Newletter April 2024

News from Kisumu

– Nynke in Kisumu

– Project Help to Individuals

– Project Sport

– Project Care

– Project Therapy

Activities

– Book Fair Vincentius Society Den Bosch

– World shop Vught

Agenda

– Mother’s Day

-Trap-In

News from the board

– Periodic Gift

– Annual Report 2023

– Farewell former board members

News from Kisumu

Nynke in Kisumu

Fortunately, a lot can be done online and at a distance, but only when visiting Kisumu I really see the impact of our projects again. The new school year has started and this time I went with social worker Celestine to Hambale, where Stephen goes to school, among others.

I also spoke with Sister Dorothy about the challenges faced by St. Clare’s children’s home, such as burglaries. Thanks to donations, a wall is now being built around the site, so that the children can play outside safely and no items or food are stolen from the vegetable garden. If you would like to donate an amount for the wall, it would be greatly appreciated. For a donation, you can use the QR-code below.

For the Therapy project I visited therapist Samoo in the hospital. He was very happy with the donated bandage materials from Heckert and van Lierop.

Finally, I had a working dinner with Richard. Richard has the children of the former Klaartje Derks foundation under his care and with the termination of that foundation, Amara Foundation now takes care of those children. It was a pleasant and productive dinner and I now have a good idea of the conditions in which the children live and how the schooling is going. Rashid will soon complete his training as an airport employee, which is very impressive.

Project Help to individuals

During her visit, Nynke was also allowed to help in Molly’s school cafeteria. Molly is a player of the Kisumu Shakers and has been able to renovate the school canteen of a primary school with a loan from Amara in the context of ‘help to individuals’. It is always impressive to see how efficiently and structurally hundreds of small children wash their hands, eat, drink, wash their dishes themselves and take their plates away again.

Project Sport

In 2023 we had the honour of meeting the sitting volleyball club the Kisumu Shakers. It is an enthusiastic team of adult volleyball players who all have a disability, so they practice the sport while sitting. This association, like the football club we support (Urusi), is located in the slum Manyatta in Kisumu.
We sponsor this club and with the money the club receives, the club does several things. One thing they do is strengthening the economic position of their club members. During a meeting, they decide together as a club where the money from that year will be invested. Last year, investments were made in a shoemaker’s inventory and in hairdressing tools, resulting in a huge commitment to the club. It is wonderful to see the togetherness when you go to watch or participate in a training session.
They have already budgeted for various things for this year: they are going to contribute to shop premises and materials for a sewing workshop, they want to install a water pump and arrange a laptop for a movie shop.

Project Care:

Thanks to Amara’s support, 23 children will go to school again this year from the St. Clare children’s home. Four of them will even be allowed to start at a college or university in September. In all cases, these are children who would not have been able to attend school without support. It’s great to see how these children get a good chance at a better life through donations

Project Therapy

At the moment, the 3-week holiday at the end of Term I has started. This means that all children come back with their mother to the therapy in the hospital to see Samoo. Also a moment for the mothers to see and talk to each other again. During this period, Samoo will check whether new braces need to be made. Our occupational therapist from the apprenticeship has found a nice transition to another job and started in Botswana as a therapist in April. A move outside Kenya. We wish Robert a lot of joy and learning pleasure in this other African country. We hope to be able to introduce you to the new occupational therapist at our apprenticeship soon.

Eigen Herd

On 10 December, board member Maria and her friend Tineke were invited to the Christmas market of Eigen Herd in Uden. At the end of the day, they were tired but satisfied. They managed to raise a great amount for Amara Foundation.

Heerbeeck College

In December 2023, board member Evelien was allowed to set up a table at her work where she sold all kinds of Kenyan products. It was great to see that all colleagues were enthusiastically doing Christmas shopping at our Amara table again.

