CCC [Project]: Sponsor a Child - Meet Zali from Mali!!

[lunar1126]

Our Sponsored Child is Zali from Mali!!!

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/1847/zali1byd0.th.png (http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/1847/zali1byd0.png)

All money rasied from The $1.36 Campaign (http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29904) will go to Zali and his community! Watch this thread for updates about Coldplaying's very own child!
Click here (http://www.savethechildren.org/countries/africa/mali.asp)to learn a little about his country, Mali. :)

Information about Zali and the region where he lives:
Zali is 7 years old.
He lives with his father, mother and brother in a thatched roofed home in Gouaran, a small town in southeast Mali.
He is in primary school and loves sports.
The average Malian earns on average only $240 a year.
30% of children under 5 are malnourished.
For more information, please view the STC Welcome Packet (pdf (http://oregonstate.edu/%7Ebengalin/zaliwelcomepkg.pdf))
If you are interested in writing a letter to Zali, visit this (http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30825)thread for more information.

Scanned in mailings from Save the Children (STC):

Click here (http://oregonstate.edu/%7Ebengalin/zaliwelcomepkg.pdf)to download (as a pdf) our "Sponsor a Child" welcome packet! Included is a photo of Zali, a letter of thanks from Save the Children, a short personal history of Zali, information on his country of Mali, and mailing address to send mail to Zali.
UPDATES:

September 13th, 2007: STC mailing from Mali Field Office. Includes new photo of Zali plus Annual Status Report 2007. Click (http://coldplaying.for.charity.googlepages.com/zalimailing2.pdf).
July 6th, 2006: Click here (http://oregonstate.edu/%7Ebengalin/STC20060706.pdf) for a letter of thanks from the Mali field office, a description of STC's work in the Sahel region of Africa, a correspondence information sheet & a little special something from Zali himself! :nice:http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/8608/zalifrommali23py.png

[frostbitepanda]

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

[lunar1126]

I'm in love too. :) :heart: :heart:

[an_cat]

Tonight was the most exhilerating and nerve wracking night of my life. Wow. SO WORTH IT!!!!


I'm very attached to Zali, I'm going to do all I can to spoil him and his friends rotten :nice:

[victaniac]

Zali from Mali! The official Coldplaying child! :cheesy:

[putainfromage]

this. is. awesome. :heart:

[KM]

^Omfg... what she said. :bigcry:

[anitafranc]

awwwww :blush: :blush:
this is so exiting :D our first child :heart:

[Texasluvsjonny]

:daisy:
I love his name. Great footie sounding name. Future FIFA world footballer of the year me thinks. Look out Ronaldinho.

[Denise]

Zali from Mali :nice: I like the sound of it

[linnea]

Nice to meet you Zali:)

[coldplay_steph]

Awwwwwwwww!!!!!!! :bigcry:

He's beautiful. :nice: Congrats to everyone for creating such a wonderful thing. :kiss:

[clockpolitiks]

Wow guys!!! This is awesome! I'm cant believe we are actually doing this! Yea thanks everyone.

[calicat]

How wonderful that we are making a difference in this child's life! :happy2: Welcome to the Coldplaying family, Zali!

[Lore]

yeah... he's the coldplaying child.. how cute

[boomslang]

aw wow!!!!!! please post more information on him when you get it!! great job!

[an_cat]

Since Nadia put in all her information, she'll be getting the first "kit" in about 2 weeks, or at least that's what they said innitially. I hope it's sooner though!!


:nice:

[airieslady]

This so exciting!!!! As CP music makes me feel good everyday, so does this amazing accomplishment of helping a child in need. I know that everyone in that region of Africa is struggling to survive, so much that it is hard to imagine what everyday life is like there...This is what makes me proud to be a part CCC!!! Cheers to us! :2thumbsup:

[watermelonc1]

oh wow..
HI ZALI!!




i just cried :bigcry:

[alyssa]

ahhhh

that's so freaking coooolll

hello zali! hehe

[lunar1126]

Eeeee, I can't wait to get our "welcome kit." :D You can be sure that as soon as I do, I'll scan in everything for all to see!!

