ROAR

: ROAR charity celebrates the generosity of Australian school children

2009-08-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

Dear friends

We are delighted to invite you to our 4th annual fundraising event which will be held at Bondi Pavilion, The High Tide room, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Beach; on Saturday, 26th September from 6pm to 9pm.

This year we are celebrating the generosity of Australian School children. We are encouraging local kids to put their hands out and help less fortunate children in Rwanda. The proceeds from our previous fundraisings have been used to purchase uniforms and school materials for more than 500 children, purchased health care cards for over 1000 children at Linganwe School. Our priority is to raise enough money to buy shoes for 1038 children and then uniforms and school materials for those who don’t have them currently.

Ticket price is just $35 because we want everyone to take part. Bring friends and family and have a fun time supporting a worthy cause. Your ticket entitles you to free entertainment, wine, beers and soft drinks as well as food to keep you on your feet. The fashion is on a lower key with model installations rather than walking the run way. (Please see official invite attached for more details).

How you can help:
Get your children involved. We are asking school age children to organise a fundraiser (sausage sizzle etc) and raise money for us. They will be filmed doing the fundraiser and a short film of their combined efforts will be shown on the night
offer up your product or services for our silent auction, raffle or lucky door prize- your logo will be included on our flyer and website
Donate some cash
Buy a ticket and come along
Volunteer for the day (Sat 26th Sept)
Tickets can be bought at Moshtix by clicking on the link below

https://www.moshtix.com.au/event.aspx?id=29241&ref=ROAR
Or by calling 1300 438 849. You can also visit moshtix outlets near you to purchase your ticket there http://www.moshtix.com.au/faq/Outlets.aspx

Together we can instil a sense of self-worth and give hope for a brighter future to these kids who are the future leaders of our world.

Looking forward to seeing you there. If you can’t attend and would like to give a donation, you can:

still log on to Moshtix to give your donation
send us a cheque addressed to ROAR inc and post it to GPO BOX 3481 SYDNEY NSW 2001
transfer money into ROAR account: Rwandan Orphans Assistance Response Inc, Westpac: BSB 032016 Account 293502.

Fore more information on previous events please visit our website. http://roarcharity.blogspot.com/

We thank you in advance for your generosity and your continuous support. We hope to see you there.

Kind regards

Lily Nyamwasa
On behalf of ROAR committee

Entertainment Book 2009-2010!!

2009-04-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

Have a great time whilst supporting R.O.A.R!

The Entertainment Book contains hundreds of discounts from 25% to 50% off, to hundreds more discounts with two-for-one offers from the best and most popular restaurants, cinemas, hotels, the arts, and sporting events in your area, so it really pays for itself in no time at all.

The cost is $65; and $13 from every book sold by R.O.A.R. goes directly towards the R.O.A.R. fundraising initiative.

Please find the order form by clicking on this link. http://www.kramware.com/temp/roar.pdf

Please send completed order forms by email to kavithap21@hotmail.com.
Your books should be available for pick up, delivery or mailing within 10 days.

If you would like to view the discounts available please visit http://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/

If you are unable to access the link or have any other questions in relation to this fundraising initiative, please email kavithap21@hotmail.com.

Photos of the children taken by Kavitha & Patrick last january 2009

2009-03-20T01:10:00.000-07:00

Kavitha Prakash & Patrick Mulligan's visit to Linganwe school January 2009

2009-03-20T01:08:00.001-07:00

Kavitha and Patrick offered to visit the school on our behalf last january. they had the pleasure of witnessing first hand where our funds go. they helped distribute Uniforms etc. here is what they have to say in their own words:

Nearly two hours after leaving bustling Kigali and following the windy roads through the ‘thousand hills’ of Rwanda we find ourselves on a mud road in a small village. Children and young women run out of their homes which line the road, waving and cheering ’Komera! Komera!’. Some shy, stare in curiosity through their innocent brown eyes, hiding behind their mothers skirts. Some run up to the car windows shouting ‘Mzungu! Mzungu!’, trying to hi-five us as we drive pass - one eager hand after the other. Others show us their best talents breaking into African dancing and sometimes a chorus of powerful voices sing to welcome us. And what a welcome!
It had been raining heavily for a few days and our fantastic host Janet opted on a detour through slightly better mud roads to reach the R.O.A.R. School in Linganwe. Here we pass through well manicured green rice fields, littered perfectly with sunflowers, bright against the blue skies of Africa. Children continue to run towards us waving in excitement. Excitement we too share. Some are happy for us to take pictures and even happier when we show them the picture taken. Mothers show off their beautiful, content, babies tied firmly to their backs as they pick tea or plough the fields. Most of these children wear their school uniforms as they play by the road or work in the fields. Even though today is in fact, a school holiday.
After getting Janet’s car heavy with school uniforms, out of a bog, we drive up a steep hill towards the gates of the R.O.A.R. school. The cheers of hundreds of children send our hearts beating with excitement. As soon as we turn into the gates of the school we find ourselves in amongst hundreds and hundreds of eager children with curious eyes, all waiting patiently for their new school uniforms to mark the new school year. As we exit the car I call out ‘Muraho!’ (one of the few greetings we have mastered) and the children in perfect sync, simply and beautifully, chant ‘Muraho…’. I cant help but repeat my greeting, the sound of their voices chanting ‘Muraho..’ all together vibrates through our hearts and across the land. Gathering in front of our camera lens many kids reach their hand out to shake our hands. If only I could have shaken every child’s hand – a touching experience of pure innocence welcoming us into their lives for a day. I cannot explain their happy eyes, mostly serious yet smiling. Many of the kids are wearing their old uniforms, marked with the dirt of the years past, some have patches sewn together to make them last another school year.
With our little knowledge of Kinyarwanda, we repeat different combinations of greetings:
‘Muraho’ (Hello)
‘Mwiriwe’ (Good afternoon)
Us asking, ‘A makuru!’ (You well?) always shocked the children and they would reply with surprise, ‘Nimeza..’ (Well..)
We walk over the red earth grounds of the school making more friends along the way. Soon we arrive at the doors of a cleared classroom to be welcomed by the principal and to meet with the teachers. The teachers are seated by the wooden desk and Pierre our translator translates both French and Kinyarwanda. They welcomed us to their school. They thank us for taking the time to come and visit. They thank us for representing R.O.A.R. in handing out the uniforms on the day. They explain that it’s a school holiday so most of the children are not in school.
The principal attempts to get in contact with the local Health Minister by phone, as we had hoped to also hand out the Health Cards to the children today. But being a holiday it was difficult to get in contact with the representative and this was postponed to a future visit instead.
During all this the children surround the open windows and doors of the classroom - all peeking through the squares of the window, curious and excited. We are distracted by their presence - waving at and shaking as many little hands as possible.
Later we make our way over to wooden tables prepared for the 600 uniforms. The girls uniforms are bright blue collared dresses and the boys uniforms are Khaki collared shirts with matching shorts.
Parents from the village assist in unloading the uniforms from the boot of Janet’s car to the tables. The children are queued up outside their classrooms for roll call. Once they have a list of all their students that are present, the children hover around us anxiously. The sun beats down on us in all its glory.
One by one the teacher of each classroom, call the names and one by one a child comes forward to either Paddy or I to receive their bright new school uniforms. For the girls, we check the uniform reaches pass the knees and the size is close to their actual size or slightly bigger – in the hope this uniform will last them as long as possible. For the boys we ensure the shorts fit around their waist and the shirts broad enough for their growing shoulders. The experience is incredible - an incredible opportunity. The children timid and quiet say ‘Merci beaucoup’ or ‘Murakoze’ (Thank you). Its hard not to notice that most children are not wearing shoes.
Many of the names called are not at school today. We are told many of the children are at home taking care of their younger siblings either because their parents are working in the fields or in worst cases because they are orphaned. The orphan children are supported by nearby relatives or neighbours where possible, but they tend to live in their own huts without adult supervision, taking care of their younger siblings daily needs.
After three hours we have called out all the childrens names but still have many uniforms for those children that have not been able to return to school on this holiday. The decision is made for Janet to return to the school, hopefully with us, to hand out the remaining uniforms on a school day in two weeks. On this day it is hoped that the Health Care cards should be available for distribution as well.
After packing the car boot with the remaining uniforms, the teachers invite us into their 2m by 2m staff room. Here we are offered soft drinks to cool us down from the immense heat. On the wall are the statistics that sadden, the number of children who do have shoes to those that don’t. I hope this could be one of our targets for fund raising for ROAR in Sydney this coming year and another representative from ROAR could visit the school to witness the joy on a child’s face.
From this experience in Rwanda and many other countries in Africa we find we are stripped down to the core of humanity. These children who have nothing and want for only the basic needs of food, shelter and water, wear glorious smiles and souls of gold. They don’t have the pleasure of a childhood and through to their adult lives they struggle to succeed. For what good we can do, from a world far away from Rwanda, the empowering of the many children in Africa with the privilege of health and education needs to be priority.
It was a privilege to be given the opportunity to visit the R.O.A.R. school and experience for a mere day what life in this school involves. It is great to see first hand what the efforts of Lily and the sponsors in Australia, create in a small community school in rural Rwanda. From this one school to many more schools across Rwanda the possibility seems endless.
We hope to join your team of volunteers to help promote ROAR throughout Sydney and make our friends, family, colleagues and greater community, aware of the efforts and the result of the efforts, of the ROAR team to date. We would be privileged to offer our time and energy in becoming involved in fund raising events and to promote awareness of the cause in day-to-day life.

