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In the News
Sprauve School Students Reach Out |  | |
1/31/12
Julius E. Sprauve School students Tuesday reached across the Atlantic Ocean to help an HIV-positive orphan in South Africa. After watching a video filmed at the Vhutshilo Mountain School in Venda, the students made their contribution by buying baked goods and ice cream at a lunch hour sale.
The students who saw the first of two presentations by Cristina Kessler, a St. John resident who lived in Africa and writes children's books with an African theme, were in the younger grades. They were most impressed by the dancing done and by the sports they played. Indeed, when the video showed the students playing soccer, the students cheered them on.
Jerry Smith, 6, liked the part about the soccer best, but Disnalyin Ramirez, 7, had another favorite.
"When they were playing ring around the rosy," she said.
While the Vhutshilo students played games and studied their lessons just like the students at Sprauve, there was one big difference. The Vhutshilo students are mostly HIV positive and orphans.
"I feel sad for them because they don't have no mom and dad to take care of them," Briana Perez, 9, said.
Bryce Sharpe, 8, suggested that without parents, they must feel lonely.
The students raised money to help support Anza M. Assistant Principal Brenda Dalmida said the schools goal was to raise $600 to $1,000 through the bake and ice cream sale. Kessler said it will take $1,500 a year to pay for Anza's medications, food, clothes, and someone to care for him. She said she recently raised some money at a fundraiser and will make up the difference with that funding.
Vhutshilo is assisted by a program called Hope for Limpopo, a non-profit organization based in Easthampton, Mass. aimed at helping women and children in the Limpopo province. It was started by two former Peace Corps volunteers who worked in Africa.
Kessler said the program hopes to use the efforts at Sprauve as a model for other schools to follow. She said that the Vhutshilo program is successful. In addition to an education, the students get meals and instruction on the proper use of the HIV medication that keeps them healthy.
"Without the school, not only would they not be well, they wouldn't be alive," Kessler said.
Dalmida acknowledged that families across the territory must make tough economic decisions, but compared to the Vhutshilo students, she added, St. John students are blessed.
"Parents give them way too much stuff," she said.
To learn more about Hope for Limpopo, visit www.hopeforlimpopo.org [2]. The video viewed by the students can also be seen at the website.
Published on St. John Source (http://stjohnsource.com)
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Hope Alive |  | | | VMS children wear donated dresses |
4/3/2011
Hope is alive in Limpopo
Read the full article on masslive.com.
Back in December, the Sunday Republican shared the story of 8-year-old Julia M. Callini and her 6-year-old sister Sabrina E. Callini, of West Springfield, who were working with their grandmother, Karen N. Callini, of Westfield to sew dresses for little girls in Africa.
C & W recently received a photograph showing that the dresses arrived safely in Limpopo, a province of South Africa.
The dresses were dispatched through the Hope for Limpopo charity organized by Nancy Amanti, of Westfield, and friends Jo Ann and the late Vaughn Churchill. The Churchills were inspired to create the charity after they returned from living in eastern and southern Africa as Peace Corps volunteers.
Amanti reports that the children - including some little boys who are now receiving some "baggies," short pants designed by some inventive volunteer sewers - are relishing their new clothes! Factor in the fact that a Westfield company stepped up to help cover the costs of postage to send the clothing, and support for Hope for Limpopo is growing by leaps and bounds!
Springfield Republican, Cries & Whispers 4/3/2011
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Callini Family |  | | | Julia and Sabrina Callini showcase dresses they made with their grandmother for VMS |
12/18/2010
Westfield's Callini family contributes to 'Hope for Limpopo'
Read the full article on masslive.com.
Eight-year-old Julia M. Callini stands on the tips of her toes and tucks a personal note in the pocket of one of the 30 dresses she, her sister and grandmother have made. Her 6-year-old sister, Sabrina E. Callini,agrees that placing the surprise notes and small gifts such as bracelets in the pockets is her favorite part of their project. "I wish I could be there to see their faces when they open them," she says of the little girls who will one day soon wear the brightly-colored creations. The dresses and notes are bound for Limpopo, a province of South Africa.
For the Callini sisters, daughters of Anthony P. and Stephanie R. Callini, of West Springfield,this holiday season has been about the spirit of giving a concept they have embraced whole-heartedly since their grandmother, Karen N. Callini, of Westfield, taught them how to sew simple dresses from pillow cases and discarded remnants of fabric used to create quilts. "It feels pretty cool," said Julia. "I'm hoping that the girls will like wearing the dresses."
Nancy Amanti, a founder of Hope for Limpopo, the charity receiving the donation of the dresses, assures the sisters that their gift will be met with great delight by the Limpopo girls who have never before worn brand-new clothing. "This will be such a thrill to them," she says. "They will be so excited to wear them."
The Callinis' road to Limpopo has been a circuitous one, paved by fate that began with a sewing program Karen saw on television and continued after a conversation with fellow yoga student Amanti who asked Callini, a quilter, if she could make a wall hanging for her. "I told her I didn't have time because I was making dresses for children in Africa," Callini says. "That's when Nancy told me she has a non-profit in Limpopo, so we decided to donate the dresses to her organization."