[julimp92]

OMG this is so cool
nice to meet Zali from Mali :D
hes gorgues .... awsome

[clockpolitiks]

I still cant believe we did this! Its great! I hope we really make a difference in the kids life.

[airieslady]

I put this in the other thread, but here goes again...
someone mentioned about how beautiful the ending on Politik was and I was thinking about that. "Oh give me love over this"
So when we get the address, maybe we can send him a music player with Coldplay music, (with a years supply of batteries, of course). Even if he doesn't speak English, I think they speak French, so anyway he can listen to the beautiful music. Can you see him playing Coldplay music with his friends? Oh, and some Coldplaying Charity Club T-shirts too! :)

[an_cat]

Wow, you read our minds! Nadia, Allie, Vic and I actually discussed this in one of our chats, right after we adopted him! We said the same thing, that maybe we could try sending all our CDs and a battery powered CD player to him. :) As we get more involved in this I'm sure we'll come to realize what we can and can't do realistically, but hopefully that's one of the options we CAN do!!

[KM]

That IS a great idea.

[Denise]

Awesome idea really :D

[calicat]

I still cant believe we did this! Its great! I hope we really make a difference in the kids life.I think we are off to a great start. :)

If it can be worked out, sharing the music with Zali would be lovely.

[Plug_in_coldplaying]

Zali from Mali! The official Coldplaying child! :cheesy:
okay:thumbsup:

[Nettie]

Our Sponsored Child is Zali from Mali!!!
All money rasied from The $1.36 Campaign (http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29904) will go to Zali and his community! Watch this thread for updates about Coldplaying's very own child! Click here (http://www.savethechildren.org/countries/africa/mali.asp)to learn a little about Mali. :)

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7581/zalifrommali8ee.png


Awwwwwwwwww :heart:

This sort of reminds me of 'About Schmidt'. Anyone seen that film?

[an_cat]

I saw it, but I remember almost nothing from it (other than a naked ass.... LMFAO!). Hmmm. Care to share what you mean? ;)

[zeoir]

Yeah Nettie i've seen it. And i liked it quite a lot! :)
Our kid is so cute :kiss: The cd-idea is great! I'm sure Zali would be so excited about it

[airieslady]

Oh, that was a good movie, this guy Schmidt wrote and received letters from a child he sponsored, which he was a lonely man but he had this child who brought happiness in his life....if I remember correctly, it was a while ago! :)

[lunar1126]

*Drum roll*

Ok guys, it finally arrived! I received our "Sponsor a Child" welcome packet today!! I've scanned all the important information into a pdf file. Click here (http://oregonstate.edu/~bengalin/zaliwelcomepkg.pdf). Included is a photo of Zali, a letter of thanks from Save the Children, a short personal history of Zali, information on his country of Mali, and an address to which we can send mail to Zali!

I won't say anything further about Zali here, so that it is all a surprise when you read the enclosed letters in the pdf. If anyone has problems opening the file, let me know.

Akldhfa;udfh. So exciting. :D

[an_cat]

OH MY GOSH, NADIA!!!!! That is amazing, and faster than I even expected it!!!!!


Wow. He's even more adorable than the little picture we had!!!! :nice: What a sweet child. I wonder what sports he likes, maybe we can mail him baseball/football cards. He might find our American sports interesting!!! :nice: <-- that smiley is the only thing to describe how I feel and look right now!!!




Wow wow wow. I feel sooo good about myself, and I'm so proud of everyone here for being so involved! Incredible.

I need to go read it again!

[KM]

OMG... AWESOME.

[an_cat]

I'm hoping the addition of Zali's picture in my profile is enough to get people to keep checking back here. I'm tempted to send out PM notifications of the update on Zali to people who have shown interest, but I really don't want to do that again... Sending PMs to 67 people was enough PMing for me for AWHILE. lol!

[frostbitepanda]

This is so amazing. I don't want to be a broken record, so just see Danielle's last two posts.

