Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

8
6 4-5 JUNE 2011 Inside…. 2 3 7 SPONSOR A CHILD AND MAY EXPENSES WILBER- SEEDS FIRST COLLEGE STUDENT RECENT VOLUNTEERS PASEOS STAYING INVOLOVED Hola Friends and Family of Seeds of Hope!! July and August were amazing and fun filled months at Seeds of Hope! The last week of July brought about Peru’s Independence Day and the Dia de Huaraz! The children made many decorations and hung Peruvian flags in the Seeds of Hope classroom in anticipation of the national celebrations which coincided with the Seeds of Hope and their public school’s mid-year vacations! August kicked off with a bang after the mid year break as Wilber, an alumini of Seeds, announced that he passed his entrance exam and will be entering the University in September! We are very prod to announce that Wilber was Seeds of Hope first Secondary School graduate and now our first University student! Seeds was also very lucky to have had many great volunteers come and dedicate their time to Seeds of Hope and the children over the past two months! We were very fortunate to welcome many new volunteers, Ben, Stephanie, Emma, Lindsay and Laura! In addition we were all very excited to have Isabelle, a previous Coordinator, and Anthony, a previous volunteer, come back and spend time with us at Seeds of Hope! With so many great energetic volunteers we were able to do many activities in the past two months! Thank to all of you who have furthered inquired about our Sponsor a Child Program. We are in desperate need to find a sponsor for Wilber to help cover the fees at the University! If you are interested in sponsoring a Seeds of Hope student, please email us at [email protected]! WHATS GOING ON AT SEEDS SCHOOL 8

description

Inside this issue you will find photos and information about Wilber, our first Seeds of Hope student to enter University, our most recent Pasos to Rataquena and Willkawain, our pre-spring cleaning including re-painting the Seeds of Hope School classrooms, updates on our most recent volunteers and lots more! If you are interested in sponsoring a child or any other information about Seeds of Hope please contact us! Thank you again for all your support; it is greatly appreciated!

Transcript of Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

Page 1: Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

6

4-5

JUNE 2011

Inside….

2

3

7

SPONSOR A CHILD

AND MAY EXPENSES

WILBER- SEEDS FIRST

COLLEGE STUDENT

RECENT

VOLUNTEERS

PASEOS

STAYING

INVOLOVED

Hola Friends and Family of Seeds of Hope!! July and August were amazing and fun filled months at Seeds

of Hope! The last week of July brought about Peru’s Independence Day and the Dia de Huaraz! The children made many decorations and hung Peruvian flags in the Seeds of Hope classroom in anticipation of the national celebrations which coincided with the Seeds of Hope and their public school’s mid-year vacations! August kicked off with a bang after the mid year break as Wilber, an alumini of Seeds, announced that he passed his entrance exam and will be entering the University in September! We are very prod to announce that Wilber was Seeds of Hope first Secondary School graduate and now our first University student!

Seeds was also very lucky to have had many great volunteers come and dedicate their time to Seeds of Hope and the children over the past two months! We were very fortunate to welcome many new volunteers, Ben, Stephanie, Emma, Lindsay and Laura! In addition we were all very excited to have Isabelle, a previous Coordinator, and Anthony, a previous volunteer, come back and spend time with us at Seeds of Hope! With so many great energetic volunteers we were able to do many activities in the past two months!

Thank to all of you who have furthered inquired about our Sponsor a Child Program. We are in desperate need to find a sponsor for Wilber to help cover the fees at the University! If you are interested in sponsoring a Seeds of Hope student, please email us at [email protected]!

WHATS GOING ON

AT SEEDS SCHOOL

8

Page 2: Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

July/ Aug. 2011

2011

2

How we spent your

money this month. IT’S IMPORTANT TO US THAT YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE SPEND YOUR MONEY ON, SO HERE IT IS…

Help

support

SOH and

our

students by

Sponsoring

a Child!!

