SOL Newsletter. The Netherlands

Transcription

1 SOL Newsletter May 2014 The Netherlands After a stay of three weeks in the Netherlands, we returned to Brazil at the end of April. We look back on our busy trip with a great deal of satisfaction, especially due to the success of the SOL sponsor walk. You can read more about this on page 4. Whenever we travel to the Netherlands for work, we spend much of our time promoting SOLidariedade. We appreciate that most people like to hear from us in person how we are doing, how our work is going, what challenges we face and what kind of aid can assist us. We gave several presentations during this last trip: to classes 7 and 8 at De Avonturijn elementary school in Urmond, to the women s association Zij Aktief midden Limburg, and also to classes 3 through 8 at Het Avontuur elementary school in Holtum. We often hear that these presentations make what we do much more clear for people. They also feel more involved through our stories and descriptions. We notice this because an increasing number of people have been volunteering to work for SOLidariedade. We also had meetings with various sponsors and donors in the Netherlands, either to thank them for their support or to develop new initiatives with them for the next year. You can read more about this on page 3. The first board meeting took place on April 3 rd, at which the 2013 SOLidariedade annual report was delivered. This year, 92% of the expenditure went directly to the project. Fundraising and communication made up 8% of total expenditure. This is far below the standard 25% that is maintained by the CBF and below our own target of 10%. The costs of management and administration were less than 0.05% of the total expenditure. The 2013 SOLidariedade annual report is only available in Dutch, but an English summary is available on our website at: In principle, the two-year tenure of the board members will end in June, Fortunately, all five board members confirmed that they will stay for another 2-year period. A volunteer explains: I my opinion I don t really do that much, but what I do gives me a lot of satisfaction. I am involved with SOLidariedade because of my personal bond with Anouk en Mark and because I think, it is a wonderful initiative. I try to promote SOLidariedade; I believe person to person communication is still the best way to do this.' Jo Verkuijlen, walked 80 km in the SOL sponsor walk 2013 and This is a quote from the 2013 SOLidariedade annual report. Presentation at the De Avonturijn elementary school in Urmond. 14

2 Alvorada SOLidariedade focusses on transfer of knowledge and capacity building on three levels: the individual, the group and the organization. In the first year we mainly worked on the individual level. In the last newsletter, we reported that Mark started working more on the organizational level at the beginning of 2014 at the request of the centre s new management. Mark is now present at all management meetings, and this way it is easier for him to assist the management with their challenges. This semester, the professionalization of the Human Resource Policy is being planned. Because of these activities, the anticipated Microsoft Office Training for adolescents has been moved to the second semester of the year. SOLidariedade s original project plan targeted girls aged 10 to 16. When the organization was officially founded, the target group had changed to youth in general. We had dropped the focus on girls because we had come to understand that the boys needed attention as well. After 1.5 years we now also know that, the younger the children are the better the longterm results will be. Canoas The Brazilian Foundation SOCALIFRA (Sociedade Caritativa e Literária São Francisco de Assis) legally manages the youth centre in Alvorada. The Colégio Imaculada in the city of Canoas is also part of SOCALIFRA. Imaculade is a large school and offers various education programs, including: Educação Infantil, Ensino Fundamental en Ensino Médio. Educação Infantil is comparable with pre-school in the Netherlands, Ensino Fundamental is similar to an elementary school and Ensino médio is similar to a junior high school. Allison and João Pedro with their Womans day drawing in English. In Brazil, the month of May is almost entirely devoted to Mother's Day. The reality is that many of the children in Alvorada do not currently live with their own mothers. This can cause embarrassing situations, and therefore we celebrate Woman s Day at the centre instead. The children can choose who the most important woman in their life is. This could be their mother, or a grandmother, an aunt, a sister or a friend. Saturday, May 17 th, the centre organized a special afternoon for all these women. Together with the children, the women enjoyed capoeira and dance lessons. Anouk in Canoas. Since September 2013, Anouk also works in Canoas. She was asked to participate in a project funded by the municipality. Thanks to this initiative, about 70 young children from the poorest families in the district now have access to Educação Infantil (pre-school). Now these children can avoid beginning their primary education with educational deficits that could otherwise burden them. The municipality pays the school fees for these children, which is enough for a classroom and a permanent teacher. However, this is not sufficient for subject-specific courses or materials. Therefore, Anouk gives free English lessons. This is quite a challenge because it involves three groups of about 25 students. None of the students can read or write, and many children have behavioural problems. Thanks to a donation from the Netherlands, we were able to buy a supply of creative materials so that all children can draw and paint, and thus learn through playing. This is going very well because we hear that the children continue to speak and sing in English even when Anouk is not there. Women and children dancing. 2

