Virtual reality does good

Thanks to Summer volunteer, Charlotte, we've had a wonderful article published about our work by Catherine Scott of YPN. Ignoring all the embarrassing "about me" stuff, I'd like to thank everyone else involved in all our incredible achievements of 2009:

1. Securing Ingrid's future; fitting the water tank and building the new classroom, not to mention an incredible computer teaching station still in design stage. The feeding program has also been covered via a Payroll Giving commitment. You know who you are, those responsible xxx
2. Thanks also to MannaRelief who have offered another 6 months supply of  "glyconutrients; ... plant-sourced nutrients" en route to Ingrids with volunteers Bryn & Helena next month.
3. Fundraising by Zoe, Lydia and friends to help the RABUOR Community with sustainable chicken farming.
4. Progress made by Michael's Naivasha Youth Sport Centre.
5. Modern-day-Robin Hood outfit CO2 Balance helping to redirect funds, from companies offsetting carbon footprints, to communities we're involved with, providing them with brick-built energy-efficient stoves.
6. Challenging a community to build their own office in Yala with Deb and Alec. Here's a detailed storyboard hosted by Facebook. Helping to remove the unfortunate mindset that illness and poverty bring; despair, loss of hope and ability to help themselves, Edwards work in Yala shows people how to help themselves.
7. Sponsoring children through education.
8. Assisting the incredible progress made by the Mercy Home in Maseno and seeing Miss Leonidah Ayuma (pictured here with UK volunteer, Beckee) leave on a 2-year Business Management program at MMUST in Kakamega (Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology).
9. Epic fundraising activities like Simon's Tour d'Afrique during which he managed to meet up with the 2 boys he's sponsoring with the money raised.
10. Boxes of medical supplies reaching the ArrowWeb Hospital in Kayole, Nairobi from the TT Motorsport Medical Services on the Isle of Man.

100's of other fantastic ideas like this one are regularly passed on to those who can utilise the info to make a difference to their lives, simply and freely via the internet .

I'd also like to thank Ty of LordBarron.com for our fantastic new website, incorporating the blog.

Happy New Year, 2010, everyone!

More Christmas gifts for Kenya

More Christmas gifts have been received!

An incredible £400 has been raised largely through a raffle event that Katherine and Lydia (friends of Zoe) ran at the Putney Rotary Christmas Dinner earlier this month. Some great prizes were donated from companies like Penguin books and Coty perfume and makeup. The rotarians were very generous with the purchasing of raffle tickets too!!

More gifts also arrived with Michael Nam of the Naivasha Youth Sport Centre, for Gilgil Youth Centre. They are pictured below wearing kit donated by Mark Foster of Swinton Lions Football Club, Manchester, UK . The Gilgil Youth Center was invited to play (Liberty Academy in sky blue jerseys ) in Nairobi City's artificial-turf. I'd like to thank Swinton FC for their continuing support and wish successful growth to Michaels endless work with the youth in his area.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas (an extra special "Snow-White Christmas" in the UK!)

Merry Christmas to ALL

Christmas by Marks and Spencer and AVIF

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without M&S Marks and Spencer's Christmas 3 for 2 is back! This offer includes beauty gifts, toiletries, cards, wrap and decorations; it's a great way to get more for less this festive season. Stocking Fillers Perfect for Secret Santa gifts M&S has lots of gifts for £10 or less, their fantastic range of stocking fillers is full of top gift ideas for men, women and kids. Toys and Entertainment At M&S you'll find lots of gifts for kids from the latest iPod, laptops, portable DVD players and gaming consoles. Find the entire selection here. Hampers Christmas hampers are a wonderful festive gift. Hampers include gourmet foods and specially selected wines that are sure to delight food lovers and bring Christmas cheer. All Christmas hampers include standard UK delivery. Every purchase you make via the links in this email will raise funds for AVIF.  Alternatively find our online shop here. Visit www.buy.at/AVIF for more great offers from over 150 top retailers.

Forward this mail on to help AVIF raise funds. Please forward this mail on if you think that you know people who would like to receive it. Responsible emailing Remember if someone receives this mail from you, then tells you they don't want to receive a similar one again you must not send them future messages. If you are considering forwarding it on you must do so only to people who you consider would like to receive it and to whom the content is relevant. If you have a formally-managed list you must only send it to those who have expressed that they wish to receive such mail from you. Purchases made through www.buy.at/AVIF are made according to the information and terms provided by the company making the sale to you. Further details on using the buy.at shop are provided on the site.

