Wishing you all...
peace, love and joy!
Welcome to Elimu's news blog. Here you will find stories and updates on the charity's work with schools in Kenya and the UK.
Saturday 24 December 2011
Friday 23 December 2011
A Kenyan Christmas
We very much enjoyed the AV Foundation Carol Concert this week. It was wonderful, too, to see AV's co-founder and recently retired Africa director Nigel Warren who once greeted me at Nairobi airport, as he did so many before me and after, with a firm handshake and the words 'Welcome to Africa!'
Almost eight years on... Tuesday's concert was also a chance to meet more alumni and their families, many of whom continue to work with the communities in which they volunteered, and to catch-up with the AVF trustees who have set aside £5,000 for Elimu and whose support we greatly appreciate.
Below is a beautifully written poem that I was asked to read at the service to cast people's minds back to Kenya and at the same time, bring Kenya to life in London:
nobody can tell.
all gone.
Moving along so swiftly and yet quiet as a mouse
Akinyi and her Mama are already up and out of bed.
There will be many visitors all ready to be fed.
This is how she likes her Christmas, in her neighbourhood.
Almost eight years on... Tuesday's concert was also a chance to meet more alumni and their families, many of whom continue to work with the communities in which they volunteered, and to catch-up with the AVF trustees who have set aside £5,000 for Elimu and whose support we greatly appreciate.
Below is a beautifully written poem that I was asked to read at the service to cast people's minds back to Kenya and at the same time, bring Kenya to life in London:
A Kenyan Christmas
Akinyi sits by the window, watching the short rains fall.
Will the sun come out again? Will Christmas come at all?She had helped her mother planting, the sukuma is
growing well. In the ground is sweet potato, though nobody can tell.
Pitter pat on mabati roofs and so the rain goes on,
But when the sun comes out again: muddy puddles are all gone.
Jacarandas are looking bare, hornbills have flown away.
The hot dry season is coming, bringing Christmas on its way.Would they travel to the village to visit their grandfolks?
With white hair, long stories and often old jokes?As Christmas Day draws closer – Nairobi is very
still. Big buses drive upcountry – not a spare seat to fill.Christmas Mama, Baba and Toto go from house to
house.Moving along so swiftly and yet quiet as a mouse
Till finally Akinyi’s waiting agony is done.
It is Christmas morning and it's time for lots of fun!Akinyi and her Mama are already up and out of bed.
There will be many visitors all ready to be fed.
But first a special breakfast of mandazi and sweet chai.
A few songs and stories about Christmas: Where, How and Why?Akinyi has heard them all before, each time is just as
good.This is how she likes her Christmas, in her neighbourhood.
Author unknown
Friday 16 December 2011
Asante sana to The Priory!
Another huge thank you to The Priory whose Christmas Carol Concert this week raised over £300 for Elimu and Lewisham Children's Hospital. The school has raised a fantastic amount for a variety of charities this term alone.
http://www.priory.bromley.sch.uk/News/CHARITY-COLLECTIONS-AUTUMN-TERM-2011/
We had a lovely evening at the Carol Concert which was filled with faces from the school's recent and not-so-recent past.
Jo
http://www.priory.bromley.sch.uk/News/CHARITY-COLLECTIONS-AUTUMN-TERM-2011/
We had a lovely evening at the Carol Concert which was filled with faces from the school's recent and not-so-recent past.
Jo
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Thank you to the 4th Crofton Brownies!
A BIG thank you to the 4th Crofton Brownies in Orpington who have spent this term fundraising for Elimu with cake sales, bring and buy sales, and handmade Christmas decorations which altogether have raised a fantastic £173!
 |
| 4th Crofton Brownies with their leader Rachel |
We will keep in touch with the Brownies and let them know how their efforts have helped in the re-development of Stalion nursery school.
With thanks to Anne Dungan and everyone at 4th Crofton for thinking of us and wishing them all a Happy Christmas,
Jo
Tuesday 6 December 2011
A lively prayer for Africa
It is once again the time of year for carol concerts, mulled wine and mince pies... and we have one such occasion coming up next Monday at All Saints Church in Orpington. We have been invited to The Priory's Carol Service, along with many more of the school's former staff, students and friends, at the special request of deputy headteacher Tim Pike who is also an Elimu trustee and who will hang up his lab coat, set down his brief case and board marker, hand over his files and folders, and leave behind memories and imprints in The Priory's every corridor and classroom when he retires in July. The school has not known a life without him.
