On my first visit I visited the schools and spoke with the Minister of Education.
I wrote an article which was published in a Jordanian magazine which has since taken up the cause of poverty amongst the children targeting schools.
The greatest concern for the schools was the adverse weather conditions in winter and the lack of heating/ windows/ doors and the poverty of the children meant they were too cold to study. The Government was undertaking a goal of supplying computers to some schools whilst many were without the basic equipment.
Since that visit the Government, particularly the Department of Education have undertaken a programme to supply coats to the children of the poor schools in Jordan.
SECOND VISIT TO JORDAN
My second visit was two fold. I wanted to establish representatives who are more able to continue raising awareness within the country, especially with the Government and ensuring the momentum is continued. I also delivered warm clothing for the children.
I have utilized my links with the British community in Jordan to ensure a path of delivery is in place and managed and that the needs are kept on the agenda and in the public eye.
Both visits have been of enormous benefit reaping a response beyond my expectations. I have engaged with key individuals, raised awareness and more critically
brought the issues to the people who can and have made changes.
A significant shift in thinking is taking place and the needs of the children are being addressed. More importantly a willingness by the Jordanian authorities to address these issues is gradually being displayed.
Paige Kimberley
Find out more about Jordan
Metta Centre, Nepal
Day trip to a very popular spiritual attraction in the Himalayas
Key Largo US
Photograph taken by supporters of A Ray of Hope - Jacq and Andrew over the New Year
St. Vincent and Grenadines
Hi Don
Sorry for the delay in responding but better late than never.
Can you please contact me direct at this email and let me know
what you require from us in the UK. I will be travelling to the Caribbean
at Easter and will definitely be spending some time in St. Vincent.
There are people and organisations in the UK who have pledged to support the
Sandy Bay initiatives; if the resources you have cannot be delivered by
myself due to bulk or some other reason please let me know so that I can
arrange support from other interested parties/organisations.
Regards
Kenneth John
on behalf of
People Working With People (UK)
From Farhana
Eid-Ul- Adha is the celebration and culmination of the pilgrimage to Mecca. The pilgrimage or Hajj is a central duty of Islam and forms one of the five 'pillars' or central religious duties. The Hajj brings together Muslims of all races and speaking lots of different languages. The meaning of 'Eid-ul-Adha' is the Festival of Sacrifice. It is a commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham in the Bible)'s willingness to sacrifice his son for God. The story is that God replaces the son with an animal and to this day Muslims also sacrifice an animal and many distribute the meat to the poor and needy.
Chernobyl, Belarus
After much hard work by three members of the Working Group we were delighted to see the Remember Chernobyl website go live at the end of last year. I hope you have already visited it at www.rememberchernobyl.org.
If you have still not sent us information about your charity, your contact details and your web address then please email me this information straightaway.
Can I remind all those who are already on the site that in return for including your charity’s details we would like you to hold one event during April under the Remember Chernobyl banner, publicising it with our publicity materials (details below) and raising money for the Belarusian Children’s Hospice. – we have already set up a special account for this money.
Events to mark the 20th anniversary
On the web site we will be including details of events marking the 20th Anniversary of the disaster taking place in April and throughout 2006. We want to include events organised by individual charities as well those we organize jointly. Please email me details of your event in good time so we can put them on the site.
Schools’ Writing Competition
We hope to run a writing competition for schools, details of which will appear on the website soon.
Appeal for Research
We are asking people to sign a petition on the website calling for a fund, administered by the United Nations, to be established urgently and to undertake more research into the health effects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster and in particular the damage caused by the long term presence of low-level radiation. The petition would be presented to the Secretary General of the UN in April 2006. You can print copies of the appeal form straight from the web site and we hope that all charities will encourage people in their area to sign it.
Leaflet
We are producing a high quality information leaflet for free distribution by our individual charities. It is intended to give the public and media an overview of the disaster, its effects on children in Belarus, the work of our charities and the “Remember Chernobyl” initiative with details of how people can get involved. There will also be space on the back of the leaflet for your charity’s name and contact details.
