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Flo’s Jewellery and Gifts was created to help African women and children impacted by the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Since visiting Kenya in the summer of 2007 and personally seeing the devastation and stigmatism caused by this disease, I vowed to do more than volunteering daily at the Ecumenical Day Care and Support Women Project in Ngong Town, on the outskirts of Nairobi. I returned to the Centre in August 2009 and will continue to visit every year.

The Ecumenical Centre helps women and children who are impacted by HIV / AIDS. Some of its members are aging grandmothers who must go back to work in order to care for their orphaned grandchildren. Women are employed by the Centre for their Beadwork skills. They make fabulous jewellery, some of which I bring and sell for them here in Toronto.

The Ecumenical Centre also provides the women with counseling, group therapy, emotional support, nutritional guidance and home-based care for the sick. As well, it arranges for the women to obtain the anti-viral drugs free of charge from the hospital. Unfortunately, when the anti-viral drugs are taken without food - in short supply for these women and children – they become sicker.

Studies have shown that drinking goat’s milk daily boosts the immune system of people living with HIV / AIDS. As a result, the dairy goat project was born to provide nourishment for the families. The Centre hopes to give each woman a dairy goat, so the family will have fresh goat’s milk to drink every day.

In addition, The Ecumenical Centre created “The Revolving Fund” to help the women become empowered by starting their own small business. The women need only $5 or $10 to get started. Monies donated to The Revolving Fund are loaned to the women at a low interest rate. Once a woman’s business is started, the loan is repaid and the money goes back into the fund to help other women on the waiting list. (“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime”).

My most recent undertaking was a promise to solicit donations to The Revolving Fund to help these women get started and on their way to regaining some of their dignity.

Please contact me if you would like to donate to this or any of the Ecumenical Centre’s projects.

Please note that 100% of all donations will go towards helping to improve the livelihood of a member of The Ecumenical Centre.

Thank you for visiting my website.

Floreen Forde

"Wonderful things happen when compassion becomes more than a feeling and develops into action. Someone always benefits when you reach out and help."