News 
News
NEWSLETTER 04/2011
Dear members, sponsors and friends of FRIENDS Kinderhilfe International,
the year is coming to an end and we take this opportunity to reflect on the past months. Another year passed in which we continued facing up to the challenge of working on our projects in a sustainable manner in order to help as many impoverished children as possible. Not an easy endeavor considering the comparatively small size of our organization and the withholding of donations that are not emergency relief for a catastrophe currently in focus. Not an easy endeavor also as the work of our team often resembles the proverbial “tilt against windmills”. It is therefore all the more important to hear something encouraging from time to time. For example, when not long ago we got a letter from a visitor to Sri Lanka who paid a surprise visit to one of our projects on-site. The very positive feedback on the work of FRIENDS in Sri Lanka was accompanied with the following story:
“After a storm that stirred up the sea, a tremendous amount of starfish was laying in the sand, thrown on the beach by the strong current. A boy walked down the beach, gently taking every starfish and threw it back into the ocean, one by one. A man walked by, watching the boy he said: “You stupid boy! What you are doing is completely futile. Don’t you see that the whole beach is full of starfish? You will never be able to throw them all back into the ocean! What you are doing is not changing anything!” The boy looked at the man for a moment. Then he walked on to the next starfish, picked it up carefully and threw it back into the sea. He said to the man: “It will change something for this one!”
Thanks to your help we are able to support more than 1.000 children and teenagers with our various FRIENDS projects, giving them prospects for their future. This is why we are looking ahead motivated in order to “change something” for as many impoverished children as possible.
In this spirit we wish you a peaceful Advent season, a blessed Christmas holiday, and all the best for 2012. And if you are still looking for a present: Why not “a gift of friendship”?
Kind regards from your team of FRIENDS Kinderhilfe International e. V.
“The Gift of Friendship” – gift ideas that do good and are presents in many respects
Christmas is around the corner. What’s still missing is that compelling idea that is also a unique Christmas present.
With the campaign “The Gift of Friendship”, FRIENDS Kinderhilfe International e. V. is offering sponsorship for a child as a present for the second year now. With only 5€ per month or an annual 60€ it is possible to take on the sponsorship for one child in one of the FRIENDS education centers for children in need in Sri Lanka. The total sum for a one year sponsorship is 60€ and as it is temporarily limited there is no need for an active cancelation.
If you give the “Gift of Friendship”, you or the person you give it to -who is the sponsor in this case- will get a sponsor’s letter with the data and a picture of the child.
“The Gift of Friendship” – a present in many respects.
Give a little friend in Sri Lanka a chance to a better future with a special gift. Register online at
www.friends-kinderhilfe.de/index.php/de/freundschaft-schenken
Make a present and donate:
FRIENDS Photography Calendar 2012
Make a present with the new FRIENDS Calendar and support a FRIENDS project!
Wall Calendar for 9,95 € or now as well as small formatted DINA5-Calenar for 4,95€ - the total revenue inures to the benefit of the organization’s project work.
Preview and mail order at
www.friends-kinderhilfe.de/images/stories/artikel_kalender_2012.pdf
News from our projects:
Children’s Art Exhibition in the Education Center Kosgoda
In spring, we already told you about the art competition of our busy little artists from the south of Sri Lanka. Like this, over a hundred works of art were created during three art workshops. These workshops also held little art competitions that were supported by professional art teachers and took place in our education centers for children in need.
We were now able to exhibit the pictures on November, 5th in the course of a small art exhibition with a celebratory opening ceremony in our educational center in Kosgoda. With their luminous colors and their partly traditional motifs, these pictures show the potential of the children in an impressive manner. This potential often only waits to be awakened. Amazing results that were being recognized by parents, teachers, and other interested people and that were rewarded with a certificate for every one of the little artists. The children’s and teenagers’ faces were beaming brighter than their luminous works of art as their self-esteem had been positively boosted.
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