Copies of the leaflet will be available, for the price of the postage and packing, around the end of February 2006. Please let us know by 19th January, at the latest, how many you would like.
Remember Chernobyl Merchandise
We are producing merchandise to help charities publicise the 20th anniversary. We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to raise awareness by using these very attractive items:
Metal lapel badges with the words “Remember Chernobyl” inscribed on it (max. 40p each)
Pens – we decided that it would be better if individual charities produced their own with the words ‘Remember Chernobyl’ and the website address on them
T shirts, sweatshirts, fleeces etc. The artwork for an embroidered logo will be set up by the Remember Chernobyl working Group to enable charities, organisations and individuals to order their own. Details will appear on the website.
We hope to have the merchandise available from about the end of February or early March. To gauge the quantities we need to produce please email me the number of leaflets, badges, envelope stickers, car stickers and lapel stickers you would like asap, and by January 19th at the very latest.
As you can see the Working Group has been hard at work on behalf of all UK and Irish charities to help raise awareness that 26th April 2006 is the twentieth anniversary of the Chernobyl accident and that the effects will be felt for many, many years. Working together we can raise funds to help the Belarusian Children’s Hospice expand its work and, of course, generate new members and new involvement for our individual charities
We look forward to hearing from you how much publicity merchandise you require.
Best wishes
Claire Chettoe
on behalf of the Remember Chernobyl Working Group
Nepal
The princesses enjoy games with friends from a neighbouring school. In two weeks they will have their examination results........ we of course wish them well.
Dr. Federico Mayor
Federico has remained a dear friend of A Ray of Hope for 10 years.
" Best wishes for a peaceful 2006. The horizon remains sombre..... but there is always A Ray of Hope" Federico Mayor December, 2005
In an age of terrorism and pre-emptive wars, Federico Mayor Zaragoza stands out as something of an anomaly: he is an unapologetic believer in, and proponent of, peace. From 1987 to 1999, Mayor served as the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an institution that he reformed substantially during his tenure. He now chairs the Madrid-based Fundación Cultura de Paz (Foundation for the Culture of Peace), which he founded in 2000, and which takes its impetus from the United Nations’ 1999 Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.
Ulster Teachers' Union
Further thanks to the Ulster Teachers' Union which has continued to be an active supporter by financial assistance and promotion. We wish all their members a happy healthy and stress free academic year.
Boots the Chemist
Boots the Chemist has been of great assistance with many of our projects. The glasses received will go to locations where they will be an important asset in the development of reading skills.
Uganda
Thank you to British Airways for their generous support for the Kabbubu Library Community in Uganda. This is only one of the many ways that British Airways has supported A Ray of Hope over the last three years. www.britishairways.com
Report from Laura - Liaison for A Ray of Hope Romania.
Laura was asked to visit an orphanage in Bucharest.
All the children there were so beautiful, so lovely and so searching for
love First we called all the kids and gave every one a tree ornament to put
by themselves in the tree .Oh , Don , they eyes were so shining of happiness
! When the tree was ready , I saw the most beautiful Christmas Tree I have
ever seen .
After this , the children gave us a small show with what they know .They
sang a lot of songs , they played some beautiful small shows as dolls , snow
stars , snowmen , snowballs , Santa Claus and angels .I swear they really
looked as angels .I felt in love with a small blonde sweet little boy who
played as an angel .He was only 3 years old .All their costumes and
decorations were made by their hands .Can you believe it?The dolls were
having dresses with l lots of silk , flowers and crinolines like little
ladies from old stories and they were absolutely perfect .Real dolls .The
clowns caught my eyes right away .
After this , a Theatre group called by one of our ladies ,Fun Science ,
offered them a funny show too , very educative .The children were cooperate
with the actors ,The Crazy Doctor and the Indian , and they were laughing
soooo much .
And then the Santa Claus came and give them gifts .Every one told Santa
his/her wish and got his/her present .
Cookies and juices were served to everyone .They were brought by us .
All was like a beautiful evening in a Christmas Day , spend in front of the
fireplace .Like a big family .
