![smynd[1]](http://soleyogfelagar.is/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/smynd11.jpg "smynd[1]")
On July 10. there was a Togo-hour at hljómskólagarður (local park) for the children and staff of Laufásborg kindergarten. Bissap-juice was on offer, a kind of national drink in western Africa. Everybody wanted seconds, as the mixture was a particular success this time around. Bissap is the juice of hibiscus flowers, some of which Victo brought to Iceland on her visit in May. The flowers are placed in boiling water with cinnamon and sugar. Then the mixture is chilled, making this refreshing, pretty red drink. Magga Stína sang a few songs, backed by accordionist Hörður Bragason, ensuring an unforgettable moment in the meadow (which the older children had decorated earlier with African fabrics). This was also a celebration that Laufásborg now funds Nathalie, two years old, and Jacob, three years old, who live with Victo in Aneho.
To learn more about the Hibiscus and Bissap, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karkade and for a fun article on a Bissap producer in Senegal, see http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/international/senegal/1105/index.shtml
Victo visited Laufásborg Kindergarten and found the place fascinating. Following the visit Laufásborg decided to become a sister school to the home in Aneho. In a press release from Laufásborg the on July 9. this is revealed:
Dear friends. We have dedicated this week to our friends in Togo, who we will be assisting in building a school that will then be a sister school to Laufásborg. In addition we will be funding two children, a boy and a girl, whose names we have yet to learn and are excited to find out about. We have been getting to know how daily life is for our new friends and looking at pictures. We in turn aim to send them pictures of us and tell them about laufásborg. The children in Togo don’t use schoolbags, instead carrying there books on there heads, how clever! We tried it for ourselves and found out that it is VERY difficult. We are also going to try to eat with our hands with out making a mess, and see how that goes! This new collaboration has sparked a fun discussion, we have found out that we have very much in common despite the different culture. We all have red blood and out hearts beat the same, our bones are white, we can be happy and sad and out tears are salty. We are all unique, but live on the same earth, under the same sun and the same moon too 
Our Togo week will end next Friday, July 10. at two o’clock with a gathering in Hljómskólagarðurinn, with singing, fruit and an African drink. With our best wishes, the teachers at Laufásborg.
Victo came to Iceland last May. For the occasion we held a publicity rally at Jacobsen in Austurstræti on Saturday May 23.. Ellen Kristjáns and her daughters sung and played, giving there work. We sold clothes and received donations. Come night there was a dancing party and a concert, where young musicians also gave there work. Buttercup & Co. thanks all supporters and the good people who helped with the preparation and execution of great day.
April 2009
Alda Lóa, Gísli, Kristinn and Gunnar Smári spent a week in Togo in April and visited Aneho. During the visit they found out the habitat of the older children, the dorm, leaks all over and conditions there are cramped. There has also been an increase of younger children. The Icelandic group met with the Minister of Social Affairs, Mme Mémounatou Ibrahima who keeps tabs on the home in Aneho. She greeted the group warmly, and had already visited Victo and the children, as inspecting the conditions is a part of the ongoing process of building a legal framework around Victo’s work.