WHAT WE DID… -Provided a safe place for 55 students to come daily to study and receive emotional and academic support from Seeds of Hope staff and volunteers -Ensured every child received a daily nutritious meal at Seeds of Hope. -Took 30 plus students on weekend paseo to Rataquena! -Took 30 plus students on weekend paso to Willkawain! - Re-painted and made many repairs on the inside and outside of the Seeds of Hope School. - Bought a variety of new reading books for students to use during our new Friday reading and writing workshops. - Bought 25 new notebooks for students to use at Seeds of Hope when they don’t have homework. - Bought Wilber necessary school supplies to start University.

CAN YOU SPONSOR A CHILD…

HELP SPONSOR WILBER SEEDS OF HOPE VERY FIRST

UNIVERSITY STUDENT!

HOW YOU CAN SPONSOR A CHILD.. At Seeds of Hope we have 3 different levels of sponsorship for you to choose from… For only $25.00 a month for six months you will allow a student to come to Seeds of Hope every weekday where he or she receives a nutritious meals, healthcare, support and guidance with academics and development of life skills!

For $25.00 per month for 12 months you will allow a student to attend SOH and provide a student with the mandatory uniform and school supplies needed to attend the public school. For $25.00 for 18 months you will allow a student to come to SOH every day, buy them their school uniform and mandatory school supplies, and provide a student with a dental and an eye exam.

For less than 83 cents a day you can make a

huge impact on a student’s life! For more information and a Sponsorship Packet email [email protected]!

Wilber will be entering the University of Santiago Antunes de Mayolo in mid September to start his studies to become a mining engineer! Wilber has been with Seeds for the past 3 years and will be our very first University student. However, he needs our help to continue cover his tuition, help pay for all his books and study materials for University. Can you help sponsor Wilber and make it possible for him to be the very first in his family to get a college degree and have a successful job and ultimately break the cycle of poverty is family has been living in?!? If so please email us for more information at [email protected]!

Activities (green)

School Equipment (pink)

Saleries (yellow)

Food & Health (brown)

School Operation Cost

(blue)

Page 3: Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

3

CONGRATULATIONS WILBER!! We are extremely proud and excited to announce that Wilber, a student of Seeds of Hope for the past 3 years, recently passed the university entrance exam and will be starting classes at the University of Santiago Antunes de Mayolo in September! We are so proud of Wilber as he was Seeds of Hope first Secondary School graduate and now University student! He is also the first member of his family to have even entered the public education system. We are all very proud of him and his accomplishments! Wilber wrote the following letter himself to let you know about his experience of entering the University and to personally thank all the past volunteers and supporters of Seeds for their help and encouragement over the last 3 years!

Hi, my name is Wilber. I was born on March 29, 1993 and am 18 years old. I like to play soccer, listen to music, and study. I studied at Santa Rosa of Viterbo school for 9 years. I then entered academia, a type of school, where I could prepare for the university entrance exam. I went to academia for one and half years. I worked during school holidays, weekends, and some periods of time that I was not at academia to pay a portion of my academia and test fees. I was very fortunate to also have financial help from my parents and Seeds of Hope to help pay for tuition at academia, my books, study materials, and the entrance exams. I studied one and half years at the academia. In my first exam I was short 15 points of passing. I felt very said but my family and Seeds supported me and encouraged me to continue to study at Academia. The second time I took the exam I failed by 12 points. When I found out I did not pass the second time I was even more upset because I worked very hard for one year to prepare. However, my parents and Professor Yuri continued to encourage me and support me financially and emotionally the entire time. They told me to keep working hard and not give up. In August I just took the exam for the third time and am so excited to tell everyone that I passed and will be entering University of Santiago Antunes de Mayolo in September and will be studying to become a mining engineer! I have to take 10 cycles of classes in total and hope to complete university in five years. My first cycle of classes which will begin in September and I will take math, chemistry, drawing, communications and a few other courses. I feel very happy to have been able to enter the university. I am very excited to start my classes and then begin a career as a mining engineer!