The response and the results has been overwhelming everyone. This is truly, incrediably amazing. Thank you so much for everyone; not only for donations but support, interest and involvement. This would not have been possible without the selflessness of the gracious members here.

Thanks so much again. Tomorrow night will be another meeting time for us mods, and we have many things to discuss!

Once again, thank you so much. This will all be worth it. :wacky: = me right now.

[victaniac]

Ohhh we have an address! :heart: Get ready for a ton of letters Zali! So exciting! :dance:

[an_cat]

He has a brother too, I'll have to write one to his family! :nice: Tell his parents what a beautiful little boy they have! awwwwwwwwwwwwwww *melts from the adorable-ness*

[calicat]

Thanks for uploading the welcome packet, Nadia. How exciting! He's such a beautiful child. Time to shower him with letters! :nice:

[coldplay_steph]

*Drum roll*

Ok guys, it finally arrived! I received our "Sponsor a Child" welcome packet today!! I've scanned all the important information into a pdf file. Click here (http://oregonstate.edu/~bengalin/zaliwelcomepkg.pdf). Included is a photo of Zali, a letter of thanks from Save the Children, a short personal history of Zali, information on his country of Mali, and an address to which we can send mail to Zali!

I won't say anything further about Zali here, so that it is all a surprise when you read the enclosed letters in the pdf. If anyone has problems opening the file, let me know.

Akldhfa;udfh. So exciting. :D


AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! :nice:

Thankyou so much Nadia for taking the time to scan those, it was great to read and get more information on little Zali!

:wacky:

[psychosaiqa]

oh my goodnes. i cannot believe that we've made such a difference in a child's life!!!!!!! i'm so proud of all of this! :) ahhhh im crying this is too much :D just looking at Mali makes me feel good inside.

[airieslady]

Thanks for all the info... can't wait to write a letter to "Zali" this is so exciting! :)

[an_cat]

An idea that I had was to have an open thread where people could leave their messages to Zali. One of us mods would copy each of the messages (along with the names of the posters who left the messages, and real first names or nick names would be appreciated so we can stay away from him reading confusing usernames ;) ). We'd then print it out and that could be one of the letters sent to him! That way you guys don't have to spend a ton of money to mail your letters, and possibly get the address or information wrong.

Does something like that seem like something you guys would participate in?

[clockpolitiks]

That would be awesome! If I can help out in any way let me know! I would write to Zali.

[airieslady]

Agree on the letter thread! We are going to blow this kid's mind! :)

[calicat]

An idea that I had was to have an open thread where people could leave their messages to Zali. One of us mods would copy each of the messages (along with the names of the posters who left the messages, and real first names or nick names would be appreciated so we can stay away from him reading confusing usernames ;) ). We'd then print it out and that could be one of the letters sent to him! That way you guys don't have to spend a ton of money to mail your letters, and possibly get the address or information wrong.

Does something like that seem like something you guys would participate in?Wonderful idea. :)

[an_cat]

Great, well us mods are having another meeting tonight (I think... uh oh! LOL) and I'll throw it out there, maybe we can get started on it tonight or tomorrow!

[lunar1126]

I think corresponding with Zali will be very rewarding indeed. :D Included in the 'welcome package' is a booklet on sponsorship (which I haven't have time to scan in yet). A few pages of this booklet discuss letter writing and the letter delivery process. I will type this up for you all soon. It will of course be wonderful for us all to have the chance to send Zali a few words. In the Sponsor A Child booklet, it says that the children love to receive photographs of their sponsors, so if you all wanted, you could send your pics to coldplaying.for.charity@gmail.com, and we can include them in the letter we send to the Mali Field Office. :nice:

But remember there is nothing like recieving a hand written letter, so do consider that option as well.

[winnie]

Great idea :) We'd probably first should write a stanza in which we're describing how this thing all works here with the forum etc.
I think it'll be quite difficult to describe thinks like internet forums and maybe even Coldplay to a child from the middle of Africa - but I guess, you gonna manage even that without any troubles :)

[twistedlogic149]

Zali = My Hero.

