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cor.contact@gmail.com

506-654-3073

Update from Grace at Life in Africa

Cor here... in St. John's, Newfoundland, visiting friends Charlotte Reid, Carolyn Staple, and Ryan Davis. Charlotte has a clothing design studio ( ) at the back of Living Planet ( ) silk screen print shop. I've spent most of the past week in the studio making luxury hammocks on her industrial sewing machine and printing Action Hero Network labels for hammocks. The logo I created is pictured above. I silk screened the labels myself, which is something I've been wanting to learn a long time. Dave, who owns Living Planet, traded the labels for a hammock. He said, "I love trades!" ...works for me.

Last Saturday, I sold hammocks at the farmer's market, and will be there again this week. Friday at noon I'll be interviewed on CBC radio to talk about the project and direct people to the farmers market. NTV, Newfoundland Television, will meet me at the market for an on-camera interview.

Today, I meet with Nicky and Stephan at Hempware to settle a deal to retail hammocks in their store.

Below is an email I received this morning from Grace at Life in Africa in Kampala, Uganda, the artist collective we are supporting that will soon be making hammocks to sell and give to orphans.

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I am so sorry that i could not get back to you immediately. It's so hard to deal with somethings, because I have just received money for the same this week from Evvy and yesterday we bought the materials, and the total amount was $ 352, which I think is meant for the hammocks and the boy's fees. she also forwarded a bank charge which totaled $148 and am sure that's why the amount is less. I have also confirmed where the boy studies from. He is at Grace primary school in Gulu . I have some person whom I still trust there and will be able to work with. So am intending to send the money for fees for him. I think we shall make less hammocks now that the money has gone down. I am really so sorry that things have been very slow on our side but hope to make up for that. I am going to try and contact a lady who has come from Canada and is here if she will be able to bring back the hammocks. We shall try and make at least 15 of them.

I also received $1000 from Evvy for the beads and we were waiting from you to know if the money was for the beads that you took from the gallery or the ones sent directly by Norman which directly belongs to the ladies, I still have this money with me and will need a confirmation from you before i take any steps. So please let me know.

Corry am so excited that at long last work will begin. I shall get the pictures up immediately we begin the sewing.

Thanks and lots of love from,

Grace

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Grace.... that's great to hear that you are ready. When I was in Kampala, I purchaced a roll of fabric for $90, which made 20 hammocks. These were child-size hammocks, but you should be able to make 15 hammocks per roll of fabric. $350 could make 45 hammocks, which includes thread and needles. I'll add the ropes here.

As for the bead money, I don't have anything to do with the beads Norman took. The $1000 is for the beads I took, and I'll send more when I sell the rest. Contact Norman and ask him about what he owes.

I'll email Ben Koot and work on shipping the hammocks here.

I just printed a bunch of labels for the hammocks, with the action hero network logo. I'm also setting up stores here to sell them.

Perfect... keep me posted!

Great work.

-Cor

We are in busy-ness!!!

I had a great summer festival tour, and lately, Mr. Funbags has been selling hammocks on the boardwalk at home in Saint John when cruise ships are in harbor. Yesterday, Queen Mary, one of the largest ships in the world came to visit. I didn't sell any hammocks, but one of the tourists I met, Joe, works for CVS Pharmacy and donates drugs to those in need all over the world. He gave me his contact info to talk more about sending meds to Uganda and Mexico.

Sterling Rope company donated a pallet of webbing for the project, which could be worth as much as $30,000 and tonight I got this email from Grace at Life in Africa in Uganda.... so we are in busy-ness!!!



Hi Cory,

Hope you are still doing well. I am sure now we are ready to go on from there..

We have been discussing with Evvy and Christina the possibility of doing the hammocks here in Kampala since for now it's Kampala who is the custody of everything from Gulu including the sewing machines. We have hope that if you do agree with our idea , then we shall bring Santa down to Kampala to help the ladies here get started. Our main concern though is how to get the hammocks to you when they are ready, because my fear is that we may not get somebody to take them back and we may get stuck with them. I was of the opinion that if we could get some provision for shipping them, then this would be more reliable, this is just an idea, you possibly may be having something different.

Thanks Cory so much for your continuous assistance towards our cause.Hope we shall continue to work together for the betterment of more people's lives.

I am working on the info about the boy you are sponsoring, and I will be in Gulu hopefully next week and get you all the details.

Thanks Cory,
Grace

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from Ben Koot:

Hi Cory,

As to the excess baggage & cargo space idea, if we come up with a clear picture we can contact my friend Thomas Steinmetz.at http://www.eturbonews.com/ and explain your ideas. thomas@etn.travel eTurbonews http://eturbopr.com/about/ has close ties with development initiatives, UN and others and has a readership of over 500.000 travel trade professionals and journalists. All we need to do is draft one good press release and publish it on this network which should basically solve the distribution issue.

Can we work on that together? You know the local conditions and you have a clear picture. I have a vision to set up a distribution platform for more than just hammocks (the VT box Norman told you about. This has the potential to be turned into a real valuable distribution concept


Cheers
Ben Koot

Ghettoblaster Rollercoaster Floating Couch Tour

I'm in Edmonton, Alberta, headed to the Shambhala festival in BC, busy making hammocks and about to send a package to Norman in Uganda via Chris in Toronto who is flying there this week. The package holds ID photos of the kids in Norman's school, penpal letters from 5th grade kids at Forest Hills school, veggie seeds and $200 for fabric and rope to make 40 hammocks. I sent $1000 to Life in Africa USA last week for the rest of the beads sold thus far, plus $500 to get them started in the hammock busy-ness.