More results in Nairobi

Yesterday, Ingrids Angels received a 2nd gift. In 2010 the Ingrid Education Centre are moving another class up to Grade 4 and Zoe, visiting at the moment, offered to help with the construction of the new classroom. Within 5 hours they'd all finished.





Zoe leaves for Maseno Thursday morning to visit The Mercy Home.

Funds have also now been cleared from Justgiving to buy the land the centre is sited on so this is now in Kenya, no thanks to Moneygram!? who extortionately charged us an additional GBP65.00 via the use of lower exchange rates. I've appealed to have the money returned to the children of Ingrids and will keep you posted.

We received our first Payroll Giving commitment also, many thanks to the contributor. This will fund the feeding program at Ingrids. Most children attending only get one meal a day, at Ingrids! It may come as a surprise to some that through various agencies (in UK) chosen by the employers, for example: a contribution of £90 per month (which will fund a feeding program for over 100 children in Kenya) will actually only cost you £54 – "an absolute bargain".  Your employer can explain more or got to the section on our website.

We're also initiating a project looking into Kenya's "desperate need for alternative energy sources". Wind power and small scale turbines will quite simply enable developing communities to leapfrog the negative effects of the fossil-fuel era and stop the serious degradation of their environment. We'll keep you posted but if there is anyone wishing to get involved please contact us.

AVIF, kenya, poverty, ingrids angels, classroom, construction, volunteer, wind farms, payroll giving

Can Copenhagen alleviate poverty in Africa while protecting it from climate change?

On the dawn of the Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference, Paula Kahumba has made a video with the simple question:

will Copenhagen face the challenge of how to alleviate poverty in Africa while protecting us from climate change?

Paula lives in Kenya where she manages a blogging platform for wildlife conservation on http://wildlifedirect.org, brainchild of the famed palaeoanthropologists now politician Richard Leaky.

Copenhagen, challenge, alleviate, poverty, Kenya, Africa, climate change

More gifts from MannaRelief of Advanced Nutrition for malnourished children

My wonderful contact at MannaRelief has just rang to offer another 6 months supply to us, fully funded. With these "glyconutrients" we can add to the "current food programs which are mainly cereal-based and lack many of the nutrients young children need ... filling a child's stomach not only fails to correct the problem, but it serves as only a temporary fix to a much bigger problem." This product ... "provides children with plant-sourced nutrients in standardized and nutritionally effective amounts. ...Nutritional Chews can be eaten directly from the packet and do not require refrigeration or mixing with scarce clean water."

avif, malnutrition, manna relief, kenya, children, poverty, volunteer, gift

The spirit of Christmas is alive and here

We all just wanted to express our huge appreciation and .. well .. Douglas and wife Grace who run the Ingrids Education Centre in the Matopeni area of Nairobi are just speechless.

The generosity of "A Friend" is staggering, donating 64% of the target funds needed via our JustGiving site with a simple message Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.



We'd like to also thank Nick, Nicola, Jack, Robert, Liz, Sammy, Simon, Charlotte, Sally, Charlotte N, Ralette, Alec, Steve, Mary, Steven, Eleanor, Mike, Leila, Bridgette, Deb and all anonymous donors too for their generosity in securing the future of the 116 children currently being cared for and given the hope of an education under the watch of Douglas and Grace. ASANTE SANA

Since our "friend" was a UK taxpayer, JustGiving automatically provide Gift Aid from the HMRC which means the target has already been met by that Gift Aid supplement alone. I will be sending the funds directly to Kenya via Moneygram.

Merry Christmas to Everyone x

gift aid, christmas, kenya, volunteer, avif, ingrids angels, education, poverty, children

Kukuhut and progress in Kenya

I'd like to introduce the gorgeous Amanda, pictured here with Diana. (Click the photo gain access to the FB album for more photos).

Amanda is director of the Tumaini Centre and the Vision Centre in Khalaba, a neighboring village community in the Matungu District of Kenya, Western Province. The nearest town is MUMIAS and is only a ten minute drive away.
On a standard day, Amanda may be seen in Kibera, sitting with Raila Odinga, or providing surgery to change the lives of disfigured people, building houses, feeding malnourished children, finding the support needed for shunned disabled children ... and much more .

The Vision Community Vocational Centre has a goal to train troubled and uneducated youth in a new skill. Currently they have two programs; tailoring and a brick-making project. The tailoring (dress making) has been running for 3 years now and last year alone enabled 30 students to pass the national exam with some already finding jobs. The brick making project actually obtained a tender in January to supply 15,000 bricks to government school production putting the project in profit. Amanda says "we would like to train more people in brick making and also find a way to market ourselves to the outside communities ..". They've also started a small class of 25 children, nursery age, as there was a need for it in the community.