[mainweather]

I feel like he's my younger brother! Stay in school Zali! One day, I hope, we will be able to meet! :D

[yellow_fever]

:D :D wow! this is totally awesome!!! I can't believe that CCC has it's own child!!!! :D :D :D :D i would really like to send a message to Zali and the open thread seems like a great idea to do just that!! :D :D

[twistedlogic149]

We should inform Chris of Zali.

Heheheh.

[airieslady]

Great idea, maybe Debs can relay that for us! :)

[lunar1126]

I guess now might be a good time to say that Debs does know about the CCC and said she'd tell the guys about us next time she sees them! :D:dead:
Vic had wrote her an email regarding legality issues, and Debs responded by saying that she thought the CCC was a great idea, and we should keep her posted about our activites. :D
Cool, eh??

[an_cat]

*awaits thread explosion*




:uhoh:

[lunar1126]

*awaits thread explosion*




:uhoh:
Yes, pandemonium will ensue shortly. :wink3:


Wait for it............wait for it...........

[victaniac]

You two.. :laugh4:

[clockpolitiks]

Wow, you mean she would tell....coldplay about this?

[an_cat]

That's what she implied, yes. :wideeyed:

[lunar1126]

Actually, it wasn't implied. That's what she flat out said! :P
Allow me to quote Debs: "I must say it came to my attention that the CCC was set up and it’s lovely! Such a sweet idea. I will of course let the boys know the next time I see them."
If she remembers or not is another issue! :laugh4:

[frostbitepanda]

*Freaks out for the 379th time*

[boomslang]

OH WOW that's fng awesome!! ! maybe if she mentions the site they'll come visit us!!

[Texasluvsjonny]

Have we sent a letter to Zali yet? It says he likes sports. Lets send him a football. http://www.myfootballforum.com/images/smilies/ballrotate2.gif :D

[clockpolitiks]

I'm not sure what we are allowed to send him exactly.

[zeoir]

Our family have a godchild from Ghana and we used to be allowed to send one package in a year. We aren't allowed to do that anymore, i'm not sure why :( Anyways we put there just some ordinary things, like color pens and paper, stickers and flip flops. My mother didn't want to put there too much expensive or cool stuff because then the other kids might get sad and jealous.

[lunar1126]

^ Yes that's a very good point. I'll email Save the Children to find out our limitations. I do know that the Mali field office opens all packages and letters for safety reasons.

I really think the best thing to send is letters, so he knows how many of us care about him! I hope this will be a long term project, so perhaps a little on down the road, we can send him a CCC care package. :)

[an_cat]

A CCC Care Package, excellent!


If we CAN send care packages, maybe we could send some mosquito nets. I think that one of the major problems in Mali is malaria, still. Or am I wrong Nadia? Mosquito nets are everywhere around here, hell, they're 99 cents at a local cheap store here in RI. We could send a few for his family and friends, or SOMETHING.

I don't know, I think it would be nice to send him some fun stuff like maybe soccer or other sport parafanalia (I CAN'T SPELL LMFAO), but some really realistic life saving things could be good as well.

If we can, that is. I definately want to send a letter out to him, maybe with some baseball cards in it that my brother doesn't use anymore. He likes sports, that could be really cool to him! :)


I just want to make sure he's happy and safe, he's such a sweet looking kid. :nice:

[Collee]

This was the best thread and the best news I came accross in my visit today.

Such a great way to reach out.

[anitafranc]

:stunned: WOW Debs is gonna tell the boys! :wacky: :dance:

the CCC Care package and mosquito nets ideas are great. Hopefully we'll be able to send him that football

[mainweather]

I think the CCC care package is a nice idea.

I would like to say though, that I know several people that have tried to send gifts to people that live in poorer countries. I've heard numerous stories about someone sending gifts/food/money but the items never reach the recipients. From what I've heard it sometimes cost a lot of money to pick the items up at the post office also.

My father even works over in Iraq and has told us not to send presents over to him because they will probably not reach him.

