e-Newsletter  #11
Novembrer 13, 2009

Dear friends:

don’t forget to come and join us for an aperitif on Monday 23 November at the Old Fashion in Milan, who will be hosting us. The minimum offer is 20 € for entrance and drink. Please feel free to share this invitation with friends that might be interested on meeting us.

We have been informed that we will get 14,628 € from the 5x1000 of your income tax return (!).

In the last month we have:

1. helped 4,500 bambini (190,000 since 2004  through 45 projects)
2. received donations in cash for 91,120 € (240,000 in 2009) and donations in kind for 9,600 € (a total of 950,000 € since 2004)
3. invested 5,900 in Burkina and 8,000 in Madagascar (160,000 in 2009).
4. done a mission in Togo to inaugurate the nursery school in Tchebebé and to start the project of the Hospital in Afagnan.

Burkina, agricultural project (co-sponsor 50 years F. Toni)
The agricultural projects in Burkina are assigned considering the areas with less school attendance and giving a school an agricultural project. It consists on the purchase of tools, seeds and the consulting of an agronomist, and it will pay for the school fees of the students and provide them nourishment.  The project will go on for a year and then the school will become self-sufficient.  We have verified that attendance to school highly increases after the beginning of the project.
Financing: 5,900 €
Beneficiaries: 100 children

Madagascar, enlargement of the medical dispensary of Andasibe
The success of the dispensary built last year has led to the use of 4 classrooms as additional dispensary. The necessary work was made in partnership 50/50 with Change, to meet a balance between the medical needs (now there is a delivery room, a labour room, a vaccination room and a storeroom) and the classrooms, readapting the classrooms.
Financing: 8,000 €
Beneficiaries: 1,200 children

ACCOUNT SUMMARY AT END OF MONTH: 

balance 31/12/2008             6,680  €
donations                        241,252  €
projects                        (160,583)  €
bank proceeds                         11  €
balance at present            87,405   €
 
   Donations in cash
+ collaborators time at present: 1575 ore
+ donations in kind  21,500 €
= = Total contributions in cash and kind 2009:  312,000 €

Thanks to

the team: Anna Micossi, Danilo Bernabeo, Francesco Pistocchi, Giovanni Bianchi, Isabella Seeman, Marianna Borga, Paola Parma, Patrizia Binda, Roberta Mascheroni, Silvia Falconetti, Silvia Invrea, Sol Rodriguez, Veronica Raffi, Vincenzo Soardi, Walter Albisetti

the ambassadors: Daniela Fait, Magda and Rocco Mangia, Felicia and Beppe Tedone, Franco Toni

the founder members: Mario Molinari, Massimo Orlandi, Piero Micossi,  Riccardo Bani

all the artists who kindly donated their works

the enterprises: Residenze Anni Azzurri, Easynet, Galvanotecnica Bugatti, Medipass, Scuola elementare De Marchi, Studio Bianchi Finulli, Studio Palmer, Syngenta, The Herrod Foundation.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who might be interested. 

Regards, 

www.epsilon-onlus.org.Onlus with zero general expenses to help children all over the world

How to help us:

1. talk to a friend about Epsilon
2. finance the projects:
   - Friend: up to 120 €
   - Subscriber: 120 € (10 €/month)
   - Platinum Subscriber:  more than 500 € (it’s possible to choose the destination to a specific project)

Wire funds to (Coordinate bancarie): 
Banca Popolare di Bergamo, sede di Milano
IBAN IT35 N054 2801 6020 0000 0023 993
BIC BLOPIT22
Conto Corrente Postale 99466310
Send your information to  info@epsilon-onlus.org
Please remember to keep a copy of the transfer or cheque for tax purposes

    3. donate 5x1000 in your income tax return: CF 97411570159

ABOUT US 

Epsilon was established in October 2004 by a group of friends with the mission of helping children all over the world, especially on health, food and education matters. Our principles are:

· we are a group of friends of friends who support Epsilon and carry out the projects

· to implement micro-projects, tangible and identifiable

· to maximize the aid for every euro donated

· to use industrial criteria in project management

· to have zero general expenses (which means that every single person works for free and travels on his/her own expenses; there aren’t any advertising expenses or others)


2009 Projects

 1. Rwanda, aid for agricultural development (co-sponsor: Syngenta)

The Rwandan genocide was one of the bloodiest killings on the 20th century. From April 6th until mid July 1994 – approximately 100 days – about one million people were systematically murdered (with firearms, machetes and nail-studded clubs). The victims were mainly Tutsis, from the minority ethnic group. Hutu, the majority ethnic group, had two militias, Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, the main perpretators of the massacre. People of Rwanda, destroyed by war, are doing a great effort to recover, but the restarting is not easy and the force is almost gone. The country is in great difficulty, poverty spreads all around, children suffer malnutrition.

