We’d like to wish you a very Happy New Year. All the best for 2009 – Dale and I hope all your dreams for the year come true!
Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? If you did, chances are you were thinking about your money, especially in these worrisome economic times. As you can imagine, we at the Africa Village Project think a lot about money too. In fact, we are too small and too new to get grants, government funding, or corporate sponsorship. Instead, all of our funds come from people like you – individual donors who with your generous hearts have allowed us to pursue our dream of helping a small village in Africa on the other side of the world.
So we’d like to dedicate this first newsletter of 2009 to you – the donors and contributors to the Africa Village Project – and to thank you very, very much from the bottom of our hearts. It’s thanks to you that we have been able to do what we have done so far. In the spirit of the New Year, please lift a glass to yourself and accept our very deepest gratitude.
(Please note that every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the following information. We sincerely apologize for any errors and/or omissions and ask that you send corrections to
)
The Board of Directors
First, Dale and I would like to thank our loyal and supportive Board of Directors. To Charleen McBeath, Robert Trowhill and Valerie Neil, we are beyond grateful.
A special thanks as well to Sarah Neil, whose faithful attendance at the Board meetings and whose contributions, especially on those picky financial statements, are very much appreciated.
The shipping container
Thanks to your generosity, we were able to send a 20-foot container to Okaseni with 34 bikes, 14
sewing machines, medical supplies, and over 70 boxes of children’s books, school and teaching supplies, toys, backpacks, etc. These donations will make a profound difference to the present day life of the village and to future possibilities.
Our thanks to everyone who donated goods, helped at the drop-off points, transported stuff, packed the container and/or stored stuff:
Adelaide Lee, Alan Stewart, Alison Markin, Annabelle Addems, Anne Houseman, Ashley Laughlin, Brenda Mason, Brian Thom, Bryce Hamade, Catherine Hyska, Catherine Ryan, Charleen McBeath, Chris Golding, Cindy Macintosh, Connie Van Essen, Cynthia van Ginkel, Chris Voong, Dwayne Finlayson, Donna Mitchell, Diane von Paridon, Ed Reid, Elena Mikheeva, Liz Gray, Ellen Wasan, Erika Crema, Erin Ruggeri, Giti Abouhamzeh, Glen Magel, Gretchen Quiring, Gurjit Bains, Jim Fyfe, Jane Bateman, Jasna Stevic, Jenica Calvert, Jean Karlinski, Jimmy Lowe, Joyce Davidson, Judy Dahl, Kalwinder Randhawa, Kara Horsman, Kimberly Seward, Kristijana Obradovic, Leslie Fairbairn, Leslie Graham, Linda Scott, Lonna To, Lori Burrows, Louise Rimanic, Louise Routledge, Lucy Hawkins, Lynda Hadley, Lynn Stewart, Mari Komatsu, Martin Bollo, Mei Young, Melanie Alatise, Mary Filippeli, Michelle Meyrink, Myron Kuzych, Nelson Tan, Pam Miller, Patricia Cumming, Patricia Sackville, Paul Thurston, Pui Lam, Ramona Thomas, Ranita Sharma, Reana Selody Joubert, Rhys McCormick, Robert Trowhill, Roger Bortignon, Ryan D Jackson, Ser Khee Lee, Sergio Jorquera, Shebia Leung, Silvia Raschke, Stacey Schoffer, Sukhjit Dosanjh, Susan Geddes, Ted Benson, Teresa Plowright, Terry Fuller, Terry Johnston, Terry Suen
We’d also like to send a very special thanks to Tunde Alatise, who organized the shipping for us, packed the container, and donated goods, including many large toys and other equipment for the kids.
The Bowen Island fundraiser
On Sunday, June 6, 2008, we held an auction fundraiser on Bowen Island. The enthusiasm and support that we received were incredible and resulted in total funds raised of $2002.
Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to this fundraiser by donating and/or bidding for items in the auction; donating delicious baked goodies, door prizes, coffee and tea; helping set up and tear down the event; staffing the booths and auction; and running the auction itself:
Ann King, Barbara Acheson, Basil Hii, Bowen Island Butcher Shop, Bowen Island Flower Shop, Brenda Mason, Carson Chiropractic, Cates Hill Chapel, Cates Pharmacy, Charleen McBeath, Cocoa West, Dale Hamilton, Deborah Bramm, Diane Charette, Diane Van Paridon, Doc Morgan’s Restaurant and Pub, Doug Leishman, Karolina, Leah Ford and Rae Washburn, Leslie Fairbairn, Louise Ferguson, Louise Routledge, Mari Komatsu, Matthew Smith, Michelle Meyrink, naked soapworks, Patricia Sackville, Phoenix on Bowen, Robert Trowhill, Sarah Hayes, Sarah Neil, Simply Safari Store, Snug Café, Stephen Kiraly, Susanne Martin, Teresa Plowright, Valerie Neil, Victor Chan
A special thanks to Shelagh McKinnon, auctioneer extraordinaire, who ran the auction and inspired such an enthusiastic response.
