MaDe In SeNeGal

 Ritmi Africani presents: 

 "Made in Senegal"

 -An afternoon in Senegal with Ritmi Africani-

Here we are, the first event organized by Ritmi Africani in Leiden will take place the 8th of June 2012 at Socitëeit de Burcht (De Tuinzaal).  

The purpose of the event is to introduce the association Ritmi Africani and its projects and to raise funds to support future activities. 

The volunteers of the association will give a presentation on the current activities and the future ones, to follow screening of videos made in Senegal and sale of original Senegalese handicrafts!

And…last but not least, good African music & home-made cakes!

It’s a great opportunity to meet us and to buy amazing original products made in Senegal and always remember that in this way you're helping our projects!

Book your agenda, you can’t miss this unique event!

DATE:8 JUNE 2012 

TIME: 5PM  

VENUE: Socitëeit de Burcht (De Tuinzaal)

Burgsteeg 14, Leiden

www.ritmiafricani.org
http://ritmiafricani-holland.blogspot.com/

Sponsor a child!

Light up the hope, sponsor a child!

Sponsorship provides resources for education and health programs to improve children’s life. Through sponsorship, you make better childrens and families life conditions, funding projects that make a real and sustainable difference. This is really more than a simply economical help. In this way you can establish a real connection between people coming from two different countries, based on true love and caring.

Our project includes 100 Senegalese children from 3 to 15 years old who come from families living in poverty. The 90% of the children contracted a chronic form of malaria, an endemic illness that requires periodical medical care. In Senegal free health care doesn’t exist in any form.
Others children contracted meningitis, that leads to serious hearing and eyesight damages.

With only 310€ contribution per year (25.80€ per month), we can guarantee them a basic health care, instruction, an healthy diet and, hopefully, a better future.
The annual 310€ contribution can be paid with a single settlement or with two six-monthly payments of 155€ or with four three-monthly payment of 77.50€.

Ritmi Africani underwrote the Charter of Principles and Quality Criteria of Child Sponsorship drawed up by the city of Turin. 

We are all pure volunteers, so that all the funds raised are only used for projects.

In the involved communities, several volunteers of our group take care of coordinating and monitoring the child sponsorship project. Each coordinator follows 10 children and that allows us to know very well all children and their families too.

The financial support amount is used in the following way:
- 135 euro: medical insurance for the child to cover medical expenses (medical examinations, medicines, possible hospitalizations);
- 135 euro: school enrolment, payment of the school canteen, school materials purchasing, shoes and dresses purchasing;
- 40 euro: relief fund for children who are still not adopted and running costs.

Do you want to meet your child?

If you would like to meet your child, you can come with us to see our projects and to get to know your child.

You just need to contact one of the responsible of our projects to agree on the terms of the trip.

We remind you that is not possible to bring a child in your country. We strongly consider tearing him from the bosom of his family and his reality will be traumatic and useless too.

Exchanging letters

You have the opportunity to write a letter to your child, sending him pictures, small presents that we'll personally give it to him during our voluntary trips. Once we'll come back, you'll receive a picture of the child, a letter or one of his drawings.

We advise you to write short letters, with a simple vocabulary and easy subjects. We always need to consider his every-day life is really different from ours.

If you want to sponsor a child you can write or call us. We'll give you all the information you need!

Running activities and future projects of Ritmi Africani

Dear friends,

Here is an update on our running activities and future projects in Senegal.

Following the success of the project “A library for Diakine” which concluded in July 2010 with the inauguration of the building and the delivery of more than 200 books, we have conceived, alongside local communities, a long-term plan to create libraries in all villages where we operate. This project is intended to support quality education of children leaving in rural villages of Senegal such as Bignona, Diourou, Babak and Sebikotane.

The books we brought with us in January 2012 were delivered to the village of Kadiamor where a group of children and their teachers are running an educational theater project. The children of Kadiamor are also part of an exchange project with students of a school in Turin, Italy. 

The purpose of this project is to make children and youths in Italy acquainted with Africa and to strengthen the bond of solidarity and understanding between different nations and cultures.

In support to our campaign “Sponsor a Child”, during our stay we made a video to show the typical day of children in Senegal. The video will be showed to the students in Italy and will be soon available on line.

We also have started two major projects with the intention to complete them by this Summer:

• the construction of a “Foyer for Diakine”
• the construction of a “Maternity Ward in Diourou”

Both villages are in the southern region of Senegal, the Casamance. 

The foyer will be a centre devoted to cultural and fundraising activities in support to projects running in the village (school, medical center, library). 

The maternity ward in Diourou will be built next to the Medical Center in operation since 2007 and will give access to primary health care to woman during pregnancy, labour, delivery and after birth. Like the Medical Centre it will be operated by local medical staff. The Maternity Ward project is co-funded by the Humanitarian Relief Fund of the European Space Agency.

