FAF Global Giving Alert--August 10, 2010

      FAF has met the requirements to become a special project during the month of September on www.globalgiving.org.   This is a trial to see if we can raise money on line.

     Should we succeed, we will become a regular member of this prestigious website praised in the New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and other national and international media. 

     During the month of September we are required to raise $4000 from 50 people or more.  FAF prides itself on having only one major fund drive per year, so we will consider this to be the 2010 drive.  The Anthony Salazar Fund will resume in 201l.

     FAF members and friends must rally to meet our goal.  If each member donates $60 on the Global Giving website during September, we can succeed.  Please ask your friends, relatives, co-workers, and so forth to share in the giving.  Remember the number of people donating is as important as the amount.

     Before September 1 FAF will post instructions on how to make donations on line.

     This is one of the most important opportunities to grow that FAF has had in its 11 year history.  Plan to join us as FAF becomes a GG organization.

THE CLOTH AND THE MUD #42

SUMMER, 2010

NEWS FROM FABULOUS AFRICAN FABRICS

A 501 (c) (3) ORGANIZATION

727-946-5322,  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it and www.fabulousafricanfabrics.org

Laura Gardner Salazar, editor

Our Mission:  to support agencies working with

AIDS widows and orphans in Kenya and

 to educate others about the AIDS crisis in Africa.

EVENTS

          FACEBOOK  as of  July 1, FAF has a Facebook page

                   Check us out and write a comment

          FULTON STREET ARTISAN’S MARKET 

Sundays 11:00 A.M. through 3:00 P.M.

          GARAGE SALE  July 30-31 see p. 2

          AUGUST 1, 2010-2011 Membership renewal date

          SUMMER FIELD TRIP  To be Announced

          SCHULER BOOKS AND MUSIC DAYS Week of October 24

SENT TO FAF AGENCIES:

          $1000 Spring Quarter

          $2000 2010, to date

NEWS FROM AFRICA

            FAF member Sheba Onchiri will spend July 9 through August 15 in Kenya.  During that time she will visit The Good Samaritan Home and Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya.  Sheba has been serving FAF in an advisory capacity for year.  In Kenya she will be putting the finishing touches on her Michigan State University dissertation research: “Implications of Free Primary Policy on Girls in Kenya.”  Most of her research will take place in Kisii, Kenya, the area of her childhood in the western part of the country.  Sheba will take FAF’s pocket video camera, so we hope to see much more about the country and the work done there to help women and children.  Check out our Facebook page.

THE CLOTH

            One of the hot items for sale at the Art Market this summer is our bags of cloth scraps for quilters and crafters.  Nothing goes to waste in our sewing rooms.  You can order scraps in a one gallon bag for $2.00 plus handling.

            In Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, Lucy Ramshaw has been keeping the Singer singing. During the last two weeks 12 new hats have flown into headquarters from our own mad hatter.

RAISING FUNDS

          Let Me Paint Your Pet.  Laura Salazar is painting water color pet portraits for $50.00 plus handling.  To get a painting of your pet, send two photos and $25.00 down.  The balance is due on receipt of the painting.   The down payment will be returned if the customer is not satisfied with the results.

            Garage Sale.  July 30-31.  325 Somerset Dr. NE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49508.  8:00 A.M. through 4:00 P.M.  Please donate your good used items.   

Take them to the above address between 1:00 and 7:00 P.M. on July 29.  We need lots of items, lots of helpers and lots of buyers.   Call 727-946-5322 or 616-735-4109.

DONATIONS

Gifts in Honor:

            Laura Salazar in memory of Herb Melidosian

            Laura Salazar to celebrate Constance Jones Birthday

Other Donors

            Whitchurch Lenten Lunch in the United Kingdom

            Chicken Feed, First United Methodist Church, Dunedin, FL

BOARD AND OFFICERS FOR 2010-2011

President:  Christine Coggins

Vice President:  Patricia Callan

Secretary:  Betsy Knox

Treasurer:  John Zahner

Communication:  Sarah Butz

Membership:  Kiri Salazar

Members at Large:  Margaret Carlson, Roger Ellis, Shirley Harbin,       and Jill Hamilton

FAF ANNUAL MEETING 2010

 Honory members for 2010-2011 are

Jane Lukowski for her untiring work at sales in Dunedin, FL

Paul and Hilary Stratford for raising funds in the United Kingdom

Wesley and Joyce Soto for initiating and sustaining Chicken Feed Funds

at Wednesday night suppers at First UMC, Dunedin

FAF will consider names for Honorary Members at each Annual Meeting.

