This dance party is open to everyone: adults, kids, people in their 50’s, people who remember the 50’s, people who don’t have any idea what “the 50’s” refers to. You’re invited to an exciting evening of dancing, jiving, twisting, boogying, all in finest retro 50’s style.

Wear your best 50’s costume: your poodle skirt, pompadour hair, Elvis get-out, sweater set and/ or sweetheart halter dress. You could win one of the prizes for best costume for female, male, couple, kids, and Elvis attire. There will also be games and dance contests, snacks and soft drinks. It’ll be a blast!

The 50’s Dance Party is a fundraiser for the Africa Village Project Association, which has adopted Okaseni Village in Tanzania.

Shake off those dreary mid-winter blues – come join us and dance your cares away. It’s going to be a rocking good time! Tix are $20.00 each and are available at Phoenix on Bowen or by calling 1.604.947.2811.

A special thanks goes to our dear friend Michelle Meyrink, who had the initial idea for Africa Night. She also brought us an extraordinary ready-made planning committee: Deb Thomson, Kerri Franz, Tiffanee Scorer and Kelly Santiago. They also worked on every single other aspect of the event as well, including decorating, washing dishes, etc. Words can hardly express our gratitude for these enthusiastic, energetic, and creative angels.

The delicious authentic Ethiopian dinner was provided by Harambe Restaurant of east Vancouver – thanks to Ezane and Daniel for creating and introducing the meal. Our appreciation goes out to our servers: Anne Wilson, Deb Bramm and Matthew Smith, Diane and Gary Charette, Diane LeClair, Ellen Hyakawa, Karen Watson and Wil Hilsen, Lorraine Ashdown and Andrew Stone, and Marianna and Adam Holbrook.

The Kokoma African Heritage Dance and Drum Ensemble featuring MaObong Oku thrilled us with their drumming, dancing and acrobatics. Thanks so much to them and to their rep, Kelli Kramer. We are grateful to Cam Hayduk for his awesome emceeing and dance music, and to his “roadies” Jill Cowie and David Morris. Special thanks go to David Cameron for getting the dancing started, and to Miles Hayes, who single-handedly raised $85.00 in loin cloth donations.

A huge shout-out goes to everyone who helped with setting up, staffing the booths and the kitchen, and tearing down: Agnes Vizjak, Anne and Chris Wilson, Barb and Roger Purdy, Barb Bingham, Cathy Buchanan, Cindi Keep, Cynthia Lanyon, Damian and Rosemarie Leverton, Dan Parke, Dave Dobson, Deb Bramm, Dominique and Gian Perroni, Doug Hooper, Frank Gish, Gavin Scorer, Jacqueline Massey, Jennifer Hall, Jill Cowie, Joanna Mereu, John Dumbrille, Julie and Kye Jensen, Katherine Gish, Kathryn Thomson, Lawrence Sparling, Lise Cote, Lorraine Ashdown, Marjan Schedler, Michelle Issak, Natalia Cowen, Nicola Murray, Pamela and Brian Creswick, Pamela Matthews, Pauline Weir, Phil Kemp, Sonia Usmiani, and Tim and Donna Scorer. Thanks also to Stacey Beamer, who oversaw much of the set-up and took a lot of stuff back and forth in his truck.

We send our appreciation to Phoenix Photos for selling tickets and to Alison who phoned us to let us know we had sold out. Our thanks also go to BICS, especially Sarah Haxby and David the custodian, for their great service. We send thanks as well to Constable Bryan Mulrooney, to Peter King for his bus service, to the Undercurrent for running Lorraine Ashdown’s awesome article on MaObong Oku, and to Tiffanee Scorer, who took some great photos – thanks all!

We also would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who loaned and/or gave us stuff for the event: Anne Mann, Barbara (Bibi) Acheson, Bowen Island United Church, Island Discovery Learning Centre, Julie Cree and Artisan Eats, Katherine Gish, Kathleen Sullivan, Mary Ann Zakreski, Richard and Deborha Fortescue, The Gallery and the Tunstall Bay Community Association.

