We received a wonderful letter today from Sr. Ana, our contact at the Granja Hogar de los Ninos in Chihuahua, Mexico.

She writes:

Dear Chris, we are very thankful to Collette Foundation for the donation we receive through Mi Casa Foundation. The small beds, matresses and all is ready in the factory. It will be a great help for the smallest because these beds will be easiest to make and also they will have more space to play.

 The dorm  for middle age boys: 7 – 11 is now in remodelation. The work will finish in one month and we shall welcome about 15 kids more. Last year we have 76 applications and 30 places. We hope this year the situation will be better.

 Please tell the persons of Collette Foundation our gratefulness in the name of the kids. God bless you all.

 Have a very nice day and thanks again                 Ana Ramírez Ugarte rscj

We are continuing to see amazing success with the building in Cambodia. The new library for Journeys within Our Community will be complete in the next few weeks. The structure is totally up, and the cosmetic work is beginning.

We are so excited to show photos of the children in their new space! For now, click below for previous photos of construction.

Construction update week 3

Construction update week 8

Starfish Foster Home increased it’s family earlier this month – adding six new little ones.

Angela, Isaac, Ryan, Kathryn and Elise were the original five chosen to join Starfish and benefit from the medical teams coming in July 2010 to repair their cleft palates. Amanda, the sixth baby, was a surprise gift from the orphanage. She doesn’t have a cleft palate. Starfish was only expecting five babies, but when the orphanage offered Amanda they of course scooped her up!

These babies will be given lots of love at Starfish in hopes of their upcoming adoptions after surgery.

After a long and amazing process – Tenderfeet’s new school is officially open!

The official opening & celebration was just this past Wednesday June 9th ! It was a colorful & exciting celebration for the children, teachers, and parents.  All of the students were there dressed in their uniforms and Margaret spoke about what a great blessing the school in for Tenderfeet.   A great partner of ours, Laconia Savings Bank, happened to be on tour and was able to visit during the opening celebration.

We are thrilled to begin discussions with Tenderfeet about our next steps – possibly buidling a playground and continuing to grow the school.

And just like the sky (and the roof) the doors and windows are blue!

As we move into the 8th week of construction of the new library for JWOC – things are really starting to take shape! (Check out the earlier photos here) The local community has come together to work so hard on getting this space ready for the students. We should have a fully functional library in about month….then it’s time to start stocking it with books!

Thanks to all who supported the buy a brick campaign and assisted in funding this great construction project! We are looking forward to seeing the students enjoying their new space!

Jatson Chumig Welfare Special School enjoyed a large celebration of International Children’s Day yesterday – some background:

Almost all of the children of Jatson Chumig do not know the date of their birth.
June 1 has always been celebrated as Children’s Day at Jatson.  Under the big tent,�
which is setup in the center yard, the children spend the day performing; dancing and singing. From the youngest to the oldest as well as playing games with the younger ones.

The day concludes with a big lunch for all with meat being served and special foods.
The biggest part of the day is when a large birthday cake is served to everyone.�
Traditionally, when you receive your slice of cake, you take a bit of icing and swipe it
across the nose of the person serving it. This of course GROWS until everyone is wearing
just enough cake to know they’ve been ’served’    

Children’s Day is special at Jatson Chumig. The children see each other as brothers & sisters … long choruses of Happy Birthday are sung throughout the day. 

Everyone is a year older … Happy Birthday Jatson Children, 2010.

Good news on the Fiji front… The three cyclone proof houses that Collette Foundation funded have been completed.  Volunteers for the Koropita project are currently in the process of adding private bathrooms and kitchen facilities.  As soon as that is finished they will be ready for families in need to move in!  We should have pictures up soon!  On a side note the village is almost done building the community hall that we will hopefully be using as a place to have our passengers visit and meet the children that we helping!

Pam’s reflections continue, this time from her visit to the Knysna Educational Trust, the Collette Foundation’s second project in South Africa.

A visit to a local township during our stay in Knysna was truly a memorable and heartwarming experience.  The Collette Foundation has been committed to working with the Knysna Foundation in improving the lives of preschool children.

We witnessed the progress firsthand when we were greeted by the children and their teachers in their new school.  The Knysna Foundation is dedicated to helping preschool children by providing them with nutrition and a caring, educational environment.  A generous donation of school supplies were given by the Collette tour participants.  It was a small gift compared to the endearing smiles we received in return.

More work in still in store for the Collette Foundation as we continue to help make a difference. Try to picture 66 children napping on burlap floor mats. 

Let’s unite together and get this school rebuilt next.  

Pam Strand, Collette Vacations District Sales Manager, recently traveled to South Africa with a FAM group and visitied both Kgautswane Village and the preschools supported by the Knysna Educational trust - please read part #1 – Pam’s reflections from Kgautswane.

I recently returned from the South Africa Familiarization tour.  37 passengers and 7 employees embarked on the long trip to a remote village in the Kgautswane area and the presented the villagers with 100 Hippo Rollers on behalf of the Collette Foundation.  Villagers have to walk long distances to their water source, carrying 5 gallon buckets on their heads.  Hippo Rollers were designed for a much easier and less intensive collection of water, allowing them to retrieve five times as much water.  The presentation was a huge celebration in the village and a number of people came to sing, dance and show support for their family and friends receiving the hippo rollers.  Unfortunately, there are still several hundred people who are in need.  I was really inspired to do something on my return home. I approached our congregation at Good Shepard United Methodist Church and the children have committed to a mission project to raise funds to send more hippo rollers.  We may only be able to send one, but it will help change one life.  As Mother Teresa said, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”

Our partner in Xian, Starfish Foster Home annouces it’s 27th successful international adoption! Bryan, a beautiful little one who was given cleft palate surgery in February 2009, will be living in Sweden with his adoptive parents. He was the first, but certainly not the last to be adopted from the group of nine babies that were operated on in Feb 2009.
Bryan left Starfish late last week and his nannies were very sad to see him go, but they know that he has a great life ahead of him!
Good luck Bryan!!!