By Casey Neill
Dandenong Letters Centre spread smiles to street kids in Africa through 40 kilograms of stickers, pens and 3D glasses.
In March, the Journal reported that staff collected more than US$1000 through their Christmas raffle to buy a leg for Sedrick, then aged 8.
Logistics team member Ravinder Bhal’s daughter Saira, 25, spent a month volunteering in Kigali, Rwanda, through her university and met Sedrick at non-profit education and rehabilitation centre Les Enfants de Dieu (EDD).
The Dandenong Letters Centre (DLC) team has now sent about 40 kilograms of stationery to the 120 boys who call EDD home.
Sedrick is no longer one of them.
“He’s actually integrated back into society and back into the normal system,” Ms Bhal said.
“We sent them a couple of hundred pens for writing, a few different writing sets and activity sets, stickers – we sent them probably 150 sheets of stickers – and some Australia Post recycling bags, because in Kigali you can’t use plastic bags.
“My daughter went back to volunteer at the centre for a month.
“She sent back photos of the boys with the stuff that we’d sent.
“Some put the stickers on their faces.
“One of the activity sets actually had 3D glasses.
“Apparently it had to be put in the library because everyone was fighting over them!”
Ms Bhal said the hall also included some draw by numbers activity sets.
“They kept them in the library for the boys so they could have special activities,” she said.
She said the DLC team would continue to raise funds for EDD, and thanked manager Mick Doyle and fund-raising co-ordinator Donna Slivarich for supporting the cause.
Ms Bhal also thanked Dandenong Plaza post office manager Darren Bennett and Australia Post retail department’s Con Fitos and Laura Gorton.
