Wednesday 28 September 2016

Expansion of the Caledonia Rose Centre - and getting TFP on track! 


We have focused much of our attention on getting the administration of TFP organized this year while we make sure that the services we provide are as close as possible to the standard that we desire.  One of the biggest steps we have made is the decision to build an office and a storeroom at The Caledonia Rose Centre.  Previously, we used the 40ft container classroom as our storeroom, meaning that our children lost almost half their classroom to donations that have not yet been distributed.  Martha has had to do all her work on the tables and benches that children sit on to eat.  But with thanks to The Hand in Hand Foundation Worldwide, we have built our office/storeroom right next to our skills development centre so now the children have their classroom back and Martha can carry out all her administrative work from site.
 
Martha stands outside her smart new office where she is setting up the reporting systems and operations of the Caledonia Rose Centre 
In our attempt to formalise TFP and to make us a more reputable and recognisable project, the founding trustees of TFP have voted in a governing board to help us guide and govern the progress of the organization.  We would like to welcome our new members onto our board and to thank them for their involvement so far and their agreement to join us in seeing the work we do expand and evolve for the better of our children.  We are also in the process of finalising an advisory board and look forward to welcoming its members soon too.  All board members will have a chance to visit the site and provide their comments and suggestions as they guide us forward and hopefully help us expand over the next few years.  

We are very excited to announce the launch of our website (www.foundationsproject.org) and with this development, we hope to reach out to many more people to tell them about what we are doing and how, if they wish, they can get involved.  It is always so wonderful to receive the encouragement we get from outsiders as sometimes we get so caught up in the work that we lose sight of all the fun that is happening on the ground!  With our website, we hope to be able to showcase everything that our teachers and caregivers are doing to give our children a hope for a better future.

It is, in fact, our teachers and Martha who make the Caledonia Rose Centre what it is.  It is always so exciting to receive a photo of a child celebrating his or her birthday with their friends and teachers, or children having fun on the jungle gym, or videos of our kiddies doing their sport and learning so much with Auntie Sarah.  The love and joy that the staff on the ground bring to our little school is overwhelming and they deserve so much praise for all that they do.  Thank you Martha and our teachers – we couldn’t do this without you.
Teachers dress up to give the children a fun day


Our original class when all we had were our teachers and Memory's backyard


Dorcas loves and cares for each child, even well into her 70s

Our skills development programme participants have been working so hard to develop a portfolio of products that they will be taking to the Miracle Missions fair in October.  The ladies have not just been making goods to sell but they have also been helping us to resource our classrooms including our new book pouches that help us to keep our classrooms tiday and organized.  We had a wonderful visit from Alastair Geddes from Impact International and his enthusiastic, encouraging team who bought many of our ladies’ products to take with them back to America.  The International Child Resource Institute from San Francisco (ICRI) enabled TFP to buy our first sewing machine and with the help of Impact International and Anthony Haggie, we have been able to buy 7 further sewing machines so that we now have 8 machines and an overlocker that allows for many more participants in our skills development programme. 

New machines arrived and ready to be used! 


Ladies trying out the new machines when they arrived 
The TFP skills development programme ladies and the CRIZ SWAG girls have been selling their wares at the local fairs including cushions, aprons. hats, artwork and jewellery
We are also hoping to set up sessions in horticulture and crocheting and are getting ideas from our ladies as to what other skills they would like to learn and what other projects they believe that they could benefit from.  From there, we will work with them to support them in their projects and offer assistance in setting up any viable projects they might have.  We look forward to updating you on this and hope to be able to report on the inclusion of the men of the community in this programme!

Our feeding programme has been going very well and with thanks to Tammy from CRIZ and an anonymous donor, we have been able to provide the children with a piece of fruit each day.  They love the fruit and it adds a bit of variation to their ePap meal each day.  
Children love having a piece of fruit to go with their meal each day 
Delicious fresh fruit cut up and ready to eat 

With thanks to Captain Rainer Heufner and ICRI, we are currently carrying out home visits to identify the further 50 children that we are now able to include in our feeding programme.  We have welcomed 15 more children as of 1 September to enjoy a meal with us and we thank Vimbai, our new intern, for all the hard work that she is doing to ensure that we offer this service to the most needy in our community.  Vimbai has been instrumental in ensuring that all our records are up to date and that we can roll out this expansion and we welcome her onto the CRC and TFP team and are very grateful for her involvement.
Our feeding programme benches have been newly painted to cater for the increase of children taking part this term 
As we march on through the third term and to the end of the year, we are getting ready for our graduation ceremony and Christmas party in December.  This year, we have 250 children to throw a party for and to hopefully be able to buy a pair of shoes each.  If you would like to get involved in this, a pair of shoes costs approximately $10 and we have truly seen that this gift gives our children so much joy each year as they take off their old, tight shoes and put on new, shiny clean shoes!  If you would like more information or would like to contribute to this project. please do not hesitate to contact me on charlotte@foundationsproject.org or Martha on marthadamu@gmail.com or call her on 0772408795. 

A smart pair of new shoes for Christmas - to go with a pretty dress!!