By Devlin Smith
At the beginning of September, two African Well Fund board members, Angela Martens and Rob Trigalet, traveled to Uganda to visit several project sites funded by AWF. While there, they met with representatives from Africare, AWF's partner organization in Africa, and met the people directly impacted by the wells being built in Uganda. Angela and Rob also posted blog updates and a cameraman documented the trip.
Now back from Uganda, Martens and Trigalet shared their experiences, including how it felt to see AWF's efforts put into action.
How did you first get involved with the African Well Fund?
AM: I have been involved with AWF since the very beginning. In October 2002 I read on a U2 fan message board a post made by fans who wanted to raise money to build a well in Africa. I joined the group and have been active in the AWF ever since.
RT: When I was 15, I saw U2 for the first time and I knew, or at least certainly felt strongly, that music could change the world. It certainly was changing me. Like many U2 fans I knew, I wrote letters for Amnesty International in an effort to give my belief in changing the world a tangible form. Fast forward to 1999 and Bono's involvement with the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which seemed to combine my passion for biblical justice and my desire to make a difference in the world, and so I became involved with Jubilee 2000. I started reading anything and everything about Africa and the issues of poverty.
In 2003,I can't even remember where I first read about it, I'm sure it was on a U2 fansite, AWF was promoting its first "Build A Well For Bono's Birthday" fundraiser and I was immediately struck by the simplicity and effectiveness of the idea that 100 or 200 people each putting in little bit of money, say $10 or $20, could build a well and completely change people's lives, so my wife and I donated money that first year.
What got your interested in the organization and its cause?
AM: Funding a well in Africa is something that's both practical and achievable. Building a well is something that can be both life changing and life saving. Clean water is essential for good health and can be as a new beginning for a whole community in Africa. For a group of people to get together and raise enough money for one clean water well is a realistic goal.
RT: Again, I think it was such a simple idea. I'd become very interested in Africa and, I think like a lot of people, I wanted to help but was overwhelmed by the enormity of the problems and I said to myself, "What could I possibly do to make a difference?" AWF provided me with a simple answer to that question.
When did you first start thinking about visiting Africa?
AM: Every couple of years the board of directors gets together with our partner, Africare. Three years ago, during our first meeting, Africare mentioned that a trip to Africa to visit the well sites we had funded was something that would be beneficial to us and we should really think about going if we got the chance.
RT: Since 2003, I slowly became more involved with AWF, speaking on the phone more and more frequently as time went by and one of things that come up fairly often was trying to get some of the AWF people over to visit some of the sites we had funded but it was a matter of coordinating schedules and finances, etc.
The night my wife and I were engaged in 1996, we made a list of places we wanted to visit in our lifetimes and Africa was on that list. Then, we were becoming more and more inspired as we read Bono's speeches about his work on behalf of Africa. Our first step to answer that question of "What could we do to make a difference in Africa?" was to sponsor a child in Ethiopia through a program called Compassion and that was in 2002. We began writing letters back and forth with our child, Desta. Then, I think it was January or February of this year, we started talking about the possibility of visiting him. Uganda was close enough to Ethiopia and Uganda was where AWF had funded several wells so one thing led to another and we ended up contacting Africare, which is the organization that actually oversees the construction of the wells, and the trip came together really quickly
When did the planning for this trip start?
AM: We started discussing the trip more seriously about a year and a half ago. Originally, we were hoping to have the trip take place earlier in the year, in the springtime, but that didn't pan out.
RT: January 2006.
How did you decide what countries and sites you'd visit?
AM: Africare facilitated the visit and chose the sites that would both be most beneficial for us to see and practical for Africare to arrange.
RT: There were several factors. My job is very season-specific so I only have certain windows of opportunity in the year where I can be away for long periods of time. Also, we were paying for the trip ourselves so we were limited by money as to how many places we could visit. So, with Uganda's close proximity to Ethiopia, it was the obvious choice. The actual sites we visited were selected by the Africare field office in Ntungamo District, which is actually the area where the money from the first AWF fundraiser was sent.
Continue
reading "African Well Fund Board Members Reflect on Their Trip to Uganda"
October 17, 2006
Maryland Women Runs Marathon to Raise Money for AWF
By Devlin Smith
On Oct. 29 Sara Higgins will be running in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC. This is Higgins' first marathon and she's using the event to raise money and awareness for the African Well Fund. So far she's raised over $1,000 through her Firstgiving web page.
The 26-year-old cash management analyst for JPMorgan answered some questions about the upcoming marathon from her home in Chesapeake, Md., discussing what inspired her to run for the African Well Fund and how you can support her.
How long have you been a runner?
I have never considered myself a runner before training for this race.
Why did you decide to run in the Marine Corps Marathon?
I really wanted to make a difference in the lives of people living in poverty in Africa. Ultimately, I would like to find a career where I am able to make a difference on a day-to-day basis. What I can offer at this time is a way to build awareness and financial support through running a marathon. The Marine Corp Marathon is meant to be a really great race for first-time marathoners.
Why did you want to run the marathon to benefit the African Well Fund?
As mentioned in my website, clean water is really the first step toward any sustainable culture. It is something that all humans are entitled to and to know that more than half of Africa's villages lack access to clean water is, literally, devastating. The African Well Fund seems concerned with and focused specifically on this issue. I wanted to link up with a charity that was doing just that—building clean water wells across Sub-Saharan Africa.
How did you first learn about AWF?
