Friends of Kasisi Children’s Home in the United States of America and the United Kingdom are joining together in a fund raising campaign to construct a pre-school block in the main complex and renovate the outside verandah area at the House of Hope for the HIV/AIDS babies.

The Sisters and Children at Kasisi Children’s Home feel very privileged that their friends have come forward to help them achieve a dream they have had for many years to improve the lives of children by undertaking the above projects.

John and Liz Price in the USA have advised that the IRS (USA Tax Authorities) have given approval for Friends of Kasisi Children’s Home INC to receive tax deductible contributions. This means that any USA residents can make a contribution/donation and take a tax deduction for it. Kasisi Children’s Home INC’ is currently located at: 15 EDGEHILL DRIVE, DARIEN, CT 06820. For those kind supporters who would like to help with the projects, please contact Hugh Balloch at hballoch@goffcp.com for further details.

John and Liz Price, Hugh Balloch, Kerry Maguire and Parishioners of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (Darien) in the USA have started their fundraising campaign and, through the above channels, these funds have been sent to a special Kasisi Project Account at Finance Bank in Lusaka and will be used for the pre-school project.

Our USA friends have also some brilliant ideas for fundraising. They include a concert and an exhibition of Kasisi children’s art work later in the year in the Denver metro area. Some of the art work will be rendered into gift cards, calendars and other items and also certain pieces of art work will be auctioned.

With regard to the pre school block, there is an old building on the Kasisi complex which used to house the local workers but it is now in such a dilapidated state that it needs demolishing and the pre-school will be constructed on this site. The best and most reliable quote we have received is for US$68,000 inc. VAT. The plans comprise two huge classrooms, verandah and an ablution block for the children.

We hope to extend and enclose the outside verandah area at the House of Hope to create an enclosed outdoor room with patio doors leading onto a garden area for the babies. This will improve the lives of the babies tremendously and will create an area where they can play safely and at the same time be protected from the elements in the rains and cold weather. The quotation for these works is US$17,500, inc. VAT. We also intend to source some outdoor toys for the babies, which we hope to be able to fund from our share of the funds raised at the Halloween Ball on the 30th October, 2010.

In the UK Kasisi Children’s Home is officially registered as a charity. The registration number is 1114313. This means that any taxpayer who is making a donation can claim back 28% from the U.K. Government. Trevor Cooper and his colleague kindly monitor the Kasisi Charity account in the UK. If any kind supporter would like to know more about the charity or make a donation towards the projects, please contact Trevor Cooper on the following e-mail address for further particulars: trevorandannie@talktalk.net.

Likewise, our UK Friends, Ella’s Kitchen (Paul & Alison Lindley), namely Trevor & Annie Cooper, their friends and associates, and Fiona Scott-Adie have donated sufficient funds to cover the costs of extending and enclosing the verandah area at the House of Hope for the HIV/AIDS babies. It was their express wish that the funds they raised should be used for this particular project and our kind donors are now continuing their fund raising efforts to help with the pre-school project.

As and when donations are received, they will be acknowledged on the Kasisi web site.

Naturally it will take some time to raise the balance of the funds required, but we are hopeful that construction will commence in approximately two months’ time. We will keep you updated on progress and intend to place pictures on the web site of the work in hand.