Day 6. Sponsor Marta’s dream came true!

Zanai was our dear Marta’s sponsor dream, when it came true she wrote her this beautiful letter.

"Dear Zanai,

My name is Marta I am your sponsor since last year. I decided to write because I feel I have been failing you.

You know life is beautiful but, sometimes people make it a bit more complicated and hard. We forget what is truly important – for me is giving (whether it is love, care, support or sharing). Last year, after a difficult phase in my life, I decided to fulfil one of my life’s dreams – to sponsor a child. I contacted ALG’s sister charity UPG Portugal and I was thrilled when they sent me your picture and said: please meet Zanai – your sponsored child! You are beautiful and you have a wonderful smile!

I did not want to choose between a boy and a girl. I told theM it could be either because when we have a child we also cannot choose gender. We receive what God sends us. You are a true princess. You are a dream come true, and you are very important to me!

A big kiss and I will write again more frequently, Marta"

Our sister charity UPG Portugal launched the Sponsoring programme in 2004 with 50 children. After 10 years we support 877 children in the regions of Xai- Xai, Chongoene and Chokwé. Each child is allocated to a Sponsor and has a secured access to school and meals. Besides the material goods, the Sponsoring brings care and attention to children in need.

UPG Portugal sponsoring establishes a long-term relationship between the children and Portuguese sponsors. To the sponsors it provides the feeling of changing the life of a vulnerable child in Mozambique forever. A child who always knows the name of his/her protector and feels the joy of being chosen by someone so far away.

A Little Gesture every year of £110-£141 can be a Great Help in the life of a Mozambican child. Join ALG/UPG family like Sponsor Marta did!

ALG has been offering this festive calendar to all ALG Friends since 2011. This year, you can also print a high definition version for only 1£! Donate here 

Day 5. This Xmas make the difference when you shop online!

Every year the Team at ALG thinks of new ways to raise funds for the children, that are easy and practical for our busy donors. From online sales of Mozambican products in e-solidar to supporting a brave ice-skating team in the Vikingarannet in Sweden, all motives are good to give that extra help to our small but dynamic operations.

In the UK, online shopping can be one of the easiest ways for you to support ALG – at no cost to you!! By registering just once as an ALG supporter in easyfundraising, whenever you shop online at Amazon, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, M&S, John Lewis or Argos, and 2’000 other retailers, you raise money for ALG! It won’t cost you a penny more and everything you buy will raise money for our Charity's operations in poverty relief, education, infrastructure and sustainability. With an essentially volunteer organization applying 95p per pound donated.

ALG has been offering this festive calendar to all ALG Friends since 2011. This year, you can also print a high definition version for only 1£! Donate here 

Day 4. The Bungane families received a great gift

The Luís Figo Foundation has been working with our organization for 4 years. Initially they got involved as sponsors of the Cossa family, three orphans from Bungane, under UPG Portugal’s Sponsorship programme. The Foundation then decided to extend their support to the new baby of the family - the lovely Hortênsia.

Our partnership on the ground with soccer legend Luis Figo has been growing and he is always keen to support both UPG and ALG fundraising events. This year, once again, his foundation was not indifferent to the difficult conditions in which the families of their sponsored children’s community live, in the village of Bungane, Chongoene region. With the view to raise the community a bit further from poverty, the LFF financed and distributed wheel barrels to the 18 families in the village, which made the transportation of water jugs easier and even helped small family businesses in transporting goods for sale.

Follow the Luis Figo Foundation example and support an ALG family through your company, Foundation or even between your group of friends. Thank you Luís Figo!

ALG has been offering this festive calendar to all ALG Friends since 2011. This year, you can also print a high definition version for only 1£! Donate here 

Day 3. Silvestre: launching Crowdfunding @ALG

Young Silvestre dreams about launching the first ALG Project based on crowdfunding – a small brick production facility.

You know why this project is so special for ALG and especially for our Founder Sara Vicente?

Silvestre is 30 years old and orphan. When ALG met him, aged 25, his future had no brilliant prospects. At the time he was helping Sister Lídia with the UPG Portugal Sponsoring at the SLM School. He was in charge of collecting information on the children, visiting them, looking for the ones who missed school and producing reports on these daily events. As an ALG Local Technician Silvestre made the sponsoring programme look so simple.

One day Sister Lídia told us he wanted to go to University, he had good grades and because university was close by, he could continue his work with the children. But for ALG this was unknown territory. Not only he would be the first scholarship holder but there was also a high amount involved to be supported by ALG (>£1’000 per year). We were aware that there would be students we would want to help to go further on their studies, so we decided to consider the financing of University Scholarships a new opportunity.

Silvestre and another two students embarked on this life changing journey. Silvestre’s scholarship had a special meaning for our Trustee and Founder Sara Vicente and her husband who financed it. Throughout the years it was gratifying for everybody to observe Silvestre’s evolution and effort. His will to learn and dedication were quite obvious. Besides this mission Silvestre became a father nevertheless, his dedication to ALG never runs low. His aim is to provide a better future for himself and his family.

When he presented his Income Generation project, just before getting his degree, we were not surprised, we were actually expecting it. Aware of the difficulties communities face, due to the vulnerability and poor quality of the housing, Silvestre decided his new project would be the implementation of a small Brick Production Facility. This project will allow the improvement of the local living conditions and create jobs. As chairman of the Local Youngsters Association, Silvestre is responsible for this project. The Association’s Youngsters have a strong sense of social responsibility and committed immediately to voluntarily build dignified housing for the community’s elders.

