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Welcome to the first newsletter of 2018 from the Havonos Foundation. Thank you for taking the time to get to know all our activities! • The successful Christmas market organized by students from MBO Landstede in Raalte. We wish you lots of reading pleasure! |
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Christmas market MBO Landstede Raalte
Thursday, December 21, 2017 was the day. After weeks of preparations there was the Christmas market organized by MBO Landstede Raalte for the benefit of the Havonos foundation. Pupils Iemke, Lilli, Savine, Roos, Charlotte, Marlijn, Sanne and Linet, from the study: 'Teaching assistant' (specialized pedagogical employee and childcare), had organized the Christmas market for Havonos.
And the result might be: there was plenty to do at the Christmas market, which was very crowded by pupils and teachers. From games to a real 'Wheel of adventure', with great prizes. Also ‘the inner man’ was well thought on. The money was easily spent and the final revenue was fantastic: € 1,325.04! Together with the proceeds from the Christmas market for teachers, a day later, we were able to transfer a total amount of € 1,435.04 to Sri Lanka. Father Philip, director of the YEC, is going to buy musical instruments for the trauma processing program there. Pupils and teachers of Landstede: also on behalf of students and staff of the YEC, thank you very much for your enthusiastic commitment and involvement!
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We are very pleased with the reinforcement of our board with new member Ineke van Mierloo. Here she introduces herself to you: My name is Ineke van Mierloo. I am 61 years old, I am a professional remedial educationalist / psychologist and have been working in the emergency services for 34 years, of which the last 4 years are Basic mental health care. I have been actively involved for 12 years in a development project in Tanzania, "Sibusiso", which focuses on children, young people and young adults with intellectual disabilities and their parents. I have visited the project several times in the context of the promotion of expertise of the Tanzanian staff. In addition, I have been a member of the board for 10 years (including 3 years as chairman) of the Association "Train 8.28", a charitable institution, which gives subsidies to projects at home and abroad that focus on children in disadvantaged situations. In that capacity I came into contact with Havonos. I like to use my professional and volunteer experience for Havonos. |
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The collaboration with Foundation A Helping Hand (SEHH) We have been in contact with SEHH for quite some time now (http://www.sehh.nl/). We have met board members of SEHH during network meetings with Wilde Ganzen and at the Sri Lanka Table. In addition to a personal click, SEHH is also willing to actively engage in projects in the North of Sri Lanka, in addition to their activities in Sierra Leone. In December, the board of SEHH went on holiday to Sri Lanka and visited our projects there, among other things. Returning to the Netherlands, both boards have become acquainted with each other and expressed the wish to work together where possible. We are still discussing exactly how this works. |
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Visit from Henk and Florentina de Weerd to the Havonos projects Involved with Havonos from the first hour, Henk and Florentina de Weerd, recently spent their holidays in Sri Lanka. For those who still don’t know: Havonos once started giving emergency and later structural support to villages in the (North-) East of Sri lanka, in the Trincomalee District. In 2011, Havonos was able to say goodbye there, because the villagers could continue on their own and Havonos moved its work area to the Vanni. Henk and Florentina were curious about the situation in our old project area and also decided to a visit there. In addition to the old projects, the current projects (in progress and recently re-realized) were also visited by them. Every day Sieni received enthusiastic reports, full of admiration for everything the local population has picked up in collaboration with the Fathers of OMI. In a next newsletter we hope to be able to show some more visual material. We are in any case happy and grateful to learn that the projects in Sri Lanka, old and new, are in full swing. That is where we do it for! |
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Action primary schools The Horizon and De Linderte
Last month of May, Mrs. Mirjam from De Horizon and our chairman, Sieni Schouten, went on holiday together to Sri Lanka, where of course the projects were extensively visited. On behalf of the pupils and their parents, and on behalf of the teachers of primary school De Horizon, teacher Mirjam was allowed to personally hand over the proceeds of the Fasting Action 2017 from the school to Zr. Chrishani from the orphanage, Anna's Home for Children. That visit will be continued this year, because this year too, the Fasting Action in De Horizon will go toAnna's Home. In addition, primary school De Linderte has joined this action.
Fantastic and we already know for sure that every euro gets a very good destination.
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State of affairs at the orphanage Anna's Home for Children From the moment we discovered how miserable the circumstances were in which Zr. Chrishani had 75 orphan girls to grow up, we have come into action. A lot has already been achieved, but we are not yet ready. The kitchen is not yet finished but Zr. Chrishani thinks the need is currently the highest at the sanitation facilities, the toilets and showers, where the girls can wash themselves. As soon as these facilities are ready, she wants further finish the kitchen. Little by little the orphanage becomes a real home for the girls. We thank everyone who contributes his or her share. |
The success and the request for expansion of the Youth Empowerment Center (YEC)
The YEC is an overwhelming success. Currently there are waiting lists with names of dozens of young people who would like to follow a course at the YEC. In short: the school is already too small! That is why the request came for financial support for the expansion of the school. In addition, there was already the plan to build a carpentry workshop at the school. The school also wants to enter into a partnership with local entrepreneurs: the entrepreneurs may use the workshop and equipment, in exchange for practical lessons to the pupils. The school also benefits directly from the proceeds of the manufactured objects, so that - ultimately, our endeavor - the school can also financially support itself further. You can read more about this application in a next newsletter.
Mullikulam clean and safe drinking water
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A very big wish, from Father Harance, director of the SieCo center, and the director of the school next to the center, has been fulfilled. Finally they have clean and safe drinking water. The well where they used to get their water from was very polluted and very unhealthy. The children were sick of it. Now they can drink water safely. See how happy they are.
The new application for the construction of a pre-school (kindergarten)
In a next newsletter, you will read more about the new building of a pre-school. During their trip to Sri Lanka last year, Misses Mirjam was deeply touched by the circumstances in which small children were taught in a dilapidated, broken school building, where hygiene was hard to find. There are now plans to build a new school in the vicinity of the old building. The old building is so broken and rotten, that there is no credit for refurbishing it, and new construction is cheaper. As said, more about this later
The action at the 1% club (including a call)
We have placed an application on the crowdfunding site ‘1% club’ for the interior decoration and installation of the orphanage, so that it can really be a welcoming home for the girls. We have 1.5 months to get the amount together. Do you help? Hereby the direct link to the project: https://onepercentclub.com/nl/projects/van-weeshuis-naar-weesthuis At present there are no projects in Sri Lanka active at 1%, so it can not be missed. Thank you very much for your contribution.
Postcode Lottery - Wilde Ganzen - Nicolette van Dam
Latest news is that the recordings made by the Postcode Lottery + Wilde Ganzen with ambassador Nicolette van Dam in the house of the chairman Sieni Schouten and the projects in Sri Lanka will be shown on television on 25 March. At RTL 4, after Miljoenenjacht at 23.20 in the TV program 'Destination'.
If you would like to know more about this special visit, take a look at the news from November 2017.
So far this newsletter. Do you already follow us on Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/HAVONOS-hart-for-noord-oost-Sri-Lanka-182389141824600/0 ? We also provide information there. Thanks again for your attention and of course a very big 'see you' when we post our next news item. All the best for you!