By Issa Kouyate and Rod LeRoy | President, and Canadian partner
RIGHT NOW is the perfect time to renew your support for the begging talibé street children!!
Maison de la Gare made its debut on GlobalGiving in April 2012 and, with your support, earned a permanent listing the next month. Since this beginning, a total of 364 individuals have made donations in support of our programs for the talibé street children. We are particularly grateful that eight of these people have become recurring donors, making contributions each month. However, most donors have contributed a single time.
TODAY, Wednesday September 16th, is the perfect time to renew your support of our work. Starting at 9:00 a.m. Washington time this morning, GlobalGiving will match all of your donations at 30%, to a maximum of $1,000 or until the allotted funds have been fully committed.
Your donations are making an incredible difference in children's lives. The photos below give a flavour of our activities for them. With your help, over 700 children are participating in our programs each month. When you meet these children in our center, it is hard to believe the cruel lives that they live. They live in "daaras", sleeping on the ground or on mats, often without shelter and with no access to running water or toilets. Some are as young as three or four years old, and many do not see or have contact with their families for years.
But, when they come to Maison de la Gare they can discover what it means to be children and to have excitement and hope for the future. Our nurses care for their many wounds and illnesses, the results of living in filthy conditions and passing their days in the streets in bare feet and without supervision. In our center the children learn basic hygiene - how to care for their teeth, their clothing and their bodies. Each morning finds dozens of them in the centre using the showers and washing their clothes.
Many participate in basic French and math literacy classes, under the guidance of our dedicated teachers and volunteers. Some are registered in formal schooling, becoming themselves beacons of hope for the younger children. For others, Maison de la Gare's apprenticeship programs become the path to a productive life, teaching them tailoring or basic agricultural skills. All of the children love the beautiful game, soccer, and lose themselves totally in the regular tournaments that we organize. Excursions outside of Saint Louis give them a chance to see for the first time something of the real Africa. In the nights, our team scours the streets for talibé children who have run from their cruel situations and, thanks to our new emergency shelter, cares for them as they heal and find a secure living arrangement.
None of this would be possible without your financial support. Please take advantage of this Bonus Day to renew your commitment to these children. Thank you.
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