ESTC Model Orphanage Research

Hi everyone,

I'm very excited to let you know that I will soon be heading to Kenya! I'll be spending the first 10 days doing a fundraising trek up Mt Kilimanjaro (ahhhhhh!) and I'll then be carrying out some research with the projects we work with. The goal of my research is to seek local definitions of a ‘model orphanage’ from a staff perspective, a volunteer perspective and from the perspective of the children themselves.

I will then create an orphanage development framework which will help provide:

- A foundation from which to shape future ESTC funding
- A means to evaluate the success of ESTC grants
- Clear short- and long-term goals for both orphanage staff and ESTC staff
- A basis from which to develop sustainable orphanages

I'll be keeping you posted on how it goes but if you'd like to find out more or you have any suggestions, please feel free to send me an email or comment on this post.

Happy Holidays!

Eliza

Happy Holidays!

We would like to begin by wishing you a safe and happy holiday season.

Nearing the end of our 3rd Eat So They Can campaign, we continue to be amazed at the generosity and true giving spirit of donors from all over the world. From Sydney to Shanghai, Denmark to Dubai, it is clearly evident that one of ESTC's greatest strengths is its amazing hosts.

Thanks to our fantastic hosts, the 2008 campaign raised over $60,000 and 5000 disadvantaged children from schools and orphanages in Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Uganda benefited. Our 2009 campaign has already raised over $170,000 and donations are still coming in!

Again, we offer our thanks and deepest sentiments of gratitude for all your support over the last year. It is our hope that your holiday season will be filled with peace and the upcoming year will be filled with success, adventure and joy.

We also look forward to meeting the lucky winner of our grand prize draw who will participating in the ESTC 2010 Distribution. Winner announced January 15 - good luck!

Best,

Courtney, Colin, Eliza, and Caitie

GVNF Team

Peruvian Hearts Making Ripples

This year, we were so thrilled to be able to extend the ESTC campaign and partner with Peruvian Hearts so we may assist disadvantaged children in Peru. Peruvian Hearts is a fantastic non-profit that was started by a remarkable woman by the name of Ana Dodson when she was just 11 years old. Ana was born in Peru and adopted from there as a baby. Her amazing story features in our new book – Ripples of Difference, and I encourage everyone to download a copy and read this inspiring tale.

Story excerpt:“Peruvian Hearts has taught me that even when we see a situation that appears to be helpless, there is still hope. I know I can’t change the world in a day and I know I can’t do it by myself, but I believe that people working together really can make a difference. One of my goals is to inspire other kids to reach out and help others less fortunate than themselves. I believe that each person can change the world a little bit at a time.” And Dodson

Congratulations to Ana and the Peruvian Hearts Team for your fundraising successs this year. We look forward to having a great year with you in 2010!

To read the rest of Anas story and download your FREE copy of the Ripples of Difference e-book please visit http://www.ripplesofdifference.org/

My Own Eat So They Can Experience!

Hello Everyone!

The Eat So They Can guru, Eliza Raymond suggested I take use this week's update to introduce myself. My name is Caitie Goddard and I just arrived in New Zealand two weeks ago to start my job in the GVN Foundation office. I am really excited to be here and feel so lucky to work with such amazing people-they have made me feel so welcome! There is quite a lot going on around here with the book Ripples of Difference launching today (it's going to be a must-read!) and receiving the last incoming donations for this year's ESTC events!

(Photo: Some of my wonderful family who helped to plan the event! My lebanese grandmother is in the center-she made fattoush and we had some amazing meat pies to represent the Middle East!)

I was lucky enough to be one of the people who participated and wanted to share a little bit about my experience. My family is from the great state of Michigan in the U.S.A and that is where I decided to host an event. Unfortunately, planning was quite difficult; I was volunteering for 9 weeks in Uganda and could not do much of the difficult planning. I got a committee together of amazing people including my parents Kirk and Catherine, my aunt and uncle, Mary Therese and Joe and a good friend Brian Sopata to help! We decided with Brian's help to have the event in an auditorium at the local middle school (we got lucky-Brian is a teacher there!) From there we had to decide how many people we might have and how we would feed everyone along with the donations! It's amazing how generous my community is! We had several local businesses commit to donating food for the event and some even offerred raffle prizes!

(Photo: My cousins Natasha and Mary-Catherine ready to welcome the guests!)

The event was quite successful; I had set a personal goal to raise $3000 and I ended up with $4000! It ended up being a difficult week for me to organize people with a few vacations or previous plans but my friends and family didn't disappoint. Those who couldn't make it still donated and showed their support. I think I learned a few things planning an event for ESTC: Number 1-when it comes to giving to a good cause, ASK! People will never cease to amaze you with their generosity. Number 2-rely on others for support! Planning an event is a lot of work. Involving others not only makes it a lot more fun, it can save your sanity in the process! Number 3- Enjoy it! It shouldn't be all hard work or stress. I loved getting the opportunity to speak with people I rarely get to see and talk about things I really care about. Number 4-Eat the food! I was so busy I didn't eat until after my event. We had so much food that I got some of the leftovers but there were certainly things that went so fast, I never got to try a bite!

(Photo: One of the amazing plates donated by a local restaurant. These delicious wraps went so fast, the only time I saw them was before the event!)