Photo: Kiwanians Daniele Sturmer, left, and Cathleen Bastible, right, flank guest speaker Forrest McSweeney, who will walk 100 miles solo next month through the Guyanese rainforest to raise funds for his charity, The Uplift Project.
Forrest McSweeney, director of The Uplift Project and a member of the Northampton Kiwanis Club, told Westfield Kiwanis members Thursday about his agency’s work building self-sufficiency in a remote Guyanan village.
McSweeney told members about his experiences hiking with his family in the small country on the northern coast of South America. He explained that the poverty and difficult conditions he saw in rural villages made him want to do something to help. His answer was The Uplift Project, which is designed to help Guyanas help themselves by providing financing for local farmers, businesses, and entrepreneurs.
He told club members about a woman in a remote village who supported herself in part by baking bread for sale. Her tiny propane-fired oven would only permit her to bake two loaves of bread at one time, he learned. Through donations, The Uplift Project was able to buy her a new, large oven that can handle six loaves of bread at a time, greatly increasing her earning capacity.
Others have been helped with donations of farm tools, produce processing machinery, and other equipment, a sewing machine, and more.
McSweeney said a current important project involves the purchase and installation of 500 gallon rainwater retention tanks and roof gutter systems to facilitate the collection and storage of rainwater, which is the only source of potable water for many villagers. To help raise funds for purchase and installation of these tanks, which cost approximately $500 US each, McSweeney is planning a 100 mile solo trek in June through the Guyana rainforest. He is asking supporters to make a per-mile pledge, all of which will go to the water tank program. Pledges can be made at https://upliftproject.org/project-walk-for-clean-water/