President Christine Coggins will name a committee to study the

possibility of developing chapters in various parts of the country.

The group will look into the financial ramifications and the

organizational impact of chapters.

Laura Salazar was asked to develop activities in Long Beach, CA.

New methods of public relations and raising funds were discussed. 

Working with NPR and PBS could develop new friends for FAF.

Joining Global Giving is another way to join larger groups of

Donors

AT THE MOVIES

The Urban Institute of Contemporary art in Grand Rapids, MI will show the film, Good Fortune on July 6 & 7.  International efforts to eliminate poverty in Kenya is addressed in the movie.  There is no charge.  Call 616-454-7000 for show times. 

AFRICAN ART IN SAUGATUCK

FAF member, Walter Peterson’s Modern African Art gallery, Amazwi, located in Saugatuck, Michigan is featuring three artists this summer.  Works will be featured by Patrick Rapai on July 3 and Junior Fungai on August 7.  Amazwi is a beautiful gallery located in a charming artistic town on Lake Michigan.  The gallery’s Annual Solar Circle Benefit is being held Sunday, August 22 from 1-4 P.M.

AFRICAN ART IN DETROIT

The Detroit Institute of Art is showing “Through African Eyes,” which explores the European in African Art 1500 to the present through August 8.  Contact the DIA at 313-833-7971.

THE BOOK SHELF

Betsy Knox has alerted us to The Price of Stones written by Jackson Kaguri of Michigan State University.  She writes, “This is true story of how Kaguri is building schools for AIDS orphans in Uganda.  I think you would find the book very touching personally and inspiring for our work in Kenya.”    Here is the web link to the book.

http://www.thepriceofstones.com/  

MEMBERSHIP

Many of our members have already renewed their 2010-2011 dues.  Therefore I will e-mail or write those of you who need to renew your dues for this year.  If you do not hear from me, you are all set for the next year’s FAF membership.      

 Kiri Salazar, Membership chair.

JOIN OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP

The membership fees for FAF go to our organizational expenses:  office supplies, postage, and materials to make items for sale.  Your dollars prevent

worry about the small stuff so FAF can concentrate on our mission: to improve the lives of children and widows of AIDS in Kenya.

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP--$20.00,  FAMILY MEMBERSHIP--$30.00

SEND THIS FORM AND YOUR CHECK TO

FABULOUS AFRICAN FABRICS, 1158 KENSINGTON ST. NW, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49534

NAME ________________________________________________________  PHONE ______________________________________________

ADDRESS________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

e-mail _____________________________________________________________________

PREFERRED METHOD OF RECEIVING NEWSLETTER:  Web  ________

e-mail _____________ US Mail _________

THE CLOTH AND THE MUD #41

SPRING, 2010

NEWS FROM FABULOUS AFRICAN FABRICS

A 501 (c) (3) ORGANIZATION

727-946-5322,   This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it and www.fabulousafricanfabrics.org

Laura Gardner Salazar, editor

Our Mission:  to support agencies working with

AIDS widows and orphans in Africa and

 to educate others about the AIDS crisis in Africa.

COMING EVENTS

          Today,  Begin using “In Honor” cards to support FAF

          June 6, Annual Meeting.  Election of Officers and Summer Plans 

                   Meet at 2:00 P.M. 1158 Kensington St. NW,

Grand Rapids, MI

          June 13  FAF begins selling items at the Fulton Street Artisans’

Market, Grand Rapids Sundays 11:00 A.M.--3:00 P.M.              Look for great new items.

NEWS FROM AFRICA

FAF received holiday greetings from the agencies we help support in Kenya.

From WOFAK on January 19, 2010:

Thank you for the notification of the support to WOFAK.  Readily, we can confirm to you and the great team that you have, that the funds will be channeled into our orphan feeding program at Kaiobangi centre, where we now have a funding gap.  The centre provides a daily nutritious lunch meal to 100 orphans, many living with HIV/AIDS and it has been supported in the past by the Stephen Lewis Foundation (Canada).  The Foundation experienced funding constraints in 2009 and this year, was unable to support this initiative, hence the dilemma.  Your support will therefore go towards bridging the huge gap that we experienced in feeding the orphaned in Kariobangi centre, Nairobi.