To everyone who donated and/or signed up to do monthly donations, we send a huge thanks! Kathyrn Thomson won the “Morning Coffee around Bowen”prize, certificates for coffee and breakfast at the Snug, the Village Baker, Artisan Eats and Coco West. Peg Campbell won “The Evening Run” prize, certificates for dinner for two at Blue-Eyed Mary’s, Doc Morgan, Miksa, Tuscany and Bowen Sushi. Congrats to the winners and thanks so much to the restaurants who donated.

Thanks to Tiffanee Scorer and Lorraine Ashdown for the photos used in this posting.

Please forgive us if we forgot or misspelled any names.

It takes a village to hold a fundraiser, and this village came through. We grossed about $9,500, which will help supply Okaseni Village with malaria nets. Thanks, Bowen!

Sheena Ashdown and Dale Hamilton
Directors, Africa Village Project Association

On this cool-ish May day, I’m sending you best wishes for a very happy spring. It hasn’t been very warm this spring in BC’s Lower Mainland, but we are hopeful the weather will get better eventually!

Loan from the Pamoja Foundation

We are delighted to announce that we have received a loan of $3,000 CDN from the Pamoja Foundation, an organization that finances established microcredit programs in East Africa. This loan will allow us to expand our microcredit program dramatically.

Amrita Sondhi, the director of the Pamoja Foundation, had an epiphany when she summitted Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 1999. She wanted to help the local residents she met there, who were kind and community-minded, but very poor. Her vision was to connect these people with Westerners who were well off but perhaps missing a sense of purpose and community. The Pamoja Foundation was born.

This picture shows Amrita giving us the Pamoja cheque for our microcredit program. Amrita Sondhi (centre), director of the Pamoja Foundation, gives the loan to me and Dale. Kerri Franz (on the far left), a valued AVPA supporter, and Carey (left), a Pamoja board member, look on.

The foundation’s mandate is to help people help themselves — through microcredit. It loans funds to existing microcredit organizations that are already working on the ground. Amrita, who is also the owner of Global Movement Clothing on Bowen Island, was looking for a local organization to partner with and found us – the Africa Village Project – right here on Bowen.

Needless to say, we were absolutely delighted! Amrita threw a party last month to celebrate the opening of her new store location on Bowen Island. At the party, we both had the chance to talk about our organizations and how we are helping Africa. Then, she gave us a cheque for the loan. It was indeed a moment to celebrate!

We are very grateful to Amrita and Pamoja – thank you so much!

Africa Night fundraiser

You are invited to Africa Night on Saturday, June 4, at Bowen Island Community School. It will be an evening of fun, food, and fabulous music. You’ll feast on a traditional African dinner and be entertained by the amazing Kokoma African Heritage Ensemble featuring MaObong Oku. It’s your chance to have a rocking night out and support a great cause.

At Africa Night, we hope to raise enough funds to buy malaria nets for the 4,000 residents of Okaseni Village. Come join us! To get tix, please call me at 1.604.357.1050. Hope to see you there!

As always, many thanks for your on-going support – Dale and I very much appreciate it.

Cheers, Sheena Ashdown

Dale and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We are always thankful that we live in such a blessed country and that we are able to do what we can – even on such a small scale – in Africa. We are also very, very grateful for your support, without which we could not do it. We send you our heartfelt thanks!

Microcredit program

On our third trip to Tanzania in June, we saw firsthand how the microcredit program was going. We set it up in 2008, and it is one of the ventures we are most proud of. So far, it has exceeded all our expectations.

In January 2009, ten Okaseni ladies received loans of about $ 75 to $100 to start small businesses, mostly buying agricultural produce wholesale and selling it retail. The loan cycle was for a year. Most of the women paid back their loans completely with interest, and even those who didn’t still owe only a small portion.

Happy Mushi sits at the knitting machine that she is leasing from our microcredit program.

In June 2009, halfway through the first loan cycle, we had enough funds in repayments to start a second group. Five women were selected for this group. Their proposed businesses were more sophisticated than the first group, such as preparing and selling meals at local construction sites and making mbege (banana beer).

One of the ladies in the first group, Happiness Mushi, asked for a second loan to buy and sell cloth. Her long-term goal was to purchase a knitting machine so that she could make the sweaters that the village kids need for their school uniforms. Salma Daud, our wonderful microcredit program manager, suggested that we buy the machine outright and then lease it to Happiness with the option to buy. (Salma has been a godsend and we are so grateful to her!)