I want to thank everyone especially my family, Prof. Yuri, and all the past volunteers and supporters of Seeds who have helped me and given me this opportunity to enter university, become an engineer, and find a good job that I enjoy and hopefully financially help my family. I would also in the future like to help other students at Seeds prepare for University. Thank you all for your support!! I will keep you updated on my progress at University in the upcoming years! MUCHAS GRACIAS… Wilber

Page 4: Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

July/ Aug. 2011

2011

4

MUCHAS GRACIAS TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS… Ben, an energetic great volunteer spent five great weeks volunteering at Seeds of Hope! Right from the start Ben jumped right in and became an instant hit profe! He worked with a variety of students filling in and helping where ever he could! He taught English a majority of the time but was willing to take on any given task. Ben dedicated two long afternoons and evenings sanding down the walls, painting the school, and helping with the clean up. He was also a fantastic soccer player that all the kids fought over to have on their teams! Ben will greatly be missed and we wish him the best of luck as he continues his travels through Peru and Bolivia!

Stephanie, a very friendly and caring Canadian volunteer, spent an excellent month volunteering at Seeds of Hope. She worked one on one with many of our students helping them improve their reading and writing skills. Stephanie also took every opportunity to help Seeds in any way she could. She joined in the pre-spring clean up, painting of the school, and in addition helped to creating a new Seeds of Hope birthday calendar with all the students’ birthdays. During recreo the students at Seeds loved playing chess and volleyball with her or even just hanging out and reading books outside with her under the tree. Thank you Stephanie for all your hard work at Seeds of Hope, you will be greatly missed!

Lindsey, an outgoing and upbeat volunteer spent, one great month volunteering at Seeds of Hope! Lindsey did anything and everything from teaching to cleaning and even helped to create some informational packets for Seeds of Hope to use for fundraising. She worked with a variety of students in the morning and spent the afternoons teaching and working with the youngest students’ at Seeds helping them with their homework and advance in all their school subjects. Lindsey was a great patient teacher who the kids loved spending quality time reading, drawing, and playing games with her. Lindsey was a fabulous energetic volunteer that will be greatly missed at Seeds of Hope!

Page 5: Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

5

MUCHAS GRACIAS TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS…

Isabelle, a previous International Coordinator and current member of the Board of Trustees at Seeds of Hope, came back and spent a few great weeks with us in July! The kids’ faces lit up when they saw her and all wanted to work one on one with her on their homework assignments! Unfortunately, her time was very short with us but she utilized it to the fullest kicking off the the spring cleaning, working both morning and afternoon sessions with a variety of the children on their homework especially their reading and writing, and helping to organize the Paseo to Rataquena! Isabelle is a crucial member to Seeds of Hopes success and continues to work behind the scenes even while in Belgium helping Seeds of Hope any way she can! Thank you Isabelle for all you do for Seeds of Hope we hope to see you back in Huaraz soon!

Anthony, who volunteered with us in back in May for two months, came back in August to volunteer at Seeds for a few weeks! We were all really happy to have Anthony back in the school volunteering at both sessions. His energetic and outgoing personality is contagious and the kids really love working on their homework and playing during recreo with him! We want to really thank Anthony for all his hard work and time at Seeds of Hope and wish him the best as he continues his backpacking trip through South America!

We are very excited and fortunate to have Emma, a current student at Cambridge University, volunteering with us full time until December! Emma has been a huge help at Seeds of Hope with her fluency in Spanish as she is able to take on any task at hand and help with any type of homework assignment. She also helped with the spring clean up and painting a new map of Peru on the wall in the school to help the children with their geography homework! The kids really enjoy her and always seek her out to play chess or other board games! We are all very happy that Emma will be staying and volunteering at Seeds for the next few months!

Laura, an active great volunteer from Romania, arrived in August and was volunteering with us just until last week! She was great at teaching Math and helping students in the morning and afternoon overcome their fear of their Math homework! She and Emma have also started chess-mania at the school and the students love it! We want to extend a special thanks to Laura for all her hard work she did while volunteering at Seeds of Hope!

Page 6: Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

July/ Aug. 2011

2011

6

PASEOS TO RATAQUENA & WILLKAWAIN!!