                        Charles Kaduwa, Program Officer

From The Good Samaritan Home on December 24:  “  On this festive Occasion Good Samaritan Children Home and Rehabilitation Center Wish all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”

Kenya Lawmakers have passes a draft constitution which will limit the powers of the President.  The power of the presidential office has been blamed for much of the unrest in the country during the last 10 years, including the 2008 eruption of violence that killed more than 1000 people and made many more homeless.

There is more good news reported from Kenya by The New York Times.  One article discusses how concentrated aid through 80 Millennium Villages of Africa for a small area of Western Kenya has improved life in the village of Sauri.  Aid has doubled agricultural yields and diversified agriculture, dropped child mortality 30%, and improved school attendance and test scores.  The program is the brain child of Jeffrey D. Sachs Columbia University economist who runs the effort with the support of Bono, Clinton, Gates, and others.  Another group Huru International in cooperation with other donors has developed a soft, washable sanitary pad that poor families can afford.  This keeps girls in school those five days out of the month when they might stay home.  Not only does absence cause them to lose out on education, but staying at home points them out to men who prey on young girls. 

The Times reported on March 14^th about how the 2007 eruption of violence in Kenya provided a new method for mapping crises.  Through analyzing cell phone calls, hot spots of violence were detected.  Ushahidi  meaning “testimony” in Swahili, provides a anonymous method to report immediate needs.  Since 2007 Ushahidi has identified food shortages, wartime violence, road blockages in snow storms, and most recently earthquake victims in Haiti. 

UNICEF announced that the mortality rate for children has dropped  25%  since 1990.  Eight point eight million children under five still die each year.

THE CLOTH

Fabulous African Fabrics of Florida sponsored a trip to see the XYZ Exhibit at Hillsborough Community College in Ybor City.  The group viewed life-sized  sculptured lions made with Kente cloth.  More information on this exhibit will appear in the next issue of this newsletter.

SENT TO AFRICAN WINTER QUARTER:  $1000

Gifts in honor in the winter quarter:\

          Gina May in honor of Joanne Peterson

          Mr. and Mrs. John Callan in honor of Patricia Callan

          Laura Salazar in honor of Viola Keigler

GIFTS IN HONOR

Members will receive a Gift in Honor card with this mailing.  Other readers may request cards from our office.  Gift in Honor cards provide a way to recognize friends and family when they have a birthday, graduation, or other celebration.  The cover of one card has a giraffe drawn by one of the children at The Good Samaritan Home.  A contribution in your name has been made for the high school tuition of an orphan at the Good Samaritan Home in Nairobi, Kenya appears in the inside.  The other card has an elephant drawing on the cover and states that a contribution has been made to high school tuition for children supported by Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya.  There is room for a personal note.  FAF will provide the cards without cost to you. 

To honor a person, send a contribution to FAF, designating the name of the person you honor and providing their address.  Mail the card to the person honored.  FAF will respond with a letter of thanks to both you and the recipient. 

ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

Members and friends of FAF are invited to the annual meeting of Fabulous African Fabrics at 2:00 P.M. on June 6 at 1158 Kensington St. NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49534.  The order of business will be the election of officers and plans for the summer months. Nominations for the office of President, Treasurer, and Membership are open.

Please call the number at the top of this newsletter if you have a nomination to make. Self nominations are accepted.  Christine Coggins is standing for re-election to the office of President.

Congratulations to long time member Mary Seeger for having a reading room named in her honor at Grand Valley State University.

FAF HEROS

Contributors to the Anthony Salazar Fund: Betty Betts, John and Margaret Carlson, Patricia Forrest, Steven and Tamara Glenn, Carl and Jonie Kobernik, Curt and Connie Jones, Charles and Lucy Ramshaw, Christine Rydel and Edward Cole, Page Wright.

Garage Sale:  Arthur and Patricia Callan for the use of their garage and their hard work, Nancy Abbott, Betsy Kenas, Jane Lukowski, and everyone who donated and bought items.  $215 was raised.

