Christmas shopping!

Hello lovely family, friends and friend's friends. We've made the stuff, told you about the great cause, and now we'd love to know if you'd like to do part of your Christmas shopping with us. 

Scroll through the blog and if there is something you fancy email l.venables@yahoo.com with your order and your postal address. If you'd rather just make a donation, that would be wonderful, email us too and we'll sort it!

Squidgy hearts and birds - donations for the street boys of Luanda

We have already told you about the street children, particularly boys in Luanda (the nearest large town to where Jess and I lived in Kenya). Making a donation for these squidgy things is another way to help the boys get the support and guidance that they need.

Donation of £2  - for either a heart or a bird (well worth it!)

Gorgeous hearts made by the fantastic Kate Hooley

Beautiful bird also by Kate!

Sorry Kate's twig tree is already sold but email l.venables@yahoo.com with squidgy heart or squidgy bird and the number of them you'd like.

Beaded hearts with bows - donations for Esikangu primary school

Thanks to the wonderful Denise Hunt we have had access to an incredible bead collection which Catherine and Laura have used to make these sweet little (and medium) hearts.

Donation of £1- little heart

Donation of £2 - bigger heart

All donations for these hearts will support Esikangu Primary school 

Angie and Lucy from Esikangu Primary School

Cooking Pinnys - Donations to Esikangu Primary school

Pretty pinnys made and modelled by Laura and Catherine. One large pocket for holding your cooking utensils and the 2 hearts on them are both pockets too!

We also want donations from these to go towards children's reading books for Esikangu school, currently they don't have any except the few Jess and Laura brought with them.

Donation of £5 - a frilly pinny 

Pinnys have either red and white gingham hearts or a 60's style flower print

Cards made by Jess - Donations for Esikangu Primary School

Jess has been very busy making a beautiful collection of Christmas and birthday cards. She would love for the donations to also go to Esikangu Primary School where she spent many weeks teaching, introducing sports day and singing the okey kokey. 

Donation of £1 - card and envelope 

Email l.venables@yahoo.com and choose christmas cards, pretty cards, birthday cards or 21st birthday cards with the number of them you fancy.

Examples of christmas cards

Examples of birthday cards

Examples of pretty cards

Susie and Eva practising wheelbarrow racing

Dancing in the school with the Green group 

Earrings for education - donations for resources for Esikangu Primary School

Esikangu Primary School was created, and is run and supported, by its local community. The school was needed because other schools in the area were either too far for the children to walk to or were too expensive because they required fees, uniforms and books. Kipepeo helped organise the community group (The Green Group) with the process of setting up the school and continue to support them with day to day running issues and materials, to future development advice.

Currently the teaching is split between Romona (a grandmother from the village) and Damaris who is training to become a teacher.  Between them they teach around 35 children between the ages of 1 and 7, with few resources as many of the children cannot afford their own books. The school is based in the village church and the benches are tipped on their sides to make seats and tables for the children to work on.

Our friend Derya teaching the nursery class

What the school is lacking is materials. The teachers desperately need teaching handbooks, the children require textbooks to write in and reading books appropriate to their abilities and ages. A donation of £3 for a set of earrings could either by 3 teachers handbooks, 25 textbooks or 6 childrens reading books.

Donation of £3 = Mother of pearl earrings on plated silver backs

Possible colours include; red, blue, pink, pale green, deep green and yellow

Caleb, Lucy, Davis and Kelen at Esikangu school

If you want any more information about the school, just ask, we love talking about it. 

Bracelets - donations also for the orphan project

These handy little stocking fillers are adjustable to fit all wrist sizes. Donations will support Kipepeo's orphan project to provide support and friendship to orphans in the Musikangu area.

Donation of £1 = a prettily presented bracelet

Gorgeous Kate with her Kipepeo bracelets

Beautiful Eye Masks - made by Kate Hooley, donations also for the street boys of Luanda

The lovely Kate Hooley has made 5 stunning eye masks in aid of the street boys project in Luanda. 

