Led by Pastor Ben Betz from the Forster Tuncurry Church of Christ they will take with them literally thousands of items donated by the community.

“We’ve got medical supplies, school supplies, clothes – I could just keep going on and on.

“It’s all really practical stuff that the community has donated.”

Making the journey will be Ben and his wife Helen and their three children Jessica (18), Joash (15) and Kirra (13). Joining them will be Bob and Sue Parry; Kai Squires; Jamie-Lee Kingsmill; and Rowan Bettridge.

They will spend a month in Uganda conducting aid work at the Impact Ministries orphanage which cares for over 710 children orphaned by AIDS and civil unrest.

According to Ben with the extent of civil unrest and corruption in Uganda the delivery of many of the basic services we take for granted such as health and education falls to church organizations and non-government organizations.

Thousands of dollars have also been raised thanks to out-of-uniform days and other events at Great Lakes College Tuncurry campus and the Taree Christian College.

Joash Betz and his mate Rowan Bettridge even completed a 250km fundraising walk from Tuncurry to Tea Gardens and back, raising well over $3000.

These funds will be used to install freshwater supply systems at the orphanage and neighbouring villages and to sponsor pigs, cows, chickens and fruit trees.

Soccer clubs in Tuncurry and Old Bar have donated over 100 shirts which will be used during a friendly Australia verses Uganda clash during their visit.

Ben first learnt of the plight of this African nation when he met the son of a Ugandan pastor while studying theology in Canberra.

It is a landlocked country and Lake Victoria, one of the largest in Africa, dominates the southern part of the country.