African Night raises £300

Well done to our very own Julia, who held a fundraising event last night at Durham University.

Just to say the African evening last night was fantastic and raised £300 for Hoja :)

There was Cameroonian storytelling, African board games (eg mancala, bantumi etc), Egyptian belly dancing, food, bongo flava, film, Phil's Tz slides (thanks!) and lots and lots of DRUMMING!!! It was held in the upstairs of a bar and we covered it in kanga and kitenge decorations and candles.

Excellent.

Hoja Update

Since I last posted on this site the Hoja Project has become a registered charity in the UK (no. 1111350), and our aims have been updated. A video is being put together of the Hoja site in Mpandangindo village, and we will have a new website in the near-ish future. We have had a very constructive meeting with Paul Temple of the Luhimba Project, with whom we hope to share knowledge and ideas. We're looking into ways of accepting on-line donations.

Studios Tour Raises £690

On Saturday, I went on a tour around a film studios in London, where they are making a blockbuster feature film coming out this autumn.. There were two tours of twelve people - one in the morning and one in the afternoon - and the money raised went to the Hoja Project.

Each tourist paid £25 pounds for the privilege, except those who chose to make larger donations, and the final figure raised was £690. It was money well spent, even including the train fare I incurred from Exeter, to attend such an informative and, for a slightly unhinged film buff such as myself, mindlessly exciting experience.

So a big thank you goes to all involved in organising the tour for us. Also, of course, to all the lovely people who attended the tour.

[EDIT 14th June: Now it's £755 apparently. Job well done.]

[EDIT 28th June: Just been informed the grand total is now £840.]

[EDIT 24th July: It just keeps going up and up... £865.]