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NEWS AND UPDATES FROM FIRST STEP

NEWS UPDATE 28/10/09 - MOVING INTO A NEW HOUSE -

Once again we are in a state of change. Shortly we will be moving into a new house not far from the once we have been occupying for the last 2 and a half years. As usual this means additional expenses for our small organization. In addition we also have school fees due in the fall increasing our need for donations. It is critical that we can collect the additional funds to avoid interruption in the care of our children. Your help would be much appreciated and will assist us in securing the new house we desperately need. Even if you cannot assist yourself pleace spread the word by telling friends, post us on Facebook of other online communities. Many thanks!!

First Step can now accept credit card donations directly by VISA and Master Card. Automatic recurrent donations also available.

NEWS UPDATE 23/06.09 - CELEBRATING OUR 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

It is hard to imagine it has already been 5 years since we started First Step. We have come a fair ways since the early days. Also we have not been able to get as far as we would have liked. Yet we have been able to care for 20 kids that otherwise would have been roaming the streets desperately struggling to survive. They would have had to beg for food get no education and have had little chance of a happy future. Now they are facing a much better life than most Sierra Leonieans. Just learning how to read and write is a great privilege in this country. As usual we are continually facing hurdles ahead. We are coming to the end of our rental term for the current home. The landlord has chosen not to renew the contract so now we are in the process of establishing a new home for the children. We have found a good property not very far away. It is even more suitable than the house we have today. By the end of August we have to be moved into the new home. This puts additional financial pressure on us during the next few months. We have to raise sufficient funds to cover the new rent as well as some repairs and damages at the current home. We estimate that this will total around $4000 USD.
During our 5 years of operation we have enjoyed support from many generous individuals and organizations. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you. The children will be forever greatful. We hope you will continue to support our cause and ensure these children can continue to enjoy a worthy life. For the rest of you we hope you see the value in the work we are doing in Sierra Leone and hope you would like to become First Step supporter. You can accomplish this by contacting us either via e-mail explaining how you wish to help or by registering as a sponsor by filling out our registration form.

December 17, 2008
The holiday season is approaching and 2008 shortly coming to a close. It has been a tough year for First Step. We have had great challenges in securing sufficient funding to continue our operation. We did however manage to get by. The rent for the house was eventually paid for another year and the children have been receiving the care they deserve. They are now impatiently waiting for Christmas to come around once again. A little extra funding will be sent to ensure that the children gets a gift and that they will have a special holiday celebration.
We would also like to use the occasion to thank all of you that have supported us throughout the last year. Without your support these children would have been looking at spending this Christmas on the streets of Freetown. A grim yet very realistic outlook for a lot of children in this extremely poor nation. You have made a difference in these children's life that you will likely never fully understand. Hope is a precious commodity for many children in Sierra Leone. Thanks to you they have hope for a brighter future and they know that there are someone out there that cares about them.

All of us at First Step would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

June 14, 2008
Hi everyone. It's been a while since the last update. Our children’s home is still operating at full speed with 20 children living at the home. Earlier this year the ministry of social welfare and children's affairs inspected our facility and gave it's full endorsement. Their next visit is June 16th in connection with the Day of The African Child. The conditions in Sierra Leone are still politically stable despite the recent election. We have however noticed a significant increase in the operating cost. Especially rice prices have risen dramatically to almost double what it was a year ago. Our operating cost have increased along side of the inflation in Sierra Leone and we need increased funding if we are to continue operating at the current level. In addition the rent for the facility we are occupying is due in October and we need to set aside funds towards it. We NEED your assistance to allow us to continue to operate at the current level. Just follow the links below if you wish to help us continue our efforts in helping the children in Sierra Leone.

September 23, 2007
An update is well past due. Our Children's home in Freetown is operating well. All 20 children are greatly enjoying their new home. Recently there was an election in Sierra Leone and a new goverment was voted into power. Not surprisingly this did not go over without an increase in violence. We can only hope this will not escalate into another conflict. As for now the effects on our operation has been minimal. Our operating cost has increased some as prices made a bit of a jump as a result of the election. We are expecting to have some fresh images from the new home to post on our web in the near future. First Step is also working on the proposal for the construction of our children's village. We hope to have the preliminaries in place soon so we can start working on funding the project. We will keep you all posted on the progress and share our vision with you as it comes together. The video from the visit in February is now ready to view. You can see the video here.
Check back soon for more.........

