GUINEA KIDS GETS A MAJOR TUNE UP!!

PART DUEX

The Homework Place Gets An Upgrade

The big project that was accomplished this year was the renovation of the Homework Place. The space in the front yard of the Koumbassa home where the GKEF students gather for tutoring 4 days a week was formerly made from partial walls and a partial roof. It was not protected from Guinea’s intense rainy season or from the distracting noise next door. Above is a photo of what the Homework Place used to look like.

Karim organized workers and neighbors and even the kids helped in building a new structure.

The children in the neighborhood really enjoyed aiding in the construction of their own homework place. Imagine how good it must have felt to them to have the quality of their educations matter enough to have their own place built. Imagine their satisfaction and investment in helping to build their new Homework Place.

According to Karim many of the children were quite hilarious in their construction efforts. Once it took five children to attempt to lift a wheelbarrow full of cement, sand, and gravel, then they were mixing the wrong things together, and finally ended up throwing sand on each other! Needless to say, they had some fun!

Complete with three concrete walls and a full roof, the Homework Place is now a permanent building protected from rain and external sound.

Two new chalkboards, closets for teacher and student supplies, and custom made bench-desks were also added to enhance the use of the space.When the children first came to see the Homework Place after it was finished and the chalkboards and desks were arranged, they were all very surprised by their “fancy” new seats.

Karim asked them, “What do you think all these chairs are for?”
The answer he received was, “Are you going to open a movie theater?”
“No! They are for you!” The children were overjoyed.This is your place, kids. Enjoy it.

GUINEA KIDS GETS A MAJOR TUNE-UP!

PART UN

GKEF member Karim Koumbassa recently returned from Conakry, Guinea where he spent 3 months at the Koumbassa home with his family in the Enco-5 neighborhood. There he was living and working among his family and community which includes all of the Guinea Kids' children. Much of that time he used to assess, improve, and refine the GKEF project.

Most importantly for Karim and all of us at GKEF that means checking in with each of the children. How are they? Are they healthy? Happy?

Are they going to school everyday and doing their homework? Are they eating?

As I looked through all the wonderful photos taken in January (thank you Scott Tucker for these!), Karim’s personal care for these children really comes through. We are so grateful to have someone on our team here in the States who can go to Guinea each year and touch base with the kids on behalf of all of us.

New Guinea Kids Added!

Thanks to all our donor contributions, GKEF was able to meet one of our goals of increasing the number of children in our program. Guinea Kids has enrolled 5 more children into the program for a total of 25 students now being sponsored by our donors. Assessment of the funds raised last year and the current capacity of the program in Guinea has indicated that GKEF can support additional children. So, while Karim was there he selected 5 more children in the neighborhood to join the growing family of Guinea Kids!

Here they all are gathering for school early in the morning at the Koumbassa home. An older and very responsible boy, Yousouf, gathers them and is in charge of their breakfast and lunch money.

Each morning all 25 children make their way through their neighborhood of Enco-5 to their school, Groupe Scolaire Nimba Elisa.

3rd Annual Guinea Kids Benefit Concert

We had a record turn out this year at the 3rd Annual Guinea Kids Benefit Concert on October 17th. Over 200 friends, families, and community members showed up to celebrate the rich culture of Guinea with us and help Guinea Kids Education Fund (GKEF) move forward on our mission to enrich the lives of so many young people and their neighborhood in West Africa.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Amidst a room decorated with African fabrics, masks, and drums, everyone sampled fried plantains and ginger juice and shopped in the gorgeous African marketplace while Karim Koumbassa serenaded us with music on his ngoni, a West African string instrument.

The highlights of the show included:

- a sparkling dance performance from the 4 and 5 year olds in Marissa's World Dance class from New Discovery School

- an inspiring video

presentation about Guinea and GKEF

- more traditional dancing from Guinea including an acrobatic and humorous performance by Karim and Abdoulaye Sylla, a former member of Les Ballets Africains.

We ended the afternoon with a community dance-along and lots of happiness!

See more event photos on Facebook
photos courtesy of (c) Ilona Berzups

HELP US REACH OUR GOAL

Thank you to all those who came to the benefit and who have contributed to GKEF's fundraising effort this October. Because of your generosity, thus far we have raised over $8500!

We want to reach and exceed our goal of raising $10,000 this year! If you weren't able to attend the fundraiser or didn't turn in your donation at the event, now is your chance to make a difference!

Here is how Guinea Kids Education Fund is making a difference for children and families in Guinea: for the children that enter our program, we pay for tuition, book supplies, uniforms, shoes, lunch, and tutoring. For these children, we have completely changed the trajectory of their family’s futures along with the futures of the generations to come.

During the concert, our MC, Sarah Lee Koumbassa, shared the touching story of how this past year the parents of these sponsored students pooled what little money they had and bought a beautiful carved wooden statue as a symbol of their appreciation for the immeasurable difference we are making in their lives. The statue stands tall, slender, and proud and is of two people, both holding a book in front of them and a globe over their heads. Every meeting that the board members have, this statue is present to remind us of the difference we are making.

