Work for 5 disadvantaged young people

To all our Peru-based supporters:

5 of our young people are now at the stage of looking for work. One of them (Trinidad) is about to confirm a computer apprenticeship, but the other 4 haven't managed to find anything yet. All of them are from orphanages and have have tragic life stories, previously suffering from extreme poverty, sexual abuse, living on the streets etc. But they're all are keen to put their suffering behind them and start building a positive future. The Colour of Hope is supporting them at this crucial stage because life as a young person in Peru isn't easy, and is far harder without the family support and love that we all need.

If you can help one or more of these five young people, or know someone who can we'd be very grateful. Perhaps you know a business with staff vacancies, or maybe you could put a word in at the shops/businesses you use to see if they'd be willing to take on another worker/apprentice.

Here are some brief details of the young people and I can send CV's if necessary:

Bilela (19 years) is skilled at cake-making and cake-decorating. She's looking for work in a Pastelería/Panadería (cake shop/bakery). She lives in Pachacamac, so would be able to work in La Molina, Lurin, Pachacamac, Cieneguilla type area. It would be her first job, so she would probably start off as an apprentice and do "practicas" (perhaps in exchange for her bus fares and food).

José Luís (18 years) has studied Panadería (bakery) at ProJoven and is also looking for work in a bakery. He will be living in Pueblo Libre when he leaves care, so could work anywhere near there (Pueblo Libre, San Miguel, Magdalena, Cercado de Lima, Breña, Jesus Maria, San Isidro, Miraflores etc.). It would also be his first job, so he could start of with "practicas".

Katherine (18 years) is very skilled at most types of sales work. She's also very creative and has taken a course in "Manualidades" (Handicrafts). She will be living in Central Lima when she leaves care so, like José Luís, could work anywhere central (Pueblo Libre, San Miguel, Magdalena, Cercado de Lima, Breña, Jesus María, Miraflores, San Isidro etc.) She has had several jobs and also been self-employed, selling a variety of products. She is a single mother, but her son is now 2 and will be looked after by his grandmother while Katherine is at work.

Tany (18 years) is one of our most intelligent project participants. She has a good understanding of small business administration and management and is trained in Corte y Confección (dressmaking). She'd like to find work in this field, but is happy to do something else in the meantime. She has experience as a waitress and kitchen helper. She lives in Huaycan, but is happy to travel to wherever the work is located. She's a single mother of a 2-year-old, but she can leave her daughter at the nursery while she goes to work.

José Luis and Trinidad don't have any family or anywhere to go when they leave care so The Colour of Hope will help them to rent shared accommodation. They'll need a few basic household goods such as a small stove and gas bottle, kitchen items, bedding etc. If you have any items you no longer use or need, please get in touch because it will be a great help to these two young people.

Please contact me on 990336722 or at info@thecolourofhope.org. Thank you all so much for your ongoing support.

Christmas at The Colour of Hope

This Christmas we celebrated in the traditional Peruvian way, with steaming mugs of hot chocolate (despite the hot summer weather!) and panetone bread. Two Peruvian volunteers, Katherina and Bertha, kindly contributed edibles, as well as giving presents to the young people and their children.

Everyone enjoyed themselves and it was a good end to a very successful year for the charity and our project participants. Many thanks to all our supporters, without whom such success would have been impossible. Happy New Year to you all and best wishes for 2009.

Trip to Huancayo

Last Saturday I travelled up to Huancayo, one of Peru's Andean regions, to visit a project being run by NGO, El Shaddai, in conjunction with The Peru Children's Trust. I was able to take part in the charity's Christmas celebrations and meet many of the children and young people who are benefitting from their projects. We also visited a few of the children's homes and saw the conditions they were living in (see photos).

Both The Peru Children's Trust and its Peruvian branch, El Shaddai, appear to have a great deal in common with The Colour of Hope. Their work aims to raise the standards of living for poor children and young people in the Huancayo area, improving their housing, funding healthcare, enabling their education and providing family guidance and teaching. The team has recently built an extensive set of workshops, helping the young people to learn vocational skills such as hairdressing, welding, carpentry, dressmaking, cooking and grain milling. This support will hopefully enable the young people to find employment or set up their own small businesses in the near future.

