I haven't been able to post for a few weeks, it's been a terrible time that might have calmed down now, but time will tell ...
The violence that has occurred in Cote d'Ivoire over the last month has been horrific; a few 'memorable' nights of shelling in Abidjan when many lives were lost.
As far as I know my friends are fine. I had one contact me via social networking asking for assistance, a female member of the family had been shot & needed surgery. The same friend lost two cousins, RIP to them & all the others ...
The orphanage I used to support, EMSF in Bassam were out of touch with their directors. Luckily I got to hear of their plight, again through #civsocial on twitter, they received food from the Mayor of Bassam amongst others having not eaten for a few days. For a NGO to leave children stranded in these circumstances is beyond belief. Their President in France hasn't really given a straight explanation as to why this occured or why their staff haven't been paid for 18months and therefore didn't have the funds to assist.
For the moment, peace almost reigns in Cote d'Ivoire following the capture of Laurent Gbagbo & his wife Simone. Today via journalist friends I heard of shooting of Abobo, Cocody and in Yopougon which seems to be the worst hit. This should quieten down over the next few days, hopefully arms will be confiscated & the UN might do their job.
My worry now is the whereabouts of Ble Goude, the leader of the 'Jeune Patriots', a henchman for Gbagbo who has had UN sanction imposed against him since 2006 & unable to leave the country. The rumour is that he has got to Ghana. Good luck Ghana, I wouldn't like him in my country!
Focussing now on C.R.E.E.R, getting the centre built by the end of the year, the NGO is now on Twitter CREER_RCI for anyone who wants to join us online. The need to get it up & built for the children that are now roaming the streets of Abidjan amongst other cities is URGENT!!! I've been getting stories of more & more children who are in danger. Many of their 'patrons' will have fled the violence leaving the trafficked kids behind, left to fend for themselves.
Anyone who can assist with funding would be very much appreciated; we've been fundraising but it's more urgent now than ever!!!
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thursday, September 9, 2010
C.R.E.E.R
C.R.E.E.R was formed last night.
Finally after years of wanting to do something to assist children, I've formed a French charity with a wonderful team of people who are all committed to the cause; Centre de Reinsertion et Education des Enfants de la Rue; Cote d'Ivoire.
It's going to be a lot of hard work. Prior to forming C.R.E.E.R I had some great news that 5ha of land would be donated to us; we'll be under an hour from both the Ghana border and the coast in a very quiet & un-touristed area of Cote d'Ivoire.
The idea is to run it as a farm with workshops. We will initially take in street kids between the ages of 12-15 and train them in various trades so that when they're ready to leave, they will have a trade to help them find employment; we're looking at carpentry, metalwork, sewing etc for both boys & girls. Many of them will have been affected by the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, have been the victims of trafficking or encountered some personal catastrophe to be living in the streets.
Controversially we will be opening the doors to volunteers. I've previously said that I'm anti-volunteering organisations, but as a French charity we are non-profit making. All the funds will go to Cote d'Ivoire with very little held in France, solely to pay website fees, banks transfer fees and charges of that nature.
Our plan is to ask volunteers for a one-off sum to reserve their place, they can stay as long as they like. It's not going to be anywhere near 1,000 euros a month as others charge. They can go & assist with a number of projects initially clearing of the land & construction of the centre; accomodation will be offered locally.
Accomodation will eventually be provided on site in very basic dwellings with a small sum being asked of the volunteers for their stay. The reservation fee will pay the salaries of the small team that will run C.R.E.E.R, buy materials & offset any other costs they may have. Other funding should come from the produce on the land, vegetables, eggs, meat etc plus the products that the children will be able to create with their new skills.
To my mind it's a 'HAND UP and not a HAND OUT' project. In 5 years I'd like to see this being self-sustainable. If there's 'extra' money available in the longer term then we plan to build a second centre elsewhere in Cote d'Ivoire with the same principles.
I'm just back from a business trip to South Africa & Botswana, it's been 27years since I was last in South Africa, went as a child; very pleased to see the changes there. However my heart is still firmly in W.Africa, there just wasn't that vibe down there that I was expecting!!! Whilst there I visited a few projects in my spare time which gave me a lot of ideas about what could be done in Cote d'Ivoire with the children & made a few very useful contacts.
At the moment, this is a word of mouth project. If you know anyone who would like to help us, either by coming & assisting with the project or by fund-raising at home, we'd be very grateful to hear from you. I hope in the near future we'll have a website up & running with constant updates on the progress of the centre.
Post a comment on here with your e-mail address if you like (it's not published unless you ask me to do so) or e-mail us at: c.r.e.e.r.rci AT gmail.com
Finally after years of wanting to do something to assist children, I've formed a French charity with a wonderful team of people who are all committed to the cause; Centre de Reinsertion et Education des Enfants de la Rue; Cote d'Ivoire.
It's going to be a lot of hard work. Prior to forming C.R.E.E.R I had some great news that 5ha of land would be donated to us; we'll be under an hour from both the Ghana border and the coast in a very quiet & un-touristed area of Cote d'Ivoire.
The idea is to run it as a farm with workshops. We will initially take in street kids between the ages of 12-15 and train them in various trades so that when they're ready to leave, they will have a trade to help them find employment; we're looking at carpentry, metalwork, sewing etc for both boys & girls. Many of them will have been affected by the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, have been the victims of trafficking or encountered some personal catastrophe to be living in the streets.
Controversially we will be opening the doors to volunteers. I've previously said that I'm anti-volunteering organisations, but as a French charity we are non-profit making. All the funds will go to Cote d'Ivoire with very little held in France, solely to pay website fees, banks transfer fees and charges of that nature.
Our plan is to ask volunteers for a one-off sum to reserve their place, they can stay as long as they like. It's not going to be anywhere near 1,000 euros a month as others charge. They can go & assist with a number of projects initially clearing of the land & construction of the centre; accomodation will be offered locally.
Accomodation will eventually be provided on site in very basic dwellings with a small sum being asked of the volunteers for their stay. The reservation fee will pay the salaries of the small team that will run C.R.E.E.R, buy materials & offset any other costs they may have. Other funding should come from the produce on the land, vegetables, eggs, meat etc plus the products that the children will be able to create with their new skills.
To my mind it's a 'HAND UP and not a HAND OUT' project. In 5 years I'd like to see this being self-sustainable. If there's 'extra' money available in the longer term then we plan to build a second centre elsewhere in Cote d'Ivoire with the same principles.
I'm just back from a business trip to South Africa & Botswana, it's been 27years since I was last in South Africa, went as a child; very pleased to see the changes there. However my heart is still firmly in W.Africa, there just wasn't that vibe down there that I was expecting!!! Whilst there I visited a few projects in my spare time which gave me a lot of ideas about what could be done in Cote d'Ivoire with the children & made a few very useful contacts.
At the moment, this is a word of mouth project. If you know anyone who would like to help us, either by coming & assisting with the project or by fund-raising at home, we'd be very grateful to hear from you. I hope in the near future we'll have a website up & running with constant updates on the progress of the centre.
Post a comment on here with your e-mail address if you like (it's not published unless you ask me to do so) or e-mail us at: c.r.e.e.r.rci AT gmail.com
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