As we move forward and are clear about our mission, we have 2 goals in mind:

1. To fund the complete education of the twenty children currently enrolled.
2. To increase the number of kids enrolled in our program.
   

We invite you to join us in fulfilling these goals by making a financial contribution.
HOW TO DONATE

• Go to: http://www.firstgiving.com/gkef and donate securely online.

• If you took a donation card home, you can mail it in. Just fill it out and remember to make checks payable to: Fabric of Life.

• If your employer will match funds, here is the information they will need:
  
  Fabric of Life Foundation
  PO Box 547
  Edmonds, WA 98020
  www.fabricoflife.org
  
  Fabric of Life is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tax ID 91-2172230

THANK YOU
We would like to send thank you's out once again to all of our volunteers who supported this event with their time, energy, amazing talents, and kindness. We watched a room transform before our eyes and a beautiful multimedia show full of talented performers filled our senses.

We would like to thank all of our board members for their countless hours of love and dedication. Huge thanks to our Guinean members Karim, Alya, and Yamousa Koumbassa who handle managing the project in
Guinea. Thank you to the student's tutor, Sumah.

Lastly, two important thank you's. One to all the donors who have and continue to support this project and keep it going. And, lastly, thank you to the GKEF students and their families in Guinea who work hard, persevere, and have hope.

Wonawali and Wontanara,
(Thank you all and We Are All Together)

The GKEF Team:
Marissa Baratian, Ilona Berzups, Kim Copeland, Jill Jameson, Alya Koumbassa, Julia Koumbassa, Karim Koumbassa, Sarah Lee Koumbassa


Watch GKEF's inspiring new video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M70FkEl46E

Help us reach our goal of $10,000 and/or if you couldn't attend the fundraiser, please consider donating at:
http://www.firstgiving.com/gkef

Stories Of The Guinea Kids

At a recent GKEF meeting, Karim Koumbassa shared some news about how the Guinea Kids students are faring in their new school, Nimba Elisa.

Youssouf, Karim's 14 year old brother, asked to speak on the phone to Karim. After just a few months in his new school, Nimba Elisa, Youssouf began speaking in French, not Sousou, to Karim. He then said, in French, "Brother, let's talk. Can you speak English?" Karim was moved to tears that Youssouf was so proud of his new learning that he wanted to talk with him. About school, Youssouf said, "If we had started at school earlier, it would have been so great." He really likes his teachers and says, "They are good at teaching. They don't shout at us."

Kheraba is a quiet boy who didn't know how to read. He is shy and doesn't say much. Guinea Kids has been funding his schooling for a year and a half. No one in his neighborhood had any idea how smart he was! Out of all the children GKEF is sponsoring, Kheraba is doing the best in school and appears to have surprised everyone with his blossoming!

In this photo, Soumah, GKEF's new tutor, reads with Kheraba in the Homework Space. Soumah is working with the children this summer to get them caught up and ready for the next school year. So many of these children who have attended very little school or who have never been to school before GKEF's sponsorship have much extra work to do to be learning at the level of their age group peers. Providing quality tutoring for them has been and continues to be essential for their success and confidence in school. GKEF is so proud of all the work they are doing and is grateful to have a dedicated tutor in Soumah.

Young People Helping Young People

Guinea Kids would like to highlight an inspirational young person who took an opportunity to be moved into action by the world around her. 13 year old, Liki Berg, upon learning about GKEF and the children it supports, decided to hold her own fundraiser at her school, Twin Falls Middle School.

 

Together with her school Key Club, Liki made candy grams and sold them to raise money for GKEF.   The Key Club made a total of $150 selling candy grams and hope to do more with GKEF in the years to come.

Above are photos of Liki and her Key Club making the cards and holding up the check that was sent to GKEF.  What awesome young people! And thank you Twin Falls Middle School!

Here is more about Liki's story from her mother, Becky Berg:

 "I first heard about the Guinea Kids 

Education Fund last year from Sarah Lee's wonderful emails she sends about all that is going on in our community...she mentioned the benefit concert and I wanted to just do something to help after reading Marissa's amazing experience... I went with my boyfriend to the benefit concert and had a great time too!!! I mentioned this to my daughter Liki who was 12 years old (now 13) and who was involved with her Key Club in school at the time (now involved with much more after being so inspired to help by GKEF.)  Her letter attached explains how encouraged she has been by GKEF to help others and honestly made me cry when I read it:) Thank you to Marissa, Sarah Lee, Karim and their family for encouraging our family to help others!!!" ~ Becky Berg

A Letter From Liki to GKEF

Dear Sarah Lee,

The Guinea Kids Education Program has truly opened my eyes. It has brought me to realize that there are a lot of things in life that many people take for granted. I always thought that school was a burden and that there was no point in going. This has made me think of what I would do if I didn’t have school everyday, or rather what everyone else would do. Probably just sit at home on the couch and never know what was going on in the world. I now know that there are kids who can’t go to school and want to go so badly. It’s not fair for them to miss out on a life long experience. The GKEF helps turn a child’s life around and it gives a person great satisfaction to know that they helped make that happen.

