The $1000 donation was shared between Sunrise Children’s Village and Handup Congo.

Leng Bonna from Sunrise Children’s Village in Cambodia said:

“Many thanks for your kind support to our children.  We are in the process of up grade care and other facilities including our kitchen. With your kind donation of USD500 we can provide new stainless steel plates, soup bowls, spoons, forks and cups for 120 children.  Again, many thanks for your generosity.

Leng Bonna, Cambodia Administration Manager

From the Congo, this message:

Très chère Maman Sue LIU, Le Comité de Gestion de la FLO à travers ma personne est content de faire votre connaissance.Nous vous remercions pour votre soutien aux jeunes de Lotumbe avec 500 AUD pour les micro crédit en vue de les aider de se prendre en charge ainsi que leur famille.Salutations dans le Seigneur.

Antoinette Mapele,Vice Présidente de la FLO CDCC/RDC

A STORY FROM CONGO – the women you support through FLO.

My buddy Lucy Hobgood-Brown  returned from a month in Congo just before Christmas, where she saw that a ‘hand up, not a handout’ can make a lasting impact. Our donation has gone towards a community loan fund in the remote village of Lotumbe, where Lucy’s father was born and where she lived as a child.

Now a resident of Sydney, Lucy is deeply involved in community development projects in Lotumbe. In collaboration with a Congolese women’s organisation, “FLO”, Lucy and others like you and me are helping give FLO members the key to economic progress. We are helping to unleash women’s potential! Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population.

Lucy tells me that countries such as China (where she also works) have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.

Meet Mama Patience, a fine example of a FLO member who is making a tremendous difference in her community.

Thanks to the micro loan made possible by FLO (with our capital), Patience now has goats, chickens, and several canoes which she rents out — and is able to pay her daughter’s school fees. For details about HandUp Congo, visit www.handupcongo.org.

Zulu is supporting Vickianne Lane – another dedicated supporter of Sunrise Children’s Villages in Cambodia. Vickianne and her mates e are putting on a fundraiser: 19 November at the Quarryman’s Hotel in Pyrmont ( Sydney)

ABOUT THIS ADVENTURE ( from Vickianne)

Back in 2005 a mate had enough foresight to plan his ‘mid life crisis’ for 2010! As a guest at a dinner for the kids of Sunrise Children’s Villages, he was moved by the spirit of the kids, most of whose tragic circumstances were betrayed by their smiles and sense of hope. He enlisted 3 mates, all Dads themselves, to make their ‘crisis’ less about them and more about making the difference for kids who would never have the chances their own children will take for granted.

Here we are, nearly 2010 and the boys have come together to create ‘city2sunrise’ and they’re about to head off on the adventure of a lifetime

The aim: to raise money for the education of these kids so that they can make a difference in their own lives! To book your ticket head to the website www.city2sunrise.org and secure your spot. If you cant make it on the night, visit the site and make a donation to the boys journey and while you’re there have a look at the video of the boys with the some of the kids who visited Australia recently.

4 blokes – 4 bikes – for charity – www.city2sunrise.org

ZULU WILL MATCH THE DONATION PORTION OF YOUR PURCHASE $ FOR $ FOR ORDERS RECEIVED BEFORE
15 NOVEMBER. Delivery guarenteed before 5 December

Choose from our specially selected range of 100% natural Soy Candles and give your friends, family and clients a gift that will be appreciated and loved for its beauty, simplicity and supports the principles of good health, sustainable living and giving back to our communities.

All candles are made by Zulu and come packaged and ready for giving. Purchase price includes a donation to Charity!

THE RANGE includes:

• Mosaic: Heart Throb Red or Clear Glass Holder.
• Traveller: A handy travel tin for those on the road in Gold or Silver
• Candelina: A really sweet candle in little clear glass jar with a lid
• Shots: Cute little candle in a shot glass
• Tealights: Tea lights in a lovely takeaway packs of 5 or 10 tealights

FLAVOURS : You can have your candles unscented or choose from the following 5 flavours : Spiced Orange, Green Melon, Sweet Lemongrass, Pink Grapefruit & Vanilla.

Visit Zulu’s Candles for Community for

further information about the range,

pricing, delivery and who we’re supporting this year

The ladies are all widows or abandoned wives, who are homeless, and have been sleeping at Pastor Bill Page’s Church until accommodation, could be found for them.

Say no more – just look at those happy faces.