February 20, 2007 Visit to Sierra Leone
Hey everyone!
I am just back from a week long visit to our children's home in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was great to be back after more than 2 years. Many familiar faces and friendly greetings met me there. The primary purpose for the trip was to get our new home set up properly and finally put an end to the land lord issues we have been struggling with. The new facility is nice. There were still a few things that needed to be addressed like the water supply, electrical installation, kitchen facility etc. The landlord is now working hard to bring the facility up to speed for the official opening on March 14th. Many dignitaries are invited including the Vice President who will do the ribbon cutting. The Sierra Leone national TV station (SLBS) will be covering the event that will be broadcast nationwide. A local fund raising effort will also take place to recover the cost of the ceremony and hopefully some to spare for the operation of the home.
We hope to have the children moved in by the end of the first week in March. Currently the children are in foster care in the local community. They were living with Francess until she got evicted at the end of January this year. This is an unfortunate situation that left us no other option than to put them up with respectable families until the new home was ready. The new house has been rented for one and a half years and by the end of the contract we hope to have our own facility ready eliminating any future landlord issues.
What are the odds? Francess's son in law is the architect behind the new SOS Children's Village in the interior of Sierra Leone. I went over the plan with him and with some adjustments to suit our purpose and land the plan makes and excellent base for planning our own village. We will be working with the same company and architect and we hope to have a firm construction plan ready by the end of the summer 2007. The original plan was to build a home for the children. We have now steered in the direction of a Village instead. Fully self sustained with it's own primary school and medical facility. The concept is very similar to the set up used by SOS Children's Villages. The location we had targeted in the Grafton area does not offer land large enough for a village so we have reverted to the original land offered in the town of Rokel where we have access to as much as 5 acres. The proposed village will accommodate around 130 children, possibly more if land area and funding permits. As our construction plans take shape we will keep everyone informed. We are very excited to be embarking on this new phase.
We are now monitoring the progress of the different contractors responsible for plumbing, furniture, construction etc. So far everything is going as planned. Before leaving Sierra Leone we took most of the children to #2 river Beach just to just enjoy and have fun. The outing was a success and most of the children got to go. It is amazing how playing in the sand and enjoying good food and drinks can make their day. This is something that most children in Sierra Leone never gets to enjoy and they took full advantage. It was a great success and we are making it an annual tradition. You can enjoy pictures from this outing and much more in our new slide show.
Thanks again to all of you who have contributed to make our project a success.

Coming soon: Video from the visit and video + pictures from the opening ceremony on our website.
Keep checking back for more updates.

Greetings from,

Håkon and the rest of the crew

We are sad to announce the death of Emmanuel Fomba. After a brief 24 hours of illness his life could not be saved despite our best efforts. Emmanuel had been in the care of First Step for one years and was only 5 years old. His parents was killed during the civil war and his only known relative is an uncle with whom he used to live until he came to us. It is a sad reminder of how precious life is and how quickly it can expire. We are not certain what illness he contracted but it was aggressive and impossible to stop with the medical support available. Emmanuel will be sadly missed among all of us.
Thanks for everyone's support - Håkon Askerhaug

December 31, 2006
Best wishes for 2007 from all of us at First Step!
Thanks to all our contributors we enter the new year in good shape ready to tackle the tasks ahead. We hope to have pictures for everyone to enjoy early in 2007. Thanks again!!

The First Step Crew

December 15, 2006
Great new for First Step. The Lundin for Africa Foundation has decided to fund a large portion of our operation that will allow us to finally take possession of the house that will become the new home for the children. This funding boost also allow us to furnish and equip the home adequately. One of our directors will shortly be traveling to Sierra Leone to oversee and organize the new home. Upon the return we will upload another photo slide show to show everyone the new facility and the children living there. In addition, the foundation has expressed great interest in funding the construction of our own facility when we are ready to start. This is a fantastic opportunity and we thank The Lundin of Africa Foundation for the support. Also thanks to everyone else that has continued to support our project and helping these children to a better future. It does not take a fortune to change a life for ever!