To celebrate the end of the first semester of classes and kick off the mid year school break we took 30 plus students on a hike up to Rataquena. For those of you who have been to Huaraz, Rataquena is the field, located above the big blue cross on the mountainside that you can see from Huaraz. It was a great hot sunny morning when we departed on foot from the Seeds of Hope School to begin the adventurous hike up to Rataquena. The children were full of excitement and loved the exploring the mountainside and windy back trails!

The last Saturday in August we loaded up two combis worth of students and volunteers and headed up to Willkawain! Willkawain is located about fourty minute drive from Huaraz. It is an archaeological site with a huge field that the students and volunteers enjoyed a day full of games and picnic lunch at. The volunteers had preplanned out a day full of competitions, water balloon fights, and of course a very competitive soccer game! Everyone had a great time playing, laughing, eating and just relaxing in the sun! By 2 o’clock in the afternoon everyone was exhausted and we loaded up the combis and headed back down the mountain to Huaraz!

When we finally reached the summit and made it out to the fields backpacks and water bottles were immediately thrown aside, teams were quickly made and the games began! Full on competitive soccer and volleyball competitions were followed by a picnic lunch of cheese sandwiches, fruit, candy, and crackers! After a rest and a few other games we began the hike down the front side of the mountain where we stopped at the look at point for the children to explore the cross and the remains of a structure which was a hotel before terrorists bombed it sometime in the mid 1980’s. Even though it is a walk you can take from right out of the city, many of the children had never been before and were shocked and amazed by the views of the city and how large Huaraz was from a birds eye view!

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Page 7: Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

7

In July we were very lucky to have, Debra Joy Hart from American organization called M.I.R.T.H (Medicine is Relationships Trust and Humor) come with a group of yoga volunteers. Together they led an afternoon full of fun and entertaining activities for the Seeds of Hope children and volunteers! Debra, a colorful and energetic clown, upon entrance brightened the classroom with her smile and sense of humor! She led a variety of fun and humorous laughing exercises and games that kept the children and volunteers chuckling and amused for over an hour! By the end of the presentation the Seeds of Hope School was full of 30 small red nosed clowns giggling and in high spirits! We want to extend a special thank you to Deb and all the volunteers from the yoga group for creating a memorable afternoon full of laughter and joy for all the children and volunteers at Seeds of Hope!

WHATS BEEN GOING ON AT SEEDS OF

HOPE SCHOOL..

In August during the second part of the school break the Seeds of Hope team which at the time consisted of, Ben, Stephanie, Emma, Laura, Lindsey, Kate, Mariella, and Yuri along with a few of the students motivated to do some pre-spring cleaning! We organized, dusted, swept, mopped and re-painted two of the classrooms and the exterior of Seeds! In addition a new birthday calendar was made and a new Peru map was drawn while we touched up our painted world map! We are very excited about starting the second semester with a new fresh look at the Seeds of Hope School!

Page 8: Seeds of Hope July and Aug. Newsletter

June 2011

There are many ways to stay involved with

Seeds of Hope… Make a Donation...

From anywhere in the world you can make a

donation via our partner, Omprakash, at

www.omprakash.org.

If you live in the U.K., it is best to give through

our partner, The One Percent Scheme (OPS).

Please send us an email for instructions on

giving via OPS.

When donating by any of these methods,

please send us a quick email at

[email protected] so that we can

track you donation.

Sponsor a Child... By choosing to sponsor a child you can

ensure that they receive all the support

they need to succeed. The child will know

who you are and share letters and photos

with you, so you can follow their

development. For just $25 a month you’ll

provide one of our children with:

1. Uniform and equipment to enable

attendance at school

2. A nutritious meal daily

3. Healthcare and supplementary nutrition

4. Support and guidance in developing life

skills

5. A safe place to play and study off the

streets.

CONTACT US FOR A SPONSORSHIP PACK.

Do something amazing and raise money for Seeds... Whatever you choose to do, you can be sure the money you raise will work as hard as you did!

Volunteer... We always need volunteers to help at

Seeds of Hope and welcome anyone

with a positive outlook and

enthusiasm. We particularly need an

experienced counselor and/or play

therapist to work with a small

number of the children on a one to

one basis. Please spread the word on

this and contact us if you are

interested.

[email protected]