Thank You

The ARCH family thanks YOU for your continued support!

And the Team Expands!

We would like to take a moment to welcome our two newest team members, Megan Sullivan and Carrie Hadler. Both of them also spent time volunteering in Buduburam, and - similarly to Celina and Penelope - they were moved by the plight of refugees and wanted to continue their engagement with this community.


The Niapele Project will undoubtedly greatly benefit from having these women join the team - we are thrilled to continue developing and strengthening our organization, and with this additional (wo)manpower, no doubt we will make great strides! Carrie, pictured below, is joining us as Fundraising Coordinator, and will be taking the lead on grant writing and finding innovative ways to finance The Niapele Project. Megan, in the photo above (bottom left), is Niapele's Communications Officer, and is responsible for helping manage and improve the organization's growing network.



For more info about out staff and volunteers, please visit The Niapele Project's website, and click on the About Us link!

The 30 Hour Famine

Taking a break from reporting news from Buduburam to bring you a video of the 30 hour Famine, an awareness and fund raising event that was held in Los Angeles, CA, on March 7th-8th 2008.

We would like to thank Bruce and Tanya Fleenor; Christ's Church and of course the wonderful kids who participated in this event

Moving forward with the water/sanitation project for ARCH!

Kevin Hill visited Buduburam for the first time in October 2007 on a field mission for a fabulous organization called Journalists for Human Rights. He published a story and made a short documentary about ARCH, highlighting the difficulties of a community based project of attaining sustainability. You can watch the movie here, or read the story here.

Kevin just donated a 1800 liter polytank (water tank), which is a huge step forward in implementing the water/sanitation project for ARCH. On behalf of ARCH and The Niapele Project, we wish to thank Kevin for his generosity and continued involvement.

His donation will allow the ARCH family to have a constant supply of clean water, which will make cooking, cleaning and washing much easier - and safer tasks.

Big cheers to Kevin from all of us at Niapele!

Thank yous and good luck!

Ben with the ARCH Family

The Niapele Project wishes to express its most sincere thanks to Ben Molland, who acted as our field coordinator from December 2007 through February 2008. Ben was our first field representative, and he did a fantastic job laying the groundwork for future Niapele field coordinators.

Ben worked with our partners with a great spirit - he was proactive, efficient and made a huge difference for Niapele initiatives in Buduburam.

So, dearest Ben, while we know you suffered from heat, lack of electricity and constant email harassment from Celina and I, we cannot overstate how deeply thankful we are for your work. We hope that you will remain connected to the Niapele family!

Our new field coordinator, Jessica Leombruno, will be arriving at the refugee settlement on February 13th - while Jessica has big shoes to fill, we are confident that she will be just as fabulous as Ben. Best of luck Jess, and most of all, enjoy yourself!