July 1, Canada Day, has rolled around again. My maple leaf flag is hanging proudly on my balcony and I am feeling lucky to be living in this magnificent country.

And once again I am happy to announce and promote the CanAssist African Relief Trust Canada Day Challenge. For the past two years, the Sasamat Foundation of Vancouver BC has helped CanAssist to accomplish infrastructure projects in Kenya and Uganda with a donation of $10,000 and a challenge to our donors. They also agree to match up to another $5000 in donations we receive in July that are allocated to water projects. This effectively doubles the impact that CanAssist donors can have.

This year, if we accomplish this fundraising in July we will be able to buy rainwater catchment tanks and guttering for nine schools and one clinic in Kenya and Uganda and provide sanitation for one school as well. This will effectively benefit over 3000 school children as well as the patients and staff if the Ugandan Clinic. We will have all these in place by October.

I am really excited about this and I hope that CanAssist supporters are too. Your donation now, every dollar, will be doubled and put immediately to work to help Africans who are not so lucky to live where fresh water is available at the turn of a faucet. Typically, many school children in rural Kenya and Uganda have to fetch water from dirty water sources, sometimes a few kilometers away. Our sources report that girls are sometimes assaulted as the do their daily chore of getting the jerry cans of pond water that are used for washing, cooking and drinking. Having access to clean water at the school would allow them to concentrate on their schooling, avoid the risks of long walks alone to fetch water and will reduce the incidence of water-borne diseases.

Please help us accomplish this. Every dollar will be appreciated and every donation of $25 or more will qualify for an income tax receipt. And all of your gift will be spent in Africa. And if you agree that this is a wonderful way to celebrate Canada Day, share this with your friends. We Can Assist!

Donations can be made using a credit card and the secure link to Canada Helps that is on the CanAssist website – http://www.canassistafrica.ca or the link below.

Or by mail to CanAssist African Relief Trust, P.O. Box 1385, Kingston, Ontario. K7L 5C6