FEED A FAMILY, FEED A VILLAGE

SOLID has a challenge for the residents of Salt Spring Island which builds on the hugely successful goat sales from Christmas 2012.

In May 2013 more dedicated volunteers from Salt Spring will be travelling to Kenya to volunteer their time and energy, and a big part of this mission will be the fulfillment of the “Feed a Family, Feed a Village Project” which will provide long lived fruit trees, tools and education on fruit propagation, ensuring that families receive critical nutrition during the annual famine season from March to June. Read more

GOATS! GOATS! GOATS!

In May, 2012 Karen Hopping Siu of West Vancouver and Rita Burbulevicius from Salt Spring Island visited Kakamega in Western Kenya.  They were there to carry out a number of projects chief amoung, which was the delivery of goats to HIV+ mothers.  This is the second year that goats have been delivered from the good people of Salt Spring.  A total of nearly 300 goats have been delivered over the two years.  The goats are bought from the SOLID Exchange for $57 each.

Marie Mackay of North Vancouver, who lives in Kenya for 6 months of every year, organizes the process.  A qualified Kenyan buys the goats at the local goat markets, introduces the nannies to the pure-bred billies who are part of the project, and then transports the pregnant nannies to various HIV+ mothers’ organizations, which exist throughout the country.

Marie reports:”2012 was another good year for goat giving. In Shianda district, where several groups have been given goats, the groups have decided to form a cooperative to help members in developing a market for goat’s milk, meat, and dung.  The money goes back to the owners.  Any profits are used for micro-loans to members to expand their economic base.

“One positive outcome that may be attributed to the program is that the number of people in the area going for HIV testing has increased 300% and the incidence of stigmatization has decreased because of it”

Karen and Rita were overwhelmed by the joy shown by the Mothers when they received their goats at the goat giving ceremonies.  As Karen says, ”the women gathered and danced and sang their hearts out” in appreciation of this gift from Salt Spring, from people who didn’t know them and who lived halfway around the world

THANK YOU SALT SPRING! 

 

Ndi Moyo Update

SOLID continues to support the Ndi Moyo Palliative Care Centre in Salima, Malawi, and over the past year your generous donations have allowed SOLID to send $10,000 to the centre, supporting the critical work that Ndi Moyo conducts every day with the sickest of Malawi’s palliative patients. Your donations funded the formal training of the centre’s Clinical Officer as he completed his Bachelor of Palliative Care through Hospice Africa Uganda. This training benefits not only the centre’s immediate clients but also provides the potential for training other local health professionals in the complexities of Palliative Care.

Your donations have provided for transportation of very ill patients to the centre for care, allowing them to receive the required attention to ease their suffering. We have also continued to support the Comfort Fund which supplies basics such as maize, sugar, soap, soy and toothbrushes, contributing to the health and well-being of families, and also lifting some of the social and economic burdens which illness can bring. Your generosity has also enabled Ndi Moyo staff to visit grieving families during their bereavement to offer counselling as well as contributing small sums to cover funeral expenses. This service provides much needed and appreciated comfort and support to the centre’s patients and their families. We will also be able to provide blankets and mosquito nets and maize to alleviate the social, economic and nutritional burdens that accompany chronic and terminal illness.

Life for local Malawians has become increasingly difficult with the devaluation of the local currency by more than 60% and poverty continues to be prevalent. For local people who earn their income in Kwacha this has had a staggering impact as of course people have not seen subsequent salary increases of 60%, nor have their salaries accounted for a 15% inflation rate. The cost of a litre of gas has increased by more than 90%, and the cost of transportation on mini-buses has skyrocketed. In essence the poor of Malawi have become poorer.

Ndi Moyo Palliative Care Centre has also struggled as the global economic downturn has dramatically affected donations received. In order to provide the necessary pain medications and other needs of their patients reaching the end of life $9000 monthly is required. The center currently has 340 active patients, and in addition they have been reaching out to their clients vulnerable children, ensuring that as orphans they still have support and access to school. Mosquito nets and blankets for the cool winter evenings are also a great need.

SOLID will continue to raise awareness and funds for this important project and your generosity is appreciated. Tax receipts are available for donations, and cheques should be made out to VIDEA (SOLID’s fiscal partner) with ADPP Ndi Moyo on the memo line) and can be sent to SOLID at 1206B-115 Fulford-Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island, BC, V8K 2T9.

 

Anna Callegari

SOLID Director

SOLID/Kenya Partnership – 2012

On April 23^rd  Karen Siu of West Vancouver and Rita Burbulevicius of Salt Spring Island depart the comforts of home, and arrive as ambassadors for SOLID in Kenya,  East Africa. Although these volunteers are providing for their own travel expenses, they will be delivering an impressive collection of donated goods, and making available considerable funds, all generous donations from the Salt Spring community which will benefit a number of projects.

A top priority is the delivery of another 200 goats to HIV+ mothers that have been purchased by islanders since the last goat delivery was completed before Christmas. SOLID has raised enough to provide goats to over 300 women in Kenya since we started partnering on this incredible project. These goats were bought primarily through the SOLID Exchange, which now has a new home in Gasoline Alley, at Unit 100 – 149  Fulford-Ganges Road.

The goats will offer Kenyan women and their families a better quality of life by providing for highly nutritious milk to drink and sell. Also the women can sell the dung or use it to fertilize their own gardens. This initiative gives these women a means of financially sustaining their families, and offers great benefits to their communities. Karen and Rita are thrilled to be delivering these goats at special “Goat–giving Ceremonies’ in Kenya.

The women are also providing over 300 school uniforms, using money raised at a Mother’s Day dinner at All Saints’ by-the-Sea. The reality is that in Kenya no uniform = no education, an equation faced by far too many children.

With additional funds from SOLID and other Salt Spring sources over 600 sanitary kits will be handed out to school girls. These basic but essential kits enable the girls to attend every day of school, despite their monthly menses, which assists them in attaining a much coveted formal education.

Items lovingly made by the Knitwits of Meadowbrook will be handed out to new mothers in 20-30 layettes, and the maternity and pediatric wards of the Kakamega hospital will welcome knitted dolls and toques as they take their new babies home.

Using money raised by the Anglican Parish of Salt Spring and donations from SOLID, they will also ensure the installation of a modern rain collection system in a local Kenyan school, a desperate need in such a water deprived region.

Finally the volunteers will be providing bags of maize and beans to Grace Orphanage in Kakamega to get the children through the annual famine season.  These varied, yet inter-connected projects will surely keep Karen and Rita busy, and provide for a life altering experience before they return home on May 27^th, bringing with them all sorts of unique African crafts for sale at the SOLID Exchange.

SOLID welcomes all interest, volunteers and donations for our partnerships, and we encourage you to come and visit our new SOLID Exchange location for a delightful collection of fair trade and non-profit products. Open Mon – Fri 11-3 and Sat 8-4.