Håkon, Michael, Greg, Scott, Francess and all the children at the children's home.

May 26, 2006 WE ARE NOW AN APPROVED CHARITY!
Finally we have succeeded in obtaining approval from Revenue Canada as a charitable organization.
For those of you who have supported us in 2006 this means you will receive a tax receipt for donations made this year.
We are excited about now being able to pursue our objectives more aggressively as this gives us credibility among those who don't know who we are. This approval comes at a time when we need it the most. We have lost the rental contract for the house we have been using as home for the children. Currently they are staying with a family that agreed to help while we are in transition to find a new home. We have a tentative new contract but will need to make a 50% down payment on the rent to secure the house for the kids. This amounts to $2000 US dollars that we urgently need to raise. We, especially the children, will be very grateful for any help we receive.

Have a great summer everyone!

Håkon, Michael, Greg, Scott, Francess and all the children at the home in Freetown.

January 02, 2006 H A P P Y N E W Y E A R ! ! !
2005 went in the books as an extraordinary year. Especially in regards to natural disasters where hundreds of thousands of people perished in natures wrath throughout the world. Not to forget all the once now trying to survive and recover hoping to create a new future for themselves surviving their incredible loss. First Step has not been involved with support or recovery efforts in any of these disasters. Nevertheless the children we help are in no less of a precarious situation. Sierra Leone does not make headlines in international news anymore but the humanitarian disaster remains today much like it has in the past. First Step has continued to support 11-13 children throughout 2005 but our efforts have fallen in the shadow of all the major disasters that got all the attention in the year past. Our need for support is still urgent and an ongoing effort. We have fallen short of our goals having to cope with insufficient funding not allowing us to maximize our efforts. Hopefully we can turn this around in 2006 with everyone' s help. We now urgently need to collect $1000 US dollars to finish the house payment for 2006 before our landlord gets too restless. Previously we were only able to collect $1500. Also we hope to soon gain the last 9 child sponsors we need to fill the homes capacity. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

We are still working on the registration for charitable status in Canada. We are currently waiting for a response from our last submission in early December. If the documentation was sufficient to be approved will remain to be seen. If we are fortunate the approval has already been given and is dated in 2005 allowing us to issue tax receipts to our contributors. This may be wishful thinking but we are still hoping as we are only a few days into 2006. Nevertheless we will continue working with Revenue Canada to gain approval for charitable status and expect to be in compliance with the requirements.

Last but not least we would like to thank everyone that supported us in the past year. Without you, the children would be in dire straits living on the streets of Freetown desperately trying to survive with no hope for the future.

I WANT TO HELP

Best wishes for the new year to you from

Håkon, Michael, Greg, Scott, Francess and all the children at the home in Freetown.

May 17, 2005
Hello Everyone!
It has been a while since the last update. Not to worry we are still operating as normal and the kids are happy and healthy. The first part of 2005 has not been very prosperous for us. As most people's attention became focused on the tsunami in Asia we noticed a significant drop in support. Our donations almost dried up completely overnight and we are fortunate to be able to keep our heads above the water by the continued support of our child sponsors. Thanks to all of you! Still, we are short 10 child sponsors and are unable to cover our long term operating cost. Additional donations are also vital for upgrades to the facility. The most critical thing to resolve at the present time are the beds. The boys still sleep on mattresses on the floor and we had hoped to have bunk beds built for them by now. How important it is to get the children beds became evident just a few days ago when one of the boys got stung by a scorpion while sleeping. Francess rushed him to the doctor and he was treated immediately. He recovered quickly and is fine now. It was a bit of a scare for us and we may not be as fortunate next time a venomous creature decides to find it's way into the house.

We are now in the final stages of getting registered as a charity in Canada and expect to have it finalized by early summer. As well we have submitted an application for NGO status in Sierra Leone. The main benefit by gaining NGO status is the ability to send shipments to the Children's Center without being charged taxes and duty. As it has been indicated to us that there is corporate interest in supporting our activities once charity status has been gained this will be very important for us.

