im super committed to blogging this week. i just wanted to share this one email that i got from victoria, a friend in the camp in response to my 1+1 emails...
"I also read about the debit card when i click on &10 for a year.hope you understand i wish i could do it but i don't still have the ideal."
victoria feeds a group of about 30 children who have lost/are losing their parents to HIV/AIDS. ive maybe mentioned her...
that she even clicked on the button and took time to explain that she wasnt financially in the position to make this donation is pretty moving and well, grounding for all those times i say i cant afford to help someone in camp out.
"had it been another day, i might have looked the other way, and i´d have never been aware..."
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
funerals and hope
today william, the man in charge of the purses i sell, called to tell me that one of the women benefiting from hope's free sewing classes, veronica brown, had passed away.
she left behind one 6 yr old boy who we currently have on scholarship, veron brown, and an older daughter who i dont know.
their father died in the war and the rest of their family is in liberia. a relative should be coming back to the camp to care for them, we hope.
right now, hope is struggling to figure out how to make funeral arrangements and what will happen to these kids. from what i understand, a good portion of purse profits will be spent on these details this month.
i was reluctant at first to advance hope the month's profits for this purpose.
funeral arrangements don't hold much significance to me personally - something i am very grateful for. they are however, massive in liberian culture. ive seen a few happen, luckily rarely for people i knew well. they are a huge celebration that can last all night. they're full of singing and dancing. its not nearly as teary and somber as they are here... although the younger the person, the more i notice the sadness. money is a huge component of liberia camp funerals, from what i can tell. normally a church community and your neighbours/family pitches in. when someone dies you give money, not casseroles.
it seems as though these kids are pretty alone. i admire william, esther and the rest of hope foundation for making this sacrifice. the next month will probably be tricky, especially since they have just moved into a new office and have all the responsibilities that come with it. they have signed on the older daughter onto sponsorship as well, and are looking for ways that she could maybe get to university.
its only been a few hours so this is all coming in slowly. hope is holding meetings to figure out where their responsibilities lie.
im starting to see how complicated it is to sponsor a group of students. along with paying school fees, uniforms rip, textbooks are updated and kids need feeding. parents also seem to die, which complicates those needs all the more.
so... buy your purses. the money goes to a pretty selfless and hard working organization.
http://eattofeedliberians.com/shop.html
she left behind one 6 yr old boy who we currently have on scholarship, veron brown, and an older daughter who i dont know.
their father died in the war and the rest of their family is in liberia. a relative should be coming back to the camp to care for them, we hope.
right now, hope is struggling to figure out how to make funeral arrangements and what will happen to these kids. from what i understand, a good portion of purse profits will be spent on these details this month.
i was reluctant at first to advance hope the month's profits for this purpose.
funeral arrangements don't hold much significance to me personally - something i am very grateful for. they are however, massive in liberian culture. ive seen a few happen, luckily rarely for people i knew well. they are a huge celebration that can last all night. they're full of singing and dancing. its not nearly as teary and somber as they are here... although the younger the person, the more i notice the sadness. money is a huge component of liberia camp funerals, from what i can tell. normally a church community and your neighbours/family pitches in. when someone dies you give money, not casseroles.
it seems as though these kids are pretty alone. i admire william, esther and the rest of hope foundation for making this sacrifice. the next month will probably be tricky, especially since they have just moved into a new office and have all the responsibilities that come with it. they have signed on the older daughter onto sponsorship as well, and are looking for ways that she could maybe get to university.
its only been a few hours so this is all coming in slowly. hope is holding meetings to figure out where their responsibilities lie.
im starting to see how complicated it is to sponsor a group of students. along with paying school fees, uniforms rip, textbooks are updated and kids need feeding. parents also seem to die, which complicates those needs all the more.
so... buy your purses. the money goes to a pretty selfless and hard working organization.