As you can imagine, Happiness lived up to her name when she got the news – she was ecstatic! This picture shows her with her knitting machine in the village office.

I love this picture. It’s an African Vermeer – a beautiful young woman in the natural light of an open window working on a domestic task. We were delighted to help make Happy’s dream come true so quickly.

We also arranged a class for the microcredit ladies, which was taught by Sylvia Corning, a BCIT School of Business instructor who accompanied us on this trip. She talked about setting business goals and objectives and how to evaluate them. This information was like a revelation to the ladies — it was the first time they had heard these ideas, and they found them very useful. Thanks, Sylvia!

Your donations at work

Your donations have helped run the microcredit program, which gives the ladies an income and hope for the future. The whole village ultimately benefits from this program. Many, many thanks!

Cheers, Sheena Ashdown

Diane with Sarah and the village ladies in the new mini-dispensary.

Autumn greetings!

The coolness in the early September air says that autumn is on its way. All the best for a great fall!

My apologies for the long delay since the last AVPA newsletter. My very heavy workload and our June trip to Tanzania put the kibosh on any spring or summer newsletters. However, the good news is that I have lots to tell you about!

June trip to Okaseni Village

Our third trip to Tanzania this June was quite successful, and very different from our earlier trips in that we were accompanied by five other people: three BCIT instructors, the husband of one of the instructors, and the daughter of Valerie Neil, one of the AVPA board members.

The different talents and interests of our companions gave us new perspectives and allowed us to accomplish much more than Dale and I could have done by ourselves. It may take a couple of newsletters to give you a full report!

Medical dispensary

One of the BCIT instructors who came with us, Diane Van Paridon, teaches Medical Laboratory Science. She noticed that many of the village kids have deep scars on their faces, arms and legs, a result of cuts getting infected because they had not been treated with antiseptic.

Diane shows the ladies and Melki supplies in the mini-dispensary cabinet.

Diane suggested setting up a small dispensary in the village. We were delighted with her idea, as was Melki, the village chair, who found space for the dispensary in a house near the office.

With $800.00 of AVPA donations, Diane and Sarah Neil, Valerie’s daughter, who has a BSc and is interested in all things medical, bought supplies and storage cabinets. They then set up the dispensary and stocked the cabinets.

Diane trained several Okaseni ladies on how to use the supplies. The dispensary will enable the ladies to help keep their fellow villagers healthy.

Thanks so much, Diane and Sarah – your wonderful work is very much appreciated!

Your donations at work

Dale and I would like to thank you as well. Your donations funded this mini-dispensary and new service to Okaseni – much appreciated!

Cheers, Sheena Ashdown

Dale and I would like to wish you a (somewhat belated) Happy New Year. We hope that all your wishes and dreams for 2010 come true.

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? We have made several about our work in Okaseni. In 2009, we did a lot of fundraising and now, thanks to your generosity, we have almost $6,000 to help us accomplish these resolutions.

Francisca Antoine, 10 years old, is one of the school children whose fees we want to pay.

School costs for kids

Our first New Year’s resolution is to pay the school costs for as many children as possible. On our 2008 trip, we paid for eight children. But a total of about 20 children needed help with fees.

We want to keep all these children in school. If you donated to help pay school costs, thanks!

Power to the Okaseni Village Office

Our second resolution of 2010 is to finish the electrical power project. We started this project to get power to the primary school and village office while we were in Tanzania in September 2008. Power to the school was completed that November, but we ran out of funds for the office. But now, thanks to your generous donations, we have the funds to finish the office.

Power to the office means that the electric sewing machines that we sent to Okaseni in June 2008 can be set up as a communal sewing centre. The village women can make clothing to sell and increase their incomes.

These Okaseni Village women are part of the first group who received microcredit loans.

Microcredit program

Our third resolution for the New Year is to expand the microcredit program. We set up this program in September 2008 with $1000.00 CDN.

Ten women were selected and trained, and the funds disbursed to them in January 2009. These women have now paid back their loans, and a second group received loans in June 2009. Such loans profoundly transform the lives of women, and we are resolved to do more.

Thanks (as always) and next fundraiser

We could not even contemplate these new resolutions without you. Thank you very, very much for your support of the AVPA in 2009!