I would suggest just taking the money you would use on presents and donate it instead.

Man, I feel like a party pooper but I thought I should let you know.

[an_cat]

That's something I've thought about as well, we'll have to look into that with GREAT attention to detail... Don't want anything to be totally wasted, of course! ;) Our love, support and the money that we can send is wonderful enough.

:)

(Like your sig, by the way, Zali's my hero as well!! ;) )

[coldplay_steph]

I guess now might be a good time to say that Debs does know about the CCC and said she'd tell the guys about us next time she sees them! :D:dead:
Vic had wrote her an email regarding legality issues, and Debs responded by saying that she thought the CCC was a great idea, and we should keep her posted about our activites. :D
Cool, eh??

Wooo that's fantastic news!!!!!!!!!!! :dance:

Such great work guys! :thumbsup:

[RICK8]

That is awesome news!!!!

:dance:

[Plug_in_coldplaying]

A CCC Care Package, excellent!


If we CAN send care packages, maybe we could send some mosquito nets. I think that one of the major problems in Mali is malaria, still. Or am I wrong Nadia? Mosquito nets are everywhere around here, hell, they're 99 cents at a local cheap store here in RI. We could send a few for his family and friends, or SOMETHING.

I don't know, I think it would be nice to send him some fun stuff like maybe soccer or other sport parafanalia (I CAN'T SPELL LMFAO), but some really realistic life saving things could be good as well.

If we can, that is. I definately want to send a letter out to him, maybe with some baseball cards in it that my brother doesn't use anymore. He likes sports, that could be really cool to him! :)


I just want to make sure he's happy and safe, he's such a sweet looking kid. :nice:
that will be the best thing ever done for somebody:)
Zali rocks

[lunar1126]

*BUMP*

UPDATE: Please see the new link in the first post to read the most recent mailing from the Mali field office - it includes a special note from Zali himself!!

Also, please don't forget to check the $1.36 Campaign thread (http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29904) to stay updated about the progress of our charity project.

[frostbitepanda]

Wow! That's a great letter. Its very nice how they stay in touch with you. I loved the little hand too. Aww, Zal... :wacky:

And great mailer Nadia! I was so excited to get home today and find that in my inbox!

I'll be sure to donate this time around. :)

[boomslang]

WOW THAT IS SO FUCKING AWESOME!! :dance:

sorry for the caps and vulgarity but his little hand! sweet.

[Collee]

Thanks so much for scanning those and sharing the actual letters with us!

[victaniac]

So I was browsing around the Save the Children site, and I bumped into this tiny photo of Zali!

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/481341/Zali2.jpg

He looks a bit older? So cute! :heart::heart:

[lunar1126]

Aww, how'd you find that, Tans?? He does look a bit more grown up in that photo. :nice::heart: I've got some new material from STC that I need to scan in. Now that i'm finally on holidays, I'll get around to it ASAP!

[an_cat]

awwwww :nice: Well I've been saving up my spare change for the past couple months to give at the end of this donation round, and I'll be putting that in either tonight or tomorrow morning.

He looks much older! Very stylish as well ;) aw

[Sofy]

it's zali's birthday today!!! :dance: :jester:

[Texasluvsjonny]

it's zali's birthday today!!! :dance: :jester:OMG it is :pleased: Happy Birthday! :dance:

[zeoir]

Happy Birthday Zali !

:kiss:

:dance:

[lunar1126]

New mailing from STC scanned into a PDF file. Mailing includes a new photo of Zali, plus the Annual Status Report from the Sahel region of Mali. Check it out (http://coldplaying.for.charity.googlepages.com/zalimailing2.pdf) and see how you've made a difference!!

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/1847/zali1byd0.th.png (http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/1847/zali1byd0.png)

Zali's growing up!! :nice::kiss:

[victaniac]

OH MYYYYY!! Just look at that smile, he looks so happy! Our boy has grown up SO much! :cheesy::mad::mad:

He's gonna be a heartbreaker, so cute! :heart: Thanks loads for the update Naddie! :cheesy::dance: