors who help to change the lives of many women 1/2 way around the world. Thank you!!

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A Day Off!

Carolyn Corwin — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 03:45:00 +0000

After 12 days of wonderful work here on the ground in Uganda, Karon and I decided to take a day off! We went to Siipi Falls which is northeast of Mbale. Siipi Falls has 3 falls and I was able to see all 3. One from the vantage point of across the cliffs and the other two I hiked to along with William (our driver and dear friend) and our guide Martin. Karon went with us to see the first fall and then stayed back at the Siipi Lodge to enjoy the amazing beautiful gardens and the gracious cool weather we found up atop Mt Elgon. It was a nice break for us and a very relaxing day, although the hiking in the hot sun was somewhat of a challenge for me. The falls were powerful, the sound of the crashing water and gurgling river was music to my ears. It was green and lush, cool in the shade, and the water was refreshing.

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When School Registration Begins, So Do Hardships

Carolyn Corwin — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 03:35:00 +0000

Here in Uganda when a new school session begins financial hardships begin. Public school is not 100% free, families must pay fees for each child as they are registered. Here fees increase as the children grow older with primary fees being less than secondary, secondary less than senior, and senior and university fees being much higher. So as the child grows the session fees increase. We find many children can not progress past primary due to the enormous expense. When surveyed our women borrowers always testify that meeting school fees is a top priority.

The financial stress of meeting these school fees not only affect the family’s budget, but also the day-to-day businesses in every sector of the marketplace. As families struggle to meet the cost of school fees they are forced to cut back on their purchases of food and other necessities. The local markets and shops are void of buyers and revenues drop dramatically. Businesses will now suffer for an entire month as families recuperate from the added burden of the school fee payments. The Ugandan school session is just beginning now and as we visited our borrowers in Gulu, borrower after borrower shared the same report: “business is fair, times are hard during school registration.” If fees cannot be met the children are sent home and not allowed to attend.

One of the many benefits of The Greater Contribution’s Micro Loan program is the training we provide. The trainings concentrate on the importance of savings and record keeping. We promote and encourage savings at every repayment meeting so that the women can better plan for their future and expenses. TGC’s goal is to teach our borrowers to manage their profits thereby allowing them to be able to pay their school fees while they continue to afford nutrition for their families. For many of our women the act of savings is new, and we have heard repeatedly from them how thankful they are for this new skill set!

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Reflections

Carolyn Corwin — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 03:30:00 +0000

There are many things I wish to do in my life. I dream of traveling, remodeling, retirement, a new car or recreational vehicle, and of lovely places to visit in my home town. Here in Uganda they dream of fresh water, irrigation systems, livestock ownership, about affording public education fees, about help for the sick and injured, about their own literacy. They work hard, and I mean hard with their hands and body. They dig, and plant, and plow by hand in the hot sun. They sweep their dirt floors and the grounds around their huts. They travel miles by foot every day to collect water in Jerry cans, and to hopefully sale their meager harvest at the road side market. They do this day in and day out, there is never a break in their strife. They do this or die, these amazing women of Uganda who dream of the basic necessities of life. I am astonished at their perseverance. And I am amazed at how the micro loan program helps them to achieve an extra meal a day, pay school fees, help to own a cow, a pig, or a goat, help to afford medicine when needed. You have no idea how your generous donations ease the pain and suffering. Here on the ground I see it first hand and I can tell you you are an angel to help us help them. Their gratitude is beyond belief and so is mine. There is much more to do, thousands more need help, and those in the program need continuing help. It is so hard to be here, I want to save them all, I want them to have the basic necessities of life, the things that I take for granted every day in my own life. Our work to provide micro loans and basic business training continues and I am proud to be participating in the work and to be making a difference in the world. I am humbled.

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Arriving in Uganda

Carolyn Corwin — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 00:04:00 +0000

Carolyn Corwin

I awoke to the sunset over the African horizon, blessed to have slept 4 hours! When we land in about one hour we will have been traveling for over 30 hours! As long as that is, it does not feel as bad as one would think. I have devoured 5 boxed meals, all but one served in the dark. We left our homes at 4am on Thursday, January 29th and we land on January 30th at 11:30 pm in Entebbe.

I have a sense of peace and happiness as I gaze out of my window watching the ever nearing darkness envelope the bright oranges and reds of the sky; there is one bright star floating along with us. Tonight we will stay at a hotel near the airport and early tomorrow we will travel to Mbale. Our work begins the day after on Sunday. We will visit two of our loan hubs, one in Lwaboba for a quick hello and then travel to Tororo to work with our Loan Administrator there.

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Taking Flight to Enrich the Lives of Others

Carolyn Corwin — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 22:52:00 +0000

Carolyn Corwin

Hi! My name is Carolyn and I will be traveling with Karon to Uganda. We leave next week on the 29th and arrive on the 30th at 11:30pm!! A long travel day, but so worth it!

I am excited to be going, this will be my third trip. I will be responsible for computer training and process improvement; 2 near and dear topics to my professional life as an IT consultant.

I love the people of Uganda and am so excited to be going back to assist with the marvelous work being done there by The Greater Contribution. I look forward to sharing my experiences with you over the next few weeks!

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Back in Uganda!

Carolyn Corwin — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 17:23:12 +0000

Back in Uganda for my fourth visit to borrowers and prospective borrowers. Although I’ve been here before, I am still astounded by the deep and pervasive poverty. At the same time, this is a country of industrious, hard working people. Everywhere I go, I see people out on the street, selling something! People are in small shops, kiosks on the street, sometimes just an overturned cardboard box or egg crate becomes a table on which they display their wares. These are resourceful and tenacious people.

A reminder of this arrived in my email this morning from a lady seeking our help. She says: “Winning Women is a group of twenty-five extremely poor women who have come together to see how we can develop ourselves, family and community out of poverty. The group consists of single mothers, youths, married women and widows. Each has at least a small business, however, all is done on a minimal scale due to small capital. Our main objective is to come out of poverty, become self-sustainable, develop to be responsible parents and an example to the community.”

This story is typical of women in Uganda. They may have a small business but lack of capital keeps them from making a profit and making any headway against the poverty which defines so much of their existence and yet their goals are not just improving their lives in material ways, they also yearn to be better parents, better people!

My time here is short and I am visiting three groups while here to talk with them about how our program works and to see if it’s the right program for them. But I will re-arrange my itinerary and get to a meeting with this lady and her group and then try to determine if we can help them too. There is so much need and I am so grateful for all of you who support this work. We are all blessed by so much material wealth in the U.S. and we are also blessed with the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of our less fortunate sisters and their families.

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