Publicity and event booking
Thanks to everyone who helped us with publicity, booking rooms, etc., for the events.
Alison Markin, Chris Voong, Erin Ruggeri, Ian Morton, Julie Andrés, Kathleen Benjamin, Kelly Angelo, Leslie Graham, Louise Ferguson, Susanne Martin, Thomas Abbuhl
The President
We’d like to send a big thank you to Dr. Don Wright, new President of BCIT, who kindly
responded to my letter in the midst of his busy first months on the job. His phone call and kind words about the Project were very much appreciated.
Donors
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has donated to the Africa Village Project:
Kilimanjaro ($5,000 +)
Dale Hamilton and Sheena Ashdown
Tanzania ($1,000 +)
Valerie Baddorf
Moshi ($500 +)
Gail Meredith
Uru ($200 +)
Charleen McBeath and Robert Trowhill
Michael and Maralyn Otte
Sally Scott
Okaseni (under $200)
Chuck Easton
Cynthia Lanyon
Eric Hiob
Izabela Moldovan
Lisa MacIntosh
Louise Routledge
Marcus Dunner
Monica Derkovits
Pat Myers
Peter and Irene James
Petr Zvonicek
Robert and Janice Tomich
Shahla Moodad
Stuart and Noreen Allan
Book and bake sale – and thanks!
The Book and Bake sale at BCIT is set for Thursday, February 12. We need your books, DVD, CDs, and baked goodies – and you!! Please email me at to donate stuff and/or volunteer on the day.
Thank you so much (as always) for your support of the Africa Village Project. To donate, please see below. Your help is brilliant!
Dale and I very much enjoyed our second trip to Okaseni Village in Tanzania this September. It was great to see everyone again and to check out last year’s projects. Also, with your donations, we funded three more projects this year – many thanks for your contributions!
Last year’s projects
The water system upgrades looked great. We saw many repaired water points, and about 6,000 fees of pipe has been replaced.
Dale and the villagers unrolling new pipe for water system upgrades
The villagers were very appreciative as the upgrades have helped make their lives easier.
The coffee nursery was flourishing – we were very gratified. We were invited to participate in a ceremony to plant coffee seedlings on one of the farms – good fun! (The gravellia tree nursery was not as successful although many seeds were distributed to Okaseni families.)
This year’s projects Thanks to your generosity, we have set up a microcredit pilot project for 15 impoverished women in the village. Salma (the wife of Daudi Mavura, who was at the Bowen fundraiser in June) is overseeing the program pro bono.
Salma and I shake hands on the microcredit program
Salma is wonderful – a godsend to the project! We are thrilled to have her very capable help.
Your donations also paid for running electrical power to the primary school and village office. Children can now study after dark and women can run sewing machines to make extra income. As well, with funds donated specifically for schooling for girls, we paid school fees for six girls in primary school, as well as for two boys.
The shipping container with the bikes, etc., that you donated has arrived in Dar es Salaam but not yet been released. We will keep you posted.
Next fundraiser – and thanks!
Please continue to save any books you might want to donate to the book-and-bake sale fundraiser in January or February at BCIT.
Thank you so much for your contributions to help improve life in Okaseni Village. To donate, please see below. Your kindness will continue to touch many lives.
Welcome to the first Africa Village Project newsletter! I am delighted to be able to communicate with you like this. Hope you had a wonderful summer and that you are feeling energized for the fall.
Trip to Tanzania
Dale and I are leaving on Thursday for our second visit to Okaseni Village in Tanzania. We are thrilled to be going again and looking forward to seeing the villagers and other people we met in the area last year.
We hope to accomplish the following:
setting up a microcredit program for the women of Okaseni Village
running power to the primary school and village office
enrolling six girls in primary school with donations we received specifically for this purpose.
It will be a very busy visit, but productive, we hope. Please send us good thoughts and your best wishes!!
Financials
We raised $2002.00 at the Bowen Island auction fundraiser on June 8 and were absolutely delighted with the support the Project received! The expenses were approximately $70.00 and included renting Cates Hill Chapel, photocopying and faxing. Dale and I are covering all the expenses and overhead at this point and are volunteering our time, so you can rest assured that every penny raised will go directly to projects that will help the villagers. If you would like to donate, click on How You can Help.
Thanks!
I just wanted to give a final thanks to everyone who was so amazing this summer and supported the BCIT collection blitz, the Bowen auction/fundraiser, and the shipping. To everyone at BCIT and on Bowen, to our American chums, to our local friends and dear family – a resounding and very heartfelt THANK YOU!!!