The kids had arrived only 2 days earlier from Cambodia and had spent a busy few days resting, doing publicity and rehearsing for this night of nights which saw them take the stage with the likes of Ray Martin, David Campbell, Casey Chambers and Jane Rutter.

What professionals! What a show!

The children were so excited and thrilled and truly performed their hearts out! There was such a feeling of warmth, support and love for these children – everyone who was there said it was a night like no other!

Among this group were my special two girls, Waew and Thy – and I was very privileged to spend quality time with them and their friends throughout their short stay.

Geraldine Cox and her team of volunteers –deserve the highest accolades as well. They are family to these very special children and worked extremely hard to make this show a reality for the children, and for us.

Zulu’s Candles for Community this Christmas will be raising money for Sunrise Children’s Villages in Cambodia

2009 Range

The Mosaic Candles are back from the Christmas range and so are the tealights !!

• New on the scene are the Sweet Candelinas – a clear glass jar with a lid!
• Refills of the Mosaic Glass holders are also available.
• Also choose from Spiced Orange, Green Melon and Vanilla frangrances – or go unscented!!

Buying Candles from Zulu’s Candles for Community helps support communities in need.

$1.50 from every purchase is donated to a charitable organisation. Click here for the Candle range, pricing and to find out who we’re supporting in 2009

The Inspire Foundation took all 50 basketballs and distributed them amongst a variety of youth projects in Sydney including Marrickville Youth Centre, Macquarie Fields Outreach Centre and Don Bosco House.

“All of the above organisations are very thankful for the Basketballs” said a representative from Inspire Foundation.

“Our Young People really did feel like it was Christmas and were excited to receive the balls to be able to play a bit of B-Ball”.

So thanks to our donor “Michael” for spreading a bit of “bouncy” joy!!

The Inspire Foundation help millions of young people lead happier lives. For more information visit www.inspire.org.au

Those of you who purchased Candles from Zulu’s Candles for Community at the end of 2008 will be pleased to know that over $250 was raised – with $1.50 from each candle pack sold donated to Lucy Hobgood Brown and Handup Congo.

Others also donated directly to Lucy – and we THANK YOU for your support and generosity with helping us raise awareness for HandUp Congo and contributed to community projects in this very troubled country.

SUPPORTING MATERNITY SERVICES IN THE CONGO – LUCY’S REPORT

As you know Sue, I was born in the Congo and my father was also born and raised in Lotumbe.

I return at least every 18 months to work on a range of capacity building projects with a Congolese women’s NGO. This community based organisation focuses on women and children, and provides such basic necessities as insecticide treated mosquito nets, new baby outfits and free pre-natal checks for women who give birth at the hospital (or in canoes!). The NGO makes a huge difference to infant survival rates, reports Lucy, adding, “Mum and babies are doing well.”

Birth on the river - woman gives birth to twins in a canoe in the Congo

You will be pleased to know that the funds raised through Zulu’s Community will go towards Lotumbe’s maternity ward.

Located in a remote village more than 200 km from the provincial capital of Mbandaka, Equatorial Province (Democratic Republic of Congo), this maternity ward is only accessible on foot over jungle paths or by dugout canoe.

Birth on the River

Under the scorching African sun, I saw a woman give birth to twins…in a canoe. I heard the excited chatter of village children who happened to be swimming nearby when the canoe was paddled to shore.

The children told the woman’s husband where the hospital was located, and as he ran for help the woman lay stoically in the bottom of a dugout canoe, shielding her eyes from the sun’s glare. Her husband returned with a midwife, who helped deliver the babies.

What a miracle that the mum and babies survived the canoe trip and the filthy birthing conditions!

ABOUT LUCY HOBGOOD BROWN and HandUp Congo

Lucy lives in Sydney and is a co-founder of HandUp Congo (www.handupcongo.org). She and her colleagues Anne Zolnor, Betsy Brill and Roma Mehta work pro bono on a variety of DRC projects.

Read more about Lucy’s activites in the Congo – in Zulu’s Community

Basketballs for kids in need

“Michael” and Zulu’s Community would like to donate these basketballs to projects or organisations that support children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds – either in Australia or overseas. So, If know of or a re connected to a project or  cause who would LOVE to have some of these basketballs, please send me an email and  tell me about your organisation and your kids. First in – best dressed!

• Limit of 10 balls per  organisation – they are flat and need to be inflated.
• Collect from Balmain by Friday 14 November