For Elimu, it will be a reunion of sorts, too, with staff who took part in our October trip and who have since taken on the task of selling Elimu Christmas cards, giving assemblies, and generally talking about their experiences in Kenya and helping to generate more interest and support on our behalf!
We also draw your attention to this year's annual AV Carol Concert to be held in St George's Church, Hanover Square, London, on Tuesday, 20th December at 7pm in support of the AV Foundation. Last year's concert raised a substantial amount for the charities of ex-volunteers, including ours.
AV has asked me to do a reading at the service while our more musically-inclined trustee, James Dwyer, will be sitting down at St George's grand piano for his own contemporary arrangement of 'Walking in the Air'.
If you would like to join us, tickets are on sale here at £12 http://www.aventure.co.uk/The-AV-Foundation-Carol-Service-–-Tickets-on-sale-now!-News.htm
We are very much looking forward to both events.
In the meantime... here is a lovely, lively poem on Africa from the 2010 AV Carol Concert:
'A Prayer for Africa'
Bless the Lord...
And all you people and places,
From Cairo to Cape Town,
From Dar Es Salaam to Lagos.
Bless all you BIG things...
Mount Kilimanjaro and the River Nile,
The Rift Valley and the Serengeti Plains,
All eucalyptus and tamarind trees,
You hippos and giraffes and elephants
And all you TINY things...
Busy black ants and hopping fleas,
Wriggling tadpoles and mosquito larvae,
Flying locusts and water drops,
Pollen dust and tsetse flies,
Millet seeds and dried dagaa
Bless all you SWEET things...
Wild honey and papaws and coconut milk,
Pineapples and sugar cane and sun-dried dates,
Slow roasted yams and banana juice
And all you BITTER things...
Quinine and blue soap,
Sour milk and maize beer
Bless all you SWIFT things...
Wild goats and honking matatus,
Frightened centipedes and lightening flashes
And all you SLOW things...
Curious giraffes and old bony cows,
Brown humped camels, grass munching sheep
Bless all you LOUD things...
Monsoon rains on aluminium roofs,
Midnight hyenas and feast day drums,
Train stations and busy bus stops
And all you QUIET things...
Candle flames and just sown furrow,
Heaps of clouds and sunny libraries,
The Pyramids and Sahara Desert,
Land snails and crawling turtles,
Grazing zebras and stalking lions.
Jo
For Elimu, it will be a reunion of sorts, too, with staff who took part in our October trip and who have since taken on the task of selling Elimu Christmas cards, giving assemblies, and generally talking about their experiences in Kenya and helping to generate more interest and support on our behalf!
We also draw your attention to this year's annual AV Carol Concert to be held in St George's Church, Hanover Square, London, on Tuesday, 20th December at 7pm in support of the AV Foundation. Last year's concert raised a substantial amount for the charities of ex-volunteers, including ours.
AV has asked me to do a reading at the service while our more musically-inclined trustee, James Dwyer, will be sitting down at St George's grand piano for his own contemporary arrangement of 'Walking in the Air'.
If you would like to join us, tickets are on sale here at £12 http://www.aventure.co.uk/The-AV-Foundation-Carol-Service-–-Tickets-on-sale-now!-News.htm
We are very much looking forward to both events.
In the meantime... here is a lovely, lively poem on Africa from the 2010 AV Carol Concert:
'A Prayer for Africa'
Bless the Lord...
And all you people and places,
From Cairo to Cape Town,
From Dar Es Salaam to Lagos.
Bless all you BIG things...
Mount Kilimanjaro and the River Nile,
The Rift Valley and the Serengeti Plains,
All eucalyptus and tamarind trees,
You hippos and giraffes and elephants
And all you TINY things...
Busy black ants and hopping fleas,
Wriggling tadpoles and mosquito larvae,
Flying locusts and water drops,
Pollen dust and tsetse flies,
Millet seeds and dried dagaa
Bless all you SWEET things...
Wild honey and papaws and coconut milk,
Pineapples and sugar cane and sun-dried dates,
Slow roasted yams and banana juice
And all you BITTER things...
Quinine and blue soap,
Sour milk and maize beer
Bless all you SWIFT things...
Wild goats and honking matatus,
Frightened centipedes and lightening flashes
And all you SLOW things...
