March 2009 Archives

The African Well Fund has opened a new merchandise page through Zazzle. The page features several designs for the Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser, including two incorporating the "70 Days to Change the World" theme that are available on organic Edun Live T-shirts. A button stating "I Changed the World for Bono's Birthday" is also available.

The store is also offering designs with the AWF logo. A portion of proceeds from the items fund water projects in Africa.

Click here to visit the AWF Zazzle page. For more information on Build a Well for Bono's Birthday, click here.

By Devlin Smith

The African Well Fund is launching its second Build a Well for Bono's Birthday auction, this time a "The Joshua Tree" LP signed by Bono, Adam Clayton and The Edge is up for bid. The auction will take place on AWF's eBay page from Sunday, March 22, World Water Day through Wednesday, March 25. Bidding will start at $70 to coincide with the "70 Days to Change the World" Bono's Birthday Well theme.

The LP was donated by a U2 fan who got Edge's signature in New York on March 6 when U2 played Fordham University for "Good Morning America," and Bono's and Adam's signatures when U2 was in Los Angeles on March 9 for the first night of the "U2 3 Nights Live" radio broadcasts.



"At first, I had no intentions of donating my autographs," the donor said. "I am a huge U2 fan, so to have a Grammy-award-winning album signed by three members of the band was the ultimate treasure. But I kept feeling God tug at my heart and He led me to the scripture in Matthew 6:19 about not storing treasures on earth. I believe that when God blesses us beyond our needs, those additional blessings are for the purpose of meeting the needs of others.

"A friend sent me the link to the African Well Fund auction of U2's 'Under a Blood Red Sky' CD and that's when God prompted me to donate my 'Joshua Tree' album to help build a well for Bono's birthday," the donor continued.

The closing bid for the "Under a Blood Red Sky" deluxe CD/DVD reissue signed by Bono, Clayton and The Edge was $449. AWF volunteer Ayesha Marcel got the CD/DVD autographed by the three U2 members.

"I was thrilled to see that the auction was so successful, especially during these difficult economic times," Marcel said. "Many thanks to everyone who bid on the reissue and to the winner: your generosity will go a long way toward helping the AWF fund a water project in Liberia, so cheers to you."

Proceeds from both auctions will benefit Build a Well for Bono's Birthday projects in Liberia. You can learn more about the fundraiser, including how to donate, here.

By Devlin Smith

In honor of Adam Clayton's March 13 birthday, the African Well Fund is hosting a special auction to benefit the Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser. Up for bid is a copy of the "Under a Blood Red Sky" deluxe CD/DVD reissue signed by Bono, Adam Clayton and The Edge.

The signed "Under a Blood Red Sky" will be auctioned on the African Well Fund eBay page beginning Thursday, March 12 at 9 a.m. Eastern time and will close on Saturday, March 14. Bids will start at $70 to coincide with this year's Build a Well for Bono's Birthday theme of "70 Days to Change the World."

African Well Fund volunteer Ayesha Marcel got signatures from Bono and Clayton while U2 was in Los Angeles for the Grammys in February. She told both that the CD would be auctioned off for Build a Well for Bono's Birthday, so Bono included his birthday with his signature ("10/5/60" or May 10, 1960).

"Adam simply listened as I explained to him what the AWF was about. I didn't know whether or not he was familiar with the AWF, so I felt I should explain why I was having him autograph the CD and what we hoped to accomplish," Marcel said. "With Bono, I knew he was aware of the AWF so I didn't have to do any explaining. Just saying the words 'African Well Fund' was enough to get his attention and he graciously agreed to sign the CD even though he was in a rush."

Marcel got The Edge's signature on the CD earlier this week when U2 was in Los Angeles for the first night of the "U2 3 Nights Live" radio broadcasts.

This isn't the first signed item Marcel has gotten for AWF. She helped collect signatures from Bono, Ali Hewson and Rogan Gregory on an EDUN shirt that was part of the 2007 Got Water? auction.

"U2 items are always popular when AWF auctions are held, and autographed items even more so, so if I can help procure something that's going to bring in higher bids or more donations, then I'm more than happy to do so," Marcel said.