The Colour of Hope trustees offered to share our training courses with El Shaddai so that they can extend the support they are already providing their young people, helping them to find work, and perhaps setting up a microcredit scheme. We will maintain good links with the El Shaddai team and hope that there will be further opportunities to work together in the future.

The Colour of Hope Birthday Fun

On Thursday, 4th December The Colour of Hope celebrated 5 different birthdays - Christian (2 years old - Katherine's son), Luis (4 years old, Natali's son), Abraham, Natali and my own.

We united young people from all four groups, together with their children, and it was an excellent opportunity for everyone to share experiences and mix with their peers. Great fun was had during pass the parcel and of course the birthday cake always goes down well!

Afterwards we went out to the cinema and saw Madagascar 2 which was enjoyed by the children and adults alike.

Charity Jazz evening goes with a Swing!

Friday 14th of November saw the roof raised at Ottery St Mary Football Club when the City Steam Jazz Band played to an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd to raise money for The Colour of Hope. Here's a report of the evening from the Charity Chair, Margaret Stevens:

"We were packed to capacity, but still found room to dance. The audience gave terrific feedback to the band in response to a mixture of hot numbers, blues and super vocals from David Martin and Ron Hurst. We had hearty audience participation during a rendering of "You are my Sunshine", dedicated to the people of Ottery who have suffered hardship as a result of the recent flooding. It was particularly pleasing to see such a wide age range from young to young at heart!

Thanks to all the local people and businesses who donated raffle prizes, we raised a wonderful £93. We raised a further £172.50 on the craft stall, by selling a range of beautifully hand-crafted items from Peru. In total, we made £691!

Thank you also to our hosts for the evening - Ottery St Mary Football Club - who were so helpful and supportive throughout, providing us with a lovely venue for our family evening. Thank you to all those who helped with promotion by selling tickets and advertising the event.

Our biggest debt of gratitude is to The City Steam Jazz Band without whom this wonderful evening would not have been possible. We are sure that Jazz lovers in the Ottery area will be eagerly awaiting their next local performance."

Read more about the evening's success in this Sidmouth Herald article: "Jazz concert trumpets £700 Peru charity bonanza".

Local Peruvian volunteer runs drama classes for our young people

Last training session, (Tuesday) our fourth group of young people were able to enjoy their first drama session with local volunteer, Katherina. Although shy at first, they all opened up eventually and were able to put themselves into the mindsets of the roles they were given to play.

The Colour of Hope is very grateful to Katherina for the time she is dedicating to the young people. It is very important that they work through past and present conflicts in order that they continue to grow and prosper as healthy and successful young adults. Drama is an excellent way of expressing hidden emotions, thoughts and feelings and really helps the young people to give voice to their fears within a protective environment.

News from The Colour of Hope’s Star Fundraisers

The Colour of Hope's star fundraisers, Jess and Rosa Batten Stevens, have now completed all this year's East Devon Carnivals. Their proud mum, Mary, has written in with news of the last two carnivals and their final fundraising total -

Honiton Carnival's "no wheels" policy proved a challenge, but after a few adaptations, Beaky the Totem Pole was transformed into a walking entry! It was unfortunately too heavy for Jess to carry, so I made my debut appearance as a stand in and Jess became a very encouraging cheer leader for the night. I made it (somewhat red in the face!) to the finish line, but the undisputed star of the show was Rosa, who danced the entire carnival. The judging was done on route and points were awarded for crowd interaction. Please check out her stunning performance here (best viewed with Internet Explorer). A very well deserved First Prize.

Despite the terrible consequences of last Wednesday's bad weather in Ottery St Mary, our home town carnival went ahead and we were proud to part of an amazing show of community good will. The residents of some of the worst affected houses were seen out enjoying the parade and participants put on a great show despite the freezing cold and rain. Many thanks to our wonderful cheer leader, Matty, who did a marvellous job of boosting spirits. Another well deserved First Prize.

This marks the end of the East Devon Carnival circuit, but just when you thought it was all over...
Sat 22nd Nov (time to be confirmed) Jess and Rosa will be taking part in the Exeter Santa Parade in brand new Christmas outfits! And on Sat 5th Dec they will be participating in Honiton Christmas Carnival. Please come and support them if you can. The girls have raised a final total of £1350 for The Colour of Hope. Many thanks to all those who've supported them so generously this year, and as the curtain falls on carnival 2008, work has already begun on next year's entries....

Best Wishes,

Mary, Jess and Rosa