How wonderful - we now have a treasurer! A paypal account has been set up just for Adia's donations now. As of next week (if all goes as planned), we will be fully official as a charitable trust!
Anyone who wishes to contribute to Adia's cause is warmly welcomed to do so. Tomorrow, Adia is scheduled to return to the hospital, at which time we will provide for a full month of her care. We hope this month will suffice to stabalize her condition, but to fully recover, she will need further months of medical assistance as well as continued physical therapy to prevent or remedy any developmental delays incurred by malnutrition. We are immensely grateful for all who feel called to help defray the ongoing expenses of Adia's care.
You can use the donation button to the right on the sidebar, or make your contribution to adiasauntys@gmail.com
Blessings to all.
Friday, September 4, 2009
in the works!
So much is going on of late regarding the charitable foundation for Adia and her sisters around the world! My paperwork for the non-profit is being reviewed, 'Adias Auntys' on Etsy are alays coming up with wonderful ideas for helping her through the arts!
We've decided to make the charity an international foundation to help children in need through art and creativity. All artists and artisans who want to contribute their talents to the cause are welcome to join, and we have a great many projects in the works to raise funds and awareness! A quilt, jewelry, shirts and totes, a colouring book and a children's story, murals and other wonders are being discussed, as well as a photography project and a collaborative gallery exhibit. In addition to helping little Adia and other children in India, our members will be spreading the word and seeking out children in need in their own communities around the world.
Right now we're conduting a vote to decide upon our foundation's official name. Many beautiful names have been submitted, and all are welcome to take a vote on their favourite ones.
I will be delighted to hear from anyone around the world who is interested in joining our cause. Artists, crafters, and people with other talents are also welcome - we always need all sorts of people to help us with the many, many aspects of running a non-profit. Whatever your skill may be, we'd be pleased to have you! Write us and let us know: adiasauntys@gmail.com
We've decided to make the charity an international foundation to help children in need through art and creativity. All artists and artisans who want to contribute their talents to the cause are welcome to join, and we have a great many projects in the works to raise funds and awareness! A quilt, jewelry, shirts and totes, a colouring book and a children's story, murals and other wonders are being discussed, as well as a photography project and a collaborative gallery exhibit. In addition to helping little Adia and other children in India, our members will be spreading the word and seeking out children in need in their own communities around the world.
Right now we're conduting a vote to decide upon our foundation's official name. Many beautiful names have been submitted, and all are welcome to take a vote on their favourite ones.
I will be delighted to hear from anyone around the world who is interested in joining our cause. Artists, crafters, and people with other talents are also welcome - we always need all sorts of people to help us with the many, many aspects of running a non-profit. Whatever your skill may be, we'd be pleased to have you! Write us and let us know: adiasauntys@gmail.com
sad news....
a disheartening day, i'm afraid.
i went to pick up some much-belated sundries at the bazaar this afternoon and saw Adia and her grandmother.
she looks miserable.
she and grandmum were sleeping in the alcove of a shop when i approached, Adia wearing nothing but a towel - no matter how many dresses i bring them, they usually refuse to clothe her properly.
i was at first delighted to see them, since it meant one less day to wait for the hospital - but lo and behold, not a hospital in Hyderabad was open today. apparently the prime minister died, which was an excuse to shut down EVERYTHING but the scant vegetable-stall or beedi-shop. i'd hate to think of what happened to anyone who needed dire emergency care today. nothing much could be done but buy grandmum's promise to return to the same place tomorrow.
i gave Adia some diluted milk fearing that anything more substantial might do more harm than good. she's another problem now - flies. droves of them which i could not keep away even by constantly fanning her off. i'm hoping it's just because they haven't been cleaning her properly, and i thought of giving her a bath but didn't know if something like that would be too much of a shock to her. i'm really frightened to do almost anything with her now because i don't know what her very fragile system will handle.
tomorrow we will go to the hospital - hopefully a better update will come then.
i went to pick up some much-belated sundries at the bazaar this afternoon and saw Adia and her grandmother.
she looks miserable.
she and grandmum were sleeping in the alcove of a shop when i approached, Adia wearing nothing but a towel - no matter how many dresses i bring them, they usually refuse to clothe her properly.
i was at first delighted to see them, since it meant one less day to wait for the hospital - but lo and behold, not a hospital in Hyderabad was open today. apparently the prime minister died, which was an excuse to shut down EVERYTHING but the scant vegetable-stall or beedi-shop. i'd hate to think of what happened to anyone who needed dire emergency care today. nothing much could be done but buy grandmum's promise to return to the same place tomorrow.
i gave Adia some diluted milk fearing that anything more substantial might do more harm than good. she's another problem now - flies. droves of them which i could not keep away even by constantly fanning her off. i'm hoping it's just because they haven't been cleaning her properly, and i thought of giving her a bath but didn't know if something like that would be too much of a shock to her. i'm really frightened to do almost anything with her now because i don't know what her very fragile system will handle.
tomorrow we will go to the hospital - hopefully a better update will come then.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Finances
Until the charitable fund is in place, I've been keeping track of all donations and the amounts we've matched in a little book along with our expenditures. I realised that some might be interested in the financial spectrum of things, so I thought it might be well to post a summary each month of how we're doing!
Here is my (very first ever) accounting chart for the month of August:
I'll also list an estimate of our projected expenses for this month, and what our financial goal will be.
We plan to re-admit Adia to the hospital on the 4th, and this time it shall be a private one, amounting to approximately 1000 rs daily for a monthly total of 30,000 rs.
If I can get the consent of the family to place the older children in school they will require school supplies, uniforms, and shoes/underclothes. I estimate this cost to be around 2,000 rs for each child, a total of 4,000.
There will be some fees associated with the founding of the charitable trust, amounting approximately 5,000 rs.
I would like to invest a small amount of money in supplies for the women of the family to begin producing embroidery to sell, a traditional handicraft which the grandmother is quite talented in. A good start-up amount for the endeavour would be 4,000 rs.
Based upon last month's expenditures, the cost of feeding the children each day totals about 200 rs, for a monthly total of 6,000 rs.
Sometimes it is necessary to present gifts of money to the parents, in order to persuade them to continue bringing Adia to meet me, or to secure their consent for the children's needs. I wish to keep this to a minimum with a reserve fund of 5,000 rs, and a contingency fund of 2,000 rs will cover unexpected sundries.
This brings the monthly average needs to approximately 50,000 rs, or 1,020 USD.
It seems like quite a sum, but less so when one considers that it will benefit a family of 9 members (or more - I have yet to ascertain the exact number of relatives with whom Adia lives). The exact sum needed may end up as more or less, so I propose that any remainder at the end of the month be placed aside for unexpected needs of the children in months to come.
Another issue which concerns me is the family's housing. I have not visited the home in their native village, some few kilometers outside of Hyderabad, but have seen the miserable shanty cobbled together from cardboard and corregated tin which they reside in during their time in the city. At other times, their shelter is nothing but a small alcove near the positions where they collect their alms. I will be seeking local groups which may be able to provide them a better solution.
Hopefully this has provided a comprehensible overview - please feel free to comment here or contact me directly at dustcastles@gmail.com should you have any enquiries.
Those who wish to contribute to the ongoing costs of Adia's care may do so below:
Blessings to all for your continued support and caring.
Here is my (very first ever) accounting chart for the month of August:
I'll also list an estimate of our projected expenses for this month, and what our financial goal will be.
We plan to re-admit Adia to the hospital on the 4th, and this time it shall be a private one, amounting to approximately 1000 rs daily for a monthly total of 30,000 rs.
If I can get the consent of the family to place the older children in school they will require school supplies, uniforms, and shoes/underclothes. I estimate this cost to be around 2,000 rs for each child, a total of 4,000.
There will be some fees associated with the founding of the charitable trust, amounting approximately 5,000 rs.
