The idea cropped up not long ago that the team at BSG could very much do with additional training since their full time mentor left the village. So, here is a short note from Margret updating on the recent attendee of the the 2 week training programs for 4 of the BSG team....also its was very touching that their thoughts are with our victims of the floods here in Australia. 

This is the letter from Margaret. 

We hope and pray that all people who were affected will get help. It is very disturbing to see people loosing what you have worked for because of floods. BSG is still staggering but we are trying. The girls enjoyed their course they will get certificates  I think in august. They have to go again in April. They are all fine with lots of confidence and motivation. Lots of love from the group. Margret

On another note, Margaret did announce that she is marrying her 'husband' Crispin in June. This is a significant step as although they have already declared that they are husband and wife and do have 2 children, weddings are reserved for when and only when the couple can afford it....hence some couples never officially get married. So it was thrilling to find out that Crispin & Margaret will marry in June this year. CONGRATULATIONS from all of us at AFADU. Margaret is such an integral part in moving BSG forward not to mention her key role as the supervisor (and super-woman!) of Lirhanzo Childrens Village in general. 

An exciting note from AFADU....we have resurrected our newsletter ' Come Alive'. So please enjoy our re-launch Summer Issue. 

Many thanks for your support.

Trish

ww.afadu.com 

Links:

• For more information, go to our website.

• COME ALIVE - AFADU Newsletter (PDF)
  

The ladies of BSG, led by Margaret Mutero, have been powering along lately with the help of Julie Routledge, the founder of AFADU. She spent some quality time with the ladies back in June this year during the annual AFADU filed trip....proving yet again how valuable those tips are, she sat with the team at BSG and came up with some strategies to increase the businesses productivity and hence profit. As I reported last time, one idea was to hold a $2 sale to attract new customers an turn over a high volume of sales. It was a raging success and earnt the business well over $700USD in one day....which is more than they were making in a month at some times! What Julie also found was that since the departure of the teams mentor and tutor, Mrs Chamuka, productivity had dropped off due to the essential lack of inspiration and guidance that comes with someone that can be on hand to enhance and teach new skills. So, one fine day back in June, Margaret and Julie headed up to Masvingo...a lazy few hours drive away!....to do some investigation and finally find a solution to their current challenge. That came in the form of 2 week intensive training programs at the Masvingo Technical College where in December Joyce will learn the techniques of fabric dying, Tsungirirai will study the basics of computing and Clorence and Loveness will build on their dressmaking skills.The team are really excited about these up and coming programs and what they will do for their business and the future of BSG. Thanks again to the supporters BSG through Global Giving who can make this happen for them. On a sadder note, on behalf of myself and AFADU, I would like to extend our sincerest condolences to Clorence who in August gave birth to a baby boy but unfortunately passed away soon after. Our thoughts are with her. I also want to wish the team well as they head into the Christmas season. 

Thanks again for you support.

Trish

www.afadu.com

P.s. I have included a photo of Margaret (top middle), Julie (2nd from the right) and team holding up coffee bags that are donate by Toby's Estate Coffee in Sydney. BSG turn these bags in to floor mats and sell them in their store. Yet another example of their handy work!  So clever! 

Once a year in June a group from AFADU head to Zimbabwe for the annual field trip – which is wonderful because we can see firsthand how the girls at BSG are coming along. All reports say that times have been tough especially since their in house tutor, Mrs Chamuka, moved on to another town some months back. So a visit from the AFADU bunch was most welcomed. Julie, the founder of AFADU and woman of boundless energy, spent some quality time with the BSG crew and together they mapped out the next steps in BSG’s progress. One fantastic idea they came up with to generate income and clear some of the older stock was to have 30 June sale. Incredibly they had a HUGE day and made more money in the one day they do in a month! Following is an excerpt from a letter sent to us by the ever inspirational Margaret Mutero.

“Just to let you know, we had a $2 sale on the 30th of June as per our arrangement. The sale was really fantastic and we made a quiet a big difference. The sales for that day alone were $724, 50. From this cash, we paid our rentals for July to September, Vendors’ license up to September. We also have put money aside to by two new machines.”

