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