CHOKO 2023 - Beer festival
ABOUT CHOKO
Choko was set up in Cholsey as a community linking project with the aim of raising funds for disadvantaged communities in the Kodumela region of South Africa - hence the name from Cholsey and Kodumela.
CHOKO have been raising money and supporting a variety of African Community Projects since 2005. Every year through GoMAD in Tanzania (and previously WorldVision) we have sought to connect with these African communities through the linking of schools, churches and visits while also holding events in Cholsey to help fund vital projects that can help to improve living and healthcare standards and provide means for sustainable employment so helping communities to grow and overcome barriers to progress.
The current focus with GoMAD is on maternal and infant mortality. This year we are looking to raise money to make the following improvements to a clinic in the North Mara region in Tanzania where GoMAD operate.
- Mattresses, bed linen and mosquito nets to equip a spare room in the clinic for women to stay over for a day or so to recover from their birth.
- Monthly allowance to pay for an ambulance service for women to go to the bigger hospitals to have C sections or help with complicated births.
- Small extension to the clinic to provide temporary accommodation for pregnant women to stay in prior to giving birth so that they are close to the clinic.
- Midwife to work in the evenings when most women give birth.
- Equiping a room for a midwife to sleep over in when she is on night duty.
The CHOKO beer festival also raises funds for the Cholsey Primary School PTA and have supported a number of other local charities during our 15 years of fundraising.
For more information on GoMAD in Tanzania, please visit their website at https://www.gomakeadifference.co.uk/
For more information on CHOKO, please visit our main website at http://choko.org.uk/
CHOKO 2018 Update
Ntwetwe Project in Uganda
Choko is continuing its partnership with World Vision and has formed a new link with the community of Ntwetwe in Uganda. We have now funded most of our first project – funding a poultry breeding programme. This will be the first step in assisting the people of Ntwetwe. The funds for this project have now been sent to World Vision but due to flooding in the area the project has not yet commenced further details will be posted when they are available.
This new relationship with Ntwetwe is a great opportunity for new people within the Cholsey community to get involved – and we would certainly love to have new people on board. If you’d like to get involved in any way please email info@choko.org.uk.
Ntwetwe
Ntwetwe
Ntwetwe is located in Central Uganda, in a district where most people are subsistence farmers and grow crops which include maize, potatoes, cassava and pineapples. Some of their produce is sold but most farmers use the crops to help feed their families. Through Child Sponsorship, we are working with the local communities to help them to improve their livelihoods through training in farming methods, small business loans and skills and literacy classes. Gaining a greater access to healthcare, education and clean water are some of the main goals for this programme. Child Sponsorship will also enable healthcare professionals to provide information and advice to communities about greater hygiene and sanitation, and also encourage the vaccination of children against preventable diseases. There is a high risk of HIV and AIDS and we are working with communities advising them on how to prevent contracting the virus and providing help and support to those who are suffering. Thanks to Sponsorship, school management committees will be formed and teachers will be trained on improving their teaching skills. The communities will be fully involved in all the programme’s activities, so that they will develop the knowledge and confidence they need to take the work forward when our project phases out in 2022.
Uganda is a beautiful and fertile country in East Africa. It suffered greatly under the dictator Idi Amin, and the civil war that followed his overthrow, but since 1986 it has known relative stability, with rebel groups only remaining active in the North. Most of the population live in rural areas growing their own staple foods of matoke (savoury green bananas), maize and cassava. The country has a very high rate of HIV/AIDS but has managed to reduce infection rates.
* population: 25 million
* life expectancy: 45.7 (UK 78.1)
* 141 per 1,000 children die before their fifth birthday.
* 48% of the population do not have access to safe clean water
* 31.1% of the adult population cannot read or write
* 4.1% of the adult population are infected with HIV/AIDS
As part of our support to Ntwetwe we also sponsor a child through World Vision, this ensures that we have a link with the area and that the money given through sponsorship goes directly to Ntwetwe.
CHOKO 2017 update
CHOKO is a community based project that has the long term aim of making a sustainable change to the lives of the people in Kodumela, South Africa. St. Mary's Church has been delighted to support both the aims and the people behind this wonderful project. For more information about CHOKO please click here.
Since 2005 Choko has raised over £130,000 to support World Vision’s Kodumela Area Development Project in South Africa. These funds have built a centre for disabled children, promoted health projects, initiated rainwater harvesting and market gardening efforts and most recently supported a piggery project creating sustainable employment for dozens of people.
As the work of the Kodumela ADP reaches the final stage, our efforts are now on supporting more employment-creation projects like the piggery. This will give dozens of people the chance to support their families -meaning hundreds of people will benefit for years to come. Initial capital helps the workers’ co-operative start or expand – and then the project is self-sustaining.