Sunday, June 27, 2010

News From Sylvia!



It's newsletter time again and more news to share about our Mbiriizi Advanced Primary and Day Care School in Uganda, Africa. Sometimes it is hard to know where to start because so much happens in 60 days! However, here goes!

TRIP

Thirteen of us went to the school from June 17-28 and it was, once again, a great trip. Everyone worked! Joe Corpina worked in the kitchen and had the ladies trained to be singers and dancers! Way to go Joe! Michele Costa and her crew (Ruby and Briana Stanfield) worked tirelessly repairing uniforms for the children. Gina Fontes, Jon Bellomo and Kyle McMorrow were our video crew from Hofstra University and they did a GREAT job. We are anxiously awaiting the final product.

If there was any down time Joe, Jon and Kyle played soccer, tug-o-war and basketball with the children. Ken Schneck, Caitlin Landuyt and Doug Brown were on the orphan inventory team and were very thorough in their efforts. In addition, they visited all our orphans in secondary school (more to follow on that under medical/dental). Tony Costa spent three days teaching guitar to the children and Cris Vitsorek (who brought computers for the school) was training Florence, the headmistress, on how to use the computer.

Sylvia worked with the folks on orphan inventory and, on Wednesday and Thursday, took 40 children each day to the dentists. They loved Grand Slyvia on the trip to the dentist; they weren't too sure on the trip back! So, that was the schedule Monday through Thursday.

Friday was party day! OK, so it rained a little ... nothing could dampen our spirits! First we dedicated the Teachers' Housing which is now done thanks to a generous donation by JoDee Anderson (Bayshore Hospital Nurse of the Year) and her husband. This was followed by cake cutting and having 1,000 children singing happy birthday to you to Briana who turned 17 while in Africa. What a wonderful memory for the rest of her life! Then, it was time to serve lunch.

We have some experience at this so are getting good at feeding 1,000 children rice and meat in sauce (or peanut sauce for the vegetarians)! We did it all in 1 hour 45 minutes! Of course, the day ended with singing and dancing and crying as we all realized the week had come to an end (several said "can't we stay one more week?).

We then drove that night to Isasha Park (which is one of the sub parks within Queen Elizabeth State Park) and had a quiet, restful night in wonderful little round pod houses. Next day, off to the park to see tree lions and we did! What a beautiful sight! After that, drove to Mweya Lodge, seeing many elephants and other animals along the way; took a boat ride down the Kazinga Channel to see hippos, water buffalos, alligators and hundreds of different bird species.

That night Briana had another birthday party at the Mweya Lodge ... turning 17 in Africa is fun! Sunday did a game drive ... saw a leopard, lion and tons of elephants. Drove to Kampala to do some shopping at the market and then to the hotel as we had to be at the airport @ 3 am. Trust me folks, we will never do those flights again!

TEACHERS' HOUSING

It was so wonderful to be able to dedicate the teachers' housing! There are a total of 10 units, five for men and five for women, and we can now rest easy that our children will be better protected. Thank you JoDee and Lawrence for your wonderful, generous, kind contributions.

STARBUCKS FUNDRAISER

Thanks to the brainchild of Brenda Thaner, we were able to have a clothing drive at 11 Starbucks stores in New Jersey. The dates were May 1 to June 15 and we collected 16,000 pounds which, when multiplied by 15¢ a pound generated $2,400 for Sylvia's Children. The employees loved it, the customers loved it and we loved it! As a result we will be doing another one, hopefully expanded through New Jersey, September 15-November 1. Stay tuned for locations!

Sylvia's Children will be one of the charities of choice when the Starbucks NJ folks do their annual baseball game competition. We feel so honored to be working with a company of this caliber and integrity.

LAKEWOOD BLUE CLAWS

Sylvia's Children is one of the 501(c)3 organizations being featured by this year's Lakewood Blue Claws. Thanks to Josh Feinberg, who has moved on to the Oakland Raiders, we have had exposure through their marketing materials and will have a display on July 28 (that's a Wednesday) at the ballpark. Does anyone want to "staff the booth" with me? Could be fun!

MILLSTONE THEATRE FUNDRAISER

On Saturday, July 31, the Millstone Theatre will be putting on a special Elvis performance that will benefit Sylvia's Children and CentraState. Thanks to Laurie Edwards, producer extraordinaire! For tickets visit www.NJTheatreGroup.com.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

This year, for our Christmas party for the children, in addition to all the fun goodies ... sweets, sunglasses, visors, stickers, pencils, glow necklaces ... each girl will receive a new dress and each boy a new shirt. We are doing this fun drive now so we can purchase the products in Uganda in time for Christmas. Not only is this great for the school it is great for the community's economy.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

We are celebrating Christmas in July so the children at the Mbiriizi Advanced Primary and Day Care School in Uganda, Africa CAN have a wonderful Christmas. Every year we put on a Christmas party with a Christmas "feast". The meal is beans and rice (but with meat added for the occasion!), soda and cake. This year we would like to give each boy a new shirt and each girl a new dress. (Many of these children only have one uniform and one change of clothes.)

A new shirt is $6.00 and a new dress is $8.00. We have 1,000 children at the school. Will you help us give these children a beautiful Christmas? If paying by check, please make payable to:

Sylvia's Children, Inc.., 89 Middletown Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733

Or, you can go to the website www.sylviaschildren.org and click on the Donate Now button on the top right.

TEETH AND THREADS FUNDRAISER

Ken Schneck, one of our summer travelers, came up with a great idea for a fundraiser. As you saw in the first paragraph dental work was quite a project! Also, repairing uniforms.

So, out of that came the Teeth and Threads fundraiser. We need 1,000 people to send us $20 each ... if we can do that we can give EVERY child a new uniform and get all the teeth taken care of! Want to donate? Just go to www.sylviaschildren.org and click on the Donate Now button in the top right corner. Or, you can mail a check to Sylvia's Children, 89 Middletown Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733

Off to the dentist!

MEDICAL/DENTAL UPDATE

LOTS of dental work needed. However, thanks to the generosity of two people we were able to raise $5,500 of the $7,500 needed. And, I cannot begin to thank ALL the dentists that donated toothbrushes, tooth paste, the works! It was wonderful! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

CHICKEN FUNDRAISER

Briana Stanfield delivered $3,500 to the school to start the chicken farm. Now, we need chickens! For $2.00 you can buy (and name) a chicken; for $20.00 you can have a brood and for $80.00 you can have a flock! Again, just go to the website. Don't forget to tell us the name of your chicken(s)!

NEXT TRIP

Want to come with us November 18 to the 25th? This is when we put on a Christmas party for the children and I guarantee it will be the best gift you will ever give yourself. They are full of love and vitality and are grateful for anything that we give them. The cost is $2,500 and, for this trip only, there is no safari.

Just FYI ... the medical trip is in March, summer trip latter part of July/early July and ... SAVE THE DATE! June/July 2012, after visiting and working at the school, we will go trekking with the gorillas! Get those walking shoes out and be prepared the opportunity of a lifetime. All inclusive price is still $3,500 BUT we have to add an additional $500 to get a gorilla permit! :)

No comments: