Recent article from Al Bab Lifestyle Magazine
I meet up with Barbara from the Bridge of Hope Charity for what I think will be an interview about her new project and some lunch, now however, I seem to be rummaging through a table laden with craft, household and gift products from across the world. Amongst her spoils are- beautiful handmade Maori greeting cards from New Zealand and wooden educational toys from Kenya; in fact, pretty much everything from African soft toys to handmade paper lampshade designs.
Over coffee we discuss her product ideas which, she intends the older boys at the Bridge of Hope Centre in Haj Yousif, to soon, start making. But between now and then the items in front of us, need to be selected, taken apart, measured, redesigned and remodeled by the street boys, entirely from re-cycled and local materials.
The Bridge of Hope Charity has come a long way since its inception in November 2003. In addition to the pre-school learning centre designed to bring the boys up to school level, a drop in/feeding centre, a residential annex and a sports class for older boys, the centre is adding some significant new income generating projects for 2007.
Barbara’s hope is that 2007 will be the year the centre moves towards self-sufficiency.
And so far, it looks like it might just happen.
To date, Sayga Flour Mills have very kindly pledged a bakery to benefit not only the lads chosen for baking vocational training, but, the whole Haj Yousif area as they will now have locally made fresh bread every day. The UN mission in Sudan has also accessed their Quick impact Project Fund to build a new purpose built learning centre on site.
The making of gift and household products is another very new and unique grassroots initiative currently being launched by the centre to provide vocational training and job opportunities for the older boys. Called Urban Cowboy, it aims to empower and employ some of the former street children through the production and sale of their products.
With funding for tools and materials now approved, Urban Cowboy is well on in the process of establishing vocational training workshops for woodwork, pottery decoration, leatherwork and graphic design; using where possible local and recycled materials.
As Barbara explains, “By using local materials we can, in turn, support other projects in their success, like the Yous Rittena School for handicapped children in Omderman, which will supply the recycled/handmade paper and the pottery to the project”.
She hopes by sourcing local materials, the prices and supply lines will remain stable unlike costly imports.
“The only thing really missing now is a volunteer coordinator to run the project”, says Barbara. “We really need someone with a business background and some creative flair”.
The concept is simple; the blog (web based diary) will link with creative professionals cross the world, in each discipline who will give the team ideas and designs. Tutorials will then be made and translated into Arabic, so the boys can understand and learn to make the unique products.
The Urban Cowboy project aims to combat the perils of unemployment through the sale of modern and currently unavailable household goods and gifts for the local market and Ex-pats. This will then enable our young men to earn a living in Sudan’s increasingly competitive economy.
I meet up with Barbara from the Bridge of Hope Charity for what I think will be an interview about her new project and some lunch, now however, I seem to be rummaging through a table laden with craft, household and gift products from across the world. Amongst her spoils are- beautiful handmade Maori greeting cards from New Zealand and wooden educational toys from Kenya; in fact, pretty much everything from African soft toys to handmade paper lampshade designs.
Over coffee we discuss her product ideas which, she intends the older boys at the Bridge of Hope Centre in Haj Yousif, to soon, start making. But between now and then the items in front of us, need to be selected, taken apart, measured, redesigned and remodeled by the street boys, entirely from re-cycled and local materials.
The Bridge of Hope Charity has come a long way since its inception in November 2003. In addition to the pre-school learning centre designed to bring the boys up to school level, a drop in/feeding centre, a residential annex and a sports class for older boys, the centre is adding some significant new income generating projects for 2007.
Barbara’s hope is that 2007 will be the year the centre moves towards self-sufficiency.
And so far, it looks like it might just happen.
To date, Sayga Flour Mills have very kindly pledged a bakery to benefit not only the lads chosen for baking vocational training, but, the whole Haj Yousif area as they will now have locally made fresh bread every day. The UN mission in Sudan has also accessed their Quick impact Project Fund to build a new purpose built learning centre on site.
The making of gift and household products is another very new and unique grassroots initiative currently being launched by the centre to provide vocational training and job opportunities for the older boys. Called Urban Cowboy, it aims to empower and employ some of the former street children through the production and sale of their products.
With funding for tools and materials now approved, Urban Cowboy is well on in the process of establishing vocational training workshops for woodwork, pottery decoration, leatherwork and graphic design; using where possible local and recycled materials.
As Barbara explains, “By using local materials we can, in turn, support other projects in their success, like the Yous Rittena School for handicapped children in Omderman, which will supply the recycled/handmade paper and the pottery to the project”.
She hopes by sourcing local materials, the prices and supply lines will remain stable unlike costly imports.
“The only thing really missing now is a volunteer coordinator to run the project”, says Barbara. “We really need someone with a business background and some creative flair”.
The concept is simple; the blog (web based diary) will link with creative professionals cross the world, in each discipline who will give the team ideas and designs. Tutorials will then be made and translated into Arabic, so the boys can understand and learn to make the unique products.
The Urban Cowboy project aims to combat the perils of unemployment through the sale of modern and currently unavailable household goods and gifts for the local market and Ex-pats. This will then enable our young men to earn a living in Sudan’s increasingly competitive economy.
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