Curious giraffes and old bony cows,
Brown humped camels, grass munching sheep
Bless all you LOUD things...
Monsoon rains on aluminium roofs,
Midnight hyenas and feast day drums,
Train stations and busy bus stops
And all you QUIET things...
Candle flames and just sown furrow,
Heaps of clouds and sunny libraries,
The Pyramids and Sahara Desert,
Land snails and crawling turtles,
Grazing zebras and stalking lions.
Jo
Saturday 3 December 2011
Celebrating AV
As many of you will know by now, my forays into Africa began with the volunteering organisation Africa & Asia Venture, in 2004. AV, as it is known, is part of my history and of Elimu's, too. If Elimu aims to sow a few seeds with the work we are doing now with school students and teachers, weaving together parts of Africa and the UK, the charity's own seeds were sown by AV.
AV selects university students and graduates to volunteer on teaching and community projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 'AV' has become a by-word in Nandi Hills, as no doubt it has in many other places, for a respected, community-minded international organisation with well orientated volunteers. AV works with local governments and community members.
The organisation's charitable wing, the AV Foundation, continues to invest in these communities by helping to fund the work of former volunteers who have gone onto establish their own projects there with a focuse on educational infrastructure. The foundation has pledged £5,000 to Elimu for the re-development of Stalion school.
We are proud to be associated with AV and to be part of its 18th birthday celebrations.
To mark this occasion and the legacies it has created from being the first organisation of its kind back in 1993 to a network of charities run by ex-volunteers, AV is offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for anyone aged 18 to 25 to join one of their projects, for free!
Projects range from 5 weeks to 5 months and include teaching, sports coaching and community work. Included in the prize is all pre-departure information and support, an in-country induction course, accommodation and meals during the project phase, 24/7 in-country back-up and a donation to the school or community. The offer does not include flights, visas, or travel insurance.
If you or anyone you know would be interested in applying, particularly our own growing alumni, all you have to do is complete the following sentence in no more than 100 words:
"I would like to volunteer in the developing world with Africa & Asia Venture because..." and email your answer to av@aventure.co.uk together with your name, date of birth, country of residence and how you heard of the competition.
More details about the competition and about AV can be found here http://www.aventure.co.uk/AVs-18th-Birthday-Competition-win-an-AV-project%21.html
AV was in many ways a prelude and a springboard to Elimu, and part of our work is designed to expose sixth form students to wider opportunities and possibilities. One day we might even go full circle if some of them decide to turn their experiences with us into a chance to return to Africa, or experience somewhere new, with AV.
You never know where it could take you.
Jo
AV selects university students and graduates to volunteer on teaching and community projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 'AV' has become a by-word in Nandi Hills, as no doubt it has in many other places, for a respected, community-minded international organisation with well orientated volunteers. AV works with local governments and community members.
The organisation's charitable wing, the AV Foundation, continues to invest in these communities by helping to fund the work of former volunteers who have gone onto establish their own projects there with a focuse on educational infrastructure. The foundation has pledged £5,000 to Elimu for the re-development of Stalion school.
We are proud to be associated with AV and to be part of its 18th birthday celebrations.
To mark this occasion and the legacies it has created from being the first organisation of its kind back in 1993 to a network of charities run by ex-volunteers, AV is offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for anyone aged 18 to 25 to join one of their projects, for free!
Projects range from 5 weeks to 5 months and include teaching, sports coaching and community work. Included in the prize is all pre-departure information and support, an in-country induction course, accommodation and meals during the project phase, 24/7 in-country back-up and a donation to the school or community. The offer does not include flights, visas, or travel insurance.
If you or anyone you know would be interested in applying, particularly our own growing alumni, all you have to do is complete the following sentence in no more than 100 words:
"I would like to volunteer in the developing world with Africa & Asia Venture because..." and email your answer to av@aventure.co.uk together with your name, date of birth, country of residence and how you heard of the competition.
More details about the competition and about AV can be found here http://www.aventure.co.uk/AVs-18th-Birthday-Competition-win-an-AV-project%21.html
AV was in many ways a prelude and a springboard to Elimu, and part of our work is designed to expose sixth form students to wider opportunities and possibilities. One day we might even go full circle if some of them decide to turn their experiences with us into a chance to return to Africa, or experience somewhere new, with AV.
You never know where it could take you.
Jo
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