Many congratulations to Mike Boddington, the founder of POWER International, who has just been awarded an MBE for his services to the victims of unexploded ordnance in Laos.
See The Difference our work can make by clicking below..
Did you miss the ballot for the London Marathon? Don't worry - we are delighted to have secured 5 places in this event for the next five years. These highly sought after places may be secured for the April 17th 2011 race by a £50 deposit in the first instance; the balance of £250 to be paid by 3rd April 2011 and a commitment to raise £1200 for the work of POWER through personal sponsorship. Please ring Moira for more details on 01494 614604.
Programme news
Breaking news! We have just heard the good news that we have been awarded 3 grants from the European Union to work with children who have disabilities in Laos, Zambia and Mozambique. This means that we can now start work with children, parents, schools, communities and local authorities to improve disabled children's access to education. In the words of Nelson Mandela: education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. By helping children with disabilities gain access to education, we believe they can change their world!
Signing the memorandum of understanding in Laos - an agreement between POWER, the government and local partners to work together.
Progress in Zambia: the government have now not only signed but also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This means the government now has a legal obligation to apply the convention. Our ADEPt project (see this page) is working to support the government in this and to disseminate the contents of the convention nationwide.
Women's work: We are delighted to be receiving support from the David Anderson Africa Trust, the Mercury Phoenix Trust and one other trust to develop our work with women-only radio clubs. We have been specifically working on women's rights and health messages about HIV/AIDS.
We have recently received a grant for two years from the European Union to begin a programme in Laos to promote human rights and democratic reform. This exciting project will work directly with women who have disabilities and will target 35,000 - about half the population of disabled people. 80% of the costs of the programme have been met by the European Union and we have now secured the remaining funds so work is about to begin!
Whatever happened to Sandar? Sandar was featured on the BBC in the Lifeline Appeal (scroll down the opened page to find June 2008). He was housebound for about two years following a traffic accident before staff from our clinics found out about him. The programme showed how surgery and an artificial limb helped him to rediscover his childhood. He now gets to school on a special bike, paid for by one of our supporters, and continues to make great progress! Photo by Jo Pereira.
