Another DC metro poster..............

October 2012

	October 2012
Thanks to all of our Facebook followers who helped us reach 5,000 LIKES this month! Member Highlights ChildVoice International For children trapped in Africa’s war zones, the untold brutality leaves psychological wounds that mostly go untreated.ChildVoice Internationalrestores the voices of former child soldiers, orphans and those left destitute by war by providing counseling, schooling, life skills and vocational training. They also provide sustainable solutions to help rebuild communities torn apart by war by refurbishing schools, establishing health clinics, improving sanitation and clean water access, and implementing income generating projects that teach people how to start a small business and save money. Teach With Africa Teach With Africaaddresses South Africa’s lack of good public education and its shortage of qualified teachers by sending U.S. educators to volunteer in the country’s underserved schools where they teach classes, tutor in core academic subjects and implement student workshops. They also share best practices with South African teachers on a range of topics including lesson planning and curriculum development. In three years, 60 Fellows have participated in the program.   Aid for Africa is a unique alliance of U.S.-based charities and their African partners dedicated to helping children, families, and communities throughout Sub Saharan Africa. Our grassroots programs focus on health, education, economic development, arts & culture, conservation, and wildlife protection in Africa. Join Our Mailing List Forward this to a friend Contact Aid for Africa: info@aidforafrica.org 202-531-2000	In recent weeks Aid for Africa has reported about its work and the work of its members through the Aid for Africa website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. In this issue of our e-newsletter, we highlight some of these stories. We hope that you visit Aid for Africa to learn more. Member Updates A Day To Celebrate Girls The first International Day of the Girl was celebrated on October 11 to raise awareness about gender inequality and to end discrimination against girls. Aid for Africa members Tostan,Carolina for Kibera,Maasai Girls Education Fund, and Nurturing Minds have been working on behalf of African girls through their innovative programs that promote social justice, education, health, and the economic empowerment of girls. Read how they are helping girls.  Literacy Through Libraries In Sub Saharan Africa two in five adults are illiterate and some 31 million primary-school-age children don’t attend school. The Lubuto Library Project is working to reverse illiteracy in Zambia through libraries that open their doors to disadvantaged youth, many affected by HIV and AIDS. Children are getting a chance to learn to read and improve their literacy at libraries that are enriching safe havens to learn, listen, experience, and express themselves.  Learn how Lubuto Libaries are changing lives.  Extending Compassionate Healthcare The mechanisms put in place to treat HIV and AIDS in Sub Saharan Africa may have laid the groundwork for expanding other healthcare practices, including palliative care, which focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients in all stages of disease. Aid for Africa member Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA) is helping to make this possible. Partnerships By working together, sharing ideas, and creating partnerships, Aid for Africa members can be more effective in their grassroots efforts on the ground in Africa.  For example, for the last three years, Aid for Africa members Books For Africa and Africa Classroom Connection have been working together to advance education in South Africa, Malawi, and Zambia by supplying and monitoring book donation sites there. Books For Africa and Invisible Children have also joined forces to ensure that schools in Northern Uganda have the books they need.    Aid for Africa has partnered with Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition to advance research on food and sustainable agriculture in Africa.  Katrina Brink, the first Aid for Africa Endowed Scholar recently returned from Mwanza, Tanzania, where she helped reduce malnutrition through improved gardening and poultry husbandry. Read about Katrina’s experience and the impact she has made.   In the News This month Invisible Children released MOVE, their third film about bringing to justice Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army. It provides a behind-the-scenes look into the making and impact of KONY 2012, which has been viewed by more than 2.5 million people, and the next steps in the movement, including a march on Washington on November 17.    Aid for Africa members have supported some of the women profiled in the critically acclaimed PBS documentary Half the Sky, which aired October 1-2. Rebecca Lolosoli and other women from the villlage of Umoja in Kenya received financial assistance throughThe Boma Project. By the end of 2012 half the women in the village will be entrepreneurs. The Edna Adan Maternity Hospital, in Somaliland, East Africa, received support from The Fistula Foundation for its new operating theatre and an onsite anesthesiologist. Aid for Africa posters are now throughout the DC Metro! We have posted the first one on Facebook, with the second soon to follow.  Be sure to LIKE them to spread the word that you care about Africa.  Thank you for Your Gifts to Aid for Africa! As 2012 draws to a close, thank you for remembering Aid for Africa in your personal and workplace giving plans. Your gifts change lives!