Alaylay Newsletters
FRIENDS OF ALALAY (SANTA CRUZ)
Registered charity no. 1123425
ADDITIONAL SUMMER 2009 NEWSLETTER
In my last newsletter I wrote that so many good and exciting things were happening here in Bolivia that I couldn’t list them all on one sheet and would have to write again before too long. Therefore, here is some up-to-date news – this time without photographs (so that I can write even more!)
Let me begin by telling you about my current activities. When children first come off the streets to live at Alalay they normally spend some time in a house in the centre of Santa Cruz – one house for boys and one for girls. This is necessary because often the children have very little idea of how to live together in reasonable peace – on the streets “survival of the fittest”, and often of the most violent, is the general rule. The children have to learn to sit at tables, wash themselves, wear shoes, use a knife and fork, sleep in a bed, stop fighting with each other, stop sniffing glue if they are already addicts, look after a few possessions of their own and so on. Sadly, a lady who helped to run the girl’s house died last week and I’m the acting house mother (during the night) to 25 girls, while a replacement is found – I’d forgotten how difficult teenage girls can be, and several of them have H1N1 swine ‘flu too!
In addition, my other main tasks are to go out several mornings a week to find and befriend street kids, who are living in drainage canals and under bridges, and encourage them to come and live at Alalay – where they will be loved, fed and educated. Three mornings a week I teach English to groups of children at the boy’s home – which is very rewarding, enormous fun and frustrating, all at the same time. This week I’m also going to start an English course with the girl’s home, and next month in the aldea (the out-of-town centre where they live). Furthermore I’m often to be found taking kids to various medical appointments, the dentists and so on, and somehow still find time for a hectic social life – the Bolivians are such friendly and hospitable people! Since I’m determined to keep up my Russian language, I’ve also made friends with some women from the local Russian consulate.
As I stated in an earlier newsletter, my mission this year is to help Alalay and the kids become more self sufficient – please, never forget that every penny that you give goes to help in this aim and the following has only been possible because of your generous donations.
Big chicken houses are being built this month and a further 100 chickens will be bought, leading to 500 total by the end of the year. The street kids are being taught how to look after the chickens and sell the eggs – which they will also cook in their own meals. The bakery is being extended and children are being shown how to bake and sell the bread, and the vegetable garden is now producing basic foodstuffs. The aldea already has several sewing machines and a small textile unit has been set up, for which we are providing materials. The street kids are being taught basic sewing skills and will begin by producing their own school uniforms, and later making and selling uniforms for other children.
Initially, it is often difficult to convince street kids (who have a history of being badly treated by those in authority) that they should come and live at Alalay, since they are naturally suspicious. A professional football academy in Santa Cruz has agreed to run training sessions twice a week for Alalay kids (like everywhere in the world, the kids are mad about football) and we are buying 24 sets of football shorts, shirts and socks, and are shamelessly using these as an inducement to encourage kids to try Alalay.
Alalay has also started a new project here in Santa Cruz, with which I will be more involved when I move to the aldea later this year. This will attempt to reduce the number of street kids a little by meeting with parents who are likely to abandon their children (because of poverty or poor parenting skills) and, through counselling and practical work, help them keep their families together.
Finally, much of my effort and remaining funds is going towards providing good secondary education and skills training for the children, which is essential if they are to lift themselves from street life. I plan to provide several bursaries to help street kids through university or vocational training – the former has been achieved with a few street kids but is still a very rare thing in Bolivia! There is so much more to say that I need another sheet – I’ll have to be patient and save it for the Autumn newsletter!
Annie Syrett, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia August 2009
www.alalay.co.uk
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SPRING 2009 NEWSLETTER
Although a little early, I’m calling this my spring newsletter since I am sure that long and sunny days are just around the corner! Also I am off to South America in two week’s time, to travel and then work again with the Bolivian street kids, and won’t be returning to the UK until just before Christmas – thus the next few days are rather hectic and I’m planning ahead! Full and up-to-date information can be found at any time on my website (which I will update regularly from Bolivia), which has been visited nearly 500 times already this year – do please occasionally take a look at www.alalay.co.uk when you have a chance and encourage your friends to do the same.
