In Uganda, there are nearly 2 million children who have been orphaned because of HIV/AIDS, war and disease.

The aim of the Kain C+C Charitable Foundation's 2009 Uganda Project is to take part in relieveing the plight of these orphans. There are four aspects to the Project:

1. Send a team to a Suubi village in Kampala (Uganda's capital) to build a house for eight orphans. Suubi village has over 85 occupied homes, a nursery school, primary school, high school, a vocational training centre and a clinic. With the help of a team of 10 Ugandan builders, our team will build the house, pay the the costs of construction and spend time working with the orphans.

2. Donate $20,000 to an organisation to help Ugandan orphans. We have identified a number of different organisations and projects which we can help. We are still receiving donations and, through the sponsorship of one of our team, we are expecting to receive more money once the team return from Uganda. Once the final amount to be donated has been determined we will decide on the organisation and projcet we will donate to.

3. Work at M-Lisada Orphanage. M-Lisada Orphanage is in the heart of Kampala, Uganda and has a total of about 70 children ranging in age from one to 18 years.

4. Donate items such as clothes, books and toys to the orphans. Some very generous clients and friends have donated over 150kgs of clothing, books, toys, workbooks and more for our team to take to Uganda. These items will be divided up and donated to the children at Mercy Orphanage and the children at Suubi Village.

The Foundation is sending a team of nine to Uganda to work in the orphanage and build the house. The team comprises three Kain C+C team members - John 'Jonty' Kain, Sarah 'Mini' Chia and Patrick 'Moose' Walsh. They will be joined by Jonty's daughter, Jessica 'Jecka' Kain, and five clients and business associates of Kain C+C - Pat Hodby (Perks Chartered Accountants), John Rhigas (P & R Electrical Wholesalers), Mark Sowerby (Blue Sky Private Equity), Ben Sullivan (NAB) and Tony Vroulis (Shearer + Elliss).

Over the past 12 months, the team have been working hard to raise $40,000 to cover the cost of building the house and $20,000 to donate to help the Ugandan orphans.

Through the generosity and kindness of many people, they have successfully raised $61,750 to date, with more donations expected once the house is built.

The team left for Uganda on Tuesday 28 July 2009. They will be sending in updates and photos while they are away which we will post on this page so watch this space.