Book Fair Vincentius Society

From January 26 to 28 was this year’s book fair. Many friends of Amara Foundation volunteered during this event. It was another great fair. Afterwards we received the following message from one of the volunteers: These were fun days again. We would like to thank our volunteers!! In addition, we would like to thank the organization of the book fair, the Vincentius Society Den Bosch. The proceeds of the book fair go to all kinds of charities and fortunately Amara Foundation was also one of the charities. On March 21, Evelien received a beautiful cheque for €1500 on behalf of the foundation. Of course, we will make sure that it is well spent.

World Shop Vught

In February we received a nice donation after we were nominated and chosen as a charity for the distribution of the profits. What a very nice gesture from the staff. We are certainly proud of this! Be sure to visit World shop Vught to admire our cards, among other things. Asante sana.

AGENDA

– Mother’s Day 12 May: Give an original handmade gift to your mother and make a mother’s heart happy in Kisumu too! Take a look at some lovely products below or take a look at our web shop for other ideas.

– Trap-In 20 May: On the 2nd day of Pentecost, an anniversary edition of this pleasant bike ride will be organized in Uden. Amara Foundation was notified that we are 1 of the charities where the proceeds of this beautiful event will go. Cycle along, enjoy activities at the rest areas and sponsor the charity. More information can be found on the website.

Card mother with heart €2.20

Heart soapstone medium €2.00

Card girl with heart €2.20

Angel soapstone natural medium €3.00

Periodic Gift: tax benefit

We have many loyal donors to whom we are very grateful. Donating to a foundation can go hand in hand with tax benefits if you make use of the scheme: periodic donation. We want to point this out to you because many of you are not yet using it. A periodic donation is fully deductible if your donation goes to an ANBI (public benefit institution). As Amara Foundation, we have had the ANBI quality mark for several years.
Your donation is a periodic gift if you meet these 3 conditions:

You give the same amount to the same institution or association every year.
You pay the amount in 5 calendar years in a row. Longer is also allowed.
You have determined when your annual donation will stop, for example after 5 years. If you die before that period expires, the annual donation must stop upon your death.

If you want to know more about the periodic donation, you can read more on the website of the tax authorities. If you are interested, please let us know and we will make sure that we fill in the correct form together. This applies to all our loyal donors, but of course also to people who have the intention to sponsor us.

Annual report 2023

We would like to thank Jan van Bragt and Meulenbroek accountancy firm very much for all the work they have done to ensure that our annual report 2023 is in order and approved. Our annual report can of course be viewed online on our website

Farewell to former board

At the beginning of 2023, Lisanne and Maria have indicated that they will step down as board members of Amara Foundation. As of January 1, 2024, they have therefore stopped their work. However, there are still some loose ends, but more and more all tasks have now been transferred. That’s why it was time for an official farewell. In March 2024, in a very private company, which only consisted of our old board, we said goodbye to Lisanne and Maria as board members of our foundation during a very pleasant dinner. Evelien gave a speech for Lisanne and Carmen gave a speech for Maria. However, what Lisanne and Maria have meant to us all these years cannot be told in a few words. The unbridled commitment, the knowledge, the skills, the conversations they had here, but certainly also in Kenya, have brought our foundation to a high level. The dinner was as usual very pleasant and we will miss Lisanne and Maria enormously. Fortunately, they certainly remain involved with our foundation as volunteers. And Lisanne may even travel to Kenya to visit the many friends and acquaintances there in her new role as a volunteer. A special thank you!

Of course, we thanked Lisanne and Maria very much during dinner. Together with Lisanne and Maria, Jan van Bragt and Mr. Meulenbroeks also stop their work. A special thank you goes to Jan van Bragt. For many years, he has taken on the task of financial administration and compiling the financial annual report. A lot of hours of dedication have gone into that too. Great Jan!! Accountant Meulenbroek has audited our annual reports on a completely voluntary basis. So we would also like to thank him very much for this.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF KISUMU! Evelien Hommes-Romonesco – Carmen van Bergen – Esther van Rooij – Nynke Bosker-Haagsma – Martine Plantinga

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