What I did was not hard and something that anyone could do. I sold candy grams at my school with my key club. It’s something easy just like a bake sale or a garage sale. The point was that no mater how much or how little you do it all makes a difference in the end. My advice is to just do something you know and are good at weather it be a bake sale or a huge music festival. Where you start to first chose what you want to do and who you want do it for. Then all you have to do is go for it.

     Everyone should be open and aware of the ongoing world around them. Then everyone could see a better world. We could see unity, love and happiness all throughout the world if everyone contributed. I think that my purpose in life is to make someone else’s better, something I could never do if I didn’t know how. I want to be an inspiration to the people who follow me. I only hope that this is a goal I can reach.

 

Thanks-

Liki Berg

GKEF: New and Improved!

Guinea Kids: We're all about the learning! What a learning and growing process this has been for all of us involved. If there is one thing GKEF is committed to it is a quality education for all children and specifically for the students we support. And so, while recently visiting the children and their school, GKEF members from the US and Guinea determined that the current quality of education and overall experience at their school was not where we wanted it to be for our students. The school was able to make many improvements to their structure, but the children's actually learning became compromised.

What this continued learning has brought to light for GKEF is what is truly at the core of our mission statement; the children. Plain and simple, we are all passionate about these 20 children whom we have begun on this journey; and seeing them through as much of their school education as we can. After careful consideration and discussion between members and the school, it was decided to move the students to a new school, Nimba Elisa, and to

focus our funds on sending them to school and the success of their learning.

Nimba Elisa is a school that offers a full education for students and carefully tested each of our students to ensure that they were being placed at the level where they would best be served. We were impressed by their organized infrastructure and that children are learning both French and English there. Plus the school is still within walking distance for the children in the neighborhood of Enco-5. 

(Photos by Ilona Berzups. All rights reserved 2009)

Here are some links to videos taken at the Nimba Elisa School:

English Class

The Little Ones

Counting

But let me also tell you about a true angel that has emerged among us: Alya Koumbassa. Alya is brother to Karim Koumbassa, my friend, and Alya is the person who manages this whole project in Guinea all year. Alya went above and beyond the call of duty this past year and created a place in his family's own front yard where the children can come and receive tutoring and do homework everyday. 

He actually built a simple structure with a partial roof and added a black-board. He hired a tutor for last summer, but much of the time he is the one tutoring the children. But here is the really cool part. The 20 children GKEF sends to school come for tutoring, but then there are all these other children in the neighborhood who come round to see what's happening and they end up learning stuff, too! The Koumbassa home has always been a gathering place in their neighborhood, but now even more so. One GKEF member described the homework place with, "It's becoming like a community center for the neighborhood."

(Photo by Dawn Isaacs 2009)

Updates from Guinea and GKEF Art Cards For Sale at FABRIC OF LIFE BOUTIQUE!

Hello Everyone! Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
I have been finding much inspiration in the words of this great man lately, and, so, I offer these:

"This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Thank you for joining Guinea Kids in "worldwide fellowship." Guinea Kids Education Fund (GKEF) currently has members, Sarah Lee and Karim Koumbassa and Ilona Berzups, in Guinea who are visiting with the Sabadou school community and checking in with their building progress and the well-being of the students at the school. Thanks to GKEF donations, the school now has new classrooms and bathrooms. A portion of the funds from this year's benefit concert will go toward fulfilling the needs of the school. We will soon have more information on what those needs are. But the majority of the money will continue to sponsor the 20 students. The top priority for GKEF is to ensure these 20 students a complete education. Thus far we have the funds to provide 4 years of schooling of which they are in their second year.

Back in Seattle, GKEF members, Marissa Baratian and Kim Copeland, organized a project at the schools where they teach to have their students make friendship bracelets for the students at Sabadou. These bracelets, plus a photo album of Seattle students and GKEF events of the past year, were sent to share with the Sabadou school in an effort toward that "worldwide fellowship."

We will have more current photos of the school and students in Guinea once GKEF's members return.

This year one of the most exciting happenings for GKEF has been a partnership with Fabric of Life Foundation.

"Our projects focus on improving the quality of life for women and their families through sustainable, appropriate technology that respects and honors local traditions and cultures. Our philosophy is to form cooperative partnerships that promote self-help and that build people's self-esteem and independence." - www.fabricoflife.org

I highly recommend checking out their website and their store in Edmonds, Wa.  Along with mouth-watering gorgeous handmade fabrics from Mali, West Africa, they are currently selling GKEF Art Cards with collaborative artwork by the students of Sabadou School in Guinea and New Discovery School in Seattle! A portion of the proceeds goes back to GKEF! Check out a sample of these beautiful cards:

Fabric of Life Boutique
now open!

Tuesday-Saturday 10:30am-4:30pm
523 Main Street
Edmonds, WA. 98020
Phone: 425.563.3925