Mister Emmanuel Munyampirwa, a Rwandan tradesman who lives in Kigali, has recently donated a 1.5 hectares area to the Association to give hope of a better future in life to the orphans hosted in three foyers (homes) created by Gabriella Caldelari, for a total of some 30 youngsters between 10 and 25 years old. The site is situated in Kabuye, in Gasabo District, near a river and 2 kms from the asfhalted road on the way to Rutongo, where the foyers are.

The area is located close to a 5,000 litres tank of drinking water property of the municipal aqueduct.

Thanks to the new project the following objectives will be reached:

to create jobs for the young orphans of the three foyers of the project, giving them independence on running the centre and covering general expenses;

to support, on a wider range, the development of the whole district.

The project will be done in different stages:

1.     construction of a warehouse to keep the equipment and the future harvest, plus a three bedroom house with bathroom for the keeper of the field; creation of an apiculture (20 hives); purchase of 2 crossbreds cows and construction of the barn;

2.     Cultivation of the land with pineapple, banana, flowers for the bees, grass for the cows.

 Financing: 26,000€

Beneficiaries: 30 youngsters

2. Togo, construction of a nursery school (co-sponsor HSS)

Construction of a nursery school in Tchebebé, located 400 kms north of the capital Lomé.

Most of the population is engaged in agriculture. Agriculture has remained primitive, with hoes and machetes (coupe-coupe) still used to cultivate the land. The harvest is determined by precipitations during the rainy season, which runs from May to October. There are no industries in the area.

The school will give 120 children 2-3 years old and 5-6 years old the opportunity to have an adequate education: to start socializing, to learn hygiene behaviours. The aim is to get as many children as possible out of the yards and far from the constantly dirty streets, to develop their initiative and make them ready to attend elementary school.

Financing: 24,000 €

Beneficiaries: 120 youngsters

3. Foyer Mabrouka for Children in Tanout, Niger

The project started and is already running since April 2008 thanks to the contribution of Fondazione Epsilon and private donors. The aim of the project is to provide a stable structure for street children -orphans or abandoned- in order to give them stability, school education, medical care, food, etc.

At the present time there are 41 boys and girls living in the foyer; the aim is to host a hundred.

The Foyer Mabrouka is a structure with 4 dormitories, 25 beds each. It has 20 showers and latrines for males and females.

The foyer has some livestock: cattle, goats and sheep.

Agriculture is practiced since last year, and this year a drip irrigation system will be developed for an optimum harvest. Some tests have already begun, such as the sowing of potatoes, carrots and vegetables.

School-age children attend regular schools. A nursery school has been opened –with the aid of the local government- for both our younger children and those of the city of Tanout. We were able to reintroduce kids who lost some school years thanks to the “second chance” system.

The principal of the middle school is in charge of the literacy teaching for children and staff, lessons and children’s homework assistance. The project Foyer Mabrouka is a pioneer of its kind.

The estimated amount needed to run the Foyer Mabrouka is € 700 per month, to cover expenses for:

- Food
- Clothing
- Water, electricity
- Medical care

Financing: 8,400 €

Beneficiaries: 50 children

4. Benin, purchase of medical material for the Tanguieta Hospital

Project: Continuation of the 2006/7/8 project. In Benin we have adopted a nutritional centre where we assist newborns who often suffer from severe malnutrition:

		Unit Price	Q.ty	Total
HUMAN ALBUMIN		€ 40.00	50	€ 2,000
CEFTRIAXONE		€ 1.90	1,000	€ 1,900
POWDER MILK HERO BABY I		€ 5.78	150	€ 867
POWDER MILK HERO BABY II		€ 5.94	200	€ 1,188
UMBILICAL CATHETERS		€ 0.70	500	€ 350
FEEDING PROBES		€ 0.34	500	€ 170
LINCOCIN 500MG TABLETS		€ 0.44	1,000	€ 440
LINCOCIN 600MG VIALS		€ 2.10	1,000	€ 2,100
DRAINS	CH 18	€ 3.00	500	€ 1,500
	CH 20	€ 3.20	500	€ 1,600
	CH 22	€ 3.20	500	€ 1,600
FEEDING PROBES		€ 0.30		€ 0

Financing: 15,090 €

Beneficiaries: 150 children/day for 6 months

5. Rwanda, construction of a new Foyer –Home-

Since 2005 Epsilon supports the nutritional centre of Rutongo, managed by the sisters of "Friends of the Poor", a congregation founded in Rwanda in the 80’s to help the poor and needy of the country, especially AIDS sick people. At the present time there are about 200 people placed in Busanza, Gatenga, Muhura and Rutongo.