Our website has also been updated a bit. We have added a NEW SLIDESHOW of photos taken by our sponsors, Dave and Bev, who traveled to Freetown in December and January. Check it out!
The house now also has electricity. This is considered a privilege in that part of the world. Francess arranged to receive electricity from the Hastings airport and subsequently did no longer need the gas generator for her restaurant. She moved it to the house where it has been connected to provide electricity when needed. Considering it gets dark at 7pm year round it is great to electric lights instead of the smoky oil lamps otherwise used.

It is a continual effort raising funds to keep the children's home operating. You can assist us in many different ways. From simply telling friends, family and co-workers about what we are doing to becoming a sponsor yourself. Some came up with the idea of holding a Halloween costume party to raise funds for First Step. If you have a fundraising idea please let us know. Thanks for taking the time to keep updated on our activities and passing on the word.

Håkon Askerhaug
President FSCF

December 13, 2004
Thanks to everyone that has been helping us out we have made a lot of progress since the last update. We now have possession of the entire house and all 20 children have moved in. We have been able to hire two helpers that assist Francess with the every day chores around the house. One is a cook and the other a house helper. All the kids now get 3 meals a day something they have never before experienced. They are gaining weight and are starting to look like healthy children. Most of the children are now attending school but some are still waiting to start. Nine of the children have a sponsor but 11 are still without. This is the main reason why not all of them are attending school yet.
Just recently two of out child sponsors flew to Sierra Leone on vacation and got a tour of the facility and met Francess and the kids. They sent me an e-mail about their experience. This is what they wrote:

"We finally visited Francess Panda today, gave her the money, the supplies and the gifts. She was very welcoming. We toured the airport, then we went to the house. The boys were not in school today, due to a national census, so we were able to meet almost all of them. We took several photos of the group of them, with Francess, Paul, Ibrahim and the cook, whose name we didn't catch. Francess has invited us back when we return to Freetown in a couple of weeks. We would like to take her up on her offer. At that time, we will take individual photos of two new boys whose photos are not yet on the website. It was wonderful having a chance to talk to Francess about the project, to see the facilities in place now and to hear about your longer term plans.
This is a wonderful initiative!"

We have come a long way since the idea first came to life. In only 6 months 20 kids have left the street life behind and have a home, food and the care they need. I know all the children at the center are very grateful to have someone like you helping them. If you ever get a chance to visit our facility in Freetown you will understand what a difference your assistance has made and how much it means to these kids. Thank you all for your generous help and Merry Christmas and the best of wishes for the new year to all of you!

Hakon Askerhaug
President FSCF

September 02, 2004
First Step is moving forward. In the last few weeks we have found sponsors for 5 of the children in the program. We have also received a few more donations. We had hoped the children would be able to move into the house a couple of weeks ago but we were not able to do that. After our money transfer got hit with the wire transfer exchange rate plus service fees we were 200 US dollars short of making the necessary payment on the house. We have the money now and we are sending it over in the middle of this month. The funds left over will be used to sign the children up for school which start mid September and for feeding and other necessary care. It is our hope to have all the children start school right away but we may fall short of that goal by a few weeks. Thanks for everyone's generous support. Keep spreading the word for us!

August 11, 2004
The last week has been very hectic but positive. The first few days after we announced the start of this program, it was a bit quiet and we were a little worried by the lack of response. A couple of days ago it all changed and we have received help from all over the world. Right now we have enough funds to secure the first floor of the house for the children for one year. They will be able to move in this weekend. I spoke to Francess today, and she and the children were very excited when they heard the news. It is slowly sinking in that they will finally have a place to live and someone to take care of them. Thanks to all of you who have been most generous we are finally on the way! Please continue to spread the word and pass on the website address to friends, family and colleagues as we still need US$5,000 to secure the second floor of the house, build beds for kids and purchase kitchen necessities, food, toiletries, pay school tuitions, etc. Be sure to check back regularly for more updates on our progress.