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June 2004 «number»
Dear
«Friend of» has passed your name and address to me so that I could write to you to thank you for your warm welcome and friendship offered to our children on their visit to England.
For them it was a once in a lifetime opportunity which has been a great encouragement to them.
Due to the generosity of those we met from many of the various places we visited we are now in a position to help even more children and Bethany now provides for 57 children (10th June 2004).
When I left the children at Bethany they were busily writing to all their new friends and I brought back approx 30 letters with many more to come which will be delivered when our next volunteer returns from visiting the project (July). If you write to our children would you please remember our policy regarding gifts - our children have agreed not to accept (or ask) for individual gifts so please don’t send anything other than photographs with your letters. As a family we share all our resources and our priorities start with food, accommodation and then education. Individual gifts can be divisive and spoil the relationships they have with one another.
Our next project is to start improving the accommodation we already have and to start the first phase of a new girls dormitory (phase one will hold 10-20 girls). We hope to start the foundations of this in the next month or so. Daniel, Onesmo, Paulo and Bibi Jane (Tanz team) are looking at the ways we might start a school for the children at Bethany but as yet we have no firm plans.
Don’t forget you are invited to the ‘Auction for Africa’ which we are holding on Saturday evening 7pm at Hope Centre, Watson Street, Oswaldtwistle. The Bethany boys donated their African shirts/jackets and the girls their kangas and blouses as many people and children had shown an interest in owning such an item as a keep sake. We also have drums and shakers, many Batiks (wax pictures) as well as all the bunk beds and mattresses the children slept on that are no longer required. Please encourage everyone to come (invite included)
At the Auction we should have available a DVD for sale which will include video of the singing at the ‘African Experience’ nights together with video footage of the trip back to Tanzania and messages from the children to their new friends in England.
Lastly please don’t forget to keep an eye on our website which is updated regularly with all the news. It also has video downloads and nearly 1,000 photos of the visit. You may see your picture there! www.bethanyonline.org
Kind Regards,
Graham Pountain (Bethany Project co-ordinator)
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