The Kondwa Children’s Foundation is excited to welcome three energetic new Board Members.  All the new members have visited Zambia as part of the 2007 Volunteer Trip and have experience that will greatly benefit Kondwa’s mission. 

Laurie Holland

Laurie has done cross-cultural service and volunteer work in both Kenya and Zambia, Africa. She received her bachelor’s degree in Cross-Cultural Studies from Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota and her master’s degree in Counselor Education from San Jose State University in San Jose, California.

She has also been honored by the San Jose Rotary Club with an Ambassadorial Scholarship to participate in a Group Study Exchange program in Argentina in March 2007 and a 6-month Cultural Ambassadorial Rotary Scholarship to live in Mexico and study Spanish.

Adam Hardin

Adam is a behavior specialist who works for the Hamilton County Board of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities. His job involves working with children and adults with Mental Retardation who also have behavior problems. 

He went on the trip in summer of 2007 and helped to provide educational assessments to the children at Kondwa Day Center and area schools. In his free time, he serves in the Navy Reserves, coaches basketball, and watches way to much Law and Order. He lives in Southgate, Kentucky.
Phoebe Goodwin

Phoebe is a teacher and has been working with middle school children. She just started a new job at a high school in South Tucson where she is teaching chemistry and geometry and loving it. 

Phoebe attended the KCF Volunteer Trip 2007 and helped to lead a very beneficial teacher training workshop. She will be working with future trips and teacher trainings.

Phoebe lives in Tucson, AZ and is from the east coast.

Our Kondwa Fundraising Experience 
Submitted by the Huron Centennial School

Our school raised money for the Kondwa Children’s Foundation and we found it to be a very successful experience. It felt good to raise so much money for such a good cause.

Our school, Huron Centennial Public raised a grand total of $1000.92 which reached well above our goal! We had hoped to raise $500 but our school was so willing to give generous donations that we raised twice our goal.

With the information that we had on the Kondwa Foundation, we explained to our students how to “be an angel” at Christmas. Our school was so happy to know that we were helping these children with school and supplies that were so desperately needed.

We would like to continue our involvement with the Kondwa Foundation in the future and help those who are less fortunate.

Sincerely,
Ben, Shannen, Lydia, Magnus, Sydney

In late February, the children at the Kondwa Day Center for Orphans and Vulnerable Children celebrated the beginning of the new school year by opening Holiday Angel gifts! The little boys in the Baby Class received matching sweaters in blue, gray, and white, while the girls received lavender dresses with embroidered flowers.  Their teacher, Mr. Pritchard, passed out gifts of clothing, toothbrushes, school supplies, toys, and candy to the 25 happy three to five year olds in his class. 
 
All 90 children currently attending the Kondwa Day Center received gifts, from the baby class of 3-5 year olds to the Pre-primary school class of 7-9 year olds.  In addition, the four teachers and six staff members of the Kondwa Day Center were sent gifts of clothing and toiletries.  Thanks to the dedicated leadership of the school director Angela Malik, this school offers the hope of a bright future for these children, and KCF is passionate about assisting Mrs. Malik in her mission.
 
This year, we were delighted to also give gifts to the 25 children attending the Assisi School for Children with Disabilities, led by Sister Helen Scully.  Some of the children are deaf, some are mentally retarded, but all benefit from the love and care provided to them at Assisi!  We are proud to be partnering with Sister Helen to help these children.
 

Thanks to your generosity, more than 115 children received gifts this year as part of KCF’s Holiday Angel Gift Project!  More than 50 individual donors from across the United States and Canada, banded together to share gifts of holiday spirit with children in Zambia. 
 
Thanks to Laureen Ayers and her students at Huron Centennial School in Canada who raised more than $1,000 to support the Angel Project.  Thanks also to the folks in Cincinnati for the Holiday Angel fundraiser which raised more than $200! 
 
Each donation included a $10 gift toward the construction costs of the new primary school for the graduates of the Kondwa Day Center, and totaled $1,230.  These funds will be put directly to use this spring to build the first classrooms for the new school.
 
Thanks to all of you for a successful 2007 Holiday Angel Gift Project! In 2008, with your help, we will reach 150 children!
 
Please email angels@kondwa.org for more information.