Families With Children From Africa - Okanagan Chapter

2012 Winter Fest in Lavington! Feb 26th

Nicky — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:40:10 +0000

Once again we are off to Lavington for our winter get-together! Can you believe this is our fourth annual Lavington fest? We’ve had such a wonderful time the last two years out at their place that we can’t help but have another good time!

Winter Warm-up!

When: Sunday February 26^th
Doors open at 3pm. Supper at approx. 4:30pm.

Where: Lavington Baptist Church – 9681 School Road, Lavington, BC. MAP.

Who: All family and friends of Okanagan Families With Children from Africa members are invited! The more the merrier!
If you would like to join our group or this activity, please simply email okanaganfca@gmail.com

What to bring: A family-sized potluck dish, as well as skates if you want to go skating.

No need to bring dishes or cutlery – we have access to a full church hall kitchen there including ovens and stoves for warming. Just be prepared to help with clean-up and dishes.

The skating rink is right beside the church and is lots of fun.

See video from our 2011 cultural potluck!

Please email RSVPokanaganfca@gmail.com with your dish so we can balance out the meal.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Happy Hair Hour – Sunday Nov 20

rowanfamilytree — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:03:54 +0000

Joanne is hosting our first Happy Hair Hour for 2011! It’s long overdue, and we will have a great time.

What’s Happy Hair Hour? It’s a chance for moms to sit down with a glass of wine and good company, and chat about hair – specifically, our African children’s wonderful curly locks of joy.

Sunday (20th of Nov) at 7:00 pm.

You are welcome to bring an appy!
Beverages will be supplied!
This is a fun sans enfant event!

Please RSVP sooner than later! to Joanne at joanneeppAThotmailDOTcom

VIDEO: Fall 2011 Get-together

rowanfamilytree — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:37:42 +0000

http://www.onetruemedia.com/share_view_player?p=f8a2ab900b656d73431716

PHOTOS: Fall 2011 Cultural Show and Tell Potluck

rowanfamilytree — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:20:11 +0000

What a fun fun get-together we had this fall! We met at the Mission Creek Park playground for some good outdoor fun, then went inside the ECO Centre for a cultural show and tell, a delicious potluck supper, and our first ever meeting (in four years!)

We now have families with children from Ethiopia, USA, Liberia, Ghana, Swaziland and Lesotho, as well African-Canadian families and children born in Canada. We make quite the vibrant crowd! Our cultural show and tell was a great success, as the children interacted with the dolls, games, pictures etc. You could tell they were interested and proud of their African heritage and connections. Enjoy the pictures!

Fall 2011 Get-together Oct 22

Nicky — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:12:47 +0000

Let’s Celebrate! Cultural Show and Tell Get-together

Did you know we now have kids in our group from Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland, the US… did I miss any?

The idea is that we will all bring cultural items (music, artefacts, clothing, pictures) from our children’s various birth cultures.
We’ll set up a display so the kids and adults can see these cultures proudly displayed. Hopefully it will stimulate discussions about culture, birthplaces, pride, etc. Please dress in any cultural clothing you might have as well.

TO BRING

A potluck supper item. Cultural cooking is appreciated, but any item is great. Please let me know what you are bringing by
replying to this email.
$10-15 donation for covering our use of the hall. Any leftovers will be donated to Vulnerable Children Society.
Cultural items, music etc. from your children’s culture to display and interact with.

WHEN:

SATURDAY OCTOBER 22, 2011

4pm Arrival – Show and Tell Setup, Potluck Warm-up and Playground Time

5pm Supper – Let’s eat and be merry!

After supper, we will have a brief meeting to organize ourselves for the coming year: gatherings? showers? Happy hair hours? Other ideas like cooking lessons?

WHERE:

EECO Centre, 2363 Springfield Road, Kelowna

There is a big playground for the kids to play in, and some hiking trails for the big kids to explore. It would be helpful if a few non-cooking parents would supervise a few extra kids while the cookers set up.

Our potluck and cultural show and tell will be in the EECO Centre basement. The EECO Centre main-floor display on salmon is also on until 5pm at night – totally worth a look!

WHO:

All friends and family of Okanagan Families with Children From Africa members are welcome.

Please RSVP to okanaganfca@gmail.com and let us know what you are bringing food-wise.