Margaret is not only the supervisor of the orphans at Lihranzo Children’s Village she is also responsible for getting BSG off the ground with me back in 2005. I actually haven’t been back to Zimbabwe since that time so Margaret and I keep our bond strong through good old fashion snail mail. So, you can imagine my surprise though when at 6am last Saturday the phone rings. It was Margaret. She was on a day trip to Chridezi which is 3 hours drive from Chikombedzi. She tells me she had saved some money so she could make the call. To say I was blown away is an understatement really! We had a very quick chat and although there is so much to catch up on it was like being a rabbit in the head lights. I could barely think! One thing she did make very clear was how grateful she and her crew at BSG are for the love and support AFADU gives.

So, Thank you from Margaret!

Trish www.afau.com

Tsungi and Margaret

Dear friends of BSG and AFADU,

A short update from me and BSG!

Good news is that we finally have a quote for the the entire project from a local supplier for the building of the factory. The foundations are laid now it’s time to get serious about the rest of the building. With the money so kindly donated to date, we are one 5th of the way there to fund the next phase....$40,000USD to go to and we’re set.

PLEASE BE IN TOUCH WITH ANY OPINIONS ON FUNDRAISING! I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

Secondly, and on a more personal note, I’m proud to announce the birth of the newest addition to AFADU and my first child, Jacob. He graced us with his presence on the 12th April. He is a pleasure and can’t wait to help out his mum with all things AFADU!

Finally, Pam Harrison, one of AFADU’s board members and coordinator of all things medical for AFADU, is known for her inspiring updates....so... i thought i’d share a snippet from her latest correspondence with the view to highlight just one of the forces that makes AFADU tick.....

“.........The first email stated that Ludwig Schimper confirmed me as a friend on Facebook. Ludwig, the almost 21 year old son of Ezelle Schimper, the driving force behind the Lirhanzo Children’s Village and the chairperson of the Chikimbedzi Hospital. He is a young man, who, by the way also makes a mean birthday cake and who I would be proud to call my own. On many occasions when I visited his home at Edenvale Ranch I have seen his courage and enormous strength of character as he has supported his parents goals to stay in their homeland and help the local community.

While looking at his profile I noticed one of his quotes “Today I dare to dream” a powerful quote for someone so young. I so wish that his future is everything he dares to dream for.

The second email came from Elliott Routledge the very talented artist son of Julie Routledge the founder of AFADU and Ian Routledge who effortlessly organises our containers to get from Australia to Zimbabwe. Elliott, who visited our projects in 2004 had written to say that he was painting for a charity exhibition in Byron Bay and had been given the opportunity to choose a charity to donate half of the selling price of his paintings to. Naturally, he said he was choosing AFADU............ Thanks as usual to all our remarkable supporters and the new ones we are slowly gathering. Many are young people who who wish to make a difference. Thanks again for their inspiration.”

Thank YOU from me and BSG for your continued support.

Trish

Links:

• http://www.afadu.com/

Hi everyone!

Just a short update from us!

Some very exciting developments for the team at BSG and Lirhanzo Children’s Village – which is BSG’s associated orphanage. After more than 10 years of paperwork and hoop- jumping, LCV us proud to announce that they are now officially registered. The lady who started it all, Ezelle Schimper, sums it all up below:

Hi All The miracle of miracles has happened!! Margaret and I was called to Harare on Wednesday last week to see the Social Welfare office where they handed us the registration certificate of Lirhanzo Children's Village!!! I had to pinch myself, after eleven years from the first letter we wrote to apply to Social Welfare for a children's home, after all the negative politics, financial struggles, red tape, blood and sweat, God finally made it happen. When I prayed to God for patience, I never knew exactly how much He would put my patience and commitment to the test. Halleluja!! We have made it! Attached is the piece of paper we have waited and fought so long for. With this registration now comes a whole lot of new responsibilities that brings with it also financial obligations like paying staff government set salaries, etc. Please help us in meeting these obligations in order to help the children for whom we did all of this. Also pray for us to have the wisdom in running it the way that will follow God's will and plan. Thank you all for your contribution in reaching this goal. Everyone played a vital part in making it happen, no matter how small you think it was. Without that last dustbin in the room or that one doorlock, we would not have been able to pass the final inspection. We are now registered for 21 children according to the size of the facility, but were told that as we increase our capacity to house more children, it is now easy to increase the number on our registration. There is a great need for homes in the country and area and ours are already full. So we would like to increase our capacity to 120 children with everybody's help. With God nothing is impossible, we must only believe and trust in Him. Love you all! Ezelle and team

