We're pleased to report that:DPDO has received a $15,000 grant from Change Happens Foundation to support health education and services at Kassab Women’s Center;
DPDO is partnering with UNDP (United Nations Development Program) to support the work of paralegals in Kassab IDP camp.
An update soon about our friend Susan's recent trip to Sudan.
ciao-meow/GGCM
(lovely photograph by LaraJade via Benevolent Postcard Society)
Giulia & her editor are pleased to report that a special edition of the Basket of Peace, crafted by weavers at Darfur Peace & Development Organization’s Kassab Women’s Center, is featured in the National Geographic Society's Spring 2011 Catalogue. 
Second isn't always a bad thing. You have to learn & then you can move to first, right? Please consider buying some baskets. (They work well in work & play & kitchen spaces.) Please pass on this message. Thanks so much!Cost per item: $7-10. We will accept any reasonable offer for quantities over 25. Please contact Susan Burgess-Lent 202-393-8150
(French market by Eistenstaedt for LIFE/basket collage via DPDO photographs)
GG & her editor would be so very happy to hear from readers who decide to participate in this program. Hone your correspondence skills by writing to our friends! ciao-meow on the first day of autumn/GG Central
This fall, DPDO is initiating From Kids to Kids, an informal pen-pal project. Students in the U.S. can create artwork, take photos, and write notes that will be delivered to a school in Darfur. These messages of hope and peace will brighten classrooms in Darfur and spirits of Darfuri students. DPDO encourages student supporters in the US to send correspondence to:
Correspondence packages will be delivered to a Darfur School of Peace. When possible, photos and drawings from that classroom will be sent back to DPDO.
Contact katherine@darfurpeace.org with any questions. Please notify DPDO before sending any boxes heavier than 48 ounces (3 lbs).
(Photographs: Girls sitting in classroom at Ain Siro School- Sept. 2009; Decorated box sent by California students/DPDO/all rights reserved)
It's not here yet, but on the way - next week. We hope to begin posting more about Darfur Peace & Development Organization's latest activities & the basket collective very soon. Have a wonderful weekend. (photograph via bohemea tumblr) 
Darfur Peace & Development Organization's Annual Report (2009) is available here, in pdf format. Below are some highlights from the report, & here is a link to listen to Program Director Susan Burgess-Lent’s interview on Circle Connections BlogTalk radio program. She discusses the progress and status of the Darfur Women’s Centers.The global economic crisis in 2009 created many challenges for humanitarian aid organizations--including DPDO. In the face of diminishing donations, we strengthened strategic planning to continue meeting the needs of program beneficiaries. DPDO board and staff have rededicated themselves to continue the vision and the mission of the organization.
This would not have been possible without our dedicated schools and supporters in the U.S., in particular, Ante Up for Africa, a celebrity organization that donated a total of $500,000. This funding enabled construction to begin on Gangy High School for orphans in El Fasher, near one of the largest IDP camps in North Darfur. The site has a new water well that provides 2000 gallons per hour for the school and neighboring IDPs. With construction underway as of September 2009, the school expects to enroll 460 students in June 2010.
Our Women’s Center beneficiaries have increased to 218 weavers, sixty literacy trainees, and 150 children in a pre-school program. Fifty-seven women were trained in first aid at the Centers in cooperation with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society.
In 2009, the Solar Cooker Program trained 184 beneficiaries in Malit, in Sakali camp, South Darfur, in Abuja and Abu Shouk camps near El Fasher, and at Ahfad University, Khartoum and in El Haj-Yousif (Khartoum North).
DPDO’s Schools Program has undergone significant change. The level of funding has not allow continued, equitable payment of teacher and staff salaries. Instead, we are improving the education environment by providing teacher and student supplies and additional resources for water.
With the support of the UNICEF, we were able to supply 37 schools in North Darfur with a total enrollment of 19,352 students. A goal for 2010 is to begin rehabilitation and reconstruction of classrooms, teacher offices and latrines.