Thanks again for this life changing opportunity.
Best Wishes
Kavitha Prakash & Patrick Mulligan

A huge thank you to Riverside Girls high School for raising money for ROAR

2009-02-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

ROAR team would like to say thank you to Rivershide Girls high school for raising money and for donating school materials for ROAR charity.

Kind regards

ROAR Team

We would like to thank Black & White team for raising $14,000 for us

2008-07-04T06:41:00.000-07:00

Joel Betts and Bianca Venuti-Hughes and friends joined forces to fundraise for ROAR. Here are some of the selected photos from the Black and white party.

Thank you again for your tremendous support

Lily

some fashion parade photos from ROAR fashion fundraising night

2007-12-03T03:20:00.001-08:00

ROAR fundraiser 15 September 2007

2007-12-03T03:12:00.003-08:00

Thank you to the organising team for doing a fantastic job. ROAR fundraiser raised $50,000. This is a huge success and no doubt this money will help a lot of children at Linganwe school. We have investigated at possibilities of implimenting feeding programs at school. Unfortunately we will not be able to proceed with this project at this stage. It's very difficult to do such project without a good team on ground to supervise how all goes however if we could find a volunteer to go and supervise this project we will definetely look into it. the second item on the children wish list was health card. This looks more feasible to us. we will update you once we have implemented this project. Please visit our website for more update

ROss & Karen's visit to Linganwe September 2007

2007-12-03T03:01:00.000-08:00

BOOK YOUR TICKET NOW

2007-06-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

Purchase your ticket online www.moshtix.com.au or from any of the outlets below:

ASHFIELD: Music Front Ashfield, SHOP 46 ASHFIELD MALL
BALMAIN: Fish Records Balmain, 289 Darling St.
BONDI BEACH : Electric Monkeys, 78-80 Gould St
BONDI JUNCTION: The Music Shop Bondi Jct, Shop 5050, Level 5, Westfield 500 Oxford St
BROOKVALE: Mall Music, Shop 519 Warringah Mall
CASTLE HILL: Castle Records, Shop 317 Castle Towers
COOGEE: Coogee Bay Hotel, CNR Arden & Coogee Bay Rd
CRONULLA: Fantasy Sight & Sound, 109 Cronulla St
DARLINGHURST: Central Station Records, Upstairs 46 Oxford St
DEE WHY: Sandys Music, 870 Pittwater Rd
FORSTER: Forster Sound, Shop 3/41 Wharf St
GOSFORD: Leading Edge Music, Shop 10M Imperial Centre
HAYMARKET: Soul Clap Records, Shop F3B 683 George St
LEICHHARDT: Fish Records Leichhardt, 51 Norton St Norton Plaza
NARELLAN: Ace Music, Shop 25 Narellan Town Centre 330 Camden Valley Way
NEWCASTLE: RockShop, 517 Hunter Street
NEWCASTLE - HAMILTON: Beaumont Street Beat, 3 / 34 Beaumont St
NEWTOWN: Fish Records Newtown, 261 King St
NOWRA: Society Streetwear & Boards, Shop 29, Nowra Mall, 20 Junction St
PARRAMATTA: Beat Disc, Shop 11 181 Church St
PENRITH: Re-Pressed Records, 4/521 High Street
SYDNEY CBD: Red Eye Records, 66 King Street
SYDNEY CBD: Red Eye Shop 3, 370 Pitt Street
WARRIEWOOD: Leading Edge Music, Shop 56, Centro Warriewood
WETHERILL PARK : Music Front Wetherill Park, SHOP 31 Stockland Wetherill Park
WOLLONGONG: Redback Music, 133 Crown St

Want to join the organising team?

2007-04-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

We are looking for volunteers to join our organising team to make the charitable night of 15 September 07 successful. Please give us a call on 0415 672 247 or drop us an email on info@roarcharity.org if you are interested. we are looking people with strong background in marketing and Public relations, event management and telemarketing.