3 Soccer WC From June 12 th until July 12 th, the Soccer World Cup takes place in Brazil. The Dutch team will play against Australia in the fully renovated Beira Rio stadium in Porto Alegre on June 18 th. The stadium is finished, but the necessary infrastructure around the stadium is not. Porto Alegre shares this setback with the other host cities which are all dealing with infrastructures that are inadequate for receiving the thousands of foreigners who will visit. This is just one of the challenges. FIFA requires that no one be allowed to live within a certain radius around the stadium. Forced relocation has not yet taken place in Porto Alegre, though we have noted that for several weeks the viaducts and parks have changed; there are hardly any homeless people in sight. Relocations have apparently already begun. When people ask us what the youth in Alvorada or Canoas will notice about the World Cup (let alone what benefits they may receive) the answer is simple: it would be no different for them if the World Cup took place in the Netherlands. A match ticket in the preliminaries costs an average of 125 euros, which is nearly 400 Reals, or twothirds of a monthly minimum wage. This is far beyond what the people we work with could pay for. The educational sports activities, which FIFA organizes for the local youth, mainly take place in rich private schools and not in the government-funded schools in the suburbs. In Alvorada these schools just reopened after a three-week strike that was called because teachers did not received their salaries. A positive aspect of the World Cup is the attention that is being focussed on child labour in Brazil. According to the IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) there are three million children between the ages of 5 and 17 who work long hours with little or no pay in the country. It is expected that because of the World Cup many prostitutes will travel to the host cities. A significant part of this group consists of under-aged girls and boys. Dutch aid agencies are warning supporters of the Dutch team who travel to Brazil for child prostitution. In the Netherlands, a campaign with former football player John de Wolf has been launched called 'Do Not Look Away'. In it, he asks Dutch people to report child prostitution. The World Cup in Brazil is an excellent opportunity for SOLidariedade to gain more publicity. The Netherlands The matches of the Dutch Team can be seen in the bar-restaurant Ich & Dich in the city of Sittard. During these games, Ich & Dich serves a special SOL cocktail. A part of the revenue will be donated to SOLidariedade. Chocolatier Ralph Hagen from Maastricht developed a chocolate SOL lollipop especially for the World Cup. He uses high quality fair trade chocolate. A portion of the revenue from the sale will be donated to SOLidariedade. From the beginning of June, you can find more information about this on our website. A delicious treat during the games! If you have a restaurant, bar or canteen and you want to organize a special World Cup action for SOLidariedade? Please let us know. We like to help you with ideas and organizing. Brazil Monday the 16 th of June, the Dutch tv broadcasting company NOS Jeugdjournaal will visit our centre in Alvorada. Once the broadcast dates are known, we will publish them on our website and on the Facebook page of SOLidariedade. Tuesday the 17 th of June we organize a visit to the centre in Alvorada for the Dutch tourists Wednesday the 18 th of June the Dutch national soccer team will play against Australia in the city of Porto Alegre. The Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will be present at the game. So will we! This topic fits well with this year's theme at our centre in Alvorada, which also aims to discuss, expose and eventually eliminate child labour. 3

