tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34141679300662471312011-11-27T23:36:34.186ZCommunity Development in West Africa. Founder, Christina Ballard's journey from the beginning.Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-52141181830910253092009-11-19T14:10:00.000Z2009-11-19T14:10:00.945Z

Development projects due to start very soon! Thank you to everyone who has donated for helping to start the projects. Christina will work with local communities to provide adult literacy and more. We're starting out first year projects. We plan to deliver two programmes of projects over the next few years: Schools Programme English for Children Schools Link After-School Study Sessions Nursery

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-22500015057751647732009-10-19T13:19:00.001+01:002009-10-19T13:20:59.041+01:00

We've launched this Fans page to make it easier for you to track our progress. Become a Fan of Abene Karantaa and keep up with community development in West Africa.

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-78672508742940799452009-10-12T09:16:00.004+01:002009-10-12T09:29:04.444+01:00

As part of International School Library Month (throughout October) we are focusing on reading and writing skills, by doing a sponsored twitter and sponsored read-a-thon. The Read-a-thon involves setting yourself a goal to read more than usual in a specified time. That could be reading a whole book in a weekend or three books in a week, or more if you're a fast reader.Abene Karantaa works with

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-41656732062214436292009-10-08T18:10:00.002+01:002009-10-08T18:23:07.522+01:00

We'll be celebrating National Poetry Day in our own way. Here's a poignant poem I'd like to share with you on poverty in Africa by Ian McCrae:Poverty In Africa Ian McCrae, Sydney, Australia, 2005 Help Africa again and again How? Give them advice.I wonder: Should we give food Or simply, let them rise.Give a man a bag of rice That will feed his family for one day,Give the same man an educationAnd

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-68269064441501142872009-10-05T18:43:00.003+01:002009-10-05T18:53:10.568+01:00

I've spent the last two days crunching numbers in anticipation of the meeting of Abene Karantaa trustees tomorrow evening. My head has almost exploded with numbers not matching up. That's all sorted now, and my mind has wondered onto our Facebook and Bmycharity page.We've hit 20 on our Facebook cause. Thanks to Anthony we have broken into the twenties! And we've just received our first online

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-21534202524995099972009-10-01T12:49:00.003+01:002009-10-01T13:12:49.293+01:00

We're overjoyed that we now get 100% of all our online donations. All of your donation through bmycharity.com/abenekarantaa is fee-free.To make a donation online now with your credit/debit card click here.Your support is vital in providing opportunity and a way out of poverty for three rural village communities in West Africa.Become a Friend of Abene Karantaa and reap the benefits by giving

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-78764322618466469112009-09-24T11:18:00.003+01:002009-09-24T11:23:45.545+01:00

We joined up with Bmycharity.com to make it even easier for you to donate. Show your support for our projects making a difference to people living in poverty in West Africa by donating online now.It's easy to do and safe. You'll also benefit from exclusive access to the Friends of Abene Karantaa section of our website, getting regular progress updates, photos and case studies.Donate now and feel

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-7959609376672006472009-09-08T09:41:00.002+01:002009-09-08T10:09:25.617+01:00

Why is literacy important?Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all, and essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.*You can help us provide projects that will change lives.There are many, many adults in the rural villages we operate in that haven't had the

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-67175940595220933772009-09-07T11:29:00.004+01:002009-09-10T06:58:41.877+01:00

We're delighted to have a new logo.We give many thanks to Orb marketing communications' support in making the logo a reality.

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-70983280308936452102009-09-06T22:43:00.003+01:002009-09-06T22:48:59.260+01:00

We've had a donation of old computer equipment today.We need someone experienced in IT to check over the 9 hard drives, and 5 flat screen monitors, check they are fully functioning and get the best out of them before we take them over to Senegal.These computers will make a huge difference to the internet and library centre we want to create and hopefully also provide computers in schools.Can you

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-17690413470001632902009-08-30T23:00:00.003+01:002009-08-30T23:04:46.198+01:00

Place a bid in our online auction on Ebay.co.uk for our fabulous framed Robert Doisneau prints, including the iconic image 'the kiss'.See our page for links to all the items in our sale here.Why support Abene Karantaa?If you can afford to buy anything on Ebay you have better life chances than the people we are helping in Senegal. Please give your support.Other ways to get involved...Go to our

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-34831643869815007922009-08-24T15:24:00.003+01:002009-08-24T15:31:43.808+01:00

We've adopted a new logo. Our pro bono marketing man Holrick Rodgers is putting it together for us - it's an amalgamation of Abene Karantaa trustee Rachel Coleshill's design and Holrick's designer's. I'll show it here as soon as I can, in the next few days.We're very proud to have a logo soon. Another step in the right direction. But we're not losing sight of what we're doing this for. In fact

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-22801900816827431022009-08-20T12:19:00.003+01:002009-08-20T12:45:11.213+01:00

It was great to see the designs for the Abene Karantaa logo that Holrick Rodgers put forward yesterday. One good one based on African textile designs. But the best in my opinion you'll hopefully get to see soon! I'll keeping you waiting till we make a decision on it. It's a teaser!I'm going to email the trustees later with the final shortlist of logos for their opinion.It's all coming together.