You are very much appreciated! I feel like we are all part of a great team working together, in our own small way, to help make the world a better place.
Book of the bi-month
If you’d like to find out more about microcredit, Muhammad Yunus’s book, Banker to the Poor, is the best. Yunus describes how he started Grameen Bank and what positive effects microcredit has on the lives of impoverished women. You’ll be persuaded that microlending is one of the most beneficial things we can do for Okaseni Village.
Next fundraiser
We are thinking of holding a book-and-bake sale fundraiser in January or February at BCIT. Please save any books you might want to donate, and if you’d like to help out, that would be wonderful! Let me know.
Have a very happy autumn and a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I am back at home in Moshi from Kigali and have talked to Melki on the phone. He has informed me that the rest of the materials which were to be taken to Okaseni have already been delivered. He is now mobilizing people to participate in digging the line where the water tape will run. The short rains have not started yet as was expected so therefore something can get going before the rains. I will talk to him for more information on the progress when I meet him this week.
People from the Village whom I have had a chance to meet are very appreciative of what the project is doing in the Village. Yesterday as I was coming back home I met with the Ward Counselor (Mr. Mamboleo) and he promised to help make sure that the project activities are implemented as planned.
Today I also met the woman who is our neighbor whom you personally helped her so that her kid could go back to school. She says “Thank You”. I have also given your e mail to my mother who is keeping the money as you advised. I have asked my mother to email you on what is going on.
I take this opportunity on behalf of myself and my fellow Villagers of Okaseni to thank you very much for your time, effort and resources you have accorded to help our community through the Africa Village Project. As I mentioned earlier when we began communicating on this project, it was possible for you to decide to take the project elsewhere and your decision to help our Village is highly appreciated.
As you noted in the Village meeting, our fellow Villagers were not only touched by the support but your presence in the Village and willingness to share our problems we something special to them. This is the reason why they now consider you as part of Okaseni community.
Considering that I was in contact with you and had the opportunity to meet you and Dale when you came over here, I was very much touched by your willingness and commitment to make this project a success. I mentioned to Dale that based on my experience on how people spend their time in the West, you could as well decide to spend your holiday in a popular destination elsewhere in the world instead of having the trouble to come over to Okaseni and endure all the difficulties as you try to help us.
We very much appreciate your willingness to use your personal funds to help our community. It is only a few people who can do this, considering how difficult it is to earn income in your part of the world and the fact that you also must have other important responsibilities to attend to which needs funds.
What I can assure you is that your effort will not end fruitless. When Villagers in Okaseni will start to: get water easily, harvest more coffee crop and earn more income to meet their survival needs and take their kids to school, be able to protect themselves from malaria, have more forest cover in the Village which could conserve the environment and from which they can harvest trees, or have a school in the Village which can offer better services because of availability of electricity at the School, they will constantly remember you in their prayers.
We request that you continue supporting our Village. Please accept our apologies for anything which we could not done up to your expectations during your stay here. Again, thank you very much and we look forward to working with you on the project.
Dale and I both consider our first visit to Okaseni Village in Tanzania a success. Although we faced some challenges and difficulties, not the least being jet lag and fatigue, we accomplished everything we set out to do – and more.
Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to the Africa Village Project (AVP) fund. You’ll be happy to know that every penny of your donation was put to good use in the village. Dale and I funded the trip ourselves, and no donated money was used for our travel expenses or AVP operating costs.
With your donations, we funded three specific projects in Okaseni:
upgrading the village’s water distribution system
establishing a seedling nursery for the Gravellia tree at the primary school
establishing another seedling nursery at the Village Office for coffee trees.
In total, we spend approximately $7,000 CDN on these projects. We focused on projects that would bring immediate benefits (the water system) and long-term benefits, especially creating income (the trees and coffee plants).
We also made invaluable contacts, including various government officials who provided useful information about the economy and the challenges facing the villagers. We discovered that many worthy programs already exist, but that need funding to make a substantial effect.
For example, we found out that Okaseni and its neighbouring villages do have a credit union. Its total deposits are 14 million Tanzanian (T) shillings, approximately $11,000 US, a modest sum for the population. As well, to borrow from the credit union, villagers must become members by purchasing shares at 5,000 T shillings, a sum well beyond the reach of most villagers.
So, as you can see, we have much to do and intend to focus on upgrading infrastructure, improving health, and increasing income opportunities. Future projects we are considering are
·running power to the primary school and the Village Office
·liaising with Red Cross Canada to provide malaria nets
·developing a micro-credit program to lend funds to the village women who would like to start small businesses.
We look forward to continuing our partnership with Okaseni to help the village become self-sustaining with an acceptable standard of living. Please join us. Click on “How you can help” on the website.