http://eattofeedliberians.com/shop.html
Friday, February 12, 2010
kelly potter
kelly potter wrote this article about ETFL... i think she's done a pretty incredible job at capturing the growth of the organization since those early days in the KW record.
check it out!
http://sheridansunonline.sheridanc.on.ca/feb_11_2010/international/globalaid_eattofeedliberians.html
check it out!
http://sheridansunonline.sheridanc.on.ca/feb_11_2010/international/globalaid_eattofeedliberians.html
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
worst. blogger. ever.
i do mean to do this more frequently, it just keeps getting put on the back burner.
first bit of news, that i feel like ive overdone in the last 10 minutes, is the 1+1=7 campaign. basically, i need 220 people to give me $1 a week to cover all my expenses. if i can get this covered, i can start thinking about expanding to either more children or better food. paypal will deduct your credit card either $5 (for just feeding) or $10 (to help pay teacher salaries) each month. i feel like ive written this out 100 times today so check: http://eattofeedliberians.com/oneplusone.html for more information.
please sign up for this.
having this steady income means that i dont have to tie myself to fundraising day in and day out. ETFL and i will survive and generally be a lot stronger if i can be mobile with it... i love doing this but i dont want to take a salary from it and so it cannot be my life forever.
these past two months, however, ETFL has pretty much been my life. i now have a mini office beside my basement store that i seem to live in all day. its been hugely productive in getting things in canada sorted out, sort of. i feel like there is still piles of work to be done, but i dont know what they are. (blogging has taken a hit because i cant imagine anyone wants to read about paperwork).
thanks to marg leiher, ive started this school speaking tour which turns out, is a lot of fun. i hit up my old KCI world issue's class a few weeks ago. it was bizarre to be back there.. hadn't visited since i graduated (the place still smells the exact same). in highschool i was incredibly uninvolved - my family doesn't let me live this down since my two younger siblings were both co-premiers and significantly more athletic than me (although that doesnt take much). its nice to be able to go back and tell a story that doesn't centre around a person who you could see doing something like this right from the get go. in the next few weeks i'll be at st. agatha and st. theresa showing more pictures and what not.
i can't think of much more to write right now... this office is productive but not wildly inspiring.
and again. http://eattofeedliberians.com/oneplusone.html.
a loonie a week is literally all that i need.
first bit of news, that i feel like ive overdone in the last 10 minutes, is the 1+1=7 campaign. basically, i need 220 people to give me $1 a week to cover all my expenses. if i can get this covered, i can start thinking about expanding to either more children or better food. paypal will deduct your credit card either $5 (for just feeding) or $10 (to help pay teacher salaries) each month. i feel like ive written this out 100 times today so check: http://eattofeedliberians.com/oneplusone.html for more information.
please sign up for this.
having this steady income means that i dont have to tie myself to fundraising day in and day out. ETFL and i will survive and generally be a lot stronger if i can be mobile with it... i love doing this but i dont want to take a salary from it and so it cannot be my life forever.
these past two months, however, ETFL has pretty much been my life. i now have a mini office beside my basement store that i seem to live in all day. its been hugely productive in getting things in canada sorted out, sort of. i feel like there is still piles of work to be done, but i dont know what they are. (blogging has taken a hit because i cant imagine anyone wants to read about paperwork).
thanks to marg leiher, ive started this school speaking tour which turns out, is a lot of fun. i hit up my old KCI world issue's class a few weeks ago. it was bizarre to be back there.. hadn't visited since i graduated (the place still smells the exact same). in highschool i was incredibly uninvolved - my family doesn't let me live this down since my two younger siblings were both co-premiers and significantly more athletic than me (although that doesnt take much). its nice to be able to go back and tell a story that doesn't centre around a person who you could see doing something like this right from the get go. in the next few weeks i'll be at st. agatha and st. theresa showing more pictures and what not.
i can't think of much more to write right now... this office is productive but not wildly inspiring.
and again. http://eattofeedliberians.com/oneplusone.html.
a loonie a week is literally all that i need.
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