We will be having our second annual Book and Bake Sale at BCIT on March 18 and 19. Please save any books, DVDs, CDs, etc., to donate.

Thanks again! Cheers, Sheena Ashdown

Hope you had a fun Hallowe’en. It was a perfect fall day here – good for the kids who were out trick or treating.

BCIT 50/50 draw

The winner of the 50/50 draw at BCIT was Danny Catt of the Fish, Wildlife and Recreation Department. His winning ticket was drawn on Thursday, October 8, and he got $230 – half of the $460 total that was raised. Congrats, Danny!

Thanks so much to everyone who bought tickets and supported the AVPA – it’s very much appreciated. A special thanks goes to Maureen Shippee of the Audio Visual Department, who had the original idea and arranged the vendors on campus, and to Charleen McBeath, who worked with Maureen to organize the draw.

A huge thanks to all the ticket sellers: Maureen Shippee (AV), Chris Voong (Communication), Tracy Miller (Library), Judy Dahl (Math Department), and Pam Smith (Human Resources), who sold the most tix! Thanks as well to Charleen McBeath, who also sold up a storm.

Danny is going to put his winnings into a fund he set up in memory of his father, which will help pay the tuition for students in his department. What a great use for the money, Danny! We are pleased to contribute. Thanks again to everyone for your support.

Bake Sale at BCIT

Our BCIT bake sale raised $257.14. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed baked goodies – they were too delicious. Thanks also to everyone who came by to buy a goody and say hi. It was great to see you!

Danny Catt, Instructor in Fish, Wildlife and Recreation at BCIT, receives his winnings ($230) from me for the 50/50 raffle.

Peak Leadership Volunteer Fair

On Thursday, October 8, I gave a presentation at the Peak Leadership Volunteer Fair in the Great Hall at BCIT. It was great to meet students who were interested in helping Africa, and a number of people signed up to get our newsletters.

My thanks to the Student Association for giving me the opportunity to speak, and especially to Amanda, Ian and Jeff, who were very helpful and supportive. It was a great chance to get the word out about the AVPA – much appreciated!

Next fundraiser – and thanks, as always!

Our next fundraiser will be our second annual Book and Bake Sale at BCIT in February. Please save any books, DVDs, CDs, etc., that you might want to donate. I’ll let you know the exact date in the next newsletter – be sure to come by!

The Okaseni villagers send you their deepest thanks, as do I, as always. (To donate on-line, please see below.)

Cheers, Sheena Ashdown

We are still enjoying fabulous summer weather here in southwest British Columbia although it’s getting cooler. Hope your autumn is going well.

Garden party fundraiser to celebrate official charity status

Valerie Bates, crystal bowls player extraordinaire, performs at the AVP garden party fundraiser in August.

On August 9, we held a musical garden party fundraiser at Charleen and Robert’s house in Vancouver. We were celebrating getting official Canadian charity status, and the party was fabulous!

The morning was unpromising with clouds and rain, but by noon, when the party started, the sun popped out and the weather got glorious.

We had two musical performances. The first was a bluegrass band called 5 on a String, which got us all dancing and bopping. The second was a crystal bowls performance by Valerie Bates, held outside in the Mediterranean-themed garden. The serene and evocative tones of the crystal bowls transported us all to a blissful state.

We were also very blissed out that the party raised almost $900.00 and want to thank the performers, everyone who came, and everyone who helped. Your support is much appreciated, and your presence made it a very special day.

Bake Sale at BCIT

It’s time to get some yummy baked goodies! We’re having a bake sale in the Great Hall at BCIT on Monday, October 5, from 11 until 2:30. If you are on campus, come by and have a delicious treat or six . . . .

If you’d like to donate to the sale, we’d be thrilled! You can drop off goodies to the booth in the Great Hall at 10 am on the day. If you live on Bowen, call me at 2811 to arrange for a drop-off. Hope to see you at the sale!

50/50 Raffle for the AVP

We are now holding our first ever 50/50 raffle. Half the ticket sales go to the winner and half go to the Project. Buy a ticket, or two, or ten. You could win big and help the African villagers.

Tickets are $1 each, 3 for $2, or 10 for $5. The draw is on Thursday, October 8.

