Toggle For Music is a proud supporter of Feed A Smile​
Written by Fantasia using Brique’s own words
Live and Learn in Kenya International was founded on 16 September 2007 in Selb during the annual general meeting as a subsidiary of LLK e. V. We have taken the necessary steps of establishing a charitable non-profit and non-government organization in Kenya in order to safeguard our project and our investments within the framework of the Kenyan laws for NGOs. The board is composed of German residents and Kenyan members. The LLK chairperson is also the chairperson of LLK Int’l. She and the cashier are German residents, the second chairperson or secretary is Kenyan.
Brique is the founder and chairwoman of Live and Learn in Kenya International. She founded the registered non-profit organization nearly 20 years ago. A friend of hers that also runs a non-profit organization for Kenya, invited her to Second Life - to the Non-profit Commons. Soon afterward she started the Feed a Smile project.
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When Brique first came into SL she was just amazed at the whole thing. Like most of us she rented a little piece of land - put up a lovely hacienda - fixed it all up - and then sat there and wondered what the heck she was going to do with it! :)
Brique Topaz
That's when she got the idea to ask musicians to come and perform and raise funds to feed the Live and Learn in Kenya kids. It is not easy to feed the children 6 days a week.
It was a big success. It didn't take long and the funds were raised for a full sim at first - and then one of the two sponsors lost his RL job and couldn't afford to support it any longer so now Feed a Smile has a half sim.
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Everything that you see on the sim has been donated. It has been going more than 11 years now, which is a massive achievement in itself.
Feed a Smile pays for a huge amount of the children's meals - Special SL events have assisted in building classrooms, and other buildings at the Education Centre including books, a projector and screen some things the schools our children go to take for granted.
Several SL residents have become sponsors and watch their sponsored children grow and thrive. It is wonderful.
On a personal level for those of you that does not know Brique this is her – “My name is Brique Topaz in SL - and Brique Zeiner in RL - which is a nickname that I've had since I was 13.
I am an American - born in New York - grew up in California and have been living in Germany for a very long time with my German husband. I'm an English teacher and philanthropist. I raised 4 adopted and foster children. They are all adults now”.
For over 11 years Brique has been involved with Feed a Smile but when she’s not doing that (think she is Super Woman) she loves to teach, cook, clean house - painting - reading or listening to audio books. She also organises and carries out events in RL for Live and Learn in Kenya Int'l - giving speeches and presentations to Schools, Clubs, Groups and lots and lots of paperwork for Live and Learn in Kenya Int'l.
It is practically a full-time job - albeit unpaid! But when she travels to Kenya annually she knows how important her work is in the eyes of 520 children and their parents and siblings!
Her favourite colours change with the seasons - red in winter - green in spring - yellow, green, blue, red in summer - orange and brown in autumn, to anyone reading this they remind me of earth colours but I think encapsulates Brique totally.
As a lot of funds are raised through music in SL, Brique loves listening to Classical and Rock as well as nearly everything in between and if she could give you a personal message it would be to make people smile – we all need a reason to smile! (More than ever right now), and if she could give you any advice it would be to “Pass it forward and you'll get it back in some form later”! (Karma)
We all have wishes and Brique’s biggest one is to make Feed a Smile become a household name that EVERYONE knows and more people would help to make it work. Her biggest problem in SL are the time zone "blues"! Being in Germany, she is not able to be there for the prime times in the US. If she had able people who would help organize events for Feed a Smile during the US prime times she is sure we would be able to help so many more Kenyan children in many different ways!
So if you can help – contact her Brique Topaz in SL or through one of the sites below.
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Our website is in German and in English: www.llk-selb.de
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