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-12184409767793960662009-08-17T08:58:00.004+01:002009-08-17T09:12:04.010+01:00

A steady stream of people and lots of generous donations characterised our day yesterday as the day of the Garage Sale came around.Rachel and I staffed the sale, with the items looking very nicely presented. She kept people entertained - that's her juggling!Thank you to everyone who cam along and showed their support. We raised £170 for community development in West Africa.The sales continues in

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-71131973123927529792009-08-15T22:39:00.004+01:002009-08-15T22:48:41.914+01:00

All sorted for tomorrow's garage sale - got everything prepared. Just hoping to have hordes of people who'll buy everything and we'll raise lots of money for Abene Karantaa projects. Fingers crossed it'll be a success. I hope I've done enough marketing.Meanwhile, I've had good feedback on the funding bid I've spent hours on. More than just my fingers crossed now.Thanks to Olwyn for putting

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-88691729665220530502009-08-14T09:20:00.003+01:002009-08-14T09:24:38.368+01:00

We're so excited to be official. Rachel phoned me yesterday with fantastic news. She saw an officious looking letter from Companies House on her doormat. At last we have our number! We're now registered as a company limited by guarantee. That golden number we've been waiting for is none other than 6987264. A lovely number isn't it?! We're over the moon to be on the path to becoming a registered

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-26021195329243284502009-08-13T12:08:00.004+01:002009-08-13T13:10:34.777+01:00

Holrick Rodgers, our pro bono marketing man and Olwyn Rutter (joining us from across the pond in Canada) are getting to work on a new logo for Abene Karantaa. Working on the brief from Holrick has really focused me mind as to where we are going and the image we should portray; as well as who we should target. A good experience. It's an exciting project and I can't wait to see what both teams come

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-52346080193179016572009-08-12T17:22:00.003+01:002009-08-12T17:45:29.303+01:00

So many meetings yesterday- all very useful. Started the day with Emma-Jane Cross, Chief Executive of Beatbullying, who shared her experiences of starting up a charity from scratch. BB have since won lots of charity awards and are getting bigger and bigger. She gave me the benefit of her wisdom with 3 golden pearls of advice - what she wish she had known before. 1. The benefit of getting a

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-10557354990091004462009-08-11T09:40:00.002+01:002009-08-11T09:45:46.318+01:00

We had a great trustees meetings last night. Thank you to the Indigo Hotel, Paddington for giving us a nice table in their brasserie. Indeed it was a nice and quiet space for us.We had so much to catch up on at the meeting and covered all the latest fundraising and operational plans, taking decisions and having good discussions. The trustees got to meet Hawa Touray my new colleague in Senegal on

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-57346612315281661292009-08-04T23:23:00.006+01:002009-08-04T23:44:15.839+01:00

I had a really useful training session on Monday (thanks to my borough council funding it) in book-keeping. Sounds really dry, but I learnt a lot, apart from when my head was almost popping off. Hopefully I will now be able to put together accounts that won't scare our pro-bono accountant Abdul. I wasn't doing too badly before, having been self-employed for some years in Spain, but I've learnt

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-9745747776540872492009-08-01T16:57:00.003+01:002009-08-01T17:10:16.195+01:00

I'm relieved to have finally sent off the papers for registering as a company limited by guarantee (a charitable company), which is the first step to being a registered charity.I had the papers almost ready months ago, when I handed them over to Shirley, one of our trustees as I was leaving the country to go to Senegal for the three-month assessment in March. But form-filling is no easy task,

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3414167930066247131.post-10619471105259845442009-08-01T12:45:00.000+01:002009-08-01T13:06:05.962+01:00

So much has happened since I've been back from Senegal - see the three month blog at http://www.abenekarantaa.blogspot.com/ - that I've decided to come back to blogging to keep a record of the experience of setting up and running a charity.I'll try to do a catch up now of the last few weeks and from now on blog regularly.We're fundraising to reach our target budget for our first 12 months, from

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02898225786491416798noreply@blogger.com0