Why I support Silvestre (by Sara Vicente, Chairman of ALG)

Silvestre is 30 years old. He does not have a father since he is 13 and he does not have a mother since he is 24.  When ALG met him, at the age of 25, he did not have a very bright future ahead. At the time, he was working at the SLM School, helping Sister Lidia with the Sponsorships. He would collect information on the children, visit their homes, chase the ones missing school, report back to us. He made the Sponsorship program look so simple.

One day, Sister Lidia told us what he really wanted was to go into University and he had very good grades to get in. The Uni was close by, so he could continue his work with the children while studying. The amount was high (>£1000 per year) and this was a new field for us. We had not supported higher education before. However, we knew that was the next step for the students that would last in school and wanted to continued studying. More than a burden, it was a sign of opportunity. 

ALG took up the challenge (with another 2 Students) and I personally sponsored Silvestre through university. It was rewarding to see his progress and effort throughout the years, his eagerness to learn, his commitment to his studies and to the children. He built a family and was a father in the meantime but his commitment was not diminished. On the contrary, he was even more eager to get an education to be able to provide for his family. 

It was not a surprise when he came to us with the idea of social enterprise. He was the leader of a young community group in his village and he had the knowledge of all the difficulties we faced when building houses for the families, as well as the poor quality they had, from his experience visiting the children, and how vulnerable the housing was when facing floods, as recently as 2013.  He then decided it was in his hands to do his bit for the community and gather a group of young people to produce bricks. 

But it so much more than bricks. Silvestre is getting his group to produce bricks that will be affordable in the region and allow people to build their houses in sturdier bricks rather than wood sticks. That will be a significant improvement to the village, easily extendable to the surrounding areas. Moreover, he wants to offer to build houses for the elderly, who can not anymore build themselves houses, to give them proper shelter, for free. Our only question when he sent us the proposal, was how he was going to live off it…. But with few adjustments, the proposal was a solid business proposition and one that we could not ignore. 

After all, development needs to evolve to make the communities be independent from aid. This is the right thing to do after we gave people education and food support.  And so I am personally proud to endorse this project. In a way, because he is like me, wanting to change the world piece by piece. And because he makes ALG work even better. 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/silvestre-s-brick-production/x/8702265

Team ALG @ RPHM 2014

This year you exceeded all expectations and 37 runners joined Team ALG at the sought-after Royal Parks half marathon in London.

With our fantastic volunteers on the day Bruno, Galia, Joana, Nicole, Noelia, Piedade and Rita and hardworking massage volunteers Georgina and Vicente, yesterday our organisation had the best support ever.

Stay tuned for the full results coming out this week - at just over £15'000 we are still short of our £20'000 target for the children in SLM school! 

For the 50 children in the HIV day-centre and 802 children eating daily in the school, your support at RPHM2014 was the extra mile towards alleviating poverty in our projects in Mozambique.

Still time to donate here!

https://mydonate.bt.com/events/royalparks2014alg/125830

One Brick at a Time

Today, ALG starts its first ever crowdfunding campaign. We are fundraising £2762 for a Chokwe region with affordably better housing and a higher employment, one brick at a time!

What? Financing a small Bricks Production Community Project in rural impoverished Chinhacanine to build better quality housing at economic prices, offer free housing to the elderly and drive local labour by trainining unemployed youth from underprivileged background in a sustainable centre of activity

Why? Did you know that in Mozambique around 70% of the people live with less than $2/ day? In a country where the main activity is domestic agriculture for self-consumption, ALG considers essential to support local entrepreneurship to develop sustainable income generation activities and help break the cycle of poverty

Who? Silvestre Quenha is a young man who works as ALG Technician in Chokwe. He graduate in Management & Accounting in 2014 through an ALG university scholarship, ALG’s first ever graduate! He now aims to launch a project in his community through the Youngsters Community Association he chairs

And the Benefits? Improve living conditions, bring employment to the community and help break the cycle of poverty

Go here to find out more and know about what you can earn! 

Thank you ALG Team @ JP Morgan Challenge 2014

The ALG Team ran London's JP Morgan Challenge on the 10th of July to finance the running costs of the two ALG pre-schools in Gaza, Mozambique, raising an amazing £5'688 (with Gift Aid) in donations. 

For an annual cost of £81 per child at EFI and £84 per child at ESC, ALG finances 2 meals a day, educational materials, uniforms, and the support of teachers, under the direct supervision of our Local Partners Granma Etelvina (EFI) and Sister Aparecida (ESC). The ALG pre-schools relieve local poverty and promote a childhood with education for very young impoverished children.

Thank you for contributing towards 70 young children attending a WHOLE year of school & meals in 2014! 

ALG has more charity races ahead including the Royal Parks Half Marathon 2014 and, of course, the JP Morgan Challenge 2015. 

Contact us if you want to join one of our teams!

ALG Event Volunteer

Royal Parks Half Marathon 2014

Why we need you

We rely on every pound and every volunteer to help the children break through poverty.  The ALG runners will be facing a great challenge, and your help to cheer them along the way and at the finish line will ensure they feel appreciated!

All we require is half a day of volunteering on Sunday October 12^th, to help us achieve our target of £25000 for HIV needs and school feeding at the SLM school

What will you be doing

You will be part of the cheering teams located at critical locations along the race course to cheer our runners along the way or part of the reception cheering team located at our post race reception to ensure all runners and guests enjoy the day!