Thank you letters from children at Linganwe school

2007-04-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

These letters were translated from Kinyarwanda to English

Thank you letter from year 4 students at Linganwe Primary School

Thank you for giving us opportunity to go back to School.

On behalf of all the students of year 4 we are touched by your thoughtfulness.

Thank you for thinking us from far away in Australia.

Thank you very much

Year 4 students at Linganwe School

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeanne Mukamana
Year 5
Linganwe Primary School
BUTARE RWANDA

28 September 2006

Re: Thank you

Thank you for your kindness and your golden heart. May God give you more blessings and more wealth.

Thank you for giving us the chance to go back to school. Without your help we could not afford to go to school.

My young siblings and I had dropped out of school because we did not have the means to go to school. Now we are at school and we are doing really well.

We promise not to let you down. We are the future leaders of Rwanda.

Thank you

Jeanne Mukamana
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Olivier Ntwali
Year 6 school Captain
Linganwe Primary School
Kibingo-Butare
28 September 2006

To ROAR Members
Australia

re: Thank you

Dear ROAR members

Firstly, we would like thank you. Words are not enough to express how greatful we are. You will not regret helping us. We will work hard to make you proud . We promise to study hard and have the better future that you wish for us.

May Peace be with you.

Olivier Ntwali
Year 6 Captain

Mark Saturday, 15th September 2007 in your diary

2007-04-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

This September sees ROAR inc. host its first cocktail party and fashion show as part of its bid to keep Rwandan children in schools.
15 September 2007 – 6.30pm – 9.30pm, Establishment, 252 George St.

ROAR (Rwandan Orphans Assistance Response Incorporated) and RAW fashion will join forces to hold a cocktail party and a night of fashion food, drinks, live entertainment and fashion show for everyone. The event will be held at the famous ‘Establishment’, 252 George Street in Sydney. In previous successful events held in 2005 and 2006, ROAR raised almost $20,000 to assist orphaned children in Rwanda. With the help of generous donations from the Australian community, funds received have assisted up to 500 orphaned and disadvantaged children by providing school fees, school uniforms, notebooks, pens, pencils and other school materials.

Rwanda today and our vision for the future
Sadly, Rwanda is ranked 154th poorest country in the world. It is estimated that up to one million people were killed in the 1994 genocide leaving countless orphans. In this parentless society children continue to live with poverty, desperation and exploitation.
“It is my wish to instill a sense of ‘self’ and ‘purpose’ in the children our charity supports. I believe the best way to do this is through education. So far, ROAR has enabled 120 students who were too poor to attend school, to receive a proper education. With the continued support of the Australian community, we hope to double this amount as a result of the next charity event” said Lily Nyamwasa, President of ROAR Inc.

Please log on to www.moshtix.com.au to purchase your ticket as of the 1st June 07. Tickets are sold at $120 per person. The ticket price entitles you to alcohol, cocktail food, live entertainment and fashion show on the night. There will be a discount of 10% if you book 10 tickets at once. Stay tuned for more details.

ROAR charity dinner on Saturday, 10th June 06

2006-06-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

ROAR Charity Dinner

2006-05-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

Dear All

ROAR team invites you to join us for a fundraising dinner to be held on Saturday, 10th June 2006 from 6pm onwards at 18 Ida Avenue, Mosman, in an effort to help Rwandan orphans and disadvantaged children with their education. The fund raised on the night will go to help orphans and disadvantaged children at Linganwe Primary school. http://www.roarcharity.org/school_info.htm . If you have a chance browse through our news & blog page to see more photos of the children and events held in the past.

Tickets price includes a 3 course meal (buffet style), wine plus entertainment.

RSVP by 3rd of June 06 to ROAR charity: Attention Lily Nyamwasa

Telephone 0415672247 or by email: info@roarcharity.org or lnyamwasa@2edu.com.au

We would appreciate if you can help us by circulating this invitation to your friends and contacts.

We look forward to seeing you there

For those who can't make it to the charity dinner on the 10th June 06 and would like to give a donation, please give us a call so that we can give you the details

More photos of Linganwe Primary school

2006-05-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

Sarah's visit to Linganwe Primary School in April 06

2006-05-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

ROAR committee would like to thank Sarah Elliott for volunteering to visit the school. Sarah thank you for your tremendous support. we really appreciate that. I leave you with the images of the children at Linganwe Primary school

Lily Nyamwasa

ROAR charity concert

2006-01-22T03:27:00.000-08:00

ROAR charity concert at Petersham RSL, 17th September 2005 presented by the Rwandan & Burundian Association of NSW .