I first learned of AWF through my father. He, too, shares the same compassion for making a difference in Africa and knew I was searching for a charity organization to raise money for.
What kind of impact do you hope your run will have for the organization and the water issue in Africa?
My ultimate goal was to build awareness around the water issue in Africa and, obviously, to raise money for the cause. I hope that people in Gowke South, Zimbabwe, will be drinking clean well water next year.
To find out how you can set up a First Giving page to fundraise during your event, just visit Firstgiving for more information.
Six-year-old Collects Food for Food Bank and Pennies for AWF
By Devlin Smith
Andie Huff is an incredible little girl. Instead of just asking the big questions, six-year-old Andie is doing what she can to find the answers.
For the past year, Andie has been holding food drives, collecting various non-perishable items for the Second Harvest Food Bank. Through the three drives she's held at her Santa Cruz, Calif., home, Andie has collected more than 1,000 pounds of food and was even honored by Second Harvest at its awards night.
"Our community has come out each time and been so supportive with canned food and money," Andie's mom Rachel said. "When the Second Harvest staff see Andie, they always come up to her and tell her how much they admire her. Makes a mom cry."
It was Rachel that got Andie thinking about collecting food in the first place. "When my mom said that the people who were hungry have no food, it made me inspired," Andie said.
"She was complaining to me after school one day that she was 'starving,'" Rachel said. "I explained that there really were starving people in the world and we could help them. When she has her food drives, she gets so excited about all the food she has collected and how many hungry people she can help."
When Andie holds her next drive Oct. 21 and 28, she'll also be collecting money for the African Well Fund by putting out several penny jars. Andie decided to raise money for wells, "when I saw that a person had to go 10 miles to get water for their family and sometimes the water is not clean."
The movie "Millions" also inspired Andie to raise money for the African Well Fund. "At the end of a movie, with the money that the boy had, he made a well for the Africans," she said.
For this upcoming drive, Andie hopes to collect 10 barrels of food (one barrel can hold about 125 pounds of non-perishable food items) and 84,400 pennies (one mile's worth). "It’s fun helping Africans and hungry people," she said.
The Santa Cruz community is showing its support for Andie and her cause, including the Huff's local grocery store. "Andie met the manager of our local grocery story yesterday who said she could sit out front with her food barrel and penny jar any time she wanted," Rachel said.
The local media has also covered Andie's story. "I have worked with the local newspaper to get her food drives mentioned and she loves it," Rachel said. "She was also on the local news, which really made her year."
Andie has advice for anyone else who would like to get involved. "I would tell them the Second Harvest number and I would give them some of my pennies and a jar and help them get started collecting pennies," she said.
Andie is also planning to collect coats "for people that are cold" and raise money to build two wells in Africa.
A Wedding Well!
Joanne D’Abusco and Ron Sowers were able to turn their recent wedding into something more than a celebration for family and friends; through their generosity, their wedding will provide access to clean water to communities half-way around the world.
As the two Glendale, California educators planned their May 2006 nuptials they decided that they did not need or want traditional wedding gifts. Joanne, an 8th grade science teacher and Ron, an assistant principal both had established homes. They decided instead to request that their guests make a charitable donation in lieu of gifts.
One evening Joanne and her best friend (and maid of honor) rented and watched the film “Millions”. In the movie, two young boys find a sack of money. The younger one is very adamant about ‘doing good’ with it and in the end he sends the money to build wells in Africa. The very next Sunday, while attending services at the Holy Redeemer church in Montrose, California, Joanne saw a bulletin item suggesting donations to charities instead of gift giving. One of the charities mentioned was the African Well Fund. Joanne immediately suggested to Ron that they have “A Wedding Well” and after researching our website, Joanne and Ron decided AWF would be the recipient of the donations.
Joanne and Ron included an insert with their wedding invitation explaining their wishes. Their wedding was held on May 27th at their school. Their friends and family responded positively to the request. Many also work in education and were excited by the prospect of a gift that would not only provide clean water but would also enable young girls to attend school. Because of the generosity of their loved ones, Joanne and Ron’s “Wedding Well” raised $5000 for water projects in Africa!
Check back and in the coming weeks we will bring you more information about how this wonderful donation will be used. AWF thanks Joanne and Ron for their thoughtful, selfless gesture and wishes them much happiness in their life together.
Alberta Girl Guides Raise Over $500
Sunset Hill area Girl Guides in Alberta, Canada raised over $500 for AWF earlier this year. The girls collected donations throughout the month of May by participating in AWF’s Walk a Mile in Her Shoes penny fundraiser program.
Each year the district undertakes an international fundraising project. This year, 14 year old Pathfinder Siobhan Owen suggested AWF as the beneficiary. Armed with statistics from AWF’s website, Siobhan and her district manager Pauline talked to each unit about the need for access to clean water in Africa and about how the money they raised would be used to help. When speaking to the units Siobhan would bring a 4 litre jug of water along and the girls would take turns trying to carry it around the room on their heads to get an idea of the effort involved in having to transport water each day.
Siobhan chose AWF because of the fact that 100% of donations received goes directly to the well building projects. Being an all female organization, the girls also liked the idea that they were aiding the women and girls who bear the primary burden of obtaining water each day.
Nearly 100 girls ages 6 – 18 participated. They raised money in a variety of ways: doing chores, soliciting donations and collecting recyclables. Each unit brought the money they raised to the advancement ceremony at the end of May. The girls collected a grand total of $538.20!
The AWF salutes Siobhan and all the girls who participated for their dedication in helping the people of Africa.