The BATSIRANAI SEWING GROUP contributes to theses expenses Ezelle talks about above so, thanks to donors like yourselves, we can continue to commit to help them meet these obligations.

Finally, your feedback is most valuable so please contact me if you have any queries or even ideas on how we can attract wider support for BSG and LCV.

Thanks again for all of your support.

Trish www.afadu.com

• LCV Registration Confirmation (PDF)
  

Hi all,

Just a short update from us!

Thanks to 2 very generous donors, BSG were able to buy 2 embroidery machines that will enable them fulfill a contract for making uniforms that need embroidered emblems.

here's a short note from Margaret Mutero, mother of 3 who works at BSG....

'It is our pleasure to express our thanks to AFADU for the highest efforts and sacrifices to make BSG’s dreams come true. We were so pleased to receive the two embroidery machines on the 15th of June 2009. At the present moment, we are busy collecting school LOGOS so that we can use the embroidery machines to make school badges, school T/shirts and sun-hats with school names and LOGOS. Mrs Chamuka already collected a LOGO from Hippo Valley Primary School in Chiredzi town. As a group we are going to start setting income targets to be met per month as from the beginning of July in order to increase production."

..and...A MASSIVE Thanks to........ ... Ginell Jackson who found us on Global Giving. She has chosen to donate a percentage of sales of her tote bags that she sells through Etsy www.loveyourbag.etsy.com

Am kind of in shock about some peoples generosity.

JUST AMAZING!

Finally - please do be in touch if you want to know anything specific about BSG and the project.

Thanks for your support.

Trish www.afadu.com

....BSG FUNDING GOAL.... Total Funding Received to Date: £2,299 Remaining Goal to be Funded: £32,716 Total Funding Goal: £35,015

Dear all,

I just wanted to thank you all again for contributing to the April challenge! ...and getting us a permanent place on Global Giving!

I did thank a lot of you personally as you’re details were open to me when you donated (sorry if I missed anyone!)….. some of you were anonymous donors I didn’t get the chance to thank you personally.

So…… THANK YOU for donating! (and please email me if you want to be in touch and make yourself known )

At the end of the April challenge we had 68 donors donate £2113 (which is about $4300 AUD / $3400 USD). So we CREAMED IT!!!! Out of almost 50 projects only 17 secured a place on the site…with our project raising the 6th highest amount!

So again, thank you for being generous especially at a time when everyone is tightening their belts due to that little issue of the global financial crisis! Not only did your contribution get us a place on Global Giving, but it made a nice dent in our aim of raising £100,000 to build the new Sewing factory and training facility!

More importantly, we can now afford to take the next step with the building…..The money raised in the challenge will go towards building the roof and wall frames for the new facility. I’ll keep you posted on how it progresses.

So….Where to from here….

Soon, the BSG Sewing project will be listed on the US Global Giving site soon as well, so I’ll let you know when that happens. So feel free to spread the word to friends abroad in the US as their donations are tax deductible.

Also....you can: 1. Continue to support the BSG project through simple online donations. 2. Gifts in Honour – donate to the BSG projects on behalf of a loved one. They receive an e-Card with a personalised message from you and a link to the project. 3. e-Gift certificate that can be used for many occasions – buy your friend a gift certificate and let them choose a project to donate to. 4. Gift lists – these can be used for weddings, birthdays or any other occasion. 5. Create corporate challenges rallying your colleagues to donate.

http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/pr/2600/proj2594a.html

Thanks again everyone!!

