Seeds of Hope - July 2007

Anna Ray

Contact with Seeds has been really great this quarter and our donation, apparently their largest yet was gratefully received. With our money they have been able to rent a new, bigger and better house for the children which has 3 classrooms and enough space for a bathroom and a kitchen unlike the old school. They can now wash their hands before eating, have a hot meal and drink and clean their teeth after meals, leaving the outside sink for full washes which is something that some of the children don't get to do very often. 

Just as important as these basic needs, some of the money has also been used to help the kids to have some fun. Our money has enabled Seeds to take the children to the countryside for a day of football and frisbee games and paid for the hire of some traditional dance costumes for 3 of the girls so that they could take part in an event at their school for Father's Day. I'm happy that our money is contributing towards both the educational needs of the children and is enabling them to do some fun activities and enjoy life as kiddies should.

I have been mainly in contact with an English Volunteer who has a background in marketing for non-for-profit organisations and is working at Seeds until the end of the year. She has lots of great fundraising ideas and is doing some fantastic work to promote the charity and gain the support of local and international volunteers. Later this month she has arranged for Seeds to hold a stand at the 'Semana Del Andinismo', an international festival for outdoor adventure sports (all competed at 3000m above sea level I might add!), where they hope to sell t-shirts by telling people how the price of a t-shirt can help the children. They'll also be giving out information about volunteering with Seeds and promoting the local English classes that Seeds have just started. The money from these classes goes directly to Seeds of Hope. It's really inspiring to hear these brilliant ideas for both raising money and educating the local community.

We've also been brainstorming ideas about how OPS can give a little more support, how about buying and selling birthday or christmas cards made by the children?? I like it but if anyone has any other charity friendly ideas please email OPS and I can pass them on to Seeds. And if you get chance, check out their new website...www.peruseeds.org They really have been busy!

Anna.