Sad beyond words to learn that our beloved Monarch has passed away. Our deepest condolences to all the Royal Family who, like the wonderful Queen, work so hard for humanity. God save King Charles. You have served our country and the world faithfully and selflessly for so long. When the world failed Darfur you enabled us to build our first Kindergarten. God Bless.
As part of our Animal Husbandry Training sessions which are taking place over the next few weeks in our recently adopted villages, it is crucial that the Goat beneficiaries learn which plants are best to feed their new animals. Howeida Mohammed Ahmed, our Animal Production Officer, is leading the training in this area and will be explaining about local natural pasture plants. Awish, gow, kerjina, Bano, gharoub and grass roots are all natural pasture plants which provide a very good source of vitamins and minerals for Goats and help the animals stay healthy and give good milk production. There are also man-made fodder cakes, made from melon juice with millet corns and cotton seed cakes, which are especially good for pregnant or lactating goats. Howeida will show the trainees how to plant fodder like sorghum in the rainy season in late July or early August when the rainfall rate is at its peak. The plants should be weeded before the final maturation when the fodder is cut. The fruits and the stem can then be put in sacks and kept Read more
With the recent heatwave in the UK, we can start to imagine just a little of what it must be like to live in Darfur. But can you imagine surviving that intense heat for many more weeks, months, years..?? With very little access to water…? Incredibly, however, this month Darfur has had more rain than the UK! Late July and early August tend to be the rainy season in Darfur and we are delighted that this year the rains have indeed come. Grass is growing, crops are flourishing, families will have food, animals will have fodder… This picture was recently taken by our Darfur team and shows a green pasture in one of our newly adopted villages, Hillat Sabil – isn’t it just wonderful! Now we just need to pray that there is no flooding… But the green pastures really do bring hope for the future. Hope for children and their families, hope for their animals and, particularly, hope for the new villages we’ve adopted this year. Now we can start purchasing Goats and Donkeys for these new villages. Soon Read more
The Ambassadors’ Ball 2022 has broken all records! After all the expenses, including administration, the profit from this year’s Ball, which we will be spending directly in Darfur, is a staggering £40,209. This will fund not just an additional village in North Darfur, but go a long way to enabling us to build our fifteenth Kindergarten – something mothers have been begging us to do. They know that education is the way out of poverty. We are basking in the afterglow of this year’s Ambassadors’ Ball held once again at The Hyatt The Churchill Hotel in London. We were delighted that so many of you could join us, despite Covid, despite travel problems, and despite it being in the holiday season. Your help has raised vital funds for the children of Darfur. I would especially like to thank all of you who could not join us this year, but who have contributed so generously towards the Ball. After all the hard work behind the scenes, the moment the first guests arrive – the ladies in beautiful Ball gowns, the gentlemen Read more
This week Kids for Kids has been incredibly honoured to receive The Award for Excellence for Championing a Muslim Cause. Patricia Parker OBE was invited to the Awards Ceremony on Monday 29th June 2022, organised by the Muslim News in London. The Rt Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle, MP Speaker of the House of Commons, was Guest of Honour. Patricia was overcome to receive this prestigious award, saying “at last the children of Darfur get real recognition.” “We often refer to the ‘forgotten children’ of Darfur,” says Patricia. “Sadly they are not forgotten. The world knows of their existence, even of the conditions in which they live, but any aid to Darfur is concentrated on the camps – none to the 900+ remote villages: even Covid did not bring help. There is no diagnosis, no treatment for Covid. There is no oxygen in rural hospitals and no ventilators. We provided the only thing possible – something to prevent the spread – soap – over 500,000 bars of soap. I am told that not only would this prevent the spread of Read more
It is an exciting time for the small villages of North Darfur which have been adopted by Kids for Kids in 2022. In each of the five villages – Hillat Sabil, Hillat Um Gadeer, Korla, Kudeil and Katonta – the poorest families have now been selected democratically to receive 5 Nanny Goats each to provide life-saving milk to their starving children. Can you imagine being one of those families who are lucky enough to be selected? It is always a hard decision to select the beneficiaries of our Goat Loan but this year it is harder than most. So many families are living in desperate conditions. Following increased violence, crop failures, and the global price shocks in grain and other food commodities, food is scarcer than ever. The terrible war in Ukraine has meant that 30% of the ermergency grain rations that are normally provided by Ukraine to Sudan are unable to reach those in desperate need. The UN has warned that one-quarter of the entire population of Sudan will struggle to access food in coming months, including 3.1 million people facing emergency levels Read more
Goat Loans are saving children from starvation and malnutrition in Darfur, Sudan
You probably know that Kids for Kids all began when Patricia Parker our CEO came across a 9 year old little boy in the desert, walking 7 hours to reach a handpump. His walk for water was keeping the family’s 3 goats alive, and their milk was the only nutrition he and his brothers and sisters had to survive on. This was the inspiration for Kids for Kids. (more…)
“What an amazing treat Alastair and I had on 25th May! This year Kids for Kids has been honoured with an OBE for the support we provide for children in Darfur, and the work we do with children here, showing them how they too can make a difference in the world. It’s the first formal recognition that the children in our villages are not forgotten. I cannot tell you how much that means. To have received this Honour too in such an important year as the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is particularly special. To celebrate, I was delighted to be invited to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, joined by my sons, Alastair and Douglas, and daughter-in-law. Running Kids for Kids for 21 years has taken its toll on family time so you can imagine what a joy it was to be able to invite them to be with me. I have put some of the photographs from the day below. The garden is huge and a haven for wildlife in the centre of London. It was of course very special Read more
Well, it’s coming up to tree-planting time in Darfur and, more exciting than that, it’s coming up to trans-planting time! This is when the Village Leaders from the newest villages come up to the Kids for Kids’ Tree Nursery in El Fasher which YOU have helped us renovate and get to choose the varieties of trees YOU have helped us plant for their own villages. Of the 14 different varieties of drought-resistant trees we plant, the Leaders will seek out trees with by-products which will help nourish children and their families and give most financial benefit when sold. Many of the trees have leaves that are full of vitamin C for example. There are always citrus trees chosen to provide shade and fruit by individual houses. Normally a Neem or Moringa tree will also be included in the selection as they provide vital shade under their expansive branches for everyone – children, animals and the larger gatherings for regular Village Meetings. It really is surprising how quickly these trees can grow! And now that we have recently drilled and installed 6 Read more
Wow! We are truly thankful to the students at the International School of Brooklyn (ISB) who have managed to raise a whopping $2,800 with their third wonderful Walk for Water! Preschool and Lower School students carried heavy bottles and jugs of water – just like the children in Darfur have to do every day – as they completed sponsored laps around ISB’s block. The students were so excited to support Kids for Kids that they walked, walked and walked..! Thank you to all those students and to their wonderful friends and family who sponsored them – you are all superheroes! The International School of Brooklyn has been an unbelieveable supporter of Kids for Kids for many years now. Can you help children in Darfur, just like these children have? It all started when Patricia Parker OBE, Founder of Kids for Kids, went to visit the Southbank International School in North London 21 years ago! A little girl there, Sage, was so enamoured with the work of Kids for Kids that she told her whole family about it and, year after year, Read more