Amanti, along with friends Jo Ann and the late Vaughn Churchill, founded the Hope for Limpopo charity in 2004, which was incorporated a year later. The Churchills were inspired to create the charity after they returned from living in eastern and southern Africa as Peace Corps volunteers. In 2008, Vaughn Churchill, an artist and longtime Westfield educator, died of lung cancer. It was his wish that his wife and Amanti continue raising funds and awareness for Limpopo, Amanti says. "Vaughn said we needed to move forward," she says. "We brought some of his ashes to South Africa with us and left them in Limpopo where he would've wanted them where he had hoped he would have retired. We continue to carry hope to his African friends."
Upon learning of Hope for Limpopo, Callini recruited Julia and Sabrina to help with the project one designed to teach them the meaning of selflessness and giving while creating a significant bonding experience for the grandmother and her granddaughters. "The idea was to spend time with the girls, teach them how to sew and do something that would help others," Callini said. At first, Callini discovered among her quilting supplies enough fabric for 15 dresses. But, as the family's involvement in the mission increased, so, too, did the girls' excitement at the thought that their handiwork would provide poor children with much-needed clothing. Fifteen dresses then became 30 dresses in a myriad of colorful designs and patterns featuring pockets in contrasting colors pockets deep enough to hold the surprise notes and gifts. "We're excited about this project of love" Callini says. "The girls have learned so much and put a great deal of thought into the process. They even journal about it. They will remember this forever."
While large monetary donations to Hope for Limpopo are always appreciated, Amanti says it is the smaller, personal ones, such as the Callinis' work demonstrates, which will ultimately help transform the province from a poverty-ridden community in desperate need into one where a climate of hope can breed self-sufficiency.
"We always hoped that people would find some way to be part of Hope for Limpopo in a way that allows us to bond together in giving," Amanti says. "We believe everyone wants to help a kind word, an action, support for what we do. We open our arms to everything. Nothing is too small, and this is the perfect example of what we hope for something small that grows."
Springfield Republican - December 18, 2010
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Mission |  | | | Jo Ann and her late husband, Vaughn Churchill, are surrounded by the children they helped during their 2 year stint in the Peace Corps, from 98-2000, in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The Churchills were insrtumental in establishing Hope for Limpopo, a non-profit that provides support for the women and children of Limpopo Province. |
Mission a Tribute to late teacher
Westfield Evening News - 7/2009
It's been said that it takes a village. Sometimes, it takes a virtual village, would-be strangers united by cause and commitment.
For Jo Ann Churchill, of Easthampton, and Nancy Amanti, of Westfield, one such commitment had them boarding a plane on Wednesday for a 15-hour trans-Atlantic flight to Africa on a three-week fact-finding mission to further the work begun by Churchill and her late husband Vaughn, in Limpopo, South Africa's northernmost province.
It was a two-year stint in the Peace Corps 11 years ago that fueled the passion that would eventually give birth to a grassroots non-profit called Hope for Limpopo, which supports AIDS orphaned women preschoolers in the Limpopo Province and provides support to women and children victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.
During the two years they spent as Peace Corps volunteers, Vaughn, then a special education teacher at Moseley Elementary School, trained elementary school teachers, and Jo Ann, a therapist at Westfield State College, worked with women and children out of a local clinic, helping them find services, and spent time doing research to see what kinds of programs were available for women and children, particularly in abusive situations.
They witnessed firsthand the struggles of the people of Limpopo Province affected by HIV/AIDS. While there were established schools for the more privileged children, the younger survivors of the AIDS pandemic were frequently ostracized by family and neighbors, were often being raised by the "mmegogos" (grannies) and facing a future without hope.
"Vaughn was an amazing person," said Amanti. "he came back from the Peace Corps) knowing he wanted to help these babies, these children, in some way.
"Our close friendship began while they were in Africa," said Amanti, a fellow teacher at Moseley, who corresponded with the Churchills during their two-year stint.
The couple returned to Africa every summer from 2001 to 2004, and with Amanti's help, worked to establish Hope for Limpopo.
"It took a year to get the nonprofit accepted." said Amanti. "It kept getting kicked back to us, missing this or that," and was eventually accepted in 2006.
It was a high point on what had become a painful journey. On January 12, 2004, Vaughn Churchill was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.
"We put the whole thing on the back burner," said Amanti. "Vaughn's health took precedence. It was a long battle, but worthwhile."
"It gave us almost 5 yeas," said Churchill, "basically unheard of with stage IV lung cancer."
"We never dropped the nonprofit," said Amanti. "We just moved ahead more slowly."
Vaughn Churchill lost his personal battle on December 12, 2008, at the age of 55, but his dream lives on."
"We said, "we have no choice now," said Amanti. "We have to pick up and move forward with it in his memory."
Hope for Limpopo now helps support two programs that Vaughn and Jo Ann played an integral part in starting - the Vhutshilo Mountain School, which provides personalized care and education for orphans and children from kindergarten through second grade, and the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Program (TVEP), which provides support and advice to women and children victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.
"We've really moved forward in the past 7 months (since Vaughn's death)," said Amanti, establishing a web site, compiling a mailing list and meeting with a focus group.
"We're going over (to Africa) to get materials, information, to learn more about the women," who are spearheading the work in Africa - Sue-Ann Cook, the school's principal, Fiona Nicholson, head of TVEP, and Felicity Ingham, who handles finances for both programs.
"It's a bittersweet trip," she said. "Vaughn and Jo Ann thought they'd retire in Africa. We'll carry him in our hearts. Jo Ann and I will carry his ashes to his beloved adapted country, and we will carry continued hope to his African friends."
To learn more about Hope for Limpopo follow Amanti and Churchill's journey on their blog.
Westfield Evening News 7/16/2009
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