The seventh annual Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser will fund a water project in Liberia. Learn more about the project here. Learn more about the fundraiser, including how to donate, by visiting the Build a Well for Bono's Birthday page.

By Devlin Smith

The African Well Fund has premiered a YouTube video to promote the seventh annual Build a Well for Bono's Birthday. Spearheaded by AWF Vice Chairman Rob Trigalet, the one-minute video combines pictures and videos of past AWF project sites with the music of Wheaton, Ill.-based Sleeping at Last to encourage people to donate to the Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser.

AWF supporters are encouraged to post the video on their own Web pages and share it with friends to promote Build a Well for Bono's Birthday.

Trigalet answered a few questions about the video and the impact he hopes it makes.

Why did you want to create a video promoting BBW this year?
Well, just like everybody else, the AWF has been affected by the economy and we recognize that people are worried about their finances but, in relative terms, most of us are still living like kings compared to the poorest of the poor. Every person in America has access to clean drinking water, water that won't make them sick, so the video was just a way to try give people out there a head's up, that, yes we know the economy is bad but this issue, the issue that we here at AWF live and breathe everyday, hasn't gone away. It's still a reality for the almost 300 million people in Africa that still don't have access to clean drinking water.

How did you come up with the concept for the video? Who helped you put this together?
My original idea was to just have a short 30- or 60-second sort of commercial for the Build a Well For Bono's Birthday fundraiser and just to show some the pictures that AWF board member Angela Martens took in Uganda of the bad water people are forced to use and then throw some stats up in between the pictures. But I went to a friend of mine, John Spencer, who is an independent film maker and he had the idea to not show any of the "before" pictures and just to try and show people what has been accomplished by these fundraisers, and it just really seemed to fit the mood of the music better.

Tell me a bit about the music. Who is the band? How did you get them involved? Why do you think their song fits the video?
The band is called Sleeping At Last and I first heard them about a year ago when a friend played me some of their music and the very next day I went online and ordered all of their CDs. For me, the music has an underlying real joy to it. This same friend had had some contact with them and he thought they might let me use one of their songs, so I e-mailed their management and they were very supportive of the idea.

What response are you hoping the video gets?
If it brings people to the Web site and gets them interested in what we do, that would be all that I could ask for it. Secondly, I love to share my favorite music with other people, so I hope people would check out Sleeping At Last as well.

By Devlin Smith

Next week, African Well Fund board members Angela Martens and Diane Yoder will be travelling through Ghana with Africare representatives. The group will be visiting sites covered by the first two phases of the Water for Ghana's Cocoa Farmers project, which is serving 12,000 people. More information about Phases I, II and III can be found in the AWF volunteer forum.

This is the second Africa trip taken by AWF board members. In Sept. 2006 Martens and Rob Trigalet visited Uganda to see various project sites and to film a short documentary. Read more about the Uganda trip here.

Martens and Yoder answered a few questions as they prepared to leave for Ghana, sharing why they wanted to go and what they expect from the trip.

When did planning for the trip begin?
AM: We started talking about making another trip to Africa over a year ago. The original time frame for the trip got pushed back a couple of times. Then, last fall, during a meeting with Africare, it was suggested [we] join Africare staff on a trip to West Africa. That was when planning really started.

DY: We started talking about a trip to Africa last year, but planning began in earnest after last year's Bishop Walker dinner in DC. At that time, we spoke to Africare staff about their upcoming travel plans and the possibility of African Well Fund members joining a scheduled trip.

How was Ghana chosen as the locale?
AM: AWF has couple of projects in Ghana. Right now in Ghana we will be able to see our projects in different stages of completion.

DY: Ghana was one of the trips being planned at the time. AWF has funded three different phases of the Water for Cocoa Farmers project in Ghana. Africare Region Director Ruth Mufute invited AWF board members to accompany her on the trip she was making to the region.

What are some of the things you're going to be doing on this trip?
AM: We will be meeting with Africare field staff for the first couple of days. Then we will spend a couple of days visiting the well sites before returning home.

DY: We will be spending a couple of days in Accra, meeting with Africare staff and other stakeholders in the project. AWF is funding the water portion of the comprehensive project IMPACT which is supported by Mars Inc. Then we will travel to the project impact communities where we will have the opportunity see completed projects, an in-progress phase and also the site of the most recently approved proposal.

