30 box-seats - tick; roof - nearly tick!

30 box-seats for the new residents of the girls' house.
Each girl will have her own box where she can keep her own special, personal, private  stuff - a rare privilege for most of our youngsters in their overcrowded houses.

The roof is 3/4 finished.  We should be ready for our 10th September deadline.

The preparations for the opening of the Girls' Safe House on 10th September are well underway.  Materials gathering in garages across the UK.  Ann has her ticket.  The roof is nearly on and the electrics will soon be sorted too.  Numerous items from the wishlist have been bought to make the home a real home.  30 box-seats for the new residents have been made.  Stacks of knickers have been bought.  Dresses have been sewn.  The welder is all lined up to fit railings, doors and windows. And so it goes on....

The girls are on holiday at the moment but the excitement is growing as everything slips into position.....

If you would like to sponsor a box-seat and starter kit: box, toiletries, stationery, cup, mug, spoon, etc - please donate £40 using the details on the donate page on the educaid website or use the charity choice button at the side of this post.  It is all about making each little girl, resident in the home, feel special and valued as an individual.


If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young Sierra Leoneans, please go to www.educaid.org.uk and www.educaidsierraleone.blogspot.com

Box-seats under construction

The idea is to give each of the girls who are resident in the safe house, their own special place to keep stuff.  Generally, if they have had a plastic bag to keep things in, they are amongst the lucky ones. In fact even having their own possessions is quite a rarity for too many of them.  

In her box, each girl will have her own toiletries, stationery, cup, plate, spoon and so on and all her special personal things that only she needs to know about. Personal space and personal property might be rights we take for granted in the west, for our children as much as for ourselves but, for most of the children we work with in Sierra Leone, no such assumptions can be made.

The boxes will serve as little seats for story time and the likes too.  

Hopefully, all furniture in the house will be simple but attractive creating an environment where our little residents can feel special and safe.

One box and its starter kit content will cost £40.  If you are interested in sponsoring one, please visit the donate page of the EducAid website or by using the Charity Choice button at the side of this post.  When making a donation to the Girls' House please email james@educaid.org.uk to tell him you have done so, in order to facilitate our tracking of donations.

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people, please go to www.educaid.org.uk and www.educaidsierraleone.blogspot.com

Cupcakes mmmmmmmmmm!

Wes made cupcakes for EducAid and raised funds for at least one starter kit box-seat!

More women inspired into action by Ann!

Thanks Wes.  

Thanks Ann. 

We have started making the box-seats  and it is just this sort of boost that will help us get them all made in time.

If you would like to know more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people please go to www.educaidsierraleone.blogspot and www.educaid.org.uk

If you would like to donate to our work, please go to the donate page on the website.

Our excitement continues......

Our excitement continues... it’s amazing what people can do in a short space of time......................we have people contributing to the project from all over, London, Turkey, Stockholm and Texas but we still need your support!

 
Miriam Tholley - future resident of the Maronka Girls' Safe House

So far 21 dresses have been made in London and Esther’s group have now had a promise of more dresses from a sewing group in Walthamstow who heard about our girls

Angela has made 30 ditty bags in Texas and contributed some great educational materials.

We have had cash donations (that I am aware of) from Stockholm, Turkey and London totalling over £550 and there has been 45 items purchased on our wishlist so far! 

This is fantastic. Please keep it up!! 

If you haven't already and you would like to buy something to help make the environment more attractive for the girls, to provide fun and stimulating reading material or maybe equipment for creative or sporting activities please have a look at our Maronka Girls Wish List.  You can contact me on (btwoman@hotmail.co.uk) so you can send your gift to my house and I will bring it with me when I come to Sierra Leone.

I have bought my ticket so its official now and I will be arriving in Sierra Leone, September 4th.


We have been making plans for the set up and running of the house, getting together activities, house rules etc

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported our project so far and please continue to support us by sharing this blog with all your friends and other like minded people who can support the Maronka girls further.

If you would like to know more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young Sierra Leoneans, please go to www.educaid.org.uk and www.educaidsierraleone.blogspot.com

If you would like to donate to our work please go to http://www.educaid.org.uk/EducAid_Sierra_Leone/Donate_to_EducAid.html

Posted by Ann Beatty

There's a lot of work still to be done

Thanks to Vickie Remoe for a most thought-provoking article.

Please do have a read.  It is one more glimpse at why there is still so much work to do for women to experience anything close to their rights in Sierra Leone

http://switsalone.blogspot.com/2011/07/thing-about-30-quota-for-women-in.html

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young Sierra Leoneans, please go to www.educaid.org.uk and www.educaidsierraleone.blogspot.com

There's a lot of work still to be done

Thanks to Vickie Remoe for a most thought-provoking article.

Please do have a read.  It is one more glimpse at why there is still so much work to do for women to experience anything close to their rights in Sierra Leone

http://switsalone.blogspot.com/2011/07/thing-about-30-quota-for-women-in.html

If you are interested in knowing more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young Sierra Leoneanas, please go to www.educaid.org.uk and www.educaidsierraleone.blogspot.com

Esther in action!

Esther - sewing into the night for Maronka girls.

Esther's craft group meet on a Tuesday evening and they have the bit between their teeth.

When Esther read about the dressagirlaroundtheworld.com website she spoke to her craft group about it.  They are now enthused at the task of contributing to this project and are producing pretty dresses from 2nd hand pillow cases  and the likes to send out to Maronka with Ann.

Having pretty clothes is not something every little girl can take for granted.  This project aims to raise the self esteem of girls across the world by helping them feel pretty, special and valued.  For many of the girls in our care in Maronka, this may be for the first time that life teaches them that particular lesson!

Many thanks to Esther and her team - fantastic job and greatly appreciated.

If you would like to know more about EducAid's work with vulnerable young people. please go to www.educaid.org.uk or www.educaidsierraleone.blogspot.com