Late in 2006, the founder of Tias™ Arms, Joanne Baker, took a month-long trip to South Africa with a concerned group of women including three representatives from UNIFEM, the U.N. organization dedicated to the welfare of women and girls all over the world. Joanne's goal on her fourth visit in five years: to ensure that each Tias™ Arms child was receiving the care and loving support promised by carefully screened local groups Hokisa, Gecko, Howick Hospice, and the Ubunthu Education Fund and to spread the word, through her influential and compassionate traveling companions, about the difference that a relatively small amount of money in American dollars, can have on the quality of a South African child's life. "For example, fifty cents a day provides for a highly nutritious, satisfying daily meal program,"

Joanne says,"For example just one hundred and sixty dollars, translated into rand, pays the salary of a childminder for a whole month. The group traveled thousands of miles, visiting programs in squatter camps and townships near Cape Town, Howick, Durban, and Port Elizabeth, and reviewing new opportunities for effective giving. We laughed and cried and ate and held each of them tightly and they us for hours, says CeCe Sloan, UNIFEM representative. I watched a toddler who was all big belly and sad face the first time I met him, running along the dirt road with his bike," Joanne says. Another child, little Happiness, who has Rickets and Blown syndrome, now goes to preschool and she's nourished and loved. Jeffrey, who was a former glue-addict and street kid, today helps with the other children. Last year, among other programs, Tias’ Arms paid for approximately thirty kids to go to school, subsidized meals for sixty five children, and covered the costs of childcare workers and counselors who provide youngsters with hugs and love. "Thats why we called Tias (Aunties) Arms,"
Joanne adds."
We want our orphaned children to feel embraced and loved, to believe in life's possibilities, to know that someone cares. If you're a donor or volunteer, you you made a lonely kid happier today. Isn't that wonderful and amazing? I just want to give more and more. I know everyone on the trip felt the same.

"My feet are back in California , yet my mind and heart are still in the beautiful land of South Africa . I carry with me the sounds of the children singing, the soulful eyes that reach beyond any language barriers .I came with one simple gift, to bring love to these Tias™ Arms children, and left with a greater gift, their smiling faces, evidence we are making a difference! Thank you for a trip of a lifetime. ' Julia Brodrick

I can still hear Happiness singing, and hope it will always be so ¦ Lil Rostoker her sudden smile burst the sun Lines from a poem entitled Hospice by Megan Doherty



ART PARTY IN THE PARK RAISES $25,000!
If it is the Year of the Pig in China , it must be the Year of the Warthog in Africa …or maybe not, but that’s the theme Tias™ Arms chose for this year's celebration and fundraiser for our kids. It took place on Sunday afternoon, June 10, from noon until 5:00 p.m. at Park Prive (formerly the Mondavi Center ), 1570 Scenic Ave. , Costa Mesa . Volunteers spent many, many Sundays creating arty African masks and working on the logistics of the event.

And so Tias Arms went the whole hog! There were astonishing Silent Auction and Auction items on offer, a veritable trough of items including a stay in a French country cottage, an African safari, a vacation in Big Sur , and original handmade art and masks.
One basket included signed first edition novels from well-known South African writers including Athol Fugard, Alexandra Fuller, Lisa Fugard, Ted Botha, Linzi Glass, and Wendy Kann.  Attendees sipped a Tias™ Arms/Park Prive signature martini and pigged out on one of the tastiest sit-down meals you've had for a long time. Later the Kenyan band Mileleâ”the name means “forever” in Swahili—started everyone trotting with their amazing music, art for the ears. Like Tias™ Arms, they™re committed to making a difference in Africa . Visit them online at www.milele.com. Others learned to tie arty headscarves with the help of Sowetan-born Bridgette Ramasodi is just one of this wonderful woman's many talents! She is also studying public health issues at college, and hopes to make a difference in the lives of families affected by HIV/AIDS. Thanks to the amazing volunteers who made this happen.





KIDS HELPING KIDS: ERIN TO THE RESCUE

It started with the mobile phone that fourth grader Erin Hughes received as a Christmas gift. Erin's aunt, Michele Benderra, was visiting sister Stephanie and her family in Corona shortly after she had attended the first Tias’ Arms volunteer meeting of 2007. I was really excited and inspired and was sharing some of my outreach/fundraising ideas with my sister, hoping my excitement might rub off,âMichele says. Erin saw the pink phone and mentioned that a kid could go to school for a year in South Africa for the cost of the phone. The topic of Erin using her birthday as a fundraiser came up, but it was no more than a passing idea, she recalls. Two days later, Michele's sister called, saying Erin wanted to raise as much money as the phone cost ($100) for her upcoming birthday. Of course, I was over the moon, she said. Together, Michele and Erin drafted a letter asking for donations for Tias Arms in lieu of birthday gifts, printed it on pretty paper and sent it to all the relatives before Erin 's 10 th birthday on Feb. 20. Little by little, the money came in. In the end, Erin had raised $208, enough to send two South African children to school with a uniform, supplies, food and transport for an entire year. She really started to see how one person could make a difference, said proud aunt Michele, and now wants to do more. Her aunt is hoping their next project will be a penny drive with her class.

MICHELE'S CAN-DO ATTITUDE

Michele is no stranger to knowing that one person can make a difference. Joanne Baker describes Michele as a super volunteer, one who successfully tackles any volunteer job that is handed to her. We\re blessed to have her, Joanne says. Michele knows first-hand the needs of the children, having visited South Africa and held them her arms. A graduate student in linguistics at Cal State Long Beach, the Anaheim resident eventually hopes to return to South Africa to facilitate education programs at orphanages and centers¦because, as she says: there is no hope for Africa, if kids can't go to school. Aside from countless volunteer hours, she and her husband also recycle to raise money. Each month Tias™ Arms receives a $25 check from the couple as a result of their recycling efforts “ enough to provide 50 high-caloric food packages that can feed a child for a week."

MOST EXCELLENT EX-PATS
How right it feels to connect with fellow South African women in such a meaningful way, says Lisa Fugard, author of Skinner’s Drift , a member of Tias™ Arms South African expat group, which has been meeting recently. Together with fellow novelist Lynette Brasfield, Lisa offered a writers workshop last year and both donated all their fees to the cause. Other ex-pat South Africans who have contributed significantly in terms of money and support include Deirdre Smith of Emerald Bay, Michelle Sherman, who staffed a table in Laguna Beach during AIDS Awareness Week, and Alicia Wolff, who held a wonderful My African Heart fundraiser last year. If you know any other South African women, please let them know that we'd love to hear from them!


SINGING THE PRAISES OF THE SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR
A kind donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, donated thirty tickets to Tias Arms for a performance of the Soweto Gospel Choir at the Irvine Barclay Theater on April 14th. This most generous gift raised $1,200 for Tias Arms. An additional twenty-five tickets were sold to the event, with a share of the Barclay Theater's profits going to benefit the children. In addition, many attendees paid extra to enjoy a deliciously spicy dinner beforehand at Chakra at the UCI Marketplace, savoring Spinach Towers , Lamb Korma, and Baigan Bartha, tandoor smoked mashed eggplant with spices. Chakra also donated a portion of its profits to Tias Arms. Every bit helps. We are most appreciative!