At BCIT, purchase your tickets from
• Maureen Shippee, Audio Visual Department, SE12
• Chris Voong, Communications, SW2
• Tracy Miller, Library, SE14
• Judy Dahl, Math Department, SW2
• Pam Smith, Human Resources, NW1
• the AVP bake sale in the Great Hall on October 5.

On Bowen Island, call me at 2811 or email me at bowhemians@aol.com. Get your tickets today!

Thanks from the Okaseni Villagers

The Okaseni villagers send you their deepest thanks. (To donate on-line, please see below.)

Cheers, Sheena Ashdown

Official Charity Status

Great news – we are now an official Canadian charity! On June 4, we received notification from Revenue Canada that we had been given charity status. Happy day! It took about 1½ years to complete the process, which involved submitting a lot of paper.

You can now get an official tax deductible receipt for any donations you make to the Africa Village Project. As an official charity, we can now apply for grants and get publicity so we can do even more work in Okaseni.

Garage Sale

Robert, AVP board member, shows off some of the treasures he found at the AVP garage sale. Cool hat, Robert!

Our first ever AVP garage sale was held on Saturday, June 27, at the Lions Hall on Rumble Street in South Burnaby.

When we got to the hall at 9:00 am that day, we discovered that the hall had been double booked. Yipes! For a moment, it looked like we might have to cancel the sale. But then we asked if we could hold the sale in the parking lot.

Yes, we could. So we set up tables there and got on with the sale. Surprisingly, we probably got more attention in the parking lot than if we had been in the hall. The sale went very well and we raised just over $740.00.

Most of the donations we received for the sale came from BCIT staff and faculty. Thanks so much for your generosity. You’ll be happy to know that many items sold and that the buyers looked thrilled with their purchases (including AVP board members, who unknowingly bought a lot of each others’ donations!).

Thanks also to everyone who helped on the day, including Jesse McBeath, Nadia Sidky, Sarah Neil, BCIT Med Lab students Clara, Henry, David, and BCIT Nursing Program Head Anne Houseman. Thanks as always to our awesome board: Dale, Charleen, Robert, and Valerie.

Lunch and Bowen Bake Sale Fundraisers

You are invited to two more fundraisers we have planned for the summer. The first is a garden party with live music, on Sunday, August 9. An official invitation is attached.
The second is a bake sale on Bowen Island, in late July or early August. If you’d like to help and/or contribute goodies, please let me know.

Thanks – as always!

As always, thank you so much for your support of the Project. We could not do this without you. (To donate on-line, please see below.)

Cheers,

Sheena Ashdown

Hope your spring is going well. We’re pleased to start this newsletter with a THANK YOU to the BCIT Friday at Four group for donating their March 50/50 draw to the AVP– $75.00. Thanks!

School fees for Okaseni children

The Okaseni kids draw to get their fees paid.

I’d like to tell you about one of the projects the AVP is working on: paying the school fees for Okaseni kids who might otherwise not be able to go to school.

When we first got in touch with the Okaseni villagers by email in May 2007, we asked them what they needed and wanted. (This has been our approach from the beginning – to not assume that we know, but to find out from them what they need.) We were told that many children need help paying for school.

“Okay,” we said. “We can do that!” So some of the donations that we received have been spent to help keep these kids in school. When we visited Okaseni in September 2008, we held a draw to pay fees for six girls and two boys.

About 18 students took part in the draw. Each student drew a slip of paper with either a “Y” (yes, your fees are paid) or “N” (sorry) on it.

Sally Scott has donated funds to the AVP to pay the school fees for six girls.

Sally Scott

Our most regular donor for school fees is Sally Scott, the mother of a dear friend, who lives near Seattle, Washington. She is passionate about getting children – especially girls – into school.

“Children are our most important resource and education is the key to their future,” says Mrs. Scott. “As I read about the AVP, it was apparent that this is a hands-on project with a minimum of red tape. So now instead of birthday, get well, graduation, and thinking of you cards, I send a note of how the person is being honored.” Thanks so much, Mrs. Scott – much appreciated!

Garage sale – and thanks!

Our garage sale will probably be on June 27. Please save anything you might want to donate, and let me know if you’d like to volunteer. I’ll keep you posted. And thanks for your support as always – it goes a long way in Okaseni. (And to donate on-line, please see below.)

Cheers,

Sheena Ashdown