May 11, 2009
Hey guys
A practical thing! As some of you know I do sometimes have to do long distance travelling and would love to have some new reading for this time and so I have put together an Amazon Wish List of books I would love to get my hands on! (some are actually work related).
It can be found here.
Bendiciones
Andy
May 9, 2009
Hey everyone
I wanted to put a bit of a finance update on here so you guys can be praying for the situation, especially considering the present worldwide financial crisis.
Over the nine months since I arrived out here the rate between the boliviano and the pound has fallen drastically – when I arrived I was getting more or less 15 bolivianos to the pound and now it is less than 10 to the pound. This makes a drop in the amount I am receiving of over 30%, drastically reducing my budget. Also, with the difference in placement to when I was writing my budget before coming out, and the time I am spending in El Alto, I am now spending more than I originally thought on travel every week. All this has meant that my budget is very tightly stretched. Thank you to all of those who have helped out with this so far, however if you would like to consider giving either a monthly amount or a one off donation please contact myself or the finance department at Latin Link who can send you the relevant forms and details.
Bendiciones y amor
Andy
March 27, 2009
Hey everyone!
Just to let you know we have more than reached our target with the climbing project and so thank you very much – it means we can now go ahead with ordering once all the money has transferred. The extra we have raised we still go towards climbing equipment – we intend to buy at least one more rope and also a couple more harnesses and helmets.
If you still wish to give you can – any money raised from now on will go towards investing in some climbing shoes and possibly a set of half ropes.
Thank you so much for your support in this.
Bendiciones y muchos gracias
Andy
March 25, 2009
Hey everyone
Just to let you know I have set up a new JustGiving page for the climbing project. Please do consider giving to this project.
Bendiciones
Andy
March 23, 2009
Hey everyone
Thank you so much to those who donated money towards replacing the laptop. In the end I found a place that would replace the motherboard and upgrade my old laptop and I decided to go for this option as it turned out it would cost me a lot more than I had originally thought to replace it out here or get one sent over with a valid warranty. It also means I am not walking round with a brand spanking new laptop in La Paz…..
To be honest the cost of the new parts used up the majority of the funds that were donated – the little bit left over went toward a carpet for my new classroom in the school for ex-street children. (The classroom used to be a dingy very dirty basement – we have painted it and got a carpet for it).Will try and post some photos on facebook soon.
Bendiciones
Andy
March 20, 2009
Hey everyone
This week I have been in more conversations with climbing suppliers in the UK about the climbing project and I have managed to secure a new quote from Needle Sports in Keswick who can supply everything we need plus a couple of extra things we were considering for about £1,200 – with postage to a UK address.
Because of this we are now asking only for cash donations via Latin Link if you are a UK Tax Payer or direct to me if you are not a UK Tax Payer.
We will then have everything shipped to the UK address and I will collect all the equipment when I come to the UK for several weddings early in the summer. This means we will be much later starting the project but save us about 50% of the original costs.
Please do consider supporting this project – so far we have had little interest which has been quite disheartening both for the staff at the project and also for the children who are really excited about the project.
Bendiciones y amor
Andy
February 20, 2009
Hello everyone.
Just a bit of an update on the climbing project. This week I have managed to secure a 20% discount on all stock we purchase from Taunton Leisure. This now means they are the cheapest for all stock we are purchasing. If you are providing equipment for the project and are purchasing it from Taunton Leisure you will need to take the letter attached to the climbing project page to the store, or if buying online, will need to follow the instructions on the letter. Please be praying for talks with Ellis Brigham at the moment too.
On a totally different note please be praying as my laptop has decided to die and I have been told because it is an old model it cannot be fixed or will be not worth fixing due to the cost involved and the value of the laptop. This is not an expense I had expected to have to fork out and so if you would be interested in helping at all please do let me know. I need to replace it, preferably with another cheap mac as I am involved in a lot of design and video work with my placement and replacing it with a PC would involve buying new software as well. (There is no real price difference between the two here anyway!)
Sorry if this is a soley money related post!!
Things are going really well here, although very tired at the moment and have a lot to do over the weekend – which is four days long because it is carnival here! Pray also for patience as I teach as they are really some of the hardest kids to work with for obvious reasons.
Bendiciones
Andy
February 16, 2009
Hey everyone
At the moment we have had very little interest in the climbing project and no-one has pledged to buy anything. I feel this is a really worth-while project for people to be involved with, but at the moment we can not start it. It would be great to see this project set-up and running. We originally wanted to see the project set up at the end of this month but this is no longer possible due to the lack of interest.
If you would like to get involved please see the page climbing project and remember if you are buying one of the items please do let me know before buying it so we don’t double up on items.
Bendiciones and thank you for you support
Andy
February 5, 2009
Hey everyone
Just to let you know you will now find all the information you need on the Climbing Project page, if you do want to get involved with this.
Would be great to have this project set up and running by the middle of March.
Bendiciones
Andy
January 20, 2009
Hey everyone
Please pray for all of us out here as we are really feeling the brunt of the fall in the pound against the dollar. The news today of the pound going below 1.4 against the dollar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7839391.stm) really does not bode well for the majority of us out here. For example my budget in my finance package was worked out on a 15 bolivianos to the pound exchange rate – with present dollor to pound rates (1.386) we are getting less than 10 bolivianos to the pound. Please pray for all of us out here as we work out how to deal with this.
Bendiciones
Andy
