Saturday, August 21, 2010

a world of difference

A big congratulations goes out to Fran, a friend of b+c's who is one of 8 winners in this years UK Vodafone World Of Difference program. 

Fran has taken on a role as Project Coordinator with Latin America Foundation for the Future (LAFF) in Peru for the next 12 months. LAFF reaches out to young people who have been abandoned and provides support in the form of children's homes, shelters and nurseries. 

Fran will be setting up a skills training programme involving sustainable social business ventures for the most vulnerable. We wish her all the best in her new role and thank her for inspiring us all!  

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

b+c news

It has been a little while since we have been in touch. What have we been up to you ask? You may recall that we were in discussions with an inspiring group who in only four years managed to rally together to build the infrastructure to support 600 local students. The success of the school is due to the strong ownership that the community feels for the school and their excellent management skills.

We had previously heard of the great work of Got Matar and during our visit to Kenya we had the privilege to meet some of the extraordinary members of the Community Development Group who have been working tirelessly to give local children the best start they deserve.

b+c is teaming up with the school to design a much needed girls dormitory. Currently there is an extremely high drop out rate for girls as they travel long distances each day whilst still being expected to keep up their domestic duties at home. Not only this, the walk from home to school can be an extremely dangerous one. A dormitory will allow the girls to focus on their study providing them with a greater chance of completing their secondary education.

One of the exciting aspects of this project is that the building of the dormitory will run as a training program. This will provide an opportunity for the students and members of the surrounding community to learn basic skills in carpentry, bricklaying and the fundamentals in building design.

We are currently discussing the brief with the Community Development Group and the girls of Got Matar. We are thrilled to be sharing our passion for good design with Got Matar and proud to be continuing the support of Kenyan girls in furthering their education. We look forward to sharing stories of the road ahead with you all.

You can find more information on Got Matar and read all about other exciting initiatives that they have started by visting www.gotmatar.org