Winter Warm-up: Feb 2011 Get-together

rowanfamilytree — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 06:12:44 +0000

We are super pleased to announce that our friends in Lavington are game for hosting us once again for our winter get-together! We’ve had such a wonderful time the last two years out at their place (2010 Video, + More 2010 Pictures) that we can’t help but have another good time!

Winter Warm-up!

When: Sunday February 27^th
Doors open at 3pm. Supper at approx. 4:30pm.

Where: Lavington Baptist Church – 9681 School Road, Lavington, BC. MAP.

Who: All family and friends of Okanagan Families With Children from Africa members are invited! The more the merrier!

What to bring: A family-sized potluck dish, as well as skates if you want to go skating.
No need to bring dishes or cutlery – we have access to a full church hall kitchen there including ovens and stoves for warming. The skating rink is right beside the church and is lots of fun.

Please email RSVP okanaganfca (at) gmail.com with your dish.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Photos: Nov 2010 Playdate

Nicky — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 23:42:12 +0000

We had a great get-together back in November. The weather was sunny (the only afternoon within about a week!) and many families from across the Okanagan and Shuswap turned out for the fun.

Our next gettogether will be in January/February, up in Lavington again.

Click to view slideshow.

November 2010 FALL PLAYDATE

Nicky — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:55:03 +0000

Let’s all meet for a giant fall wild neighbours playdate!

Okanagan Families With Children From Africa
Sunday November 14^th 2-4pm
At the EECO (environmental education) Centre and Mission Park Greenway playground
Kelowna

There is a big playground! And trails to run and play on.
The environmental education centre EECO right beside has a FREE exhibit on urban wildlife which is sure to delight the little ones, (as well as bathrooms).
The EECO folks have also kindly volunteered to put on a nature interpretation program for us, which is awesome! In the basement of the EECO Centre we will hot chocolate and cookies. So we’ll have outside and inside room. Probably the “program” will be around 3pm.

Please bring

a chair or blanket for the adults to sit on outside (we’ll run out of park benches in short order,)
WARM clothes for everyone to play outside,
your own travel mugs for the hot chocolate, and
$5-10 per family to help cover the cost of the EECO centre donation, hot chocolate and goodies.

As usual, all friends and family of OKFCA members are welcome.

Please RSVP to okanaganfca@gmail.com so we can plan for snacks and for the nature program by Nov 6.

The EECO is located in Mission Creek Regional Park at 2363 A Springfield Road (intersection of Springfield and Durnin Roads) in Kelowna. MAP

About the current EECO exhibit:

“Our wild neighbours periodically leave evidence behind of their presence and activities in and around our homes and properties. Sometimes they help themselves by feeding on plants, shrubs and our gardens. Or you may simply find their tracks in the soil or snow.

You can explore more about some of these local animals that make their homes in and around ours by visiting the new exhibit at the EECO, ‘Meet Your Wild Neighbours’.

The exhibit features animals such as the beaver, bobcat, loon, marmot and cougar, all species that call the Central Okanagan home. There are hands-on learning activities to involve children along with information for children of all ages! It’s a great opportunity for you to get a safe, up-close look at some of the animals that may be in your backyard, or at least close by.”

Vernon Beach Get-together: Sun June 20, 2010

rowanfamilytree — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:14:16 +0000

Join us for a family beach afternoon in Vernon for next Sunday, Father’s Day! So if you were wondering what you were going to do on that special day – here’s your answer!

2pm at Kin Beach in Vernon, Sun. June 20

Bring a snack to share and your own drinks.

We will bring will bring cups, paper plates, garbage bags, cutlery etc.

Please RSVP : okanaganfca@gmail.com

See you there!!!

Happy Hair Hour April 12

Nicky — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:32:08 +0000

April 12, 2010
Happy Hair Hour

Moms, please join us for drinks, snacks, and hair/body care talk.
Products Show and Tell: Please bring your favourite hair and body care products to show to other moms, and $5 to throw into the kitty for our group’s new hair mannequin. We’ll relax and talk about products that work for our kids, where to find them and/or how to make them.
Favourite Quick Styles: Then all moms are invited to show our favorite “quick” style(s) – under 10 minutes qualifies! Please bring your ideas to share… we may have the mannequin there – if not, we can show the ideas on each other ~ That’ll be a hoot.
Wine, non-alcoholic beverages and some wee snacks provided.
Please leave your kidlets at home.
Please RSVP to okanaganfca(at)gmail.com so we can plan for snacks!