Happy New Year everyone!

We hope you've had a great 2008, and that this year will be even better! Elevyn was only launched in November, and a lot of good things have happened during the past 2 months. We hope to share them with you in this newsletter.

Send the SINOMPURU Kids to School

Last month, we released some funds (MYR300) from the "Send the SINOMPURU Kids to School" cause, in conjunction with Christmas and the new school year. Our field partner Malina Soning (of SoningCraft) helped to organize a little tea party at the village prior to a present-giving ceremony.

According to Malina, the presents had to be something the kids would use at school, and which they had never seen before. As such, she purchased colourful bags, "double-decker" pencil boxes and other school supplies, all of which were beautifully wrapped.

On Boxing Day, Malina informed us that the occasion went well. She wrote up a detailed report and took photos of the occasion, describing the activities for the kids, and the feedback received from the mothers. It was a warm, appreciative article and we all felt a little bump in our hearts.

Welcome, eHomeMakers!

Elevyn proudly welcomes a new family in Salaam Wanita,  an innovative project by the KL-based social enterprise eHomemakers. Salaam Wanita works with disadvantaged urban poor women who produce hand-woven Eco-Baskets made from used magazines. (Why Baskets?)

The women are paid fair prices and the money earned goes towards paying their children's school fees, food, and medical costs. Most importantly, they learn to make decisions and assert control over their own lives. Salaam Wanita currently works with 8 artisans, who have all experienced positive changes in their lives through the initiative.

The online store currently carries a small selection of uniquely hand-woven Eco-Baskets, and more will be put up soon.

The 125-Artisans Challenge

Two months ago after becoming YSEI fellows, we had an extraordinary vision for ourselves to support 125 artisans within 6 months.

You will be able to track our progress on a daily level on our twitter updates, creating for us at least, an unprecendented accountability but at the same time provide an environment where you can support us, and help us get through those inevitable obstacles.

The challenge will culminate in an announcement of our results on World Fair Trade day, on 09 May 09.

NetExplorateur Top 100

Sometime last year Yung Hui of GreyReview submitted our project to the NetExplorateur, an annual Forum in Paris to recognize innovative ideas on the Internet and digital media. A total of 100 projects from around the world would be selected, out of which the top 10 will be invited to present in Paris.

Today, we were informed that Elevyn has made it into the NetExplorateur 100. Also listed were projects from Adobe and Google - so we're in good company!

Elevyn in Cambodia

Devan Singaram just returned from a month-long trip to Cambodia, where he visited several organizations working on issues such as land-mine, polio and sex trafficking. It was a good trip, as Devam has managed to establish contact with several key organizations that have expressed their interest in joining Elevyn. We will back in Cambodia again in March to follow up.

Get Involved

At present, our work with the local indigenous communities are mainly in Bahasa Malaysia. We need Voluntary Translators who are fluent in Bahasa Malaysia and English, who can help us to translate articles and write-ups into English for general viewing on the Elevyn website. Job frequency - occasional.

We also welcome James Yeang from the tech blog FriedBeef.com who is helping us out with our Google AdWords campaign.

You can stay tuned to updates from Elevyn via:

• Blog
• Facebook
• Twitter

Until the next issue,

Devan Singaram, Mike Tee & Sze Ning,
www.elevyn.com | info@elevyn.com

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