After some consideration ALG could not remain indifferent to this request and decided to help. For us the development of the communities is crucial for their independence.

The international fund raising for this campaign is running online, at the crowdfunding platform indiegogo, but everybody can contribute immediately with small donations online, or directly to ALG. With an estimated investment of £2,762 (to be returned within 6 months) to build the facilities and to purchase materials, this small project is significant step to break the local poverty cycle.

Let’s help Silvestre in this new journey – Find out more here

ALG has been offering this festive calendar to all ALG Friends since 2011. This year, you can also print a high definition version for only 1£! 

Donate here 

Day 2. A Pre-school Filled with Smiles

The Escolinha (“Little School”) of Santa Catarina is a dynamic and happy pre-school, in Chongoene, a rural area in southern Mozambique. Sister Aparecida, our ALG Local Partner in the area, is responsible for the school. Every day in ESC, 58 vulnerable children, from 3 to 5 years of age, receive care and attention from two dedicated teachers – Olinda and Beatriz. At ESC, these children have the opportunity of growing, learning and playing in a safe and healthy environment. Children in risk of becoming “street kids” have the opportunity to attend a pre-school, have access to classes where they occupy themselves, develop competencies, and acquire studying habits.

In ESC, £89 per year or £8 per month, allow each one of these 58 children to have 2 daily meals, 2 teachers and school materials.

Similarly in Xai-Xai, the EFI – the Escolinha Flor da Infância pre-school, 109 children attend school on a daily basis with your support.

ALG pre-schools are filled with the smiles of these little ones. Help us break the local cycle of poverty early and bring education to the little ones!

ALG has been offering this festive calendar to all ALG Friends since 2011. This year, you can also print a high definition version for only 1£! 
Donate here

Day 1. Happy Birthday for 10 years of Little Gestures!

Congratulations to ALG’S sister charity UPG Portugal! This year we celebrated the 10^th anniversary of the charity that inspired ALG’s launch in the UK and with whom we work daily. On the 26^th of September, in a magnificent charity cocktail in Estoril, near Lisbon, we gathered more than 150 UPG and ALG friends who, throughout the years, provided a Great Help to more than 11’500 beneficiaries touched by our two charities, including the almost 900 children sponsored by UPG Portugal in 2014.

The event raised a total of €9.674 (c.£7’700) with event costs only 2% related with catering and sound. The net funds of €9’439 (£’7512) on the evening will be applied directly in Mozambique, on our recent project of School Feeding in the SLM school. This generosity means that 802 children will have a daily lunch for two months in SLM.

Many thanks to all for the memorable night, another step towards 10 more years of Little Gestures!

Because every children counts. And every Little Gesture Helps.

ALG has been offering this festive calendar to all ALG Friends since 2011. This year, you can also print a high definition version for only 1£! Donate here

Happy Xmas from ALG!!

Download your Advent Calendar now for beautiful stories about YOUR Little Gestures.

Daily countdown on http://alittlegesture.blogspot.co.uk/

Download only for 1£ https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/alittlegesture

Our Newsletter #5 is out!

In 2014 ALG welcomed a record number of new supporters in the UK and launched exciting new projects in Mozambique, consolidating our six hubs of local and direct intervention. Mostly centred on the vibrant SLM School, new projects include a full rollout of a school-feeding programme for over 800 students and a new HIV centre for up to 50 infected children. We even started our very first crowdfunding campaign for one of our young entrepreneurs. 

It is amazing how much you helped us grow. See how and where your contribution was used – and how you can help in 2015! Read more here

Sara V., ALG Founder, just elected to the City's Top 40 Extra Mile!

We are so PROUD! 

ALG Founder and Chairman Sara Vicente Barreto was just elected to the Extra Mile Top40 - a highly prestigious ranking by Financial News magazine that elects 40 people among all City of London professionals that excel in helping others. 

Young and driven, Sara is passionate about ALG's work in fighting child poverty in Mozambique. She started UPG Portugal 10 years ago, launched ALG UK in 2011 and continues her daily dedication to bringing YOUR Little Gestures to children in Mozambique.

You too can join our volunteer team or donate towards this cause. Contact us for information on how to get involved in your spare time or donate towards a project of your choice. 

Congrats Sara from the team and friends at ALG!

http://thetally.efinancialnews.com/tallyassets/extramile/index.html  

RPHM 2014 - Why Manuel is running again in 2015!

"ALG does a great job at the Royal Parks Half Marathon every year, bringing first time and expert runners together to form a nice group.  

It starts with a warm welcome as you arrive at their well organised base, continues with their encouraging screams of support as you run around, and ends with their attentive care as you return to base (including a great relieving recovery massage).  

And whilst we are all having fun, pushing ourselves to the limit to beat our personal best times, it feels good to know that in the meantime we are sponsoring a worthy cause supporting underprivileged children in Mozambique; managed by a super dedicated ALG team of nice people; that ensure a super efficient system where 95p for every £1 donated goes to the children”. 

We were very proud to welcome Manuel and his friends at RPHM 2014. See more pics of the event here http://tinyurl.com/ALG-RPHMpics

Manuel's enthusiasm with our work became such that he is now one one of our very first ALG Ambassadors!

RPHM 2014 generated c.£15’463 to date net of costs and with anticipated Gift Aid and matching. This will be applied in full in our School Feeding and HIV day Centre projects in the SLM school in Mozambique.

Our 2014 runners have already requested slots for RPHM 2015. Do you want to join our team also? Slots available December 2014, contact us on info@alittlegesture.org