Postcards received in Kenya(2)

Today I received some more photos of the kids at Galilee with the postcards they received from you. Thank you all for sending your cards to these children, they love and cherish their cards and letters so much!

There are so many more children at Galilee that would love to receive a card too. Anyone is still very welcome to join the Postcard Shower.

Click in the menu on 'Postcards to Kenya' and read all about it!

Happy Minibags

Some of the items I bought for my Minibags

After getting so many enthousiastic responses about the Postcard Shower for the kids of Galilee I wanted to share some other fun ideas with you on how you can help the kids at Galilee!
What I personally love are those fun minibags, you can get them at most department stores and some supermarkets aswell. They come in all kinds of colours and prints and are perfect for my new little project: Happy Minibags!

A Happy minibag with a jojo, pencil, little doll and some animal fact cards

The idea is you take one of those cute minibags and fill them with fun (and useful) gifts for one child. Things he/she could use for school but also for fun! The items I used for my Minibags were small jojo's, pretty pencils, a small doll in traditional clothing from my country, fact cards about animals, pens, stickers, postcards, crossword puzzles from a puzzlebook and some nice erasers. Ofcourse there are many more fun option and nice gifts you could choose from. Look around at the stores in your area for fun gifts. When shopping try to remember to buy lightweight items to save postage and make sure the items fit in an envelope, unfortunately boxes do not always arrive.

Above you see my first finished Happy minibag!
Unfortunately the postcards didnt fit in the bags I bought, I'll just put those in the big envelope seperately. The minibags I bought have little tags attached to them, on those I wrote 'Any child' meaning that the bag could be given by the schoolstaff to any child who might need it. If you want you can specify by writing on the tag that the bag is best suitable for a young child or a high school student and wether the bag should be given to a boy or girl. (or if it suits both)


Your Happy Minibags are all yours so it's up to you what you put in them but to help you get started here are some suggestions:

• Pens (coloured)
• Pencils (coloured)
• Stickers
• Fact cards
• Postcards
• Small toys (jojo, elastics, little doll, toy car)
• Puzzles
• Magazine/newspaper articles suitable for children
• Small hygiene items (handkerchief, washcloth, toothbrush)
• Little notebook
• Erasers
• Pencilcase
• Pictures (of you, your family, your city/country)
• Watercolour (paint)
• Coloured markers

Where do I send my Happy Minibags?
Galilee Primary School
Direct Agent Bag
P.O. Box 70014-00400
Tom Mboya Street
Nairobi, KENYA

HAVE FUN!

Have you made some Minibags for the children at the Galileeschool, in the Kayole-Soweto slum of Nairobi? Tell us about it by clicking on 'reacties' below!

E-mail a picture of your Happy Minibags to margarita@galileeschool.org and I will share them on the site.

Postcards received in Kenya

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about a postcard project for the children at the Galilee school in the slums of Nairobi. My request was if you could send these kids a nice postcard (or several) to put a smile on their faces!

I asked you to pick a nice card suitable for young children teaching them something about animals or your country and culture and many of you have. At least 150 postcards have been sent to the kids so far! Amazing!!

A bunch of animal cards for the kids at Galilee

The cards will be used during assembly before school, in class or will be given to an individual child. Afterwards they can be used to decorate those empty classroomwalls.

Today I received the first photos of some of the children with the first received cards! I want to share them will you right away...

There are so many more children at Galilee that would LOVE to receive some mail too! You can send one postcard 'naked' or several in one envelope, making even more children happy!!

The address is:
Galilee Primary School
P.O. Box 70014-00400
Tom Mboya Street
Nairobi, Kenya


Several people have asked me about the need of other items at Galilee. The school is always in need of books and schoolsupplies for the children. Sending these items is very much appreciated. If you plan to send such items please contact me or the school first as there is another address for parcels.
Via the online shop you can also purchase some much needed items for the children. You can pay for the items using Paypal and the money will then be transfered to Kenya. In Kenya the items will be bought, stimulating the local economy!
Click here to read more about the online shop!


Have you joined the Postcard Shower too? Or bought anything for the kids through the online shop? Tell us about it by clicking on 'reacties' below!

A postcard from Tanzania

Do you enjoy receiving handwritten cards in the mail and help support a charity? Here you can now combine those two things!

Hearts in Unity, a charity based in Tanzania, gives you the oppurtunity to help the children at the base of mount Kilimanjaro by purchasing some much needed schoolsupplies. If you now wire $5 to Hearts in Unity using Paypal the next time the organisations director goes to Tanzania (november 2010) she will use your $5 to buy a postcard and a stamp. One of the children will write a 'thank you' on the postcard and it will be mailed to you!

Why a 'thank you'?