Firstly, I must say again a sincere “thankyou” to all who have continued to give to Friends of Alalay – either as one-off gifts or regularly by standing order – I continue to be amazed by your kind generosity. The sale of personalised cards as gifts at Christmas proved to be very popular and 2009 has got off to a flying start. In addition, the tax paid on much of the income should be recoverable through Gift Aid. The 18th Bristol Cub Scouts at Archfield Road raised £250 at a recent sponsored silence of one hour and seven minutes (parents and other carers said that it was well worth the investment!) and the QEH School raised enough money on their mufti (non-uniform) day to overhaul the Alalay school bus and renovate its gearbox. This was particularly critical, since the older Alalay street children had recently been unable to get to their vocational and other college courses in the city. Finally, a local Bristol family gave me the money that they would otherwise have spent on Christmas cards and also the professional fee that the father had received for a speaking engagement – a very generous action.
As always, every penny raised goes directly to help the street kids in Santa Cruz.
Secondly, I’m really pleased that I am now getting an increasing number of bookings to speak to groups about the street kids. I’ve been several times to Cotham School, where I’ve given a presentation to a 6th form assembly and taken part in some lessons and discussion groups (the latter undertaken in Spanish!). One interesting opportunity at the School is that three students who are undertaking their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award have asked for their volunteering section to be based upon marketing my charity and helping to raise more funds. I also have bookings to speak at Women’s Guilds, both in Bristol and London.
Thirdly, apart from significant improvements in the infrastructure at the Alalay Centre there have also been many other tangible successes, including two street kids who have now graduated from university – one of whom is now employed by a city bank – and another kid who has become a leading chef in a big international hotel in Brazil.
Finally, on my return to Bolivia I hope to: agree a plan to both provide safe, adequate-pressure drinking water to all cabins at the centre and also irrigate a new vegetable garden; establish ways in which Alalay can become more financially self-sufficient; and implement improvements for the education and skill’s development of the children – including the possible introduction of university and college bursaries for the older ones.
Annie Syrett February 2009
www.alalay.co.uk
FRIENDS OF ALALAY (SANTA CRUZ)
Registered charity no. 1123425
WINTER 2008 NEWSLETTER
This is the first of my brief quarterly newsletters. Full information can be found at any time on my website, which has been visited over 1,600 times this year and is regularly updated.
Firstly, I must give a word of heartfelt thanks to all those who have supported my Friends of Alalay charity so fantastically well this year. My thanks and those of the street kids go to the many who have made one-off money gifts, to those who have kindly set up standing-order giving, to generous schools (including Colston’s Primary School and the QEH School), to the Archfield Road cub scout group, to the Bristol Branch of the English Speaking Union, and to the local Kingsdown and Cotham Homegrown community group.
Thanks to you all, over £5,000 has been raised so far in 2008! And of course it will be possible to recover the tax paid on much of this through Gift Aid.
As always, every penny raised goes directly to help the street kids in Santa Cruz and nothing is spent on administration.
Secondly, let me list where funds have gone so far: in 2007 we were able to largely re-plumb and re-drain the entire Aldea (the site on which the children live in family cabins) and to build a substantial children’s steel playground.
This year (aside from a one-off gift to feed the children when, at a time of financial crisis, only bread and water was available), we have:
re-roofed several cabins (previously the children’s beds needed moving at night when it rained – which happens a lot in Bolivia!)
re-wired some of the site and provided additional lighting
painted many of the cabins
made extensive repairs to the Alalay bus so that teenage street kids can continue going to their vocational training classes (which provide vital employment skills)
Thirdly, I am returning to Bolivia early next year to work amongst the street kids once more and will be discussing with the workers and the children how next year’s donations can best be used for the education, training and development of the kids and in making the Aldea become more self-sufficient in the future.
May I wish all of my supporters a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a PEACEFUL NEW YEAR!!
Annie Syrett December 2008
www.alalay.co.uk