I bought a light-weight sewing machine for $100 to make hammocks while in the car driving across this vast country through small towns, around great lakes and straight in big sky prairies. The machine sat on an Atlas, on my knees, hooked in to the cigarette lighter, which worked great until I started sewing fun fur into a hammock when I got to Edmonton. Yesterday I took it to get fixed, and ended up buying a sweet new machine that should stitch through anything. I'll be at Shambhala and We Are Many (Saskatoon, Aug 20-22), selling hammocks and seeking people who'd like to go to Mexico for the Mazatlan Awareness Festival, and go to Uganda to visit Norman's village to develop his school and play in the mountains.

I'm at a net cafe with one eye on the parking meter, so I'll make this short. I'll create a facebook photo album sharing our cross country journey on the Ghetoblaster Rollercoaster Floating Couch.

Wishing you all a fun-filled summer,
Mr. Funbags

How we build Virtual Bunabumali

“It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.”

The follow was copied from Bunabumali Chronicle, at http://bunabumalivt.tumblr.com/ by Ben Koot.

A year ago I started the VT Bunabumali challenge with nothing but the big picture of building the school rebuilding the dormitory and taking care of the childern. All I had was this picture and no idea what Bunabumali looked like, nor any experience in running such a project. The little information I had on Africa was what I’d learned during my days in the travel industry, so not realy related to coaching people on-line on topics I was not familiar with.

When folks in the North are asked for assistance, the natural response is; “Write a businessplan” Norman had done that, like many thousands of other people in africa that try connect to NGO’s, on-line volunteer services and other institutions. Over the past year, I have seen a lot of these plans for other development initiatives, based on questions relating to starting a business, with the aim of satisfying the needs of the donor organisation instead of the the needs on the ground.

Even trying to apply for a moderate microcredit involves anwering impossible questions, created by people that had little idea of local conditions. We have trried a number of organisations but were unsuccessfull, which got me thinking…

Continue reading at http://bunabumalivt.tumblr.com/

A Sew Machine that Changed the World.

Shortly after returning from Uganda, I was asked to speak to a Rotary Club. A man with a smart tone said to me, "Do you think the Africa problem will ever be solved?"

I've heard this pessimistic line of reasoning before. It is a cop-out for really caring about individual people who deserve no less than you or I.

Africa is a very large continent and people living there face many difficulties. The way I look at... if we can help one kid, then we changed the world for that kid. If we can do something for a school, then we can change the world for a village.

Since noon, I've been on the sewing machine, and it is now 9:30pm. This is where I began, at this time last year, sewing to raise funds for the project. I've made lots of hammocks and many people are feeling more rested and relaxed. With the profits, I was able to go Uganda and donate four sewing machines to two non-profits with enough fabric to make 20 hammocks for each.

In Uganda, I shot 11 hours of video, and yesterday, Steve at Hemmings House gave me the software to start editing a movie to share the experience and promote the non-profit projects I worked with: Life in Africa, and Good Samaritan Orphan and Needy school. Andrew MacCormack at Hemmings House had loaned me the video camera. They are also teaching me how to use the editing software, and will offer advice on the storyboard, so those boys are heroes in my books.

Two large bags of beads came home with me from Life in Africa. Thus far, with the help of friends and students at Mona Heights and Forest Hills School, we've sold over $2000 worth of beads. $1000 has already been sent, and another $1500 will be sent soon. Money transfers cost $45, so we want to send as much as we can all at once. If you want to buy some beads, I still have another bag full. Just give a call: 506-654-3073 or email: cor.contact@gmail.com

On top of the bead money, $200 will go to pay for Daniel Olara's school fees, and $300 will go to buy fabric for Norman to make more hammocks to sell, which should more than triple that investment. Now we need to find inexpensive transportation to carry hammocks from Uganda to North America. We are also looking to find markets in Uganda, and other places in Africa. Your suggestions will be welcome.

This project isn't about making money for people in Uganda. The mission is to create a center in Uganda that teaches people how to live in harmony with nature, without money. It will be a place for travelers and locals to share ideas. We get a great experience and they get a school-- but who wants to be in school, right? We want a life-style that allows us to be creative and free. Hammocks are just the beginning. If you want to go to an amazing place and live with lovely people, Norman's family will host you in Bunabumali. A hammock is waiting.

The following link takes you to Siena's journal, which has a great little slide show of photos from her recent trip to Good Samaritan Orphan and Needy school. You'll see the kids are wearing new bright gold school uniforms, made using the sewing machine we gave them.

http://siena-anstis.livejournal.com/

A lot of people contributed to make this project a success. Stephanie at Market Square was one of the first supporters, allowing free space at Buskers festival to sell hammocks. That event is coming up next weekend... I'll have to ask her again. Carolyn at Sterling Rope donated webbing, and recently asked if I needed more. Elaine at Cultures in Fredericton bought seven hammocks, and sold six thus far... so I need to ask if she wants more. Mike at Albert Draperies donated fabric for kids at Forest Hills School, Beaconsfield, Mona Heights and Rothesay High to make hammocks(see photo... my students in music class at Forest Hills).

I could go on and on about those involved... but I need to get back to sewing hammocks, because I don't have much time to get a bunch ready for the festivals.

BIG THANKS to everyone who took part, and bought hammocks and beads! Don, Amy, Barb, Philip, Irene, Donna, Lisa, Jen, Shawn, Glen, Debbie, Mike, Karenann, Bre, Megan, Ela, Chris, George, Norman, Esther, Francis, Kate, Leanne, Joey... and the rest... you've made a dream come true!

<3