We’re celebrating a milestone- Join us!

August 2012

Inside…….

It’s our First

Birthday…

A year at the youth

centre…

Sponsor a child

Stay involved

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Contact us:

Youth Release,

Dooneen,

Kilmeaden,

Co Waterford,

youthrelease@gmail.com

www.youthrelease.com

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Salam Friends,

Wow, I cannot believe I am putting this newsletter together,

today marks a very important day for everyone involved in

Youth Release. Today, it is officially one year since the Youth

Release youth centre opened. It is hard to believe that this time

a year ago we were looking at an empty, three room building,

and wondering will this work? Is this our building? I am so

delighted to say this building was made for us, and it went

from being an empty old clinic, to a building filled with children

playing, learning, and just being kids.

This past year has been incredible for us, one of the main

questions we always asked ourselves was: what if we open a

youth centre will the kids even use it? Well, it is safe to say the

children love it. There are 275 children that are involved in the

different programs being offered at the youth centre. It has

been a very exciting year for all of us at Youth Release, seeing

our dreams come true. After five years of hoping it would all

come together, it finally has, we have our youth centre, and we

are making a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children

in Ethiopia...what more could we ask for?

Once again, THANKYOU to everyone who has supported us

since day one, both through donations and encouragement; we

wouldn’t be celebrating our first birthday without you!!

Thank you so much for the support we received in response to

our last newsletter. Thanks to all of you who have furthered

inquired about our work. If you are interested in getting

involved and finding out more about our work or volunteer

opportunities, please email us at youthrelease@gmail.com

In August of last year, we brought you the story of the

opening of our youth centre. By the end of August 2011, there

were 250 children coming to the youth centre to attend the

various programs being offered. For many of these children, it

was the first time they had a place to go where they could

meet friends, play and just enjoy being children. One year on,

and this number has risen to 275 children!

A year at the youth centre…

Many of the children we work with live in extreme poverty with

most parents unable to afford to send their children to local

schools. In early September 2011, 200 children were given

school uniforms and educational materials needed to attend

the local school. We are delighted to say that these 200

children are now enrolled in school and are doing great. We

hope to increase this number in the coming months. For some

of the children, they need a little extra help with their school

work. Local university students are volunteering their time to

provide tutorial classes for the children in a number of

subjects. There are 158 children that take these extra classes,

and wow, we have never seen children so eager to learn!

The majority of the children come from difficult households,

numerous have lost parents and several have seen things no

child should have to see. Children have the opportunity to

attend counselling services at the youth centre. There are 88

children that are receiving counselling and are making great

progress. There are various health workshops being held

every couple of months to teach the children about health

problems and to educate them on HIV/AIDS. The response

from the children has been overwhelming, parents have told

our staff that the children are cleaning themselves more

often, and trying to make their living environment cleaner.

When Youth Release was founded, one of the main goals

was that children would be able to express themselves

through music, art and play. The children have put on a

number of shows about children’s rights. They are also

learning circus, the Ethiopian form of gymnastics. We

cannot wait to see what they can do when we see them in

January.

Thank you to everyone who

has made this possible:

Des Purcell

Yinka Rahman

Theresa Scott

Stephanie Gilmore

Swee

Nicky Beckett

Monica Butfoy March

Ricky Butfoy

Rebecca Marsh

Aife Power

Sharon Gorman

Claire Morgan

Ray Carolan Lisa Connelly

Deirdre Guilfoyle

Doug Mellon

Iggy Dunphy

Fr Joe Jones DCU

Eileen Colgan DCU

Children’s Books Ireland

SPS Sports

Zurich Insurance

Justice Health Staff-

Forensic Hospital Sydney

St Angela’s Secondary

School

Scoil Mhuire Butlerstown Dublin City University SU

St. Canice's Boys

National School

Our Ladys Girls National

School

St. Mary's National

School

Trinity Comprehensive

Secondary School

Ashbourne Marriott Hotel

The Philippine

congregation of BUMC

Credit Union, Summer

Hill, Waterford Musgraves Inc

Bronte Adolescent staff at

the Forensic hospital

Our Wonderful Volunteers: Claire King

Ciara O Reily

Catherine Gleeson

Aaron Hegarty

Kate O Brien

Deirdre O Sullivan

Kit O Neil

Shane Conaty

Sarah McLaughlin Helen Chandler

Jonathan Feiler

Patrick Murphy

Joanne Mc. Laughlin

Anton Peara

Kistina Christenson

To all our amazing family

and friends, you know who you are

We ♥ you!