What are you expecting from this trip?
AM: We hope to bring back to our donors photos of the projects and be able to share with donors personal stories of how these clean water projects have impacted lives in Ghana

DY: I am hoping to get a feel for the impact the projects have on the life of a community. I intend to listen and observe to try to understand what the challenges are that these communities face and how they can best be assisted. I just want to soak up as much knowledge as I can while I am there.

Why do you feel it's important for you, as an AWF board member, to visit Ghana?
AM: I think it's important for us to make the trip to see firsthand the impact our projects are making in people's lives, and to relay our experience there to our donors who have made these projects possible.

DY: I think that when you are asking people to donate money, especially in tough economic times, that you have a responsibility to ensure that the money is spent wisely. We are very fortunate to be working with a partner like Africare, the accountability is incredible. We receive detailed budgets and reports for all of our projects that we are then able to pass on to our donors so that they may see how their money is being spent, but to able to pass on a firsthand account of the impact their donation has adds a deeper level of understanding and assurance.

I also think that it is important to just go and listen to someone's story, to not assume that we have all the answers or that we know what a community is experiencing just because we have read and researched from afar. I hope that a personal visit relays a message of care and concern beyond that of just writing a check.

What impact do you think this trip will have on you as a board member and as a person?
AM: I think it will reinforce for me the importance of the work AWF does and the effect our projects do have on people's lives.

DY: I think it will reenergize my commitment to AWF. A lot of what I do for AWF involves sitting at my computer and typing. Since we are a virtual organization, we don't have many opportunities to interact with each other, so I am looking forward to traveling and collaborating with Angela and the Africare staff on the trip. I only wish that more of my AWF colleagues were coming along.

I have never been to Africa before but I have traveled to areas of extreme poverty and it always serves to drive home the realization that we are so extremely lucky to live where we do. I always tell my children that we already won the global lottery by virtue of being born in the United States. I believe this trip will confirm and strengthen my commitment to fulfilling the obligation we have to help those not as lucky as we are.

Diane, with this being your first trip to Africa, what's going through your head as you prepare to fly out?
DY: My head is always on overdrive and now even more so. Mainly, right now I am focused on packing and making sure I have what I need.

Angela, you went on the first board member trip to Africa in 2006, how is the preparation for this trip differing from that one?
AM: During this trip, we will be tagging along with Africare staff already travelling through the country. On my previous trip, it was just AWF reps, so there is a lot less preparation for the trip this time. All of our hotel and travel arrangements have been organized already.

Anything else you would like to share with AWF supporters about this trip?
DY: That no donation dollars were used to fund this trip, that AWF board members cover all of their own expenses. Also that upon our return, we are willing to speak to any supporters or donors who have questions or would like more information about the projects we visited.

What are you doing for Bono's birthday? For the seventh straight year, the African Well Fund is giving U2 fans the opportunity to change the world in honor of Bono's May 10 birthday. AWF is using the 70 days between the release of U2's new album "No Line on the Horizon" and Bono's birthday to collect money to fund water projects in Liberia.

Donations can be made to the birthday well through AWF's Build a Well for Bono's Birthday page. As in years past, donors will be invited to leave birthday wishes for Bono on a virtual card that will be forwarded to Principle Management.

The 2009 Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser will benefit a water, health and hygiene improvement project in Liberia. Administered by AWF partner organization Africare, the completed project will increase access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation and hygiene for communities in selected districts of Nimba County, benefiting about 7,000 people. Learn more about the project here.

Access to safe drinking water remains out of reach for over 67 percent of Liberian households, with almost 76 percent having inadequate sanitation. Many communities in Nimba County do not have access to safe drinking water because they never had water and sanitation facilities, or they were pillaged or fell into disrepair during civil conflict that impacted Liberia for 14 years, according to Africare.

During the last seven years, U2 fans have donated more than $143,000 to Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraisers. This money has funded projects in Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zimbabwe that have benefited approximately 21,000 people.

In the coming weeks, AWF will be offering limited edition t-shirts and buttons for purchase to raise money for the birthday well so check back soon!