Rotarians for Fighting Aids - Newsletter May 2007

May 2007

From Marion's Point of View....

Hello Rotarians Everywhere!

We are pleased that you have joined RFFA's efforts in educating others about HIV/AIDS and particularly helping the children that have been impacted by this issue - some because they are ill with the disease or they are an orphan as a result of losing one or both parents to AIDS. An orphan in Africa is in a crisis state resulting in a lack of food, disease and preventing many from attending school.

Thanks to Rotarians (and some non-Rotarians as well) from all over the world, RFFA's Orphan Rescue program raised $50,000 US in its first year of operation. These funds have helped feed children and get hundreds of them back in school in six African countries. Each child gets immediate nutritional support from the donation, as so many children only eat every other day, sharing a meal with their siblings. Orphans drop out of school in order to care for the ailing parent(s) and eventual death. Many of them have no adult to speak for them when trying to get admitted to school. The government schools require a uniform, and Orphan Rescue funds are used to obtain these uniforms as well as pay their school fees and some school supplies.

It is a little known fact that very few governments and private foundations fund education for orphan children!! That is why RFFA's Orphan Rescue fulfills a unique need that is critical to the future of the 15 Million orphans in Africa. Without education, these children have no hope for a good life, much less a successful future!

The RFFA/ANCHOR Representative in Zambia last month informed me that even though OR funds were used to help several hundred children there, many Adolescent Head of Household families had to carefully share one uniform between their siblings because there wasn't enough money to buy a uniform for each child.

So please continue to be generous so we can help feed and educate these children. Orphan Rescue has proven to be a great concept for a Club or District Fundraiser, and we can assure you that the funds have a safe route and do get used by the children in Africa! There are Rotarians at both ends managing the money, here in the U.S. as well as in Africa.

Come see us at our booth in the Exhibition Hall in Salt Lake City. We need your membership, your talents, and your support!

Warmest Regards,
Marion Bunch
Founder & Chair
Rotarians For Fighting AIDS, Inc.
A Rotarian Action Group
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RFFA's Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City
Come One ... Come All!

Rotarians For Fighting AIDS will hold its fourth annual meeting at the RI Convention in Salt Lake City on Wedneday, June 20th - the last day of the convention - from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Room 251C.

We invite you to join the members of the Board of RFFA and learn more about what our great Rotarian Action Group has accomplished in the last year, as well as what they hope to achieve in the forthcoming year. We are proud of the important work we are doing to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS pandemic as well as help the "trailing consequence of AIDS," the orphans and at risk children. But we cannot do this work without the support and help of Rotarians everywhere!

WE NEED YOU! Please come join us before you go to the Closing Ceremony of the Convention.
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Thanks to Two Great RFFA Board Members, Eric Henderson and Sue Paget, Rotary District 9300, South Africa for all of their hard work and great achievements during their years of service on the RFFA Board of Directors.

Welcome Rotarian and PDG Mark Doyle (District 9250) who is the new Director of the ANCHOR program for RFFA in Africa!
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Mt Kilimanjaro Charity Climb: Kili 28/8
Raising Funds for AIDS and Education in Africa

The Climb
Led by John Glassford from the Rotary Club of Coolamon, NSW, Rotarians and non Rotarians, ordinary men and women ranging in age from 26 to 63, will show their commitment to Coolamon Rotary’s Road Maps to Africa AIDs and education beneficiaries by climbing to the roof of Africa, reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro on the full moon of 28 August 2007. Climbers will endure altitude sickness, intense cold and extreme physical effort in recognition of the suffering that your donation will help to alleviate

The Beneficiaries
The School of St Jude (RAWCS Yes)
http://www.schoolofstjude.co.tz
Educating the future leaders of Tanzania; fighting poverty through education. From 3 children in 2002, to 700 in 2006 and growing, Australian Gemma Sisia’s school gives exciting hope of change for the poorest of the poor in Arusha to break out of the poverty cycle. Sponsored children receive a high quality education in small classes where creativity and critical thinking are nurtured. Plans for a secondary school and boarding school are underway. Imagine what the next 10 years will bring, with your help?

RFFA Nairobi Orphan Rescue (RAWCS pending)
http://www.rffa.org
It is estimated that by 2010 there will be over 25 million orphans in Africa as parents die from AIDS. RFFA (Rotarians for Fighting AIDS) launched the Orphan Rescue Initiative to provide African orphans daily nutrition and make it possible for them to stay in school by paying for school fees, supplies and uniforms. Only $450US a year provides an African orphan daily nutritional support and an education to help to change their existence.

Operation Medical Hope (RAWCS pending)
http://www.coolamonrotary.com/maps
Operating from the "Coolamon" clinic in the shanty town of Imizamo Yethu, this project of the Rotary Club of Hout Bay, South Africa, will provide medical aid to pregnant women with AIDS to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV to their unborn child.

How do I Donate?
Target: US$100,000
Sponsorship ideas: Mt Kilimanjaro is 19,340 feet high
Bronze @ .5 cents per foot = US$97
Silver @ 1 cent per foot = US$197
Gold @ 10 cents per foot = US$1,934
Platinum @ 1 dollar per foot = US$19,340
Individuals, clubs, families, companies ... donations of any amount accepted; no donation is too small.

You can donate via ourPaypal account at www.coolamonrotary.com/maps/

Tax deductibility: Important – your donation is only tax deductible if the recipient project is registered with Rotary Australian World Community Service (RAWCS). To obtain a tax deductible receipt, tick the box below, complete your details overleaf and your donation will be divided between the projects that are, or become, registered. RAWCS will send you a tax deductible receipt. Projects marked RAWCS pending are not registered yet but may be. Funds raised for non RAWCS projects (or if you do not require a tax deductible receipt) will be distributed by the Rotary Club of Coolamon to their Road Maps to Africa beneficiaries.

