Our most recent event was on Sunday, March 24, 2019 at Forandringshuset, Grønland. Forandringshuset is associated with the Norwegian branch of the YMCA/YWCA (in Norway KFUK-KFUM) and their primary focus creating activities for children and young people.

Yu Mei talking about Forandringshuset. Photo by Koselig foto.

After we secured the generous offer from the venue we found donors to provide us with the menu for the day. Including soup, bread and cake from: Alba Catering (as always!), Business Women Oslo, Smak av Peru, B.T. Brød & Topping, Art Atelier, Augestad Handverkskonditori, Bhumi Home Bakers, Cookie FactoryPiccolina, and Sweet Days by Iara. All was served up by our WONDERFUL volunteers! (If you would like to volunteer at a future event send us a message on our Facebook page.)

Food donations and volunteers. Photos by antara Pphotography and Koselig foto.

We had an almost record-breaking attendance with about 95 attendees and were able to raise over 7800 NOK for our winner, which was our highest individual win. The donations were helped along by the tempting raffle prizes we had on offer. Those donations included: a children’s book from Inklusive Books who were the winner at our last event, a handmade wooden bowl from our American friend Tim, an original piece of art from Darius at 333 Factory, and Andrea Molnar Yoga gave us two gift certificates to attend yoga classes. In addition to the raffles, Trendless provided our winner with a set of their flow notes.


Raffle table, photo by Koselig foto.

This time the pitchers began with Padma, sharing about her Street Meditation project, in which she desires to bring more peace to the world by getting people together to meditate. Next up was Tiffany with her project, Oslo Phoenix. She wants to create networking opportunities for new moms who want to rejoin the workforce. Ampy was next telling us all about the community garden, Voksenenga Nærmiljøhage. Finally, Marina’s pitch was about the Women In Technology Oslo boot camps.


Tiffany (antara Photography), Padma, Ampy, and Marina (Koselig foto).

After the votes were tallied our MC, Janine made the audience wait a little longer. First Michell from Inklusive Books filled us in on how things have been going since winning the micro-grant last time. She used the money for a print run and attended several Christmas markets to sell books. There were also some readings at markets and local libraries and their online store is up and running. There have even been meetings to set up a seminar with the national library about the importance of diversity in children’s literature here in Norway. Michell, we are very proud of you! After Michell shared her successes we pulled the winning raffle tickets and gave out the prizes to the lucky winners and then finally… it was announced that Ampy on behalf of Voksenenga Nærmiljøhage. Congratulations Ampy, we are looking forward to spending time in the garden as the warmer months are coming. And we can’t wait for you to come back and tell us about how things are going with the new irrigation system.

L: Michell of Inklusive Books, winner of event 9. R: Ampy of Voksenenga Nærmiljøhage, winner of event 10. Both images by Koselig foto.
With our winner Ampy: Voksenega Nærmiljæhage. Photo by Antara Photography.

We took the time to say goodbye to our lovely Janine, but we think we might have convinced her to continue to be our MC. This event was special in that it was Janine’s last as a board member, Nikki’s first since joining the board and Wiktoria’s last as a board member. Wiktoria has recently started a marvellous new job and will not have as much time anymore. She will be transitioning to an ambassador position where she will still be involved, but with less pressure and responsibility. Once we finish defining the role, we will share more about it here and on social media for others who would also like to be involved as well. As they say, many hands make light work.



*All images are by antara Photograpy and Koselig foto.

Thank you for joining us and see you next time,

Leeanne