I would like to invest a small amount of money in supplies for the women of the family to begin producing embroidery to sell, a traditional handicraft which the grandmother is quite talented in. A good start-up amount for the endeavour would be 4,000 rs.
Based upon last month's expenditures, the cost of feeding the children each day totals about 200 rs, for a monthly total of 6,000 rs.
Sometimes it is necessary to present gifts of money to the parents, in order to persuade them to continue bringing Adia to meet me, or to secure their consent for the children's needs. I wish to keep this to a minimum with a reserve fund of 5,000 rs, and a contingency fund of 2,000 rs will cover unexpected sundries.
This brings the monthly average needs to approximately 50,000 rs, or 1,020 USD.
It seems like quite a sum, but less so when one considers that it will benefit a family of 9 members (or more - I have yet to ascertain the exact number of relatives with whom Adia lives). The exact sum needed may end up as more or less, so I propose that any remainder at the end of the month be placed aside for unexpected needs of the children in months to come.
Another issue which concerns me is the family's housing. I have not visited the home in their native village, some few kilometers outside of Hyderabad, but have seen the miserable shanty cobbled together from cardboard and corregated tin which they reside in during their time in the city. At other times, their shelter is nothing but a small alcove near the positions where they collect their alms. I will be seeking local groups which may be able to provide them a better solution.
Hopefully this has provided a comprehensible overview - please feel free to comment here or contact me directly at dustcastles@gmail.com should you have any enquiries.
Those who wish to contribute to the ongoing costs of Adia's care may do so below:
Blessings to all for your continued support and caring.
a friend indeed.....
Hello dear friends!
Not much of an update today...three days to go until I can see little Adia again. I had a long discussion with the Kare school I mentioned before, and they agreed to admit Adia's oldest brother and sister! They also are sorely in need of English speakers to teach any subject, so I've volunteered to teach a small art class for a couple of hours each week. Such fun!
My wonderful friends on Etsy.com have been brainstorming with me for more ways to spread the word. We're thinking up a good name for Adia's foundation as well as a logo, and coming up with creative ideas for raising awareness. If anyone is keen on mingling with this delightful group of artists and artisans, stop on by the forum and say hello! You can also browse dozens of lovely handmade items for Adia's cause.
Another fantastic friend who has offered to help made these beautiful buttons which you can put on your blog to let your readers know about Adia's cause.
Please feel free to put one of these on the sidebar of your blog - or anywhere else you like - and link back to this page.
It's in the wee hours of India as I write this (I can hear the Ganesh Puja devotees finally winding down their all-night revelry off in the distance), but in a few hours I'm off to scout around and see if I can find Adia's family in their usual spots. We've been blessed with a wonderful doctor from Australia who may be able to help us get Adia back into the hospital sooner than planned! Hopefully, speaking doctor-to-doctor would persuade them to admit her - now my task is to find little Adia and her family if they have not gone already to their village.
Another friend who I would like to mention here and thank for her extraordinary work is Heather, the talented Hiipehemsptress on Etsy and a writer for Handmadenews.org. She composed this excellent article to spread the word about Adia, and is also helping us come up with a beautiful logo!
For those who have not yet seen it, our Etsy friend Svartr has made a beautiful website to promote Adia's cause. This will be Adia's official website affiliated with her foundation.
So many other ideas are in the works, and I cannot begin to express the feeling of joy and gratitude I have for all who are involved. The sun is coming up over India and I feel happier, more hopeful than I have in days. It seems like we're going to be able to make some real changes for Adia and her 'sisters' worldwide - I feel capable and inspired, and revel in the poignant energy of how Goodness in the world can overcome anything....!
Not much of an update today...three days to go until I can see little Adia again. I had a long discussion with the Kare school I mentioned before, and they agreed to admit Adia's oldest brother and sister! They also are sorely in need of English speakers to teach any subject, so I've volunteered to teach a small art class for a couple of hours each week. Such fun!
My wonderful friends on Etsy.com have been brainstorming with me for more ways to spread the word. We're thinking up a good name for Adia's foundation as well as a logo, and coming up with creative ideas for raising awareness. If anyone is keen on mingling with this delightful group of artists and artisans, stop on by the forum and say hello! You can also browse dozens of lovely handmade items for Adia's cause.
Another fantastic friend who has offered to help made these beautiful buttons which you can put on your blog to let your readers know about Adia's cause.
Please feel free to put one of these on the sidebar of your blog - or anywhere else you like - and link back to this page.
It's in the wee hours of India as I write this (I can hear the Ganesh Puja devotees finally winding down their all-night revelry off in the distance), but in a few hours I'm off to scout around and see if I can find Adia's family in their usual spots. We've been blessed with a wonderful doctor from Australia who may be able to help us get Adia back into the hospital sooner than planned! Hopefully, speaking doctor-to-doctor would persuade them to admit her - now my task is to find little Adia and her family if they have not gone already to their village.
Another friend who I would like to mention here and thank for her extraordinary work is Heather, the talented Hiipehemsptress on Etsy and a writer for Handmadenews.org. She composed this excellent article to spread the word about Adia, and is also helping us come up with a beautiful logo!
For those who have not yet seen it, our Etsy friend Svartr has made a beautiful website to promote Adia's cause. This will be Adia's official website affiliated with her foundation.
So many other ideas are in the works, and I cannot begin to express the feeling of joy and gratitude I have for all who are involved. The sun is coming up over India and I feel happier, more hopeful than I have in days. It seems like we're going to be able to make some real changes for Adia and her 'sisters' worldwide - I feel capable and inspired, and revel in the poignant energy of how Goodness in the world can overcome anything....!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A School of Hope
Another breath of hope has some through a school here in Hyderabad. The Kare School provides a free education to children in need, and also has a women's vocational collecge and some medical facilities including a blood bank (which may be something Adia needs because of the depleted state of her fluids). I've written to secure Adia's older siblings a position there, and also to enquire about volunteering for a few hours each week to help the children with their English.
Education can empower people to break the cycles of poverty and abuse, and I believe Adia's siblings would flourish if given the proper chance in life. The school may be a wonderful starting-place, and also help to connect them with other community resources of which I may be unaware. The only challenge will be to secure the consent of their parents, who could be reluctant to give up the income the children procure, but perhaps they could be made to understand that their children will be able to better care for them in their old age if educated, and provide a better life for thier own children and grandchildren.
Thank you as always for keeping Adia and her family in your thoughts and prayers!
Education can empower people to break the cycles of poverty and abuse, and I believe Adia's siblings would flourish if given the proper chance in life. The school may be a wonderful starting-place, and also help to connect them with other community resources of which I may be unaware. The only challenge will be to secure the consent of their parents, who could be reluctant to give up the income the children procure, but perhaps they could be made to understand that their children will be able to better care for them in their old age if educated, and provide a better life for thier own children and grandchildren.
Thank you as always for keeping Adia and her family in your thoughts and prayers!
The Adia Children's Foundation
I've been keeping myself busy tonight with peripheral things ince there's nothing more I can do for littrle Adia while I wait out the next four days. First comes the task of reviving my non-profit organization, started years ago for an artist's collective bu inactive for some time, to being a charitable trust for Adia and children like her.
The registration paperwork is finished and all sealed into a pretty green envelope. Green is my colour of good luck here - i think because the mosques are always illumined with green light so it has come to suggest things of beauty and peace. Hopefully it might wends its way through the great and terrible labyrinth of Indian beauracracy successfully and quickly - I expect results in about a week.
All evening, I've been turning around in my mind how the arts have become such a big part of helping Adia. I've been thinking a lot about the greater situation at hand, and what my place could be in it. My vision is to dedicate the Adia Children's Foundation as a group to helping children and families through the arts. One of my strongest beliefs is of the power of the arts to change lives. I feel like it's the context in which I would be most capable, to raise awareness of and bring aid to exploited or abused female children through the arts.
