Updates coming shortly...

Hey everyone!

First of, we would like to thank you for all your support along this journey to helping our beloved boys at the orphanage, we could never accomplish all of this without you!. Know it's been a while since we've updated the blog, but we've been working on a few projects and interesting collaborations during this fall. We will return with updates shortly! Make sure to check into our blog and facebook page I Care Profile for upcoming updates.

Much love to all of you!

Mae Suliman, The I Care Board

Skype meeting between the board members in Stockholm, Uppsala, Umeå, Malmö and Lund




To place a donation:

 From Sweden: Plusgiro 536575-4
 From abroad: Swift/Bic code NDEASESS
 IBAN number SE7295000099602605365754

My last visit (for this time!)

For my last visit to the orphanage (30/7) I gave the working "mothers" a small "salary". This money we try to give to the 13 hard working woman a few times each year. These woman are working day and night for the boys and get paid very little for their hard work so we decided a few years ago that this could motivate them. This money that is given comes from elsewhere and is NOT the money that we collect for the boys. The money for the boys is for them only!

For this time, each worker got 240 Sudanese pounds which is not that much money i felt at first, but due to escalations in prices in Sudan this was not bad at all. It was really satisfying and amazing to see the faces of these woman when they received their envelopes with money. Each of them signed a paper saying that she received the money and with every signature came nice words and smiles that made my day.

The other thing that I did was giving Bakri, the oldest boy who is studying french in University, a laptop that was bought for him. This will help him with his studies and he also said that he will enter a competition next year in some sort of french writing. We hope that this will make him get the best grades in his class next year as well!

The sicker and smaller kids that are in bed have a TV in their room now that they are really enjoying and the older and healthier boys have been given a bigger TV that has been put up on the wall for them. The place looks overall a lot better than before, medication is being supplied to the sick kids and the bathrooms have been fixed by someone which we don't know of. There is one big bathroom with a bathtub inside and then several smaller bathrooms outside that the boys can use by themselves.

For any questions about my visit to Sudan, please contact me on I.Care.Board@gmail.com!
Thanks for helping us help others!/ Ehood

The last supplies

Today my uncle's wife and I headed out at noon to get the final things on the list of needs.
Many of the needs for this visit have been food items and this is due to food prices going up more than affordable for most people in the country. Some of the things that are getting really expensive are sugar, milk, rice - which are all things I was asked to buy.

For today's visit I got to take some pictures but these were very few and I was disappointed that I could not take more pictures or film. There have been problems before with pictures taken and getting into wrong hands or being downloaded online for other reasons than the kids best, so we really do understand that they are limiting photographs in the orphanage. I will try to get some more pictures next time I go so that we can use them in our coming events.

Today 20 pairs of shoes where bought (the white plastic bags),
some more food and bananas that the boys love so much.

Two days ago I bought a mini laptop for Bakri, the laptop was used but in really good shape and was bought for a very reasonable price. We hope that this will help him with his studies next year and that he will once again get the best grades in his class!

For my next visit: Bakri will get his laptop and the mothers will get their "salaries" which are very needed in these days of expensive food and Ramadan feasts!

Be well, sending you guys in Sweden, and other places, some more heat because it is really getting unbearable here! Take CARE / Ehood

Third visit to the orphanage

Today, Ragda and myself were excused from the very busy 3rd Eastern Mediterranean Pharmaceutical Symposium (EMPS) and we skipped two classes so that we could visit the orphanage. Today was extremely hot and the whole city looked yellow/brownish from the sand in the air.

After attending the morning sessions and having lunch we headed back to the hotel, changed quickly and then headed towards Sagana (the place were the orphanage is located). We bought more diapers because this is always needed, we bought 3 boxes containing 54 packets of diapers (324 diapers!).
We also bought a box of 30 soaps that they told us they needed the last time I was there.

When we got there we were so happy to hear that Bakri, who studies French in university finished his first year with honours and got the best grades in his class!

We went with one of the girls working to a market and bought some bed covers that will be used after Ramadan; for Eid. This is something they felt was very important and it is a Sudanese tradition which would make the place nice for the kids during on of the biggest feasts of the year.

As always, it was amazing seeing the kids and their smiles warm every single piece of your soul and body.
Ragda bought the kids sweets and fruits, and like I remember from the first visits, the boys are still huge fans of fruits and loved the bananas.

stay tuned...

Ragda and I getting ready

Sending you guys in Sweden, and in other cold areas, some heat because it is so hot here that i think a piece of me actually melted on the way back from the orphanage!

love from Africa / Ehood 

News from lovely, but very warm Sudan

Hello everyone!
First of all, thank you all again for the amazing support and kind donations! The development of the orphanage would be possible without YOU.

Yesterday, I was at the orphanage for the first time in 1,5 years and it felt like I hadn't been there for much longer. The boys are all grown, they are looking healthier and what caught my attention most of all was how many they where - there are now 32 boys living in the orphanage, 7 of the boys go to school, 3 go to kindergarten and 1 goes to university. There are also two older men that live their since it has been their home from childhood. These go to a special school for older disabled people where they learn how to do different things that could make them get a job and have an income of their own. One of them got married last year!

I got a list from the principle of the orphanage and a working psychologist of the urgent needs:
- Pampers
- Soap
- Sugar, milk, oil,
- Underwear, perfumes, lotions, detergents
- Water cooler
- Bed covers
- A dining table
- Two water taps and workers to fix water accumulation in the yard

Today, most of these things were purchased and brought to the orphanage. We got a new list of things they are lacking and also they told us that they will be needing help with getting electricity.

I am so happy that i have been able to go two days in a row, i really want to go tomorrow and give them money for the water taps and workers but i don't know if i can make it. The pharmacy conference i am attending here in Khartoum starts on Friday and lasts a week, but i will do my best to visit the orphanage during this week.

Lots of love from the lovely, but very warm Sudan
Ehood Ali

Results from the FB fundraiser!

We have now finished our facebook campaign '10 kr- 10 days I Care Fundraiser' and after SSA:s treasurer Khadija Norell's calculations of the received donations we have raised a total of...*drum roll* 17422 kr! (Roughly 2500 dollars!)

Thank you all for a really successful online event, we couldn't have done it without you! As some of you know, chairperson Ehood Ali has today left Sweden for Sudan and will keep us posted on the orphanage here on our blog.

Of course you can still contribute to the cause!
 From Sweden: Plusgiro 536575-4
 From abroad: Swift/Bic code NDEASESS
 IBAN number SE7295000099602605365754

Dont forget to state 'I Care' followed by your full name when you transfer!

Take care and do not hesitate to contact us by messaging us on facebook or on i-careboard.gmail.com regarding any questions or inputs.

Kind Regards,
 The I Care Board

10kr - 10 days!

Hey everyone!

Hope you're all doing well. As many of you may have seen we have created a new event on Facebook - '10 kr - 10 days'. As mentioned in a previous post, the reason for this online event is that we unfortunately are unable to host an actual event this summer due to our different and hectic schedules. However, we obviously want to raise money as often as we can and considering the fact that Ehood is traveling to Sudan shortly, we felt that the best solution to the event issue would be to host an event online. We are very happy and proud to say that it has been very successful so far! With 3 days left (the campaign ends on Wednesday night, 4th July) we strongly recommend you to pitch in with your 10 kr (or whatever amount you are able - and want - to help us with).

Donate to plusgiro account 536575-4
Write I CARE followed by your name!

From abroad:
The Swiftkod/Bic code is: NDEASESS
The IBAN number is: SE7295000099602605365754

Take Care!