St. Genevieve Welcome Center Fundraiser
Greetings, friends.
If you follow our blog posts, you have probably read about one of the organizations we work with in Côte d’Ivoire, the St. Genevieve Welcome Center in Katiola. St. Genevieve was founded by Father Coulibaly Germaine and is run by him and a small group of staff. They welcome in children from the surrounding region who would otherwise be abandoned or killed by their families for various cultural and/or religious reasons. The Welcome Center provides shelter, education, safety and sustenance. While family reunification is the goal in some circumstances, they also try to place some children in foster homes; however, when neither of those are an option, St. Genevieve continues to provide care until age 18.
In the last two years, Katiola has had an influx of outsiders coming into the region to illegally mine for gold. This influx has resulted in a steep increase in sexual violence and, in turn, St. Genevieve has been inundated with babies. In the last several months, they have grown from 20 to 44 residents, which is putting a heavy financial strain on the Welcome Center. Please see the attached letter Father Germaine shared with us, which has been translated to English.
Thanks to your generous contributions last year, Koné Consulting raised and donated $9,000 US to send to Father Germaine to help with expenses (including purchasing a plot of land adjacent to the existing center and beginning construction on new buildings) and to provide a little holiday celebration for the children in December. You will see pictures in the attached letter.
We are fundraising again this year. If you are interested in contributing, please send a check to:
Koné Consulting
23632 HWY 99
Suite F #225
Edmonds, WA 98026
We will make sure that 100% of donations reach Father Germaine. Any funds in excess of the cost of the holiday party will go toward construction.
We thank you for reading this and for your generosity.
-The Koné Team
Koné Consulting
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AND LASTING IMPROVEMENTS
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