Distribution Team

2011 Peru Distribution Team

Our 2011 Peru Distribution Team will visit our various porjects in Peru and distribute the funds that our Eat So They Can hosts worked so hard to raise.

Here's the team!

• Eliza Raymond
• Jessica Smith (2010 Ambassador)
• Amanda Golden (Grand Prize Winner 2010)
• Katie Quinn
• Gaby Marden
• Hannah VandeVelde
• Janice Chia
• Gigi Lau
• Dorian DeHaan Rossi
• Fallon Rossi
• Carter Stapleton
• Julie King

We are looking forward to hear how the trip goes upon the team's return. Keep checking back to our webpage, blog and facebook to see the photos and read the stories!

Kenya 2010 Trip Reflections, Alicia Hill

Alicia Hill was a team member on our 2010 Kenya Distribution Trip. Here's what she had to say about her experience.

I knew that the money raised through the Eat So They Can program was going towards beating child poverty in Africa, but until I became part of the distribution team I didn’t really have my head around what that involved, and just how hard the GVN staff and volunteers work with its partner organisations to make sure the money goes to the right resources and the right projects. You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t touched by the passion of the GVN staff and volunteers, and their selfless dedication to provide opportunity for underprivileged children.

Throughout the trip we visited a number of children’s homes and schools. Some of the stories we were told about how the kids came to be there were heart wrenching. One little girl was found abandoned in a latrine. Another orphaned when his parents lost the battle with HIV/AIDS. Another found wandering the slum alone at 9 months old. Each child has her/his own story, and each story is about struggle and survival. The absolute opposite to the story I am fortunate enough to tell.

We also visited several IDP camps, including Pipeline, in the Great Rift Valley. It’s hard to believe that a place of such vast beauty can harbour the shadows of the political violence that displaced over 6000 people from their homes. The IDP camps touched me the most. The people living there had something. They had homes, farms, and businesses that were forcibly taken from them. And now they live in tents with little more than the memories of this violence. Yet they remain so focused and optimistic and I am awed and inspired by their attitude. People would cry ‘poor me’ in my community, and most simply wouldn’t cope. I don’t think I would.

GVNF and the GVN volunteers are doing amazing things in these camps, children’s homes and schools. Each project is so different in terms of their needs, and much thought is given to where funding and resources can best be used. I was most impressed with how closely GVN works with its local partner organisation to find out what these needs are, and to make sure that all funds and resources are provided and being used in the right way. I was also impressed to see funds and resources being filtered into education and income generating projects designed to sustain economic and social welfare and empower the people.

The whole experience was quite humbling, and every day I think about how I can make Eat So They Can 2010 even more successful than the previous year, both on a personal level and for the GVN Foundation. It truly was an amazing experience and I feel privileged to be part of the distribution team. So if you know someone who is hosting a dinner, please give a donation, however large or small because it all adds up and can really go a long way. I’ve seen it first hand! Or better still, host your own dinner! It’s a great excuse to get your family and friends together and you can be assured that any funds you raise will be used to help put smiles on the faces of children somewhere in the lesser developed world! Priceless!