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Newsletter Talking Hands, June 2020

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Dear donors and friends of Talking Hands,

In this newsletter you can read about a number of changes in the foundation concerning the school, COVID-19 and the board!

Enjoy the reading!

The pupils are going to other schools

At the beginning of the year we had to make a difficult decision. The costs of the New Hope School for the Deaf have increased a lot during the last year, partly due to the increased cost of living in Uganda in general, but also due to low financial effectiveness of the school. Due to the low capacity of the rented school buildings, the number of pupils is very low, but the costs for teachers/staff and maintenance of the rented buildings are high. Also, at the end of this year, the contract with the landlord expires, and investments in the rented buildings, which are in very poor condition, do not pay off.

That is why we have chosen to accommodate the deaf pupils at two other schools for the deaf. These are private schools, where Talking Hands now pays the school fees for the pupils. Meanwhile, our other projects with the pupils will continue in cooperation with the new schools. In the meantime, we can concentrate on land acquisition and fundraising for school buildings. The goal is to restart the school as soon as our own school buildings, which meet the school's needs, have been built. In addition, in the future, in cooperation with local employees, we want to set up structures that will further improve the quality of education, management and cooperation with Talking Hands.

The pupils at one of the new schools!

No markets this summer

In recent years, Talking Hands has participated in several markets during the summer, selling the crafts produced in Uganda. Because of the measures concerning COVID-19, unfortunately all markets and festivals in which Talking Hands would participate this summer have been cancelled. This means that Talking Hands will lose a lot of income, which is necessary to finance the projects in Uganda, such as the school fees for the pupils. Every month €1500 is needed to cover all costs. The markets are important, because the income from donations is not enough to finance the projects. We therefore ask Talking Hands' donors and friends for extra support this year with an additional donation, or even better with a continuous monthly donation. (The account number of the foundation is; NL74 RABO 0301 2992 50) In addition, we are looking for alternative ways to sell the crafts made by deaf women in Uganda, for example online. 

Josephine 'the crafts lady' and pupils posing with crafts!

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!

Make a donation!

Donors and volunteers of Talking Hands help to make education for deaf children in Uganda possible!

Marie
"In the beginning of April I joined Talking Hands in the new position of grant acquisition. Our plans to buy land for the school in Uganda do not stop there - as a next step school buildings have to be built to transform the land to a nice and welcoming home and working place for the pupils and teachers. All of this requires resources that need to be acquired. This challenging but at the same time crucial task I have taken up and hope to help realizing our dreams of the new ‘New Hope School for the Deaf’.  I was lucky to have the opportunity to visit Ine and the school in Uganda last year – a visit that deeply impressed me. It’s something that has gripped me ever since and finally, I joined the board. Recently, I started my PhD at the TU Delft in the Netherlands in which I follow another passion of mine, conducting research in the domain of aerospace engineering. However far this is away from Uganda and deaf children, working in academia provides me with plenty of training in writing project proposals and grant applications. Therefore, I am looking forward to apply my experience in my activities for Talking Hands and to realize our vision for the New Hope School for the Deaf! " 

Marie in Uganda!

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 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!

Do you have ideas for fundraising? Let us know!

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

COVID-19 in Uganda

In Uganda the Corona Virus has also arrived. Although there are few official and reported cases, strict measures have been put in place, among others all schools have been closed since the 20th of March. People in Uganda, and many other African countries, are at risk because of inadequate hygiene and health facilities. But also because of the circumstances surrounding the measures, the situation in Uganda is very difficult: the income of many people is disappearing and most of them have no savings to live from. The supply of food is very poor, especially in the cities, and prices have risen sharply. Public transport is no longer allowed, and non-food shops are closed. The deaf pupils are at home with their families. We hope for continued good health and wish all families much strength in this challenging period. We keep our fingers crossed that the pupils can continue their education as soon as possible.

The pupils have all been brought home, but hopefully they will be able to go back to school soon!

Land purchase

In the last newsletter we wrote about the piece of land we had in mind and our plans to build the new school buildings here. We hoped that there would be a solution to the quarrel the family had about the inheritance of the land and that we could make a compromise with the family about buying the land. Unfortunately, this did not work out, and we recently gave up on our efforts of buying this land. After the restrictions around COVID-19 have been lifted, we will continue to look for a suitable piece of land, which has all the necessities such as a land title, accessibility for the families and access to water.

Pupils are fetching water!

Board members

After having contributed to the foundation for many years, Douwe will say goodbye as a board member of the Talking Hands foundation. Furthermore, we have found a new board member in Marie. Marie and Douwe have both written a piece of text which can be found below.
 
Douwe
"Dear people, in 2014 Ine asked me to help her organize activities in the Netherlands to raise money for New Hope School for the Deaf. Together with George, Imme and Marieke we embarked on this adventure. We started selling delicious lunch meals and we suddenly found ourselves at the notary in Arnhem. We started our own foundation! Very bold, and at the same time exciting. In addition to our studies, we tried as best as we could to shape the foundation. We did everything with the goal to give the school in Uganda a sustainable future. We organized film evenings, sign language courses, crafts sales activities and much more. Personally, I enjoyed not only raising money, but also creating awareness for the situation of deaf people in Uganda through the activities. Now it is time for me to pass on the baton. I am very happy that Marlous, Sophie and Marie joined the board. I was supposed to be on a trip around the world now, but that has been postponed due to the Corona Virus. In the future I would like to continue to draw attention to groups that fall outside societies, and I want to focus more on sustainability. Thank you for all your support, keep following us and the best for now!

Douwe during a fundraising activity for Talking Hands!  

Having fun!

Andrew (board member of the New Hope) and pupils at one of the new schools!

Your donation is highly appreciated!  You can donate to:
Stichting Talking Hands IBAN: NL74 RABO 0301 2992 50

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

We are going to be more active again on Facebook, follow Talking Hands via this link! https://www.facebook.com/stichtingtalkinghands/
 
The foundation can also be found on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/stichtingtalkinghands/
 
Talking Hands also has a LinkedIn page! Follow us!
https://www.linkedin.com/company/talking-hands
 
Make a donation!
Copyright © 2019 Stichting Talking Hands, All rights reserved.

You can make a donation to NL74 RABO 0301 2992 50 attn Stichting Talking Hands. 

If you have questions, tips or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact us! Our email address is:
info@talking-hands.nl

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Talking Hands · Waldorpstraat 1326 · 's-Gravenhage, 2521CZ · Netherlands

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