Pine Rivers Yoga Community Learns of Fiwagoh

Sue accepts cheque for $2000

When we were gathering items for the container I sent our wish list to my yoga teacher, Ruth Campbell. She forwarded this request to her mailing list of yoga students who responded with an amazing amount of items to send to Fiwagoh. Ruth attended our thank you party back in March and invited me to share our DVD presentation with the yoga community.
We did this recently at a lovely evening that Ruth and Calum hosted at their home. 40 people attended a Musical Soiree and learnt of Benson and Florence and their wonderful work. Much to our delight, this evening raised in excess of $2000! This money will go towards building the trade school. What a great effort! Well done to Ruth and her amazing band of helpers, especially Shirley and Belinda for all their wonderful catering!

Hillbrook Anglican School Embraces Fiwagoh

Hillbrook is a wonderful school on Brisbane's northside. In year 11 all students are required to select a community project and volunteer for 20 hours. In 2010 my son, Brandon chose to help out with the container project. He then shared with his friends about the wonderful work of Fiwagoh and so this year his class, with the support of their home teacher Ben Behan, organised a movie night and raised $1000. What a phenomenal effort!
This money has been sent to Benson along with other generous donations  totalling $2500 enabling the commencement of the construction of the much needed trade school building....and caused an awful lot of excitement.
By law the children have to leave the orphanage at the completion of their secondary school studies unless Fiwagoh can offer further education. The current school building has very limited space so Benson and Florence are desperate to provide a trade school in a new building so that they can continue to support the children and further prepare them for future employment. During Sue's visit the older children were pleading with her to help them find a way to stay longer!
So you can imagine our delight, when we visited Hillbrook recently to say thankyou to 12 Green only to find out that the entire year 12 group had banded together to donate a further $900 to the construction of the trade school!
Thank you so much to The Year 12 Class of 2011! You have made such a difference to this project and your contributions have given us confidence that this is going to happen!

Crops are well underway....

Thanks to everyone who has contributed towards the $27500 that we have sent to Fiwagoh for the water project! As you can see below, the garden is looking fantastic!

Water Project

The greenhouses that we have funded are now fully installed and operational. This will make a huge difference to their ability to raise seedlings successfully in the harsh conditions.

Also the watering systems have started to be installed.

Ok..... you can have a pet!

Like most parents, Benson and Florence have succumbed to the pressure to allow a couple of pets, on the condition that they are not fed anything that is fit for human consumption, for obvious reasons! The children collect weeds to feed them......

Rainwater Tank Construction

With extra support from Better Life Mission in Switzerland, a rainwater tank has been constructed to help with the supply of water for the 'house'.

Check out the construction method...

Excavation - many hands make light work!

Removing the excess soil....

Who needs an Excavator?

Bore Hole Tank Now Completed!

Thanks to everyone who contributed donations for the water project. We have been able to fund the construction of this tank near the bore hole that will make it possible to water the garden! This is a major accomplishment and a huge step towards a a sustainable food supply! Benson, Florence and Peris (the volunteer horticulturalist) are overwhelmed by our support of this project.

Smiles

This story has touched my heart. It comes from Lena from Switzerland who is one of Fiwagoh's most faithful supporters and a regular visitor to the orphanage. It makes me reflect on my own children and how freely ... and spontaneously ... and infectiously they smile.

Lena and the Smilers!

"I would also like to mention that I often see children with a smile when I meet them the second time. When they come to the orphanage they are hardly able to smile because of the circumstances in their lives that have weighed them down. Elizabeth is just one example. I noticed how she was smiling this time. In October 2010 I had not received one single smile from her. She explained to me that before she had no reason to smile. Hannah Muthoni also is a wonder when it comes to smiling. She had come to the orphanage before my first visit in the beginning of 2009. Many times I had tried to get her to smile. But it was impossible. But this time she approached me with a big smile. It had taken her several years until she learned to smile. Most children are learning it within half a year."
Lena Clerk - Volunteer 

What an incredible story! Imagine if one of the key performance measures for our work was our ability to generate smiles!

First Aid and Medical Supplies Leave Brisbane

Thanks to the wonderful support of David Hobson at First Aid Kits Australia, we have been able to purchase an enormous amount of supplies (approx $6000 worth, two pallet loads) for $700 and these have now been shipped. This will make a huge difference to the little in-house clinic where the senior children treat the little ones. Claudia, the regular visiting volunteer doctor will be back in house soon, so she will get a lovely surprise when the goods arrive.
Thanks to all our generous donors who have helped make this happen and of course to David. You are an angel in disguise!