4 SOL Sponsor Walk 2014 On Saturday, April 19 th, the second SOL Sponsor Walk took place. 68 people walked the 10 km Mini-Mars, the 40 km Swentibold-Mars or the 80 km Kennedy-Mars, altogether completing nearly 2,000 km for SOLidariedade! For this event they raised almost 6,000 euro in sponsorship! In cooperation with Zaate Hermenie Jonge Klaore, SOLidariedade participated in the Kennedy Kapelle Treffe on this day. This took place on the central market square in Nieuwstadt. Students, parents and teachers from the elementary school Het Avontuur (10 km) and professional Jack Koolen (80 km) at the finish. Jenny and Anouk at the SOL promotion stand. Finn (<1 year old), Petra, Paul and Saskia with her boys during the 10 km Mini-Mars. We sincerely thank: The participants Bas Wientjens, Bas Maertzdorf, Bettina Balfoort, Bram Wientjes, Chrit Cellissen, Cristiana Lampert, Daan Wientjens, Denis Havenaar, Dion Wagemans, Erica Claessen, Esmee Frische, Esther Verhoef, Etienne Kruijen, Eva-Chun Hagedoren, Finn Amkreutz, Frank Konings, Gabriela Smeja, Gerdemie Willems, Gyliam Lemans, Hub Vaessen, Ine Dohmen, Iris Wientjens, Jack Koolen, Jan Stelten, Janou Cox, Jo Verkuijlen, Jo Cleven, Joes Copier, Joke Schreurs, Joost Cellissen, Jur de Vaan, Kay Romers, Kim Kosters, Larry Hagedoren, Layla Wientjens, Leon Peters, Leonie Boers, Lincy Cleven, Mandy Dohmen, Manon Bouts-Beckers, Marielle Buskens, Marjan Brugmans, Mark Fijen, Martine Hagedoren-Blom, Meike Bouts, Mia Vandeninden, Miel Amkreutz, Ming Hagedoren, Nellie van Dongen, Owen Salden, Paul Knappe, Petra van den Akker, Rafke Keulers, Rens Hendrix, Roan Molin, Roel Reijans, Ron Hendrix, Sanne Herfs, Saskia Wielders, Siem Dirx, Sophie Boers, Ties Cellissen, Tren Cellissen, Veerle Bouts and Wendy Verhoef. The volunteers Jenny van Opdorp, Paul Knappe, Marij Cleven, Monique Hoving, Godelieve Lenoir, Brechje de Heij, Margot Fijen and the cupcake bakers from Tilburg. The people from Zaate Hermenie Jonge Klaore from Nieuwstadt. The sponsors Bloem & Meer from Nieuwstadt, Ralph Hagen chocolatier from Maastricht and Company Collections from Nieuwstadt. All donors for this wonderful day and this great result! Jo and Mark at the finish (80 km). The Brazilian ladies Gabriela and Cristina (10 km). 4

5 Donate for free? Would you like to donate to SOLidariedade for free? Use the website of the Goede Doel Shop. Through this link you can shop at the same price at all known web shops, and you will donate a specific amount with each purchase to SOLidariedade for free! So if you are planning to buy a book, a pair of shoes, a new health insurance, rent a holiday cottage, a plane ticket, a new phone subscription On the website of SOLidariedade it is exactly explained how the Goede Doel shop works. New lay-out The loyal readers of our newsletter have obviously noticed that we have designed a new layout for the newsletter. We would like to hear your opinion on the new layout. [email protected] SOLidariedade is rewarded Charity of the month of the Goede Doel Shop in june! Sincerely, Mark Fijen & Anouk Cleven Stichting SOLidariedade T (Joyce van de Weerd-Korsten, secretary) E [email protected] W Bank NL66RABO t.n.v. Stichting SOLidariedade KvK Stichting SOLidariedade is an ANBI. 5