2009 June

CONSTRUCTION WORK HAS BEGUN!

Last week on the first of June the first spade went into the ground. By the end of August work should be finished. By lots of people in The Netherlands and in Choibalsan much work has been done and this now leads to results. The catholic church of Voorschoten conducted actions fro last October until now and thus collected so much money that a training centre can be build next to Anna Home. The church organised activities such as an early morning cycling tour, a Mongolian dinner, a bridge tournament and, last week, a fancy fair. Special about the actions of the church is that another organisation will double the amount of money they collected.
The goal of 15.000 euro has been reached, although at this moment the final result is not yet known; that will happen on July 5, the official end date.
Now three classrooms can be build for carpentry, sewing and computer skills. When everything will be ready three teachers will be sought, which in its turn will be good for the local economy. It is all part of our aim to prepare the children, who up till a short time ago seemed to have no future, for a self supporting and worthy life.

Also Colour4Kids has collected money for Anna Home, meant for a thorough renovation and an extension. There will be a shower, all walls will be renewed, there will be vacuum windows, very useful in the cold winters and beneficial in lowering the heating costs.

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Inside the walls will be finished off with gypsum plates, which caused a lot of confusion because this material has never been used in Choibalsan and must be bought in China. It is not only long lasting and fire preventing, it also offers the nice possibility to decorate the walls, which makes Colour4Kids unique. Two of their people will assist, in August, in finishing the work, together with two Belgian boys who, by the Internet, spontaneously offered to roll up their sleeves during their trip around the world. Together they will give colour to the building, inside and outside, to also colour the life of our children. They will love to spend their three month long summer holiday helping in all these activities.
Finally in all these Construction plans: the Foundation voor Sociale en Culturele Solidariteit gave money for a new fence around the hashaa. This may look as a somewhat dull goal, but it is ever so necessary in this often not so safe country. We are very happy that the Foundation wants to support us; the new fence will last more than the youth of a child!

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SINGING

Besides all this creative work with the hands, this summer their will be also a chance to sing. Nynke Laverman, the famous singer from Frisia, at First known for her fado’s, last year found inspiration in Mongolia for her new cd. She came back with a beautiful programme and as one of our regular donors, she will during her concerts this fall pay attention to Anna Home, as she also did this spring. In August she will spend some time in the house to sing with the children, make music and play with them.

TRANSITIONAL HOME

Caused by all the busyness that came with the preparation of the Construction work, not only in Mongolia (Boldsaikhan, Jim and John) but also in Holland (Maarten, Jaap Belt the architect and the different donating organisations) the purchase of a transitional home has been postponed a bit. We expect to be able to buy a hashaa and a ger in August and then the First two boys of 18 can start to live there before their school starts again in September. The money is available, the boys are ready and the running costs are secured for the time being.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

Like last year the children have a vegetable garden again in which they themselves can grow their own vegetables. The seeds are donated partially by a Chinese agricultural firm, active in Choibalsan. The French Nadaam Foundation teaches them. The city made another peace of ground available near the River which makes the possibilities even larger.

GIFTS

We sometimes get questions about the possibilities tos end toys or clothes to Anna Home. This is possible but we do not stimulate this because mailing is expensive (some 100 Euros for a box such as used by movers) whereas many of the things to be sent, and especially clothing, are much cheaper to buy locally. If you nevertheless would like to send something, please e-mail us and we will send you the address in Mongolian and we will tell the local people to collect it from the post office. Please don’t forget, while assembling a packet, that there are relatively few very young children; a boy of 4, two or three of 8 and 9 and the others are older.
Every year we try to send a big December package even if they do not know our habits around Santa Claus or Christmas. A package full of surprises. Last year every child, for the first time in his life, received an individual gift with his name on it, and also a chocolate letter and other things. We would like to do this again this year because the month of December becomes special this way. If you would like to contribute to this, please let us know before the end of September, we will then keep some space for you in the big box which will be sent by the beginning of November.

THE CHILDREN SPEAK

From the next news letter o none child will tell something about his or her actual life, school and daily activities. We so hope to show you more how big the influence of your contribution is and how much is possible.