Kindergartens for Vulnerable Children in Darfur

We have just ordered more toys for our Nine Kindergartens!  Our educational toys have gone over a treat with the students at our schools, who are so enjoying playing with the equipment we have been able to purchase and distribute to teachers. These are children who have never had a toy with which to play...to be a child.  We now have musical instruments, brightly colored muscle-developing climbing toys as well as doctors and nurses' kits for the students to imagine possibilities for their futures, and other educational toys, both for inside and outside play.

You will have heard about the current uncertainty of the political situation in Sudan, and this is affecting our ability to help the villages in Darfur that we planned to adopt this year.  We are incredibly proud of the volunteers who help us.  Internet has been shut down and much of the mobile phone network.   Despite this, word of mouth means that even the most remote village knows that we are continuing to do all we can to help.   Insecurity across the country as a whole is going to make life for ordinary people far worse.  We are going to be needed far more than now.  Fortunately, we can continue to work with the nine Kindergartens that we have already established and to start all the background negotiations and planning for new Kindergartens.  We must, if we are to help children to a better future.  

If we can get the funds together now for new Kindergartens, we can start building as soon as possible. Just this week our team are visiting the State Ministry of Education to ensure there will be teachers available.   We currently have enough funds to start building one of the Five kindergartens we have planned!   Please can you help towards our second?  A Kindergarten costs approximately £22,000 but we have built nine already thanks to many small, but important donations. Every Pound will help us towards our goal!

We would particularly like to thank our regular donors who's monthly giving, no matter what the amount, helps us plan and work more efficiently and effectively. If you would like to Become a Monthly Donor, of any amount at all, we would be so grateful.  Thank you all!  In the current worrying time in Sudan, let's give people hope for the future.

Happy Birthday, Kids for Kids!  On Friday March 8th, International Women's Day, Kids for Kids celebrated its 18th Birthday. “Please celebrate with me!” Patricia Parker MBE requested of our wonderful supporters. “It is hard to believe that since 2001 we have transformed the lives of 500,000 people in 92 villages, but we can’t stop there.  Last year was a terrible time for mothers in Darfur and we are all determined to make this year better for as many children as we can." Reflecting on the last 18 years has been incredible, as you all have truly helped us to change the lives of children and their families by supporting our sustainable projects. You have given thousands of children access to education in one of the most remote parts of the world through the nine Kindergartens you have helped us to build. Thank you.

This year, like all years and as Patricia said, we are determined to do even more. At programme meetings last month, we decided to adopt eight new villages as so many people are in great need. Additionally, we are trying to build five new Kindergartens - we just need the funds! We have decided on the villages but will not tell those we have selected until we have the complete funds to start building. There are children waiting just desperately to go to school in villages that have run our main projects extremely successfully since they were adopted. And these children aren't just five, six, and seven years old as you would expect for a Kindergarten. Did you know that our Kindergartens can provide education for children up to the age of 9 and 10 where there is no primary school available?  Many villages in Darfur do not have primary schools, so children will continue to attend our Kindergartens until it is possible for them to walk the long distances to enable them to attend primary school. When they are finally able to go, it is often because they have a relative or friend in a nearby village that will let them board during the week to attend the school. Your support for our five new schools will help countless children to begin their education early, and actually have a chance at succeeding in future schooling, not falling behind.

Just $35/£27 donates 30 bricks towards a school building. $50/£38 provides 20 story books so children can begin learning. Any amount at all you can spare will go towards funding the buildings, educational materials, desks, chairs, a latrine, and trees for the outside to provide shade and fruit. You can even donate a uniform for a child (and they look so cute too!).  You could even adopt a whole Kindergarten and give it the name of your choice - lasting philantrophy that will transform the lives of hundreds of children for years to come.  Your dedication to Kids for Kids, and your motivation for sharing our work with your social network is what will provide the funds for our next Kindergarten. Please keep it up!!

Can you gift a chicken this Easter?!

Easter is next month, and we are so hoping you might want to donate three hens and a rooster for just $25 (£19) to provide eggs to the frail elderly in our villages! Chickens are much easier to manage than goats, and their eggs provide essential protein.  What would make a better gift than a personalized Certificate in your loved ones Easter baskets?!  Please get in touch with us at contact@kidsforkids.org.uk if you make a donation and would like us to send you a Gift Certificate!