Blog

Find out how Paddington is helping us!

Karen Jankel (daughter of Paddington Bear’s author, Michael Bond), Timothy West CBE and our lovely supporters and friends have all helped spread Christmas cheer across the globe and raise a staggering £20,000 in vital funds for the forgotten children of Darfur. Did you miss our Candlelit Christmas Concert this year? Here’s a little snippet and there’s a link to the whole magical experience further below..! After the success of last year, Kids for Kids took the magic online once again to share a celebratory mulled wine and mince pie live on Zoom with international friends and enjoy the beautiful Candlelit Christmas concert, which took place on 1st December in St Peter’s Church, London. Patricia Parker OBE, Founder of Kids for Kids, was delighted to welcome supporters from all over the World including Khartoum, Albania, California, Canada and even Australia! “It was so special to be able to celebrate the start of the festive season together once again at the beautiful St Peter’s Church in London and then share the magic with our international friends again online,” said Patricia Parker, Founder Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Joanna Lumley to Double your Donations

Backed by Dame Joanna Lumley DBE FRGS and special friends who have pledged to match all donations up to £27,500, Kids for Kids has announced a Doubling Campaign to help the Forgotten children of Darfur this December! Together we can raise a whopping £55,000 this month to help children facing starvation right now.   Can you help? Kids for Kids has announced immediate availability of £27,500 matched funding for all donations to help children who are facing starvation. Darfur is out of sight – and conditions are the worst ever, worse even than in Somalia.   Mothers are begging for help to feed their children. Starvation is a serious threat.  At the same time the worst outbreak of malaria has swept across the region because of the vast areas of standing water following floods after months of drought.   Kids for Kids will be providing goats, seeds and mosquito nets – enabling the children of Darfur to survive one of their toughest years yet. Our matching campaign this month means that ANY DONATIONS YOU GIVE WILL UP UNTIL 31st DECEMBER 2022 WILL BE Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

British Ambassador to Sudan Visits our Village

We have been absolutely delighted to welcome Giles Lever, the British Ambassador to Sudan, to Majoub A, A village we adopted back in 2007 when it was one of the poorest, when he visited Darfur this month.    It is now thriving and many times larger.   It is one of our 110 Kids for Kids’ Villages we have adopted in Darfur. Giles was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Sudan in succession to Irfan Siddiq OBE in October 2021 and is Patron of Kids for Kids but this is his first visit to one of our projects.  He has worked in a wide range of roles, including in Africa, on the Middle East and North Africa, and on security issues. This is our team in Darfur, pictured outside our Kids for Kids office in Majoub, preparing to meet the Ambassador. Left to right: Yagoub Shumein (Kids for Kids Steering Committee) Hatim Abu Sineina (Honorary Chairman Khartoum) Dr Salim Ahmed Salim (Programme Manager) Hassan Mehisi (Project Officer). Below is an extract of our Programme Manager’s report about H.E. Giles Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Sad and Happy Times for Um Kaltoum

This is Um Kaltoum with 2 of her 5 children. She lives in Jafaina, a village we adopted in 2018. Being one of our poorest families in Jafaina, you helped us give Um Kaltoum 5 Goats, a Donkey & 2 Mosquito nets in September 2018. Um Kaltoum looked after her Goats beautifully and in 2019, was blessed with 3 little kids and then in 2020, 6 more kids. She could feed her children protein-rich goat’s milk and help stave off starvation. SADLY, in 2021, 3 of her goats died and then heart-breakingly her husband Ibrahim also died later that year. Um Kaltoum was forced to sell 5 male Goats to help pay for family maintenance and her children’s education. HAPPILY this year, however, her Goats have had 4 kids, she now has 16 Goats in total and 5 are pregnant. Being a subsistence farmer, Um Kaltoum has also managed to plant 6 acres of millet, 3 acres of sorghum and 2 acres of okra. She hopes to harvest enough to feed her family and perhaps have some left to sell. Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Prizes for our Child Shepherds

We are delighted that, following a difficult 2 years in Sudan, with the Covid pandemic, government instability and the very bad rainy season last year, the postponed Goat rotation was finally able to take place recently in Jafaina, a village we adopted in 2018. Our team in Darfur met with the Village Sheikh Mohammed Yagoub Mohammed, the paravets, the first aid workers, the animal loan committee members and Goat beneficiaries to review the current situation and perform the goat rotation, whereby 5 goats from each family who have recently benefitted from our Goat loan are passed on to another of the poorest families to benefit. It was reported that all Goat beneficiaries have cared brilliantly for their goats who have consequently produced more kids which has led to 100% rotation – amazing news! Paravets Amir Ishag Adam and Ibtisam Ali Adam are doing very well.  They visit beneficiaries at their houses, inspecting their goats and donkeys, treating the ill and advising beneficiaries to care well for their animals. 22 new kids were produced last month. Paravet Amir treated 101 cases Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Olga da Polga to the Rescue!

