A Ray of Hope

Ethiopia

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:37:11 GMT

55 Girls - New Academic Year, New Hope

Ahead has launched its first hostel for poor girls in Odo Shakiso District in southern Ethiopia. The hostel provides accommodation to 55 very poor girls who have no one else to support them. Most of the girls come from remote corners of the District. Without such help these girls would stay in their localities and stop their education at primary school level and most likely get married. Their chances of securing jobs or getting self-employed is almost nil. With Ahead's provision of accommodation, they can at least have somewhere to sleep and pursue their secondary education at Shakiso Town, the capital of the District.

These girls need food, clothes, educational materials and ideal some money for costs such as transport. Unfortunately, Ahead does not have resources to meet these needs. Therefore, we appeal to whoever can support these girls in any way they can at any level they can would greatly be appreciated. Ahead can gladly supply full profiles of these girls and their needs. We look forward to hearing from anybody who can join us to help out with this good cause. You can contact Elfneh Bariso via ahead4@gmail.com, or on 0753 578 7721, or 0794 659 2607

Ahead is affiliated to A Ray of Hope

Thank you Heatons Ireland and Santa's wee Village

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:35:55 GMT

A big thank you to Santa's wee Village and Heatons Ireland for their support. Today we started our collection of new clothes for children to be distributed in Europe, Asia and Africa. Only the first step, but so wonderfully encouraging to know that yet another task is planned to completion due to the ever present, generous assistance of our friends.

Roch Valley UK

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:19:17 GMT

Thank you to Roch Valley for the dance supplies which arrived today. As always, the supplies and contribution, are most necessary and very much appreciated.

Sierra Leone

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:52:29 GMT

A big thank you to Pictorial Charts Educational Trust and Roch Valley.

School bags and educational supplies arrive safely at Aminatta's school in Sierra Leone.

Tags: Sierra Leone, Aminatta, Roch Valley, Pictorial Charts Educational Trust,

Santas Wee Village N. Ireland

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:49:03 GMT

Our sincere thanks to Kevin and Carol at Santa's wee Village for their so generous contribution of toys for our projects overseas. These will probably have to be delivered in January.

Tags: Santa,

Santa's Wee Village Northern Ireland

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:06:20 GMT

Thank you to Kevin and Carol for their intended future support of our projects through

their Christmas Children's attraction. Santa's wee Village.

The website can be seen at www.santasweevillage.co.uk

or the introductory video at
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PMrP5ytmKro

Essay Competition Nigeria

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:04:10 GMT

Good People..

As we await the September edition of Development Report Magazine, and while keeping in line with our Vision and Mission, we will like to introduce yet another project, but this time Developmental in nature.

The Real Nigeria Project, an initiative of Development Report Magazine is an annual essay competition open to Nigerian youths between 18 - 35yrs. The aim of the project is to get the youth to think up simple and practical solutions to societal issues.

The theme is this years Competition is

"The MDG's and my Community: what Impact?"

The competition will run between 22nd of September and 8th of December after which 3 winners will be selected based on certain criteria by an evaluation team.

The winners will go home with $500, $400 and $300 respectively and their winning entries will be published on the competitions website.

The cash prizes will be presented to the winners at an event on the 24th of January 2009.

So what are you waiting for... stop complaining... Be the change! Look around your community for that problem that you are most passionate about. Think up simple, realistic, and practicable ways through which you can solve them. Put your solutions in an essay format of not more than 1,500 words and send to essay@therealnigeriaproject.org.

Who knows, you might be the winner of $500.

Details of the essay can be found online at

http://www.therealnigeriaproject.org

Tags: Essay Compatition, Nigeria, Real Nigeria,

Buster Ray Gotevbe -

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:48:50 GMT

If Serena Williams can be raised from birth to be the best in the world at tennis then our Buster can be the Secretary General of the United Nations.

From those demanding an update on the next UN leader - Buster is now at the ripe old age of 15 months and looking every bit a secretary general. He has been developing his communication through his fence to much older children. This particular outfit is worn to bring attention to the importance of the preservation of our forests.

Uganda

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:44:53 GMT

Ekyemisana is a new trust (set up by Ike Garson - Oxfordshire’s International Education Officer between 1997 and 2008) which has arisen from a 10-year relationship with Ugandan schools. It has a clearly identified focus dedicated entirely to children’s welfare. It is sustainable, community-based and supported by the Ugandan government. Ekyemisana has reputable partners in Uganda who will assist in the delivery of its aims and vision.

Oxfordshire’s school links with Ugandan schools go back to 1996 and to date, there are over 60 partnerships in existence.

From our frequent visits to Uganda, we have learnt that very many primary school children do not have anything to eat at lunchtime, an issue that directly affects the way they perform at school in the afternoons. In some cases, even water is not available to drink during a 9-hour-long day.

The Ministry of Education & Sport (MoES), has introduced ‘Universal Primary Education’ (UPE) and has seen a large increase in the number of children entering schools. If UPE is to have the desired impact, it is widely accepted that results will only improve if a lunchtime meal is made available to children.

Ekyemisana - the Luganda word for ‘lunchtime’ - is an ambitious long term programme to help primary schools feed all their pupils with a maize meal which is part of the Ugandan staple diet. Our objectives also include the provision of a free meal to teachers, who in many cases cannot afford a lunchtime meal themselves, which results in their inability to perform effectively in the classroom.

The work of Ekyemisana will be self-sustaining and eventually self-managed. It is designed to empower local communities to become sustainable. Local administrators will oversee the programme in each District with support from Rotary International, Living Earth and Kulika. Teachers, pupils and parents will be encouraged to become directly involved and as a result, we expect it to be self-propelling through the generations.

Ekyemisana is seeking the support of Oxfordshire’s schools (and of their PTAs) to be able to carry out its initial objectives. Subsequently, support will be sought from major funders such as the DfID, the EU, the Gates Foundation and the World Bank.

How can you help? If you have not yet chosen your preferred charities for this year, we would appreciate it if you could give us your consideration. For example, Ekyemisana would be an ideal fundraising vehicle for Harvest Festival. Other possibilities could include a non-uniform day, a sponsored spell, a sponsored run, a Bring-and-Buy sale etc. If you would like to discuss alternative ideas and be advised about Gift Aid options, please give Ike a call on 0773 855 9161or visit our website www.ekyemisana.org .

From 1 October, Ike would be willing to visit schools and to talk to School Council or small assembly groups about Ekyemisana.

Nigeria - a new intiative.

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:15:05 GMT

THE REAL NIGERIA PROJECT ™

http://www.therealnigeriaproject.org

This is an essay competition targeted at Nigerian youths between 18 - 30 years of age. Youths' knowledge of the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] and their ability to corroborate societal issues that are related to any of these goals is the core focus of the competition. They will be expected to proffer practicable solutions that would help to assist Nigeria in actively closing in on the targets for the MDGs by 2015. The winners of the essay competition will be awarded cash prices and their winning entries will be published on our website.

"The MDGs and my community: What Impact?"

Development Report Magazine [DRM] is a publication [online at the moment], published by Electronic Solutions, that focuses on reporting non-profit activities in Nigeria and Africa in general.

The publication focuses on developmental issues relating to charity, philanthropy and other similar events with an aim to document, analyse and help speed up the growth trends witnessed in this sector. It seeks to provide the information needed to bridge the gap between the philanthropist and the needy; providing the former with clear-cut information to make relevant decisions in alleviating the plight of others. It will also encourage the social entrepreneur and indeed the intended ones on what areas to focus on in proffering solutions to societies' many problems.

Tags: Nigeria, DRM, The Real Nigeria Project,