Here is a very brief outline of the activities I see such a group being capable of, and which I have some experience in:
Firstly we have the idea of the helping women find self-sufficiency through traditional handicrafts, like the beautiful embroidery Adia's grandmother makes. If such handicrafts could be shared with the world and bring their creators fair-trade prices, it would be a marvellous step.
Maybe I could organize something like a project in which i participated in Mexico some years ago; to raise community awareness about the educational needs of children there, I and two other artists from the States got together with a group of kids to paint a mural which illustrated our cause. India is quite fond of murals (pretty much every surface is lushly painted with something lovely and bright), and the project would not only put the issue in the minds of passers-by but also open artistic avenues and inspioration for young minds who need an outlet for expression.
I'm still also keen on writing a children's book about Adia's story and how people all over the world have come together to show her compassion and love. I could dovetail some of my existing projects to include these themes, and in that way gain exposure for the Foundation. I'm very interested to hear the suggestions of others for how we could raise funds and awareness for disadvantaged children through the arts, and anyone who would be interested in a place on ther board of the Foundation's trustees. As our numbers increase, so shall our power to help!
One thing at a time, of course - first we're going to do all we can to get Adia well. This morning, Nicholas spoke with a wonderful woman in Australia, a doctor who is concerned about Adia's plight. If we can locate the family in the next few days, this lady may be able to persuade a doctor to admit Adia to the hospital sooner. Time is always of the essence, and this would be a great improvement of affairs.
I will continue to keep everyone posted about anything that transpires with Adia and her family. I'll also be delighted to start a dialogue with anyone who has suggestions for outreach; please feel free to contact me either by commenting here or to my email, dustcastles@gmail.com
The registration paperwork is finished and all sealed into a pretty green envelope. Green is my colour of good luck here - i think because the mosques are always illumined with green light so it has come to suggest things of beauty and peace. Hopefully it might wends its way through the great and terrible labyrinth of Indian beauracracy successfully and quickly - I expect results in about a week.
All evening, I've been turning around in my mind how the arts have become such a big part of helping Adia. I've been thinking a lot about the greater situation at hand, and what my place could be in it. My vision is to dedicate the Adia Children's Foundation as a group to helping children and families through the arts. One of my strongest beliefs is of the power of the arts to change lives. I feel like it's the context in which I would be most capable, to raise awareness of and bring aid to exploited or abused female children through the arts.
Here is a very brief outline of the activities I see such a group being capable of, and which I have some experience in:
Firstly we have the idea of the helping women find self-sufficiency through traditional handicrafts, like the beautiful embroidery Adia's grandmother makes. If such handicrafts could be shared with the world and bring their creators fair-trade prices, it would be a marvellous step.
Maybe I could organize something like a project in which i participated in Mexico some years ago; to raise community awareness about the educational needs of children there, I and two other artists from the States got together with a group of kids to paint a mural which illustrated our cause. India is quite fond of murals (pretty much every surface is lushly painted with something lovely and bright), and the project would not only put the issue in the minds of passers-by but also open artistic avenues and inspioration for young minds who need an outlet for expression.
I'm still also keen on writing a children's book about Adia's story and how people all over the world have come together to show her compassion and love. I could dovetail some of my existing projects to include these themes, and in that way gain exposure for the Foundation. I'm very interested to hear the suggestions of others for how we could raise funds and awareness for disadvantaged children through the arts, and anyone who would be interested in a place on ther board of the Foundation's trustees. As our numbers increase, so shall our power to help!
One thing at a time, of course - first we're going to do all we can to get Adia well. This morning, Nicholas spoke with a wonderful woman in Australia, a doctor who is concerned about Adia's plight. If we can locate the family in the next few days, this lady may be able to persuade a doctor to admit Adia to the hospital sooner. Time is always of the essence, and this would be a great improvement of affairs.
I will continue to keep everyone posted about anything that transpires with Adia and her family. I'll also be delighted to start a dialogue with anyone who has suggestions for outreach; please feel free to contact me either by commenting here or to my email, dustcastles@gmail.com
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