Vocational Training and Sponsorship program

In honour of the youth centre’s first birthday, a new exciting program is being launched.

For many young adults in Dire Dawa, they have never had the opportunity to receive an

education. For these children, they have very little opportunities to break the cycle of

poverty and are forced to beg, or work on the street. The youth centre is now offering a

vocational training program that will give these children an alternative, so that they can

create a better future for themselves and their families. The youth centre will offer

training in a number of skills for adolescents aged 14-18 years old. Children enrolled in

the sponsorship program will enjoy all the services offered by the organisation including

counselling, life skills training, and language support at the youth centre. They will also

have access to recreational and other programs offered at the YR/HCS youth centre

such as the drama and music group, sports and circus group. The following are some of

the proposed practical skill training types: wood work. metal work, hallow block and

brick making, mechanic or vehicle repair, hotel and catering, tour guide, hair dressing

and barberry, driving licences, waste management and recycling, plumbing, secretarial

science, weaving and tailoring. Children who have completed one of the above training

schemes will be supported with finding employment opportunities.

Could you sponsor one of the children for

less than 60 cents day for 18 months?

Nuredin, Ayineabeba and Kirubel are just three

youths that have the chance to improve their

futures. We have 50 young people on the

program that are awaiting sponsors, and to gain

invaluable skills to become self sufficient. You

can help by sponsoring one of these youths for

as little as 60 cents a day for 18 months. For

€25 a month for 18 months you will allow these

young adults to get the chance they deserve and

make a huge difference in the lives of their

families. YOU can help children get off the street

and give them a brighter future, for less than

60cents a day.

The cost per child for 18 Months is as

follows:

· Training costs- 45 euro

· Feeding, travel, accommodation- 242 euro

· Working Clothes and shoes- 13 euro

Total cost per child— 300 euro

Won’t you give the children the chance they

deserve? To sign up just click here

Do you want to give the youth centre an amazing

Birthday Present?

Meet some of the children you can help….

Meet Nuredin, Nuredin is 18 years old and lives in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Nuredin parents separated when he was a teenager. Due to the divorce

of his parents, Nuredin was forced to live and beg on the streets for two years. Now, thanks to the vocational training program, he is no longer living on the streets, and is earning a steady income through his training as a mechanic.

Ayineabeba is 17 years old and is an orphan. She currently lives with her sister. Ayineabeba was in school but was forced to leave to help her family. She is now learning to become a hair dresser, improving living conditions for her and her family.

This is Kirubel, he is 14 years old, and

is an orphan. He lives with his

physically disabled uncle and must

work to provide a family income.

Kirubel used to work unloading Khat

(a widespread drug in Ethiopia).

Kirubel is now receiving training in

wood work and is able to provide

income for his family.

.

Get involved with Youth

Release

Make a Donation You can make a donation from anywhere in

the world, just visit us online at www.youthrelease.com or send a cheque to:

Youth Release, Dooneen, Kilmeaden, Co

Waterford

* Youth Release is completely run by volunteers; all monies raised are given directly to the project in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

Volunteer We could always use an extra pair of hands

and welcome anyone with a positive

attitude. We are currently looking for people

aged 18-35 to participate on our upcoming

volunteer program to Ethiopia this coming

January. If you would like more information,

please email us at youthrelease@gmail.com

Do something amazing and raise funds for

Youth Release. Whatever you choose to do we will help you along the way and you can

be sure that the funds you raise will go

directly towards the programs being run at

the youth centre.

Thanks to:

Aife Power, Sharon Gorman and Claire Morgan

These three wonderful ladies ran the flora

mini marathon for Youth Release. Thanks

Girls! If you would like to do a fundraiser for email, drop us a line at

youthrelease@gmail.com, we would love to hear from you!

While writing this newsletter, I received a

great email from our staff on the ground.

Not only is it our first birthday, but our

library just opened this week. This is

amazing news, as we thought we wouldn’t

be able to open our library until next year.

The children are eager to use it to study,

read and just hang out. This email

brought tears to our eyes, as it shows us

the progress we are making and the

difference it is making to the children

The library has opened…

Thank you to everyone for your support

from day one and for helping us reach our

first official Birthday! We hope you will

continue to support us and that this time

next year we will be celebrating another

wonderful year. You guys are awesome!

From all the children,

amesege'nallo'

Thank you from us all, we ♥ you guys

www.youthrelease.com

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What a year…