Because the rest of your $5 will be spend on schoolsupplies for this particular child. Want to help more children and receive more postcards? Just wire $10 or $15 to Hearts in Unity and help these children get an education. I have sent my 5 dollars to Hearts in Unity!

To read more about this project click here.

To go directly to the website and send your $5 to help a child in need go to Hearts in unity and help!



Have you sent your $5 (or more)? Tell us about it by clicking on 'reacties'.

Baby Hope!

In many countries the mortality rate among newborns and women in childbirth is still very high. Stichting Baby Hope collects hygiene products to support maternity clinics in Africa, South-America and eastern-Europe. Increasing the hygiene during childbirth so more women can take their healthy newborn home!

Stichting Baby Hope is a Dutch organization started in 2003 by one women who did not want to waste the hygiene products that were left over after the birth of her child. Baby Hope has grown since then to an organization with 161 locations throughout the country were women can bring their left-over hygiene items. Helping 14 maternity projects in 11 countries!

What to send?
-Latex gloves
-Desinfectant
-Plastic aprons
-umbilical clamps
-sanitary towels
-syringes
and other useful items in unopened wrapping.

Dutch readers can click here to find the nearest location!
International readers can send an e-mail to ask for the right location to send their items!



Sent your items to Stichting Baby Hope? Tell us about it by clicking on 'reacties' below!

Kiva - Loans that change lives

Got a few  minutes and $25? Go to KIVA and lend your $25 to someone in need.

                                           Lend? Yes, lend it!

Instead of a charity where you donate the money, via Kiva you can lend your money to someone on the other side of the globe!

For example a mother of four from Rwanda in need of a loan to buy clothes to start her own clothingstore or a group of 15 people from Cambodia in need of funds to buy more groceries to resell in their general store. Go to the Kiva website and decide yourself who you will loan your $25 to.

When you click on the name of the person or group of your choice you can read more about them and their plans with their money. You will also find the repayment schedule and the term in which your loan will be paid back.

Kiva is the perfect example how people from all over the world can work together to assist someone in getting out of the cycle of poverty


Got your loan back? Invest it in another entrepreneur and change their life!

I used my $25 to support 21-year-old Fatoumata from Senegal. She is married and mother of one child and she owns a small shop with food products. We can help her grow her business by allowing her to buy larger stocks with her loan. She has already received 5 loans in the 2,5 years she has been a member of the loan group, all well-managed and paid back on time.

Click here to support Fatoumata

Tried this? Tell us about in by clicking on 'reacties' below.

The postcard crossing project

Try Postcrossing now! It is a fun and addictive way to get in touch with many people from all over the world through postcards!

  

Postcard from Taiwan            

1. Start by signing up at http://www.postcrossing.com/
2.Fill out your profile and enter you home address
3.Request an address and mail the card (don't forget the ID-number)
4.Wait for your card to be received
5.Now your address is giving out to a random person anywhere in the world who will send you a card!

Card from Postcrosser in Finland

Find fun postcards at your local store or order them online!

One of my favourite cards, sent from Thailand

Try to find that one special postcard that fits someone's collection!

Tried this? Tell us about it by clicking on 'reacties' below.

Read and Release, recycle your books!

Bookcrossing is a great way to share your love of reading with thousands of people around the world! Give life to your books and send them out on an adventure.



After reading your book go to http://www.bookcrossing.com/ and join this great community of passionate readers. In the supply store you can buy lovely stickers, bookmarks and envelopes to send your books across the world. Request a book code and write this on your stickers and bookmark, make sure its clearly written!



Now it is time to mail your book to someone far away or to release your book in the wild by leaving it in a bus, train or restaurant. You can follow the travels of your book through the automatic e-mails you receive when someone registers your book using the book code. After reading this person can send the book to someone else or release into back in the wild.

Recycle and share your books!!

Tried this? Tell us about it by clicking on 'reacties' below.

Schoolbags for Hearts in Unity

Get creative for Hearts in Unity by sewing some much needed schoolbags for children in Tanzania.

Few children in these Tanzanian villages are fortunate enough to have their own schoolbag. Having a nice bag for their schoolsupplies is a great gift for these children. A gift that you can give them! Find some nice fabrics, maybe with stripes, dots, fruits, vegetables or flower on it and start sewing!

Try to use a cotton or cottonblend fabric, these are lightweight and therefore cheaper to mail and easy to clean. Try to remember that most of these children do not have access to running water for washing so use some dark or decorated fabrics as these will hide dirt and mud better.

Click here for measurements and sewing instructions

A fun and creative afternoon for you, a perfect and much needed gift for a child in Tanzania!


Completed schoolbags can be mailed to:

Hearts in Unity
P.O. Box 41
Germantown, WI 53022
United States of America


Tried this? Tell us about it by clicking on 'reacties'  below!