Dear donors and friends of Talking Hands,
We have fantastic news! We now have collected sufficient funds to start investing in our own school building. We hope to buy a plot of land in 2019 where we can build the school. Read more about this development in this newsletter!
Furthermore in this edition: a retrospective view on the activities of the foundation of last summer, the sales of handmade products in Uganda, and how we are collecting laptops and smartphones for the school.
Enjoy the read!
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Changes in privacy regulations
Due to the new European regulations for data privacy, we ask you to think about whether you still want to receive these newsletters. Our newsletter aims to provide information to our donors and friends about the activities of the foundation and the development of our projects in Uganda, including the New Hope School for the Deaf.
We treat your personal data with the highest care, and will never pass them to anyone else. If you want to keep receiving our newsletter in the future, you do not have to do anything. Do you want to change your personal settings? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
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Watch the documentary of the New Hope School for the Deaf here!
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Land purchase in Uganda
As you might know, we have been dreaming about acquiring a piece of land in Uganda to realize new school buildings. Thanks to you, we have been able to collect a sufficient amount of funds to invest in our own plot. This will enable us in future to build a new school, with larger and better classrooms, and new sanitary facilities. With this new school, we will be able to provide education to even more deaf children, under better conditions.
Special thanks go to two of our friends for a large donation. We were also very pleased to hear that friends in Germany, who also support us by selling our crafts, were able to acquire a prize from the PVS (Privatärztliche Verrechnungsstelle) Westfalen. Finally, all small private donations add up to a great contribution!
Ine will travel to Uganda in 2019 to start the process of purchasing land for the new school. Until we can start building the school, the purchased land will be used for agriculture.
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We are looking for a new location - obviously near a well
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We are very glad with this big step forward, but we are not at there yet! We will still need to work hard in order to collect the necessary funds for building the school.
Do you have ideas for fundraising activities? Please contact us via Facebook or e-mail. You can also donate money to our bank account with IBAN NL 74 RABO 0301 2992 50 on the name of "Stichting Talking Hands". Many thanks in advance!
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Activities of the foundation
The board of the Talking Hands foundation has been doing a lot since we sent you our previous newsletter. We organized many fundraising activities in the past months.
One of them was the fourth course in sign language, in cooperation with "Gebaar Ede". A group of about 20 people from Wageningen acquired the basic skills of sign language! A part of the course fee has been donated to our foundation.
Talking Hands also organized a movie evening in cooperation with the student organization "Ipso Facto" in the Heerenstraat Theater. A documentary about the New School for the Deaf was shown, as well as the documentary "Deaf Child", which captures how it feels to grow up as a deaf child in the Netherlands. The movies were highly complementary, and the visitors were very enthusiastic.
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Marieke and Douwe at the booth at the Emmaus fair
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Last but not least, last summer we visited a lot of fairs, markets, and festivals with our 'crafts'. All markets were great, but the real highlight was the yearly fair of the Emmaus Wageningen, a second hand shop located in Wageningen. It was not only about the income of our stand selling Ugandan crafts, but also a part of the total amount of the income of the second hand fair was donated to our foundation!
We are very happy with the total amount of money we could collect this summer at all these fairs. We thank all organizers, especially the team of Emmaus Wageningen, and all volunteers who worked at our stand!
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Thanks to all volunteers!
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What you can do
Inspired? Would you also like to contribute to Talking Hands and do you have some time to spare? We are always looking for extra help!
For example, you can help us translate texts (Dutch to German/English), develop promotion materials, or organize fundraising activities, like sales of second hand articles or Ugandan crafts in your neighbourhood. Or you could ask for a donation to Talking Hands as a birthday or anniversary present!
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Do you have ideas for fundraising? Let us know!
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The work we do in Uganda is very important! We would therefore like to ask you kindly to support us. To help us secure the future of our projects, we are especially happy with a monthly donation, but of course all contributions are very welcome! You can donate to Talking Hands Foundation, IBAN: NL74 RABO 0301 2992 50
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Donors and volunteers of Talking Hands help to make education for deaf children in Uganda possible!
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Christmasmarket Singen
This year, too, Ine and a number of volunteers will be at the Christmas fair in Singen, Germany, which takes place from November 30 to December 23.
They will not only sell Ugandan crafts and cloths, jewelry, and hand bags, but also many beautiful Christmas articles, like Christmas angels made from sisal and banana bark, and Christmas cards designed and drawn by the Ugandan artist Comfort.
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Volunteers for the Christmas fair
Do you happen to be in or around Singen next month? We are still looking for volunteers to help out at the Christmas fair. We specifically need volunteers for Monday 3th and Monday 10th of December, from 2:30 pm to 9pm. But also any other day would be greatly appreciated!
Do you think you can help us out? Please contact info@talking-hands.nl. Many thanks in advance!
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Ine will be back at the Christmas market in Singen!
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Collection of laptops and smartphones
Regular communication with our Ugandan colleagues and projects is very important for our work. At the start of this year, friends of the foundation have donated electronics, like smartphones, that are now being used at the New Hope School. The items we have are, however, not sufficient to enable us to stay in contact with all colleagues at the school. The irregular power supply at the school and the social media tax imposed by the Ugandan government make it difficult to share electronics efficiently.
Therefore we are organizing another campaign to collect functioning (or repairable) laptops, smartphones and digital cameras. Ine will take these with her to Uganda in January. You can donate in a box at the Christmas market, or contact info@talking-hands.nl.
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The laptops are used for administration and communication
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Sales of products from Uganda
The products made at the New Hope School are not only sold in Europe. The young people from the vocational education section at the school sell their hand made furniture, clothing and crafts themselves directly at the school. This way, the income of the school is increased, so that the vocational department can mostly be financed independently.
The rural position of the school, however, is not ideal for selling products. To get more customers from outside the village, a sign post has been placed near the main road, so that everyone passing by can easily find the shop!
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The students of the vocational training make beautiful furniture!
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Toilet problems
Most toilets in Europe have a water supply and are connected to the draining canal. Not so in Uganda, where latrines are mostly used. These are deep pits with a hole and a little house on top. At the New Hope School for the Deaf, when the latrine is full, everything in it is pumped up and discharged by a tank vehicle. This is a cheaper and more sustainable than digging a new pit.
Unfortunately, part of the latrine at the New Hope School recently collapsed. In consultation with the teachers and the school board, it was decided not to dig a new latrine this school year. Digging a new one is very expensive, and because of the plans for the new school, it is not sure whether the investment pays out. Instead, it was decided to build a temporary latrine which is considerably less expensive than building a permanent one.
Even the temporary latrine costed over € 300, which is a large part of our emergency budget. Would you help to fill our emergency budget again? You can donate money to our bank account with IBAN NL 74 RABO 0301 2992 50 on the name of "Stichting Talking Hands". Many thanks!
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The current latrines
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Your donation is highly appreciated! You can donate to:
Stichting Talking Hands IBAN: NL74 RABO 0301 2992 50
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Thank you for reading this newsletter!
Remarks and ideas concerning the school, the foundation or this newsletter are always very welcome. Please do not hesitate to send us a message via info@talking-hands.nl
You can also follow us on facebook to stay informed on the activities of our foundation.
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