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C U R R E N T   N E W S - Update 30-10-2008

SONNE CALENDER 2009 available!
Our SONNE-Calender for next year has been printed and is now available. Please contact us via email if you are interested.

Food Crisis in the Afar Region (Ethiopia)
As there has been no rain in parts of the Afar Region during the past year, people are suffering from severe hunger as a consequence of the catastrophic droughts.
It is estimated that around 80% of the population in the areas concerned is affected by malnutrition, a total of 1200 people (85%
children under 5 years of age) are being treated for severe acute nutrition by our partner organisation. Since June 2008, 150 cases of death from starvation have been recorded, though the number of unreported cases is estimated to be significantly higher.

Links & Videos: http://nazret.com/blog/...

SONNE Information Campaign 2008
Advised and supported by Erfried Malle and Susanne Prügger, the Carinthian section of SONNE International initiated the "Afar-Hut Project" during the spring of 2008. Using an original Afar hut, provided to us by our SONNE partners in the Afar Region of Northeast Ethiopia, this regional information campaign has been designed to draw attention to the perilous living conditions that this fascinating nomadic nation is forced to endure. The project provides information about the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals and has benefited from financial support provided through the Austrian Development Agency's (ADA) publicity fund.
During the course of the summer, interested persons had several opportunities to gain information about SONNE's activities in Ethiopia as well as other project countries (in front of the town hall in Villach, in Feldkirchen's main shopping street and at the artisan market in Ossiach).
The hut, measuring just 2.5 metres across, serves as a dwelling for a family of seven, and received much attention from both young and old. Together with selected items of everyday use, a recently shot film about the Afar was successfully used to convey a genuine impression of their hard daily life. The film eloquently describes the permanent threat of devastating famine brought on by the absence of the rainy seasons.
The last opportunity this year to visit this original nomadic dwelling and learn about the projects and activities of SONNE International will take place on Friday, 3rd and Saturday, 4th October in the ATRIO shopping centre in Villach/Austria.

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Annual Report 2007
Our annual report has been finalized and can now be downloaded as a PDF-file (direct link).
All SONNE sponsors and members should receive their copy via post in the next few days. If you're not a SONNE member yet, but wish to receive an annual report, please send an email to Erfried Malle.

SAZ-Punch-Campaign: 4.333 Euro
In the recent SAZ-Advent-Activity SONNE won “punch for a good cause". In the weeks leading up to Christmas SAZ staff manned the punch stand on the Euro Platz in Vienna exclusively on behalf of SONNE, serving punch in exchange for a voluntary donation.
The proceeds of 4.333 Euro will flow directly into the water storage project in Ethiopia.

--> www.saz.at

Update: Bangladesh
Following their return from Bangladesh, SONNE members from Weiz organise a collection for cyclone victims.
Within a few days of the devastation caused by the cyclone Sidr, the travel party linked to the Rotary Club Weiz (including Dr. Herbert Ederer, Harald Strobl), which had just returned from a trip to Bangladesh a few days earlier, collected € 13.000,- in Styria for an immediate relief effort for the victims of the storm. The money will primarily be used to purchase food, medicine and blankets for the survivors. Hundreds of thousands of families were made homeless by the monster-storm and more than 35000 people lost their lives. Thank you for your support!

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Bangladesh: Cyclone "Sidr"
Cyclone "Sidr" has already claimed more than 2000 lives and leaves a trail of destruction in Bangladesh.
SONNE is sending an "emergency relief team" into the affected area that will provide approx. 1000 families with the things most desperately needed.

ETHIOPIA
The 'Ethiopia section' has been updated (new texts).

ANNUAL REPORT 2006 !
The annual report for 2006 has been completed and can be retrieved under the heading “Downloads”. We would like to thank all our members most sincerely, and our thanks also go to those donors, who did not supply an address.

The SONNE-Team on a tour of projects in Ethiopia
Every year, the SONNE-Team organises a project tour for its members and volunteers. In April/May of this year, the journey took us to Ethiopia, to view the projects in the Afar Region, where SONNE-International and its partner organisation APDA (Afar Pastoralist Development Association) jointly carry out school projects, irrigation projects and educational projects (on issues surrounding hygiene, genital mutilation and health care). The project visits, which are organised to take place in small groups, offer an excellent opportunity to gain insight into the extensive groundwork provided by the organisation. If you would like to join a project tour, please send us an e-mail.

FGM
On the occasion of the SPÖ-Women's Conference in the Millennium Tower, Mrs. Zavadil, one of our volunteers, was able to present donations amounting to over 200.-- EURO to the Austrian platform against female genital mutilation www.stopFGM.net.
Our thanks go to the women who each received a pin-badge for their donation. This helps us to continue our educational campaign on this dishonorable and highly dangerous practice against women.

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Dedicated Bangladesh team
Ingrid & Dietmar Pfurtscheller, Sonja & Thomas Stockmayer, as well as Christian Platzkammer, all from Lower Austria and Vienna, collected 5400 Euros for the SONNE school project in Bangladesh!
Together with Erfried Malle, the chairman of the association, this interested group visited the project area in May 2006 and made the spontaneous decision to take on the costs of a school for a period of 3 years.

We at SONNE would like to express our sincere gratitude for this fantastic dedication and the donation, which was accomplished through the independent organisation of small events and collections.

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