Christmas is coming and with it the last days of December. Consciously or unconsciously, we take stock of the year 2021, marked once again by the pandemic and its consequences, both health and economic. It has undoubtedly been a difficult year, in which the mistrust of some and the desperation of others have led to a generalised exhaustion from which no one knows when we will recover. However, all this should not prevent us from looking forward to 2022 with hope and excitement. Quite the contrary.
As I have stressed on previous occasions, I firmly believe that we must have (or develop) the capacity not only to be resilient, but also to overcome adversity. Take the example of GAM. In 2021 we had to cancel many of our activities and almost all of our scheduled events, except for the annual dinner, which finally took place on 13 November. We changed the date of two of our events several times in order to postpone them, but not to cancel them. However, in the end we had to exercise prudence and cancel them in the hope of finally being able to organise them in 2022. However, despite the fact that we were not able to carry out most of what we had planned, it has been a fruitful year for our association. Both projects have been successfully completed and we have received generous enough donations and contributions from our benefactors to be able to meet the needs of all our beneficiaries. The support and dedication of GAM's friends, benefactors and volunteers (who by the way are becoming more and more numerous) has been impressive. We could not be more grateful. Solidarity and generosity have far outweighed selfishness and indifference. And that is what we are left with. Therefore, when we take stock of this year, a complicated one for all of us, let us not forget to do so by changing our perspective and transforming, as far as possible (although there will always be situations that are difficult to deal with) the negative into the positive and turning hate into love. To all a very Merry Christmas and may the year 2022 bring you light, health and hope. Amílcar Ferro B. President of GAM asbl The first (virtual) meeting of GAM asbl with its partners in the South took place on 19 October 2021. Due to technical problems, not all GAM partners in the African countries were able to connect, but we were able to count on the presence and valuable intervention of our representatives in Côte d'Ivoire and Kenya. The meeting was an opportunity for GAM's partners in Brussels and those working and implementing GAM projects in the countries of destination to get to know each other and exchange new proposals for collaboration to help GAM projects reach our beneficiaries more accurately and effectively. Three projects are already proposed for 2022: two in Kenya and one in Ivory Coast. We are currently in the process of shaping them to fit in form and content with GAM's objectives and strategy. We will inform our benefactors about the details of these projects shortly. With our partners on the ground, we have agreed to organise virtual working sessions every three months in order to jointly analyse the progress of the projects and to get their feedback on their impact on the local communities. Another aspect discussed at the meeting was the establishment of alliances with other organisations and the presentation of projects to calls for proposals from development agencies and, above all, from the European Union in these countries, through its Delegations. We have been informed that the next calls for proposals of the EU will be published in the first quarter of 2022. The meeting was very enriching and favoured a dynamic exchange of interesting ideas and proposals among all GAM's collaborators, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the design and implementation of the association's projects and, ultimately, on our beneficiaries. Thanks to this meeting, we were able to exchange the different visions and expectations among the partners from the different regions, which helped to create a more global, complementary and enriching vision within the framework of which the north-south relations will be strengthened and the effectiveness of the work and support of our association GAM to the most vulnerable populations will be enhanced. Organisation of the GAM asbl Annual Lunch On 13 November we were able to organise the GAM Annual Lunch in order to raise funds to finance GAM's projects in 2022. After having to cancel all our events in the last year and a half of the pandemic, we were finally able to bring together GAM volunteers and benefactors for this long awaited event. On this occasion, and due to the current security measures, we decided to have two shifts: a lunch at noon and a dinner in the evening. The format and organisation of the event was a success and we managed to bring together, always respecting the imposed measures, friends, collaborators and benefactors of GAM around the traditional paella. GAM would like to thank our volunteers and benefactors for their participation in this event. We will soon inform you of the benefits obtained and of the GAM projects that will be launched in 2022 thanks to your collaboration and generosity. We have received two new project proposals from our partners from the South to be implemented in 2022. The first project aims to carry out a "Drilling for drinking water to supply the population of Kounahiri", in Ivory Coast. The objective of the second project is to "Equip and refurbish the community hall in Lodung'okwe", in Kenya. Both proposals are currently being evaluated by GAM, in order to ensure that they comply with the objectives and strategy of our association. Together with the 3rd phase of the "Samburu Women's Literacy Programme" in Kenya, there are currently three GAM projects planned for 2022. You can find more information about our projects on the GAM website: https://www.gam-asbl.com/projects.html NEW DATE FOR "TAPAS Y ALEGRÍA" |
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