The United Methodist Women of Newton, MA for its generous donation of $200.00

MEMBERSHIP

The membership fees for FAF go to our organizational expenses:  office supplies, postage, and materials to make items for sale.  Your dollars prevent

worry about the small stuff so FAF can concentrate on our mission: to improve the lives of children and widows of AIDS in Kenya.

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP--$20.00,  FAMILY MEMBERSHIP--$30.00

SEND THIS FORM AND YOUR CHECK TO

FABULOUS AFRICAN FABRICS, 1158 KENSINGTON ST. NW, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49534

NAME ________________________________________________________  PHONE ______________________________________________

ADDRESS  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

e-mail ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PREFERRED METHOD OF RECEIVING NEWSLETTER:  Web  ________

e-mail _____________ US Mail _________

THE CLOTH AND THE MUD #40

WINTER, 2010

NEWS FROM FABULOUS AFRICAN FABRICS

A 501 (c) (3) ORGANIZATION

727-946-5322,  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it and www.fabulousafricanfabrics.org

Laura Gardner Salazar, editor

Our Mission:  to support agencies working with AIDS widows and orphans in Kenya

and  to educate others about the AIDS crisis in Kenya.

COMING EVENTS

   December & January The Anthony Salazar Fund Drive

   March 6—Garage Sale at Pat and Art Callan’s 1151 Idlewild Dr. South, Dunedin, FL

   FAF Spring Party date to be announced.

NEWS FROM AFRICA

               On a personal note, I was delighted to see The Good Samaritan Home pop up on my Facebook account.  A three-paragraph story along with a picture of some of GSH  orphans tells the story well.  “Good Samaritan currently provides housing, food and some basic education to over 220 children that have been orphaned by the loss of their parents to AIDS or children that have been abandoned because of the overwhelming poverty in the slums and families that could no longer feed and support them.  A number of these children also have health problems including AIDS and TB for which most are receiving medications.  It is especially difficult to care for those few children who have physical disabilities.”  You might like to Friend the GSH.  If you Google the Good Samaritan Home, you will find that Fabulous African Fabrics is the second most contacted website under that title.

Cholera is sweeping through northern Kenya as a result of the drought, with 119 dead early this month.  Dirty water is the only water available for many of the people of the north to drink.  Already malnourished because of the drought, they easily fall victim to cholera. 

               The New York Times Nov. 6 reported that the 2008 election violence continues to affect Kenya.  The International Court in The Hague is investigating corruption and crimes which left 1000 dead and many more homeless.  Top Kenyan leaders may have to face the International Criminal Court regarding their involvement in the riots.  Stay tuned.

               Roughly 250 million children around the world are working, many in hazardous conditions.  Education breaks the cycle of poverty.  Educated mothers are 50 percent more likely to have their children immunized and more likely to send their children to school, according to The Rotarian, November, 2009.

AIDS in the NEWS

               The first Monday in December, International AIDS Day, brings a host of articles on the continuing crisis in the world.  One of the most shocking predictions announced is that if AIDS continues as it is now, the epidemic will remain out of control through 2050.  The United Nations predicts that without a vaccination, 35 billion dollars will be needed per year to treat AIDS patients, care for orphans and do prevention work.

               The St Petersburg Times (FL) offered contrary figures on Nov. 30, stating that new HIV infections have dropped by 17% in the last eight years.  They also gave the figures that 33.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide, while 2.7 million people were newly infected in 2008.  3.2 million AIDS-related deaths were reported in 2008.

               The World Health Organization announced that AIDS is the leading cause of death for women aged 15-44.   One in five women’s deaths in this age range is linked to unsafe sex. 

On the good news front, patients who start HIV drugs a year or two earlier than is recommended now, many more people would live longer.  Whether this practice will be adopted depends on finances, as it may double the amount of money needed for drugs.

THE CLOTH

               Jubilee Sale at the First Presbyterian Church, Spokane, WA proved to be that exactly.  The church (without taking any proceeds for themselves) offers this holiday-season sale to organizations supporting free trade.  FAF has been included for the last four years.  I was privileged to attend the sale this November 13 and 14 and take part in the joyous event. The 20 years plus of the sale has developed a clientele who expect to buy international items made by artisans.  Food and friendship added to the celebration.  FAF had the only booth devoted to African textiles, so we stood out.  FAF  received many compliments for the quality and beauty of FAF items, bringing in $650 at the sale, and many new friends. 