During our stay in Senegal we gave a demonstration on how to construct with local materials and operate a sun-powered oven to the community of Babak. This activity is running in support to a local group of women baking bread every day for the breakfast of all children in the village.

The community of Kadiamor has also finally got its mill and we are now working on enhancing its electrical power system.

In support to the “Right to Health Care” campaign this year several initiatives will take place in Senegal aiming at prevention against malaria or AIDS spread. Those will be coordinated by our local volunteers.

In addition, much time was devoted in January to the formation of new local volunteers and organization of running and future projects.

To learn more about our activities in Senegal, Italy and Holland visit our website and blog: 

http://www.ritmiafricani.org

http://ritmiafricani-holland.blogspot.com/ 

The volunteers of Ritmi Africani Onlus.

Fair Trade Market, a great success!

These days were a great success for the association!
We've seen many people interested in the projects we're running and we hope this interest will go on in the future.
We need volunteers to starting new activities in Holland as awareness campaigns, fundraising activities and new ideas are always welcome!
Thanks to all the people that supported the association even with a small gift, your help is very important! Always remember that in this way you're helping our projects in Senegal! 
Thanks also to the ESA Humanitarian Relief Fund.

We wish you an happy new year!

Chiara&Davina

FAIR TRADE GIFTS FOR A DIFFERENT X-MAS!

The volunteers of Ritmi Africani are inviting you to choose for a different Christmas, thinking also about the poorest. You can opt for a gift that makes a difference, ethical fair trade gift, original crafts products from Senegal.

Where can you find us?

8^th of December

ESTEC Christmas Party

Keplerlaan 1 Noordwijk – Holland

12-16^th of December

Main Canteen ESTEC from 12pm to 2pm

Keplerlaan 1 Noordwijk – Holland

If you are interested in our products write to info@ritmiafricani.org or call +31612632446.

We can organize a private shopping session!!

With your gift you can help one of the projects currently running in Senegal by RITMI AFRICANI ONLUS!

All the money you'll spend would be entirely donate to our projects in Senegal.

There are no shopping fees, we are all 100% volunteers and none of us get any sort of reimbursement or payment.

RITMI AFRICANI ONLUS

Do you want more information?

Check our website: www.ritmiafricani.org

12 Months with RITMI AFRICANI - A FAIR TRADE CALENDAR!

DESK CALENDAR A5 format - 2 sided printed.  This year RITMI AFRICANI’s calendar is dedicated to the African women main actresses in the daily life and often at the core of brave actions. For every month there’s a very beautiful picture took in Senegal from our volunteers and on the back side you can find the biography of an important African woman. A minimum offer of 6€ is required for each copy. The money raised from the sale will be assigned to the construction of a maternity ward for mothers and kid’s medical cares in the village of Diourou, Casamance. We send the calendar all over Italy and we distribute it also in the Netherlands. The calendar is in Italian, but under request it's possible to have the English translation of the back pages. MAKE AN ORIGINAL GIFT FOR CHRISTMAS! For info http://www.ritmiafricani.org Italy +393392422825 The Netherlands: +31612632446

INSECTICIDAL – TREATED NETS FOR SENEGAL

Thiaroye local community counts for 7000 people living in 750 houses, according to a survey made by Senegalese volunteers in September 2010. They are mainly women and children.In January 2011 Ritmi Africani started a campaign to raise funds to donate to Thiaroye 1500 insecticidal – treated nets, before the next rainy season (summer 2011) supported by the ESA HUMANITARIAN RELIEF FUND Club.

Each insecticidal – treated net costs around 5€.  

100 nets – distributed the 6th of January 2011

160 nets – distributed the 26th of April 2011

449 nets – distributed the 21th of July

TOTAL:659 mosquitos nets have been distributed in Thiaroye.

In July some problems raised up regarding:

•         Choice of the families

•         Way of distributing

•         Notice difficulties in sharing the humanist principles beyond this project with the families of Thiaroye

Ritmi Africani together with the Senegalese volunteers decided to choose for a temporary suspension of the nets distributions. At the same time awareness campaign and debats on the importance of the utilisation of the nets and of a separate waste recollection will be held in Thiaroye more frequently. This will allow us to concentrate our effort in long – term and lasting project that aims to self-improvements of the rural communities.

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime."

THIAROYE

Thiaroye is one of the most populous and poor neighbourhood of Dakar, that lacks of drainage and waste disposal systems. Living conditions at Thiaroye are very hard especially during the raining season: water floods into the houses and any commercial activity stop. Abandoned wastes and stagnant water facilitate the proliferation of mosquitoes and the malaria disease spreading. Besides the continuous appeals of the community to the local Government, very little or nothing has been done to set up a drainage system and/or a waste disposal system. Malaria in Senegal is endemic throughout most of the country and there are annual seasonal peaks in transmission during and shortly after the rainy season. In the year 2008 the WHO World Malaria reported that 23719 people were diagnosed with malaria (3881 were children below 5), 722 died for malaria (306 were children below 5).