Trish AFADU www.afadu.com

WOW! we have had 19 people donate a HUGE £660 in the first 7 days of this challenge!

THANK YOU to all that have contributed so far! This is really exciting!

We have 31 more donors to donate at least £340 so please contact all your friends and help get us over the line!!

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Trish

Check out one of AFADU's newsletters!

• Summer_2007_Come_Alive.pdf (PDF)
  

There are just some people out there that are purely, modestly and consistently generous with their time and money when it comes to AFADU…. I could be describing all of our volunteers and supporters actually.

There’s one chap, though, that kind of stands out in my mind. He has opened up the doors to his fabric warehouse for as many years as I can remember. It’s Bernie from Caesar Textiles in Marrickville. Bernie, if you’re reading this, just know that we think you’re the BEST. At least once maybe twice a year we call up Bernie and say ‘Hey! How bout it? Anything to donate?’. Without a fuss he obliges. His only concern being that we’d be OK to come and pick up the stuff! Heck yeh, Bernie!

So we head out to Marrickville making sure we have a truck ‘big enough’ as instructed by Bernie, and we collect…and not just metres here and metres there. I’m talking about rolls upon rolls upon rolls. When the Batsirani Sewing Group first kicked off in 2005, we went to Bernie and asked for some fabrics that the woman could use to make school uniforms.

Since that he’s opened up his warehouse doors to us countless times. I just rang Bernie today to ‘hit him up’ for more fabrics and told him how well BSG is doing and, can he help! Genuinely interested and not in any way being fanatical about it, he’s says… ‘Sure. Id rather it go to good use that not.’ Then he says, ‘Actually, would they be interested in stuff like office furniture, filing cabinets etc?’. When I tell him that they are about to embark on building a factory and show room and that office furniture would come in handy, he modestly replies ‘well that’s great then!’….and we go on to have a chat about the state of the world and the financial crisis and its effect on trade….as if that fact that he has potentially decked out the office for the new BSG building and supplied a good chunk of fabric that would last at least 6months is not a big deal. What financial crisis?? I’m keen to ask him!

Modest in every way this man, I’m not actually quite sure he really knows how much of a difference he is making. Bernie, we think you’re tops!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Waking up early in the morning, I do not know what to do since I have finished my schooling. I am not clever enough academically, but I will use my hands. I want to be a dressmaker. There is a lady that I know who can change my life. I am joining Batsiranai Sewing group, which was initiated by Patricia Cuciti (now Mrs. Pagorer). You cannot believe I am the same girl that you knew two years ago. I hope to be a well-known dressmaker of Chikombedzi community, even as far as Chiredzi, my nearest big town.

I dream to become the popular designer of the Masvingo Province. I wish if my parents were alive to see the gift, which they never knew I have. I want to thank a few individuals like Julie, Pam, Jenny not forgetting Patricia for all they have done for us to have such a project. By the way my name is Loveness, I am one of the older girls at the village. Thank you for your love

It was some months in the making, however the plans for Batsiranai Sewing groups new production facility were approved by council and the foundation of the new building has already been laid. BSG will contract local community members to construct a rectangular brick building where BSG can manufacture, teach, store and market their products. The structure will include the following: • Factory space with sewing machines, cutting tables and lecture boards for teaching • Storeroom for storage of raw materials, sewing equipment and manufactured items • Restroom facilities for employees, students and visitors • Laundry room with washing and ironing facilities • Display area for advertising and sales to allow the group to market and distribute products made at the centre to the wider region • Craft/ curio shop alongside the sewing centre where visitors can see and purchase local-made craft products, clothing and school uniforms • Kiosk and kitchen area to enable local food preparation and cold drink storage, both of which will be sold in the kiosk

Congratulations BSG!

The amazing women of BSG have obtained a new contract to produce school uniforms for schools on the border of South Africa and Zimbabwe. This will provide new and much needed income in SA Rands to boost the project and at the same time providing their ongoing contribution to LCV, its orphaned children and carers.