TUMAINI Community Development Centre (Tumaini = Hope) primarily deals with orphans and vulnerable children in a village called Eshibanze. Open since 2006 they now have 4 classes, including ‘baby class’, Nursery A and B, and Standard (Grade 1). Standard 2 is starting in January although it will be a tight squeeze due to a lack of funding to build another classroom. The kids all have homes that they live in but in some cases they are not fed and taken care of properly. The school provides some food each day which they would otherwise not get at home and their educational standard is much higher than the government school nearby that charges all students school fees.

Amanda has been responsible for the creation of a new women’s group of about 20 members who have a poultry project as well as a garden through which they provide food and pocket money to some of the poorest families in the area.Through her craft business KukuHut

started in Canada this past year, Amanda ships crafts from Kenya and surrounding East-African countries to help the people in the projects. The women’s group will be trained in craftmaking, sponsored through the profits of Kukuhut e.g. a 2 day tie and dye workshop for 30 ladies was held recently with a professional tailor brought in from Nairobi. In January 2010 they will hold a 3-4 day beading workshop for 60 women (and a few men too!) with $500 's worth of materials provided as well as salaries for the 2 teachers, suppliers who also teach.

Volunteers will be going to spend time with Amanda and the communities in Feb/ March 2010. For more info please contact us or Amanda

kenya, kukuhut, avif, poverty, africa, development, volunteer

Make this Christmas extra special for Ingrids Angels

The Ingrid Education Centre was visited this Summer by a handful of AVIF's volunteers; Beckee, Sam, Mariam, Stan, Deb, Alec and Charlotte spent time with the Director, Douglas aka Wesley Snipes ;-) and his wife Grace and family, assisting the wonderful work of the centre in the Matopeni slum area of Nairobi. Children here are fed and educated rather than spending a day breaking rocks with thier hands, alongside their parents or guardians in the nearby quarry, day in, day out. The volunteers were lucky enough to help teach some the  lessons to the children, they cooked chapatis, they bought a water tank and helped install it too. It was a success for all.



.... but now there's a chance the hopes of all the children there could be lost. Although a deposit secured the plot of land temporarily there are only 41 days remaining!!! to help secure the future of the Centre by raising the £2,440 needed to legally buy the land, or the owner has to sell.

If you can spare just a dollar $1 or just a "quid" £1 we'd hugely appreciate it, you'd be buying a share in the future prospects of many children. Simply go to the JustGiving fundraising site it will only take a minute to help, or if you prefer not to give our details on the internet and have a Paypal account you can send a secure payment via our email Volunteer@AVIF.org.uk

Help us make a difference x
Deadline is 29th December, 2009



I'd like to say ASANTE SANA [thank you very much] to all that have already donated...x

More Photos on the main FB group
Technorati Tags: ingrids angels, christmas, future, kenya, volunteer, poverty, education

	Christmas with Sky and AVIF Bring your family together with the best line up of movies all in stunning High Definition. When new customers subscribe to Sky+ HD via the webshop AVIF will receive £120! If you are thinking of joining Sky please do so via our webshop so we can receive this huge donation. Why join Sky+ HD? Join Sky+ HD with Sky Movies in HD and receive a FREE Sky+ HD box (£30 set-up). New customers will receive £50 to spend at M&S when they join Sky TV too!   Don’t forget there is £120 for AVIF for every new customer that subscribes to Sky+ HD via the webshop. The offer unwrapped Sky+HD Box is FREE when you take Sky TV with Sky Movies and the HD Pack for 12 months This package comes with FREE broadband and calls Enjoy a £50 M&S voucher when you join online* AVIF will receive £120 when new customers subscribe to Sky+ HD Don't Forget Support AVIF this Christmas when you buy online, simply start shopping at www.buy.at/AVIF or use any of the links in this email. *Only available for new customers with their viewing card enabled by 17 January 2009. One voucher per household and only available when you join online. Visit www.buy.at/AVIF for more great offers from over 150 top retailers.
	Forward this mail on to help AVIF raise funds. Please forward this mail on if you think that you know people who would like to receive it. Responsible emailing Remember if someone receives this mail from you, then tells you they don't want to receive a similar one again you must not send them future messages. If you are considering forwarding it on you must do so only to people who you consider would like to receive it and to whom the content is relevant. If you have a formally-managed list you must only send it to those who have expressed that they wish to receive such mail from you. Purchases made through www.buy.at/AVIF are made according to the information and terms provided by the company making the sale to you. Further details on using the buy.at shop are provided on the site.