Omer Ismail and Suliman Giddo were highly engaged in the process of bringing peace to Darfur as neutral third parties consulting with and unifying all conflicted parties. They completed five missions to Sudan, eight to Chad, four to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), three to Egypt, two to Libya, and four missions to Doha. In collaboration with ICAR, American University and Siena University in Italy, DPDO brought top leaders from seven Darfur rebel groups to Siena for five days consultation on unification.
Even with sustained growth and success, DPDO faces real challenges to continue serving our beneficiaries and to bring peace in Darfur. As always, we turn to our supporters and donors. Their generosity enables us continue our humanitarian work for the war-affected people of Darfur.
Full 2007 Annual Report (pdf format)
GG thinks that if she ever dons a fancy frock, this is the one she'd choose. A roll of the eyes, but actually green is her color, for sure. She wears a green cotton (organic, of course) collar, seen here. 
GG Central is under-the-weather & so we'll post just a little bit through month's end & then take a summer break.*
Replace plastic bins and containers with these vibrant, eco-friendly baskets made of all-natural materials. It’s a win/win/win for the weavers of Darfur, you, & the planet. You can read here about their construction (it's very interesting). The baskets are sold through retailers & you will find the growing list, here.
Although Giulia will be home (supervised), she will be unable to post as her editor is taking the laptop on the road for a few days. Therefore, GG is on holiday. We hope very much that you will visit the good people at Darfur Peace & Development Organization (DPDO) while we are away. The Annual Report is available, baskets are ready to sell, & there's a lot of news. We'll post more photographs & more what-you-can-do after the Fourth of July.
That's what Emily Dickinson said of herself & it applies to GG Central, too. We're preoccupied with gardens, lately/always. Tiger lilies were a favorite of Miss D. ( GG is a tiger lily). Here is the New York Times article Emily Dickinson's Garden at the New York Botanical Gardens. The exhibit runs through 12 June 2010. If you are near there (or will be), we hear it's fabulous. Since GG's editor ran a similar post on her blog, a veritable mountain of articles & stories has piled up & so we realize this is not news for many people. But you never know--one cannot follow everything. Judith Farr's The Gardens of Emily Dickinson (2005) was really the first book to combine the subject of the poet & her gardens & we salute her. Read it!
GG Central is on break for a few more days. Meanwhile, you can send a note to bricolage (GG's editor's site). Wouldn't you love to have a mail box like one of these? Especially in such a herd? [by talented Olga, via Benevolent Postcard Society]
Darfur Peace & Development Organization (DPDO) is building the Gangy High School of Peace in El Fasher, Darfur, Sudan. Considering the news, things are moving along. We'll have on-the-ground news (& more photos) sometime in late May. Meanwhile, we don't ask that often. (No, we really don't.)
GG is on spring break. 
The high-spirited folks from Ante Up For Africa will be in Washington, DC to raise funds for Darfur Peace & Development Organization (DPDO), Enough Project, & Refugees International on April 14, 2010. Update: Here is Enough Project's blog announcement of registration for Ante Up.
While we are (still) under the weather, we're still grazing for images. This little lamb is so cute (of course) but the amused facial expression sets it apart from other cute lamb photographs. GG still wants a little lamb following her about...it's not going to happen but she will meet a little lamb later in the spring. There will be photographs.
Darfur Peace & Development Organization (DPDO) has been designated as Dining for Women’s Featured Program for January 2010. Money raised during January dinners will be donated to DPDO’s Women’s Center Program. For more information on Dining for Women, or how you can get involved in their January fundraising activities, please visit www.diningforwomen.org.
Ante Up for Africa donates $200,000 to construct Darfur Peace & Development Organization's new high school. 
Made4Aid has sent £900.00 = $1483.74 to the World Food Programme so far for their work in Darfur. With a few payments on their way, this makes over £1,000.00 total raised so far by Made4Aid (about $1650.00). Wow.
The special? Donate some time or funds (or both) to a humanitarian organization & we won't pester you about it until...tomorrow. If you're blogger, sneak in some do-gooder business. It's a deal, OK? Here's one of our very favorite organizations. Yes, we're running late. What else is new?