Providing Alternatives through Dance and Theater

From January through April this year, Ussoforal's founder, Sadio Diatta Rosche, was in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. Over the course of the last 2 quarters of 2008 while in the United States, Sadio collected a quantity of donations from benefactors in the Washington and Boston areas in the form of clothing and school supplies which she had shipped to the project sites. Other contributions were in the form of sponsorships for specific children in the group to cover their school fees and other essential expenses. Sadio's stay in Africa was the opportunity to distribute these contributions, and to deliver the sponsorship contributions hand-to-hand to the children's parents, or to pay their school fees directly.

GlobalGiving donations helped to cover some of the cost of shipping the school supplies, and also made it possible for the group to expand the number of adult literacy classes provided to the children's parents from 1 class to 3 classes. It is the project's hope to be able to have a locale of its own rather than depending on borrowed space in a neighborhood school, but in the meantime, GlobalGiving's generous subscribers have made it possible to cover the transportation stipends allowing the volunteer teachers to provide the instruction.

Ussoforal officially came into being on March 30, 2000 when it was formally recognized and registered by the Government of Guinea-Bissau as a non-profit, non-governmental organization. So this year marked the group's 9th anniversary! It was celebated in style with dance performances by Ussoforal's children and numerous popular local singing artists who performed free-of-charge to show their support for the group. It was an opportunity for friends, family and neighbors to join together in the name of helping to make the children's dreams come true. The 10th anniversary next year, with your continued support, can only be an even bigger success.

On behalf of Ussoforal's children, thank you from the bottom of my heart.