For a donation of £3 you could have one of these beauties. 

Great Christmas presents

Pretty fabric with eyelashes

Even boy friendly fabric

Just email l.venables@yahoo.com with your order and postal address, thanks so much for supporting Kipepeo x x

Brooches - Donations to the street boys of Luanda

This weeks handmade gifts are brooches. Street boys in Luanda are everywhere, you can pick them out by their tattered clothes, skinny physiques and more often than not, by their addiction to glue sniffing. These children fend for themselves on the streets  by collecting rubbish or begging. When Jess and I were working with Kipepeo we asked about the backgrounds of these children, the most frequent reasons were coming from overcrowded families who cannot afford to feed everybody and being AIDS orphans. 

Kipepeo runs a program every friday to educate and support the street children of Luanda. It develops the childrens  self-esteem and talents by organising football games and running competitions and it mentors them, by sitting down with them and discussing ways to structurally improve their living conditions. Then the boys are taken to the barber and given a hot meal. 

Playing football

                                             

Kipepeo plans to start a tree nursery microfinance business with the boys to enable them to become self-sufficient. This program is currently running of donations from a previous volunteer from Germany but needs funds to keep the project continuing until the microfinance business is sustainable enough for the boys to support themselves.

These are a selection of the brooches, designs include; teacups, hearts, birds, cupcakes, bows and my personal favourite moustaches!

Any brooch = A donation of £2

Brooches are white, pink, blue or glow in the  dark if you are very lucky

Kate wearing her glow in the dark bow

Bunting for Kipepeo Fundraising - Donations to Orphan Project

This weekend Laura, Kate and Jess made the first 7 sets of bunting for the Kipepeo Fundraising Project. 

Kipepeo supports an orphan group which meets every Sunday on the local village green. Kipepeo provides the children with a hot meal, clothes (when needed and available), and a supportive environment where the children can play safely and enjoy a day away from the usual chores and often difficult daily life.

A sack of rice or beans costs the equivalent of £20. All the donations raised from the bunting will go towards buying sacks of food, clothes and tools for the planting of seeds to ensure sustainability of the project.

The bunting, displayed above, will be available at craft markets this winter, but if you can't wait, then please get in touch and we can post it out.

Large set (9 flags) = Donation of £6

Small set (9 flags)  = Donation of £4

Kate busy on the sewing machine

Laura pinning the lovely flags

Jess happily cutting the flags 

The team so far

There are now a collection of people making or helping the project.. Kate H, Tom, Laura, Kate V, Catherine, Ben, Jess, Clare,  Kate S, Alex and Molly.

The handmade gifts in progress,  range from earrings to bunting, washbags to tea light holders, photography and broaches. Exciting!

Fundraising for Kipepeo, Kima Village, Kenya

Just created this for the up and coming autumn/winter fundraising events. The plan is to make and sell homemade gifts straight from the blog and also from fairs, with all funds for Kipepeo Community Empowerment Org. If you'd like to make, buy, help that would be fab. Let us know!

Just Giving Page coming soon.. 

Why..

Laura and Jess spent 6 weeks with Kipepeo in January-March 2011. It was a fantastic experience participating in a community run, grass root organisation which is providing invaluable support to the area. Activities the team (3 lovely guys Jesse, Julius and Jethron) have instigated and support include; a community run primary school, an orphans project, computer lessons and qualifications for unemployed youths, microfinance training for widows, the disabled and orphaned and anti-violence community workshops.

The people we met were so welcoming and made us feel so at home and part of their community. This is an opportunity to give something to an area which is striving to help itself but desperately needs our assistance.

Over the next few months our plan is to get everybody we know involved in making and buying unique affordable handmade gifts for a great cause. 

    

Our leaving party

Jess teaching in the church which doubles up as a  school 

Laura drawing at the sunday orphan project