Roles and responsibilities will vary from helping out with refreshments, welcoming guests on arrival and cheering for runners at different running posts.

What skills do we require

Enthusiasm and willingness to help

Reliable and flexible

Great interpersonal skills

What support will I be given

You will receive a thorough briefing about the vent and your role, both in the lead up to the event and on the race day

We’ll give you a free ALG UK t-shirt to make sure you stand out and that everyone knows you are part of the events team. We will also provide you with refreshments along the morning.

Contact us for more details.

ALG Massage Therapist Volunteer

Royal Parks Half Marathon 2014

Why we need you

We rely on every pound and every volunteer to help the children break through poverty.  The ALG runners will be facing a great challenge, and your help as a massage therapist will ensure they feel appreciated after it!

All we require is half a day of volunteering on Sunday October 12^th, to help us achieve our target of £25000 for HIV needs and school feeding at the SLM school

What will you be doing

You will be part of a small team of massage therapists located at our post race reception and providing massage or advice to our fantastic runners.

Please note that you will need to bring a couch/ mat and towels to the event

What skills do we require

Qualified massage therapist, ideally with some experience in sports therapy

Insurance that covers practicing therapy at our event

Willingness to help

Great interpersonal skills

What support will I be given

On the day, we’ll provide you with ample space, an ALG event manager and a free t-shirt.  We will also provide you with refreshments along the morning.

Before the day, a member of our team will reach out in case you have any questions

Contact us for more details.

Water Wells – sources of life

Remember the 2 water wells ALG built in 2012 in the Bungane and Conjoene Communities?

The construction of these wells reduced the distance that usually little girls had to walk, on adaily basis, to get water having to skip school several times. Currently the two water wells are still running and supply water to around 200 families in the two communities.

Your Little Gesture has been supplying water, the source of life, to the children and communities in Mozambique!

ALG Tapas Quiz II - THANK YOU

This July, A Little Gesture A Great Help hosted its Tapas Quiz II at the typical restaurant Sporting Clube de Londres in London. It was a great evening which raised two thousand Little Gestures towards our over 1’500 children in Mozambique!

Your Little Gesture of participating in the ALG Tapas Quiz II made this a cheerful and important night for our programme funding. The event was a success as ALG raised a fantastic £2’000 in donations from entry tickets of £30, raffle tickets and small donations on the evening. 

The evening was focused on raising funds to our School Feeding programme in SLM – Santa Luisa Marillac, an impoverished school in Chokwé, Mozambique. The fundraising contributed to an ambitious daily school meal programme for 750 children in SLM School inaugurated in mid 2013.

More importantly, to put the importance of your contribution into context:

• School feeding improves school attendance through a free meal, supports student performance and promotes better health and gender equality
• It costs ALG £38’500 annual or £51/child to run it for 750 children in 2014
• A team of 4 paid for one whole year of food for a child in Mozambique.

If you haven't participated on our great Tapas Quiz evenings yet, please join us for our next one before Xmas!

Silvia accepted an ALG challenge!

Our Sponsor and Volunteer Silvia accepted the challenge and will run for a good cause. On the 5th of October, along with her husband, she will participate in the Rock'n Roll Marathon in Lisbon to run for the children in the HIV Day Care Centre.

This Day Care Centre provides a totally customised and complete programme for HIV/AIDS infected children ensuring proper nutrition, medication, and constant medical assistance. Our goal is to relieve local poverty and provide a more dignified and healthy childhood to seriously ill children.

Help our Sponsor to reach her goal and win this challenge here!

Mama Bernardete’s Farming Plot is flourishing!!

The ALG Income Generation initiative promotes small scale and family activities, at domestic and community level, which enable families’ self-sufficiency and the development of small scale industry, agriculture or local commerce, in impoverished communities.

With c. £21 invested per family ALG finances small family businesses such as the productionand sale of soap and capulanas (Traditional fabrics), farming plots or ambulant sales activities.The Income Generation activities for small scale family businesses improve the quality of livingfor families, renders the communitarian economy more dynamic and breaks the local cycle of poverty.

An example of this is our Mama Bernardete, with 50 years old, who last year was helped by ALG to organize her farming plot business. A year later we are proud to share with everybody the success of this flourishing business. With the profit mama Bernardete is obtaining she already renovated her house, she is reinvesting it in her business and taking care of her family nourishment.

Besides this activity Mama Bernardete also helps Sister Aparecida in the Chongoene’s Mission,looking after children who live by themselves, supported by UPG Portugal through its Sponsoring Programme.

Mama left us a little testimonial: "I leave my greetings to everyone at ALG and my sincere thank you for supporting our Income Generation. On my small farming project I am not facing any problems and feel satisfied.  On my peanut crop I was able to get 13 bags of 50kg of peanut that I was able to sell very well, on top of all the excess manioc left from the other vegetable plot and that I am still selling. Previously my production was at very low levels.. but now with [the support of ALG income generation] I have even been able to plant peanut crops, and I am only waiting for the rain for these to come out perfectly."

Support ALG’s Income Generation activities – give a Great Help to Mozambique! Contact us for more details.