Giving Back- Anawim!

Dear Friends,

On August 16th this year, we paid a visit to Anawim Home.The last time we had been there, LSF was still in its conceptual stage and we were there collecting stories of some of the primary school children attending summer school at the orphanage. That was about 2 years ago. It's remarkable how much had changed in that time- the children themselves had grown into adolescents, and some of them we initially could not link with the young faces and small frames of 2012. In addition, what had been a dilapidated make-shift classroom in their compound, was now the beginnings of an actual school on a new site not far from the orphanage. The orphanage had started it not long ago, and though they still have a long way to go in its construction and the funding needed for it, the school at present is very impressive.

Both staff and students talked enthusiastically about what they had achieved so far and their future plans- the centre of which was setting up their first science lab for the students who would soon be taking their junior secondary school certificate exams. We discussed with the founder and head, Sr Oresua, about what the money we had raised could be used for. Because Nigeria is currently facing some difficulty with the Ebola outbreak, Sr Oresua remarked on how a lot of their funding had been cut short because benefactors (particularly international benefactors) had been discouraged to visit and assist. They were now facing the problem of food shortages. However, she believed that using the  money we had raised- 180,000 naira (about £660) for Anawim- to cover the school fees of some of the students for the first term of the next academic year would be equally important.

At 15,000 naira per student we had just enough to cover 12 of the 21 students with unpaid fees in the class (including our young authors!). Through emergency funding from supportive family and friends, we were able to raise enough money to ensure that the first term fees of the entire class was covered!

A week later we paid another visit for the presentation of the stories to children.  You can imagine how joyful a day it was for both the children and us.

They are extremely grateful to everyone who has helped support them in this project, and their prayers are with you all, always.

As you know this is just one of many good things that can be done to support the selfless work of the orphanage. To find out more about how you can assist Sr Oresua and her team, either send us an email at:

livingstoriesfoundation@gmail.com

Or contact the orphanage directly at: +2348035951455 ;+2347037704207.

Thank you.

    

And here are some pictures of Anawim Home:

 

           

Project Completion....Nearly!

Hey Friends!

This has truly been an amazing experience for each one of us members involved over these past 2 years. Looking back, we see that so much has been achieved in a fairly short period of time. It was in no way a small task, and we members will never forget the long hours, numerous meetings,  and mixture of emotions that accompanied this youth endeavour. The fact that as secondary school students (now university students!), we were able to start a project like this on our own and produce an outcome with such a far-reaching impact, has left us feeling that anyone can make a difference in their community- as long as they are willing to put in the work!

From this.....

...to this!

Since last summer (summer 2013) when the books were produced, we have spent the past year selling books and raising awareness about our project and the orphanages we have worked with. As we left for our summer breaks, each of us took a bundle of books to share with others in whatever part of the world we found ourselves. Being a diverse group, our books were able to reach a good number of places- different parts of  England, America, France, Northern Ireland, The Republic of Ireland, Nigeria, Poland, and India.

We had settled on a price of £8.00 (and its equivalent in other currencies) per book, but what we found was that  after hearing the story behind  LSF and the stories of our young authors, people were often moved to give much more than that. Even now, we haven't sold more than half the books originally produced, but  have presently made more than the expected sum of all books under the normal selling price!

So far we have made roughly £2000.00, and these funds have been shared out equally amongst our three orphanages to support them in their various needs. As there are still many books yet to be sold, you can simply contact us at livingstoriesfoundation@gmail.com to arrange to purchase some books, or make any donations. There will be more news on how these orphanages will be using the funds.

Thus, we would like to say a big 'Thank You' to everyone involved in this project- to our orphanages, sponsors, and Sevenoaks School for all its support. This has been an enrichening experience for each of us, and we look forward to working on many more story-projects in the future : 'For the world; by the children'.

Image culled from: http://www.machinegunthompson.com/2013/09/thank-you-all-so-much.html

Books Now Available for Purchase

Dear Friends,

This update has been long overdue, but as students running this charity project, the start of a new academic year leaves us all with little time for anything else!

However, much good news to share from over the summer:

Our first publication: 'Dear World- A Collection of stories by Indian and Nigerian children is finally out!'. It was published around the end of May this year. We are extremely grateful to the Golding Family Trust, and all our individual benefactors for their contributions to the production of this collection. On behalf of the children we serve, and all those invested in this project, we thank you.

Details on how to purchase copies of this book, will be out shortly. However, if you would like to get in touch with any requests before then, you are welcome to contact us via email at livingstoriesfoundation@gmail.com. Enquiries about joining our project, future publications, donations, and publicity can also be addressed via email at livingstoriesfoundation@gmail.com.

Living Stories Foundation! Being part of this foundation from the very start has been and continues to be an experience that we can feel is making us better people, minute by minute. This feeling is not solely because of our emotion about the work we are doing, but because of the practical jobs we do week by week, that brings us closer to our goal of publishing this book and closer to being able to help all those unfortunate children that we are working for.

Recently we have been collecting beautiful drawings and paintings from those and other children that will be published along with the stories in the book. These drawings will make the book even more pleasant to read and be a part of. Sponsorships and donations have been increasing wonderfully as people become more aware and interested in the charitable work we have been doing, and as they have also been promised a copy of a book for a certain price, once it is published, of which the money will go directly to the children to make their lives more worthy and happy.

Publishing is our next step and it is not far off! We have almost taken the final decision of which method we are going to publish by and with whom we will publish our book with. Once this has been done, and as more people will buy our books, our next step will be to branch out to other schools. Perhaps if you are involved in a school, charity, or just any club that you take part in, you may be interested to invest in some of our books once they are published. Do let us know! Just e-mail us at livingstoriesfoundation@gmail.com
Thank you Dear World…

Our progress:

• We have raised more money to pay for the publishing.
• We are putting the finishing touches to our cover.
• We are formatting the book as we speak.

We are still accepting donations. Every little helps. Also, if you would like to help with any of the work going towards publishing like ideas for a cover design or marketing strategies, we would appreciate it.

Our Progress as of 6th December 2012

We at the Living Stories Foundation have been working hard each week: planning, thinking, exploring ideas and debating between ourselves to figure out the best possible stories, publishing methods and artistic ideas that were possible for us to come up with. So far some of us have been lucky enough to visit the orphanages, talk to the children and get their stories and ideas about their own lives and the world.

Our biggest hope is that soon we will be able to give YOU these wonderful stories and insights into the lives of some of the less fortunate children in this world. These children truly do have a strong message to give to you and they want to let the world know about their aspirations and hopes.

We have recently talked to a few publishing companies and are working speedily towards the creation of the book. We continue to attend many events and to let people know of what we have been working towards. We believe that we can make this happen, if we continue to work strongly as a team and with determination. How could we not have determination when knowing that we could improve the lives of these wonderful orphaned children, and also give you, the readers, a deep insight into these children’s thoughts and dreams? This is what we want to do, Dear world…

Our Progress

Hello everyone!!

This is just to let you know how much closer we have gotten to publishing a first edition of stories. We've edited a batch of stories that one of our members collected from an orphanage in India. We've been trying to gather illustrations from young artists to put in the book as well, and we're also working on getting permission to put up posters advertising the book in Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells. If anybody wants to ask us about our progress, or volunteer to help out, feel free to contact us- Thank you all!