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Latest update, Home and Dry!!! I have now been back for just over a week and don’t know how to feel. The work we did in Projecto Shekaina Kids was invaluable to the teachers, project leaders and most importantly to the children, who we miss so much. I have struggled thinking what to say in this update following the event but it was an experience I will never forget. Challenging, loving, shocking and now reminiscing are just an essence of what it was like for me. My facebook now displays all the photos that are also memories that the team and I hold dear.  I wanted to sincerely thank anyone who gave towards this very worthwhile cause. Any money has been so very important for just £15 feeds a child in the project for 1 month.  What follows is a list of what we completed in the project – amazing work in just under a month. 1.     Worked with children in the project - displaying the love and care that the children so desperately crave, during fun games and crafts. 2.     Ran a 4 day Bible Club for local favela children. 3.     Worked with the jiu-jitsu group in the local church. 4.     Worked with the alley girls – we are encouraging the project to continue with this (these girls being those in real need of aid etc as many belong to pimps and are involved in a huge way in the drugs trade). 5.     Taught staff and volunteers how to use the craft material – we have left everything we took for them to use. 6.     Developed links with the older alley boys through football – we have requested our male bodyguard Allesandru continue this work. 7.     Charity shop set up completely – opened immediately and has already sold many items meaning this could be a good source of income for the project and provide affordable good quality cloths for those in Berro Vehemelio). 8.     Wedding hire shop set up - after adverts have been printed the shop can open which will be a good source income for the project. 9.     Created a playground for the children in a previously dangerous space and out of complete rubble (we arrived to find the area like a dump site with a fire still burning with children running around it and foundation rods sticking out the ground). Now fully concreted (all mixed by hand) with murals and hopscotch etc painted all around making it a suitable play space. 10.  Plastered and painted outside wall and added the logo so that the project now stands out from the surroundings.  11.  Thoroughly deep cleaned the entire project building, including purchasing mops, buckets, cleaning equipment – fully disinfected following the spread of a bug among the children and team. 12.  Invited the local health authority into the project (because of repeated sickness) to advise on hygiene and areas to be labeled with cleanliness advice and rules suggesting one area for washing pans and another for hands etc. 13.  Stocked the project with children’s crockery, cutlery, cups and cooking pans etc 14.  Distributed hundreds of knitted jumpers and teddies amongst the projects. 15.  Set up and organized an equipment store cupboard with 3 sets of steel shelving. 16.  Set the project up with games equipment. 17.  Painted all classroom walls. 18.  Bought mattresses for the younger children to sleep on as replacements for the very old and rancid ones we found in some rooms on arrival. 19. Gave alley kids some games equipment and held a party night at the project. 20.  Left at the project everything we took out – equipment, clothes, bedding, our own clothes. 21.  Forged friendships within the team and with the people at the project. All the work is still ongoing through sponsorship.   It is strange to think that we achieved all of this in such a short period of time but it is satisfying to think we made such a difference. I was challenged by and learned greatly from the whole experience, about myself and my God. My main areas of responsibility at the project were leading and organizing all the puppet and song work with the children as well as hosting/ presenting the Holiday Bible Club which was just a big party basically, but included large scale games in the church and very messy crafts such as decorating t-shirts.  Coming home I knew would always be strange for (excuse the cliché), a part of me is still there with those children and the project leaders and teachers.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tube Challenge ! At 00:48 this morning (4/6/11), myself and another team member completed THE TUBE CHALLENGE to raise money through sponsorship. It was a very long and demanding task that took months of planning but we completed the 265-station visit in 19 hours 20 minutes, beginning at Amersham at 05:28 after a 04:30 am start and ending at Upminster at 00:48. The whole experience was challenging and rewarding as we were stretched to our limits, with red bull etc suppressing the heavy burden of tiredness that began to take hold as the day went on. Running between certain stations was a further task as one very unhelpful station worker (bless him) added to the strain - sending us in the complete opposite direction when leaving West Acton meaning our map orientation was wrong and we had ran about ¼ of a mile. We couldn’t see a station and so asked a very helpful German man who then put us back on the right track sending us back past the station and in the other direction – costing us time (one of many time halting examples). On the journey we met many very supportive people who took a clear interest in the work we were doing. At random points on route we would either take a picture or get a signature as proof for our sponsors that we were there at that station. Through gaining signed proof showing the station and time, we were also able to explain the purpose of this task and more about The Good Shepherd Project. If you were one of those amazing people we were talking to, I thank you most sincerely for any donation you have left and for simply reading this page, promoting the help this amazing charity gives to the really needy, the favela children of Brazil!  ------------------------- Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I am travelling to Brazil as part of a team to work with children from the poorest areas of the community in Niteroi (near Rio de Janeiro). It is an area of dense drug trafficking so our main concern is the children (locally referred to as 'little aeroplanes') used to courier drugs. The project I'm going to is called Projeto Alcancando Vidas and is located in 'The Alleyway' right in the heart of extreme poverty where the families of these drug mules live without water or electricity in a derelict space they call home.  Many of these children live in danger of their lives each day with some of them losing a loved one due to involvement in the drug trade. I need to raise just £1700 to fund this aid giving extravaganza. I am willing to wash cars, waiter at events, DIY, gardening etc (any other suggestions or requests welcome)  If you want to ask me any questions please email granteeboy1@hotmail.co.uk  Or for further info visit www.goodshepherdproject.org.uk 'Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.' Every little helps - even the smallest donation will get me nearer my target and closer to Brazil. For example just £9 there will supply a family with a sustainable food source in the form of a chicken and its coop. To give a further idea - In the UK £15 will buy: <ul style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"> <li>2 cinema tickets</li> <li>A takeaway for two</li> <li>A CD or DVD</li> <li>A Tee shirt</li> </ul> BUT in Brazil, a whole month of teaching, food and healthcare for a child in one of the two projects.  I am very excited about this opportunity to reach out to these children and families. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any donation.

Good Shepherd Project - Brazil Team 2011

Good Shepherd Project - Brazil Team 2011

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