Fabulous African Fabrics offers a big thank you to FAF member Dian Zahner who creates many beautiful items such as purses and wall hangings for FAF and has hosted our booth for 4 years, raising $1750.

DEVELOPING OUR ORGANIZATION

               FAF’s major fund drive is on now.  The Anthony Salazar Fund honors the son of founder, Laura Salazar, who died in 2005.  Funds collected from this drive is used for emergency requests from The Good Samaritan Home and Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya.  Before FAF developed this fund many emergencies came up during the year, and the organization had to quickly ask for funds from members.  Now FAF can reach into the funds and not have to wait for months to help in an emergency.

               President Christine Coggins made contact with the African Community Center of Michigan,  hosting a booth at their meeting at Grand Valley State University on November 14.   She plans more cooperative work with them.

               At the FAF Florida meeting on December 2, the Board picked March 6 for the garage sale, and voted to develop “gifts in honor” cards this spring.  We will use the cards with pictures drawn by the children at the Good Samaritan Home and hand watercolor by us this spring.

Membership is vital to our organization.  Please encourage your friends and relatives to join us.  Pass on a copy of this newsletter to give them an idea of what we are trying to do, what we do, and what we have have done.  If you need more copies of this newsletter, contact Laura.

PHILANTHROPY

               Philanthropic organizations constantly look for ways to become more efficient and helpful.  Here are some of the new ideas.  Kushal Chakrabarti has developed a way to give micro loans to students in countries abroad.  Loans to students take longer to show results and they need to provide bigger amounts than that loaned to business people.  They have longer ranging effects, however.  To find out more, contact www.Vitana.org.  Basically this is what FAF does when it sends children to high school.

               501 (c) (3) organization are growing by leaps and bounds.   Some of them seem silly—as in Save Your Ass Long-Ear Rescue, while others have a more conservative bent as FAF does.  The danger of this growth is that these organizations with their tax free donations take funds away from the federal government.  Possibly there will be a review of the rules for such organization on the horizon.  See The New York Times, December 6.

               Some agencies are offering an alternative to orphanages in Africa.  These agencies support families so they can keep a young relative or neighbor in a family setting.  This is the type of support Women Fighting AIDS in Africa gives families.  The research reported by The New York Times contrasted orphanages in Malawi with supported home care.  No conclusions on which is best were drawn.

               Nicholas D. Kristof wrote “How We Can Help.”  He sums up some current thoughts and practices in The New York Time Book Review, November 22.  Because of foreign aid, deaths of children  number of children under the age of 5 has dropped by three million worldwide since 1990.  Trade is usually more effective than aid.  More aid organizations blur the boundary with business and aid, offering a percentage of sales to worthy causes.  All of these are making a difference to the needy people of the world.

THE BOOK SHELF

               Just in time for Christmas giving is 14 Cows for America, by Carmen Agra Deedy with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah.  The story of the generosity of the Kenyan Masai people is based on a real event.  Following the 9/11 attacks, a young Kenyan convinces his village to donate 14 cows to the Americans who now need aid.  In an afterword the authors add “The Masai wish is that every time Americans hear the simple story of 14 cows, they will find a measure of comfort and peace.”

SENT TO AFRICA THIS QUARTER--$1500

THANK YOU FALL DONORS

               Hazel Gass

Lora Lee Dole

Jaquelin Nuila  

United Methodist Women of Dunedin First

MEMBERSHIP

The membership fees for FAF go to organizational expenses:  office supplies, postage, and materials to make items for sale.  Your dollars prevent worry about the small stuff so FAF can concentrate on our mission: to improve the lives of children and widows of AIDS in Kenya.

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP--$20.00,  FAMILY MEMBERSHIP--$30.00

SEND THIS FORM AND YOUR CHECK TO

FABULOUS AFRICAN FABRICS, 1158 KENSINGTON ST. NW, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49534

NAME ________________________________________________________ 

PHONE ______________________________________________

ADDRESS  _____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

e-mail ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PREFERRED METHOD OF RECEIVING NEWSLETTER:  Web  ________

e-mail _____________ US Mail _________