Dear Friends,
Welcome to new members of our community!
No sooner had our lockdown rules relaxed a little so we could meet up with six friends OUTSIDE… the first week of our ‘summer’ has been one of cold winds, clouds and rain! My fingers and my daughter’s fingers turn white and cold at the merest suggestion of cool weather so it’s back to the socks and fingerless gloves. AND IT’S JUNE! URGH!
My daughter, Beatrice, came back from London this week so instead of worrying about her there we are now worrying about her here. This is a little easier. Do you have children you are worrying about? Both my children at the stage where they should be spreading their wings and spending most of the time finishing their Uni or school terms… being with friends… organising holidays… having fun… playing sport… NOT inside with ‘the rents’ as they call us.
I thought I would bundle the weekly diary posts since lockdown. Some have wanted a one stop shop for all my lockdown posts. Thanks to Amy for helping with this and many other things during this time.
COVID-19
Two of our favourite people are now spending some of their time helping to create a new storybook for us! Hurray! Work began this week. We like our books to be ‘evergreen’ so the theme will be broader than Covid-19 and focus on well-being and resilience. Regular readers will know that this is a growing interest and priority.
Here again is the link to our curated list of Covid-19 resources for now.
Pratham
This week we have discovered, Pratham – an innovative learning organization created to improve the quality of education in India. We’ve loved watching videos on the Pratham website and looking at how children and their families are coping and how teachers are supporting them. We’ve featured their work on this post.
Eye Health Book Going Global
In the first 5 days since we published this book, it has been downloaded 106 in 26 countries. Check it out here! The 75-page book has a activity session for each of the 20 key messages, posters, how to plan a campaign day, scripts for events and much more.
The Smile Foundation
Great to have had a second in-depth meeting with this potential partner in as many weeks.
This week, on the blog…
- A looking forward and backward at our Ebola/mental health resources which have great relevance to these times too. They are available in French, English and Lingala.
- The first of a bundle of lesson plans from our Eye Health book. We’ll be publishing one each week until we get through all 20.
- Our LifeSkills Activity of the week is a session on practicing the skills of decision-making.
Become one of our 100 Supporters! Help us Bridge our Funding Gap
Check out our new cartoon and help us bridge our funding gap.
If you like and trust our work and want us to carry on, we need more regular supporters in our 100 supporters group. 100 people is our ‘goal’. 100 supporters donating at a modest level every month, will enable us to make it through this difficult year. Here is a link to our donations platform (UK taxpayers can also add gift aid).
If you are not in a position to give but have ideas or contacts, please get in touch.
Have a great week and keep safe!
Clare