News Update June 2010:

Dear Sponsors and Friends,

Our children’s village has now been open for more than half a year and what a half year it has been. Those of you who have been fortunate enough to visit have come back with tales of how vibrant and exciting the village has become. One sponsor said it is not a sleepy village - it is a vibrant city with children coming and going all the time. Another spoke of how happy and lively the children are now that they can get outside and play. Others have spoken about the educational facilities and how enthusiastic the children and teachers are. Yet others have spoken of the love that the management and staff have for the children and the children for them. Finally, a former director of Sunshine said “visiting the village made me so proud to have been a part of this project”. These are all your words, not mine, but I agree with every single one of them.

The Egyptian Government and Department of Social Affairs have been very involved in the setting up of standards for the management of the village and the care and education of the children. There have been many meetings and discussions on the future of the children because, as usual, we do not fit easily into their mould of social care. We were anxious that the children should be kept as a family (a big one at that) rather than sent to different orphanages as they grow up. We had to get across the message that our sponsor children were now part of our own extended families and that we loved them as individuals, not as a charity or “poor children”, and that we sponsors must have rights too. Fortunately the Governorate of Upper Egypt and Luxor Social Affairs agreed with us and got this important message across to “Cairo”. Dr Samir Farrag, Governor of Upper Egypt, told Eve Lawton a few days ago, when she visited him, that Sunshine was by far the best NGO (non-governmental organisation) in Upper Egypt and he was proud to be associated with Sunshine and was happy to look after our interests.

Now that the village is functioning well, the premises in TV Street have been handed back to the landlord who will use them for his own family. The premises in Ahmed Esmet Street are not required at the moment. They will be converted back to family apartments and rented out to companies who require accommodation for their staff in Luxor. The rentals will be for six-month shorthold tenancies and will be controlled by one of the Sunshine Foundation members, Mr Khaled, the lawyer, and provide an income to the Sunshine Foundation. The long term use for the apartments will be as subsidised accommodation for our children as they become older and need their own space, but are unlikely to be able to afford their own accommodation from their wages in the first instance.

As we expected, we are finding that the costs of running the village are a great deal higher than in our previous accommodation. We will have a better idea of costs when we have a full year under our belts and Lynn O’Brien, our Financial Director, is working closely with the Foundation to develop budgets which will allow the village to provide what is necessary without wasting money. However we do need to generate regular funding and increased donations to continue our vital work in Luxor. We are fortunate that your support has remained constant during the last couple of years, unlike many charities, so that we have been able to support all our new initiatives, one of which is to expand the clinic activities to more children from poor families. We also intend to develop special needs care for our three children with handicaps and, in addition, we hope to be able to offer extra places to other local children with special needs.

We are always looking at ways to help our children get the best start in life and one issue which is troubling us and the Foundation in Luxor is that, as in this country, the boys are falling behind the girls in their studies and are not living up to their original promise. The Foundation has taken on additional tutors to try to improve the situation and bring them back on track. We will have to wait to see if more decisive action is needed. We believe that it is only through education and love that our children will lead fulfilling lives in the future.

Finally, as always, thank you for your sponsorship and support. It is only with your help that we can look to give our children a better life. The village project may be complete but we still have a long way to go before our children are adults. Once again, thank you.

SunShine Appeal Form

Wim Hoogerwerf
Chairman

Sponsors and visitors:
Visitors as always are welcomed at the project (see visiting times on the Contact page) Salma Elshazley is our UK Field representative in Egypt and if you are sponsoring one of the children and wish to arrange to meet your sponsored child, please do contact Salma on 0020 165530464 so that she can inform care staff of your arrival. Alternatively e-mail sunshineproject@btconnect.com at the UK office and we will pass a message on to Salma.

Directors:
If you feel that you have time to offer as a UK Director , please apply in writing to the UK office stating what you feel you can offer the board and let us know your particular skills.

Volunteers:
Anyone wishing to know more about the criteria for volunteer work at the project please contact Ann Bates on 01952 299246. I am sure you will understand that the Project in Luxor are unable to accept any volunteers from UK without the necessary procedures and CRB checks.

Your fundraising has recently enabled us to provide extra funding for study tutors at the project. We have also supplied funding for the purchase of new air conditioning units for all buildings ready for the hot summer months ahead. New mattresses are being purchased for the baby cots and children’s beds and new School books for the children.

Your child sponsorship helps as always to provide the regular income to supply all living costs, care costs and educational costs and Sunshine need your sponsorship to provide this regular and on going funding.

The success of the Village Project as made us keen to work even harder in the UK and to hopefully expand our objectives.

Keep you eye out for any further news.

Thank you again for all your help and very kind support to Sunshine.
Best wishes,
Eve Lawton –UK Co-ordinator.

Trustees report and charity accounts can be viewed by visiting www.charitycommission.gov.uk
(Search the register of charities for SUNSHINE PROJECT Reg charity 1117672)

London Half Marathon September 2010.

Supporter Marianne Ede will be running the London Half Marathon in September for Sunshine.
To sponsor Marianne please follow the link to her fundraising page:

Marianne Ede is fundraising for Sunshine Project - JustGiving

Thank you Marianne, we wish you every success and hope everyone visiting the site will sponsor your brilliant efforts on behalf of the children.

Please keep your sponsorship coming we need it more than ever.!
If you are doing an event or need to hand out some info to your friends, please Contact Eve for our new hot off the press Sunshine leaflets.

There are currently 89 children registered into the care of the project in Luxor. Please help us to secure their future by supporting the project, browse through our web site and see how your sponsorship and donations make all the difference.

Many thanks for your kind and generous support.