Some of us were running to bring the object , to fix something , to do all
we had to do there but finally , all was magnificent .
When I finally arrived home I was sooooooooooooo tired that I couldn't keep
my eyes open .Tired but happy .Today I slept most of the day .
I m sorry that we were not allowed to take pics to show you some .Only one
cam was allowed and I didn't get the pics yet .
Kiss you
Laura
Dear All
Over the last 48 hours we have developed a relationship with a group of companies in Nepal called Creation Nepal. They will affiliate to us and although this will not be a profit making venture it will ease greatly the purchase of clothes etc for the princesses in the Metta Centre. Looking through their catalogue I noticed items of outdoor gortex clothing at prices that need to be seen to be believed. I also know that other items in their catalogue might appeal to the shopkeepers amongst us. Below are the products categories and our entry on the daily journal.
Product Categories
» Jewelry » Metal Crafts » Wooden Crafts » Fashion & Clothing » Ritual Objects » Handmade Papers » Pashmina » Herbal Products » Felt Products » Fashionable Jewelry
It gives me much pleasure to welcome Krishna and Creation Nepal in to the family of A Ray of Hope. It is hoped that Piya, the director of the Metta Centre will soon get an opportunity to meet with Krishna. It may certainly ease our problems in obtaining some items for “our princesses”. I think the competitiveness of their online catalogue might amaze you and therefore commend you to browse the interesting items they have available. Could I draw your attention especially to their outdoor gortex wear. So if you require functional items or fashionable… their range of items will have something for you.
Creation Nepal is a group of companies that manufacture and export quality products at wholesale prices. All our products areenvironmentally friendly and do not cause deforestation, but in fact help reduce it. We manufacture unique products at a high standard of quality. All our products are made by skilled artisans. We select our sources carefully to be 100% free of child labor.
Our philosophy
We mainly concentrate on promotion of Nepalese handmade products to encourage and develop the skills and lifestyle of people from the hilly and mountainous regions where the raw materials originate. We employ as many workers as possible from a range of social and economic levels, while offering benefits such as health-care and education to their children. We believe in fair trade leading to social benefits and are not focused on profit alone.
Our Products
Creation Nepal offers varieties of quality Nepalese handicrafts including fashionable garments, pure lokta papers, wool sweaters, bags and hats and pashmina stoles for export all over the world. We encourage our customers to request and suggest custom designs. One's imagination is the only limit.
In addition to paper products, bags and hats, pashmina shawls, apparel and silver jewelry, we can provide you a range of traditional arts and crafts such as thanka paintings, Nepalese and Tibetan carpets, and Buddhist items including prayer flag, stupas, statues and incense.
Furthermore, carved wood crafts, metal crafts, masks, musical instruments, puppets, stone crafts, beads, ceramics products, herbal teas and other herbal products are available from Creation Nepal.
Raw materials:
Most of our raw materials such as hemp, nettle, cotton, silk, natural pashmina and paper products come from the mountains, and they are made by hand locally. Local villagers collect wild hemp and nettles in quantities that do not adversely affect the bio-system, to keep the harvest eco-friendly. Production begins with soaking the plantfiber, which is then boiled with ash to bleach it and make it soft. After drying on rocks in the sun, the fiber is turned into thread by hand and delivered to looms to be woven into fabric. Hemp fabric is a bit harder than nettles and is more durable than cotton, and hemp products are long-lasting. These natural fiber fabrics are healthful for the wearer, providing warmth in cold weather and helping one stay cool in during hot weather.
Collection
In addition to our own production of garments and handicraft items, we collect products from various artisan centers and studios. We are assisted by persons who are experts in various handcrafted products and ritual items such as statues, thankas and singing bowls. With their aid, we assemble the best examples in every catagory. And we guarantee the quality and authenticity of all our products.
Export
We export our products anywhere in the world. Our many satisfied customers, especially in Europe and North America, are testimony to the quality and reliability of Creation Nepal.
India - miscellaneous photographs from language development workshops - literature appreciation and constructive use of free time.