Kili 28/8 is a Rotary Club of Coolamon NSW “Road Maps to Africa” project, initiated by Coolamon Rotarian John Glassford and proudly supported by the Rotary Club of Forbes Ipomoea NSW
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RFFA Holds Training Workshop and Planning Session in South Africa with RFFA Partners

A meeting was held in Johannesburg, South Africa in March 2007 with RFFA/ANCHOR Representatives attending from seven countries: South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire. In addition, the HOPE worldwide Country Managers from these locations also attended so that these ANCHOR teams could create plans for the forthcoming year in each of their community locations. Two executives from the third ANCHOR partner, The Coca Cola Africa Foundation, were in attendance so they could lend their ideas and support. USAID officials also came to speak to the group as the primary funder of this program. Thanks to the many RFFA ANCHOR Representatives who volunteer their time, talents and treasure to this huge effort in Africa.
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RFFA Orphan Rescue Funds Help 488 Orphans in Zambia

In February, 2006, Rotarians for Fighting AIDS (RFFA) sent US$4,500 to Hope worldwide and RFFA Representatives in Zambia to help orphans and vulnerable children. To put the amount in perspective, that is less than a family of four would spend on a 6 day vacation at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. But when invested with RFFA, that same US$4,500 provided direct education support (uniforms, school fees, books) to 328 children and indirect support (primarily nutrition) to 488 orphans and vulnerable children.

In reporting about the use of these funds, Hope worldwide Zambia's experience highlights the fact that the obstacles preventing many orphans and vulnerable children from regularly attending school include both direct obstacles (no money for school uniforms or fees) and indirect obstacles (children too weak to attend school because of a lack of food or medical conditions, including HIV/AIDS). Fortunately, the money provided by RFFA and the caring assistance provided by Hope worldwide Zambia has helped over 800 children begin or continue their educations.

Here are three stories of the children RFFA and Hope worldwide has helped in Africa:

Everisto is 8 years old and a double orphan who is cared for by his grandfather. He is HIV positive and could not attend school because he was weak from lack of food. Now, he stops at the Hope worldwide office every morning for breakfast courtesy of Orphan Rescue funds. He's in school and doing well.

An 8 year old girl is cared for by her grandmother, having lost both parents when she was a baby. This small family can only afford one meal a day, resulting in malnutrition so severe that the girl required hospitalization. The hospital only agreed to discharge her once Hope worldwide stepped in with assurance that Orphan Rescue funds would ensure she received food. The funds also got her a school uniform, a pair of used shoes and paid for school fees. This young girl had never been in school before.

Another boy's single mother who is HIV positive was threatened with eviction because she could not pay the rent. Orphan Rescue funds helped with the rent for one month and the child is attending school.

Thank you, Rotarians For Fighting AIDS, for leading the way and getting children "out of crisis."
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Rotary Clubs Hold Unique Fundraisers to Help AIDS Orphans in Africa

The Rotary Club of Dunwoody, Georgia (District 6900), home club of RFFA Chair Marion Bunch, recently presented her with a $1,500 (US) check for RFFA's ORPHAN RESCUE program. The club has honored each of its speakers this year with a donation to Orphan Rescue in their names. Dunwoody Rotary Club President (2006/7) Anne Glenn also presented a check from the Harris County Rotary Club, Georgia (D6900) in the amount of $200 US, representing the first international contribution made by this club new club of 26 members.

After a club presentation on RFFA and Orphan Rescue by RFFA Board member, Cincinnati Rotarian Deborah Schultz (with support from Rotarian Charlie Raterman), the Rotary Club of Covington, Kentucky decided to take action. On April 28, the Club will hold a fundraiser, "Orphans at Home/Orphans Abroad" to provide funds for RFFA's Orphan Rescue and "Caracole", a Cincinnati-based AIDS organization that assists children affected by HIV/AIDS. An individual in the Club has already made a $4,500 contribution to Orphan Rescue.

These two Clubs join a growing number of clubs in North America and abroad that have made contributing funds to Orphan Rescue a priority. Our thanks to all the clubs and individuals that have donated funds to help the children!

For more information on how to arrange for a presentation at your club or district meetings, go to www.rffa.org and email us.
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Northern Kentucky Fundraiser Assists "Orphans at Home/Orphans Abroad"

After a club presentation on RFFA and Orphan Rescue by RFFA Board Member and Cincinnati Rotarian Deborah Schultz and support from OR committed Rotarian, Charlie Raterman, the Rotary Club of Covington in Northern Kentucky decided to take action. On April 28th, the club will hold a fundraiser, "Orphans at Home/Orphans Abroad" to provide funds for Orphan Rescue and Caracole, local Cincinnati-based AIDS organization that assists children affected by HIV/AIDS. An individual in the club has already made a $4500 contribution to Orphan Rescue.

According to event chairs Rotarians Patricia Miller and Freddie Sandipher, "HIV/AIDS is devastating to children in Sub-Saharan Africa. We believe in the work of RFFA and the Orphan Rescue program and want to do our part to help as many children as possible who are affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic."

By raising funds to assist orphaned and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS locally and globally, Covington's Rotary fulfills two avenues of club service at once. The Covington Rotary joins a growing number of clubs in the U.S., Canada and abroad that have made contributing funds to Orphan Rescue a priority. Thank you to all the clubs that have donated funds.

For more information on this project, how to arrange a presentation at your club, or how you can become more involved in supporting the work of RFFA through Orphan Rescue, contact, Deborah Schultz at transborders1@cs.com.
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Rotarians for Fighting Aids - A Rotarian Action Group

HIV/AIDS - Africa

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