The Nutritional Centre of Rutongo hosts some 100 children with severe malnutrition, and their average stay in the centre is at least 4-5 months; if they have a family they go back home, but only after they have gained a healthy nutritional condition and after having awaken the family about  the importance of a balanced diet. The orphans remain in the Centre until they come of age.  Epsilon helps the Nutritional Centre every year by purchasing mattresses, sheets, clothing and other essential goods.

In our last trip to Rwanda in October 2008 the Sisters asked us to support the construction of a new Centre, since the one they actually have is not capable of hosting the many needy children of the community. The new Centre – which will host 200 children every year- will have: 1 dormitory for  boys, 1 dormitory for girls, 1 room for the custodians, bathrooms, 1 office, 1 storehouse, 1 yard to play in. It will also have drinking water and electricity. The construction works of the new Centre have already begun in April 2009 and they will be finished in the first semester of 2010. The new Nutritional Centre of Rutongo will be financed with the proceeds of the charity auction Toto 2009 and the contributions of the Genovese daddies and Easynet.

Financing: 40,000 €

Beneficiaries: 200 children

2008 Projects

Raised  112.273€ + donations in kind for  110.000 €

1. Ethiopia, infantile blindness project, 13,000 €, 1,200 children

2. Haiti, purchase of food for a nutritional centre, 13,000  €, 200  children

3. Togo, construction of a school, 21,850 + 12,000 + 3,600 €, 150 youngsters

4. Madagascar, construction of a professional laboratory, 15,000  €, 150 young

5. Benin, purchase of medical material, 5,200 + 9,775 €, 150 babies

6. Rwanda, purchase of materials, 1,500  €, 150 children

7. Niger, Foyer –Home– for abandoned children, 7,500  €, 100 kids

8. Rwanda, support to a nutritional centre, 10,000  + 5,000 €, 100 children

9. Togo, continuation of the project Afagnan Hospital, 7,500 €, 100 children

10. Kenya, construction of a nursery school, 13,000 €, 200 children

11. Kenya, purchase of educational material, 2,000 €, 340 children

2007
Raised 111,022   € + donations in kind for 55,618 € 

1. Benin, purchase of medical material for the Tanguieta Hospital, 7,710+9,760€

2. Togo, construction of a school in Solimdé, 19,972 €, 160 children/year

3. Niger, purchase of agricultural material and livestock, 5,019 €, 100 children

4. Togo, purchase of medical material, 5,000 + 4,000 €, 100 children

5. Rwanda, construction of an aqueduct, 6,000 €, 10,000 children

6. Madagascar, construction of a dispensary, 6,000 €, 1,400 children

7. Kenya, purchase of educational material, 2,000 €, 340 children

8. Rwanda, purchase of essential goods, 12,000 €, 150 children 

2006
Raised 77,760€ + donations in kind for 57,750 € 

1. Kenya, purchase of educational material, 1,995 €, 340 children

2. Niger, construction of a water well, 6,200 €, 300 families

3. Benin, purchase of powder milk and medicine, 6,200 + 5,363 + 2,500 € in kind,  300 children

4. Niger, construction of a classroom, 8,055 €, 40 children /year

5. Nicaragua, construction of a water well, 6,745 €, 150 families

6. Mozambico, purchase of milk for children with HIV-positive mothers, 7,500 €, 50 children

7. Ethiopia, purchase of an autorefractometer for the infantile blindness project, 12,600€, 1,200 children /month

8. Rwanda, purchase of essential goods, 12,300 €, 150 children

9. Haiti, nutritional programme in Foyer for poor children, 6,500 €, 100 children

10. Bolivia, purchase of food for a children and mothers hosting centre, 4,965 €, 425 children

2005
Raised 60,000€ + donations in kind for 55,000 € 

1. Ethiopia, upgrade of some medical centres for infantile blindness, 12,500 €, 1.200 children /month

2. Benin, purchase of milk for children, 5,000 €, 120 children

3. Kenya, purchase of desks, chairs and educational material for the elementary school of Kopala, 10,950 €, 340 children

4. Rwanda, support to the nutritional centre of Rutongo through the purchase of mattresses, sheets, blankets, powder milk and other essential goods, 6,000 €, 150 children

5. Burkina Faso, restructuring of a Pouponnière (neonatal nutritional centre), 6,000 €, 50 families

6. Somaliland (Somalia), construction of a water well, 6,250 €, 300 families

7. Sierra Leone, adoption of young girls victims of violence and their children, 2,700 €, 10 families

8. Ciad, enlargement of nutritional centres, 3,000 €, 300 children