You may have heard that Michael Bond’s favourite Guinea Pig, Olga da Polga, inspired by his daughter Karen’s well-loved pet, will be appearing in a new CBeebies series this weekend! But did you know that Olga da Polga has helped save numerous children’s lives? Back in 2012, Michael Bond, creator of Olga da Polga and the Queen’s favourite bear, Paddington * (see below) of course, supported ‘Drawn… to Darfur’ for the children’s charity Kids for Kids to raise not guinea pigs but GOATS to save children’s lives. Michael said “Goats and donkeys are fairly thin on the ground in this part of the world and Olga is the heroine in a series of children’s books I write. It does sound as though they will be in good company. In fact, the whole project sounds extremely exciting and I am doing my best to impress on them how lucky they are. Guinea pigs do tend to take things for granted!” In 2012, Patricia Parker OBE, founder of Kids for Kids, the only organisation that provides life changing sustainable projects to children Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Calling for Help this Christmas!

“Do you want to give a gift to a child this Christmas that will save her life?”  This is what Patricia Parker OBE, who founded Kids for Kids 21 years ago, is asking?   She says “Christmas is the time of giving but few gifts will last beyond New Year – but not the gifts I want.” “I want A GOAT, a MOSQUITO NET and a SACK OF SEED” Yes that is what Patricia (74) is dreaming of each night she falls into bed after a day of working flat out trying her best to help the children of Darfur, Sudan. Why a Goat? – because it’s milk will save a little 5 year old from starving.  “Conditions are so bad this year in Darfur that even in our Kids for Kids villages I am getting reports that little ones are in urgent need of emergency food if they are to survive. It’s the smallest that succumb first.” A Goat costs £50 Why a mosquito net?   “It’s heart breaking.  There are the worst swarms of mosquitos in Darfur I have ever Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Fishing for Goats in Great Numbers!

Saturday 8th October marked our annual Fly Fishing Event: Fishing for Goats! – and what an extraordinary day it was at Park Lake, Albury. We were blessed with summer conditions, still waters, blue skies, and absolutely beautiful sunshine for October. Although this did not make the fishing very easy, everyone had a fantastic time and have said they want to come again next year! Early warning for next year’s fishing date –  Saturday 7th October 2023! We managed to raise the most funds ever for our fishing day – a fantastic £1,988.51! This amount has enabled us to provide 12 Goats for families still at risk of starvation in Darfur. This has been one of the worst year’s to date and we are so grateful to our wonderful supporters for helping us to provide emergency help to people suffering the famine. We are not an emergency organisation, but when no one else is helping families in rural Darfur villages we have had no choice – we cannot let people or animals starve. We are so grateful to our wonderful fishing Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Christmas is Coming – The Time of Gifts!

Yes, after a difficult year in so many ways, it is time to think about our favourite time of year when we remember our friends and our families – and those less fortunate than ourselves.   I know things are not easy for many of us, but I also know, like me, you worry about those in even greater need.   In Darfur, life has never been so hard.   In the remote villages where Kids for Kids has been helping, children who drank the milk from our little goats are now having children of their own.   But life is even worse than when they themselves were little.  Climate change is affecting us all.  Today, as I write, there are devastating floods in Pakistan.   But has anyone reported the floods in Darfur? Rain destroys straw huts and families lose their homes. Is anyone helping?   Or done something about the terrible walk for water small children make every day in the blistering heat of summer?   Or the absence of even the most basic health care in villages?  It is up to us!  Kids for Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

New Drought-resistant Tree in Darfur to tackle climate change

We really are turning Darfur GREEN together!  We are so excited to share that we have recently started planting trees in our new villages, including a newly introduced drought-resistant tree, named Albizia Lebbek. This means we are now planting 15 varieties of drought-resistant trees! The Albizia Lebbek gives wonderful coverage for shade and can be used for medicinal purposes to treat such conditions as inflammation, boils, coughs, flu and lung problems. Wow, isn’t nature just incredible! Thank you so much for supporting our tree-planting projects! All the trees you have helped us plant will help stabilise the sand , give shade to families and their animals and stop the desert spreading any further. All our trees also have by-products, such as gum arabic (Acacia Senegal), pesticides (Neem Tree) and citrus fruits, that will add to people’s livelihoods.  This is important as watering them is a labour of love with water often miles away across the desert. To date we have planted over 53,000 trees and made great progress but there is still lots to be done! Many will have died – as of Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago