Assisting HIV Orphans and Children with Cerebal Palsy in Soweto Township, South Africa

 CAUSE & AFFECT FOUNDATION VISITS

 SOWETO TOWNSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICA 

TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO PATIENTS OF 

THE SOWETO HOSPICE

WATCH THE FIELD REPORT VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE

 Soweto, one of the townships where South Africa's black residents were forced to live during the apartheid era, was at the epicenter of the liberation struggle for equality in the 1970s and 1980s. Though it's well known for being the birthplace of two Nobel Peace Prize Winners (Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu), it is still home to crippling poverty, economic marginalization and a very high HIV rate.

Many terminally ill patients come to the
Hospice Wits - Soweto in order to receive medical care or if there is no hope for recovery, at least death with dignity. The hospice has a full team of doctors, nurses and social workers, as well as in-patient care for 26 adults and 10 children at a time.
 WATCH THE FIELD REPORT VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE

They offer palliative care, nursing services and spiritual care. They are an integral part of the community, not just because of the end-of-life care they offer but also because of their team of social workers who make house visits to many of the families whose relatives have passed through the hospice. While meeting with these social workers, Cause and Affect learned that many of the families receiving assistance face other dire needs - not covered by the hospice's mission. We set out to assist five of these families.                                                                                                                                             #1: After being affected by HIV through a blood transfusion in Mozambique, Thebisile became very ill and nearly died while in the hospice less than two years ago. She's made a marvelous comeback but couldn't attend school without a school uniform and school supplies. For $85 we purchased shoes, uniform, backpack and full set of school supplies for this sweet 10th grader. She is so appreciative of the help (as are her parents). When we asked what she wants to be when she grows up, she didn't hesitate. "I want to be a social worker." Seems she understands the important role social workers have played in her life!
                                                                             

 #2: These three HIV orphans are living with their over-burdened grandmother in very tough conditions. 15 year-old Siphumelelo, his brother Siyabonga (11) and his sister Lufono (not pictured here) lost their mother to AIDS, but are anxious to continue their education. Siphumelelo wants to be an engineer and young Lufono wants to be a teacher. We purchased all of them full school uniforms so they are ready for the school year. Beautiful smiles dreaming of a better future.
WATCH THE FIELD REPORT VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE

#3:Karabelo was born with cerebral  palsy. She is now 16  years-old and living in a tiny ramshackle shack with her parents, brother and sister. There is one bed for the 5 of them. Since she cannot swallow her food, her mother feeds her through a feeding tube in her stomach. When we saw her mashing up the food by hand, we asked if she had a blender to do this work. The mother calmly replied that though a blender would save her a lot of effort, they didn't have money to buy one. We rushed to the mall, bought a $40 blender and a few hundred diapers to make this family's life a bit easier. Be sure to watch the video to see Karabelo's magic smile. She steals the show. 

                                                                                                                                                                #4: Goitsemang is another 16 year-old with cerebal palsy. Despite his condition, he also has a wonderful sense of humor. When asked what the family needed most, they told us that diapers are very expensive so we went  out and purchased enough to keep the family supplied for a few months. 
WATCH THE FIELD REPORT VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE

#5: Life is not fair. Lehlolonolo, this wonderful 7 year-old and his sister Reabetsue (12 years old) were born with HIV. Soon thereafter, their parents died of AIDS. They are living with their grandmother in very bad conditions here in Soweto. The hospice makes sure they get their meds to control their condition, but they were in dire need of school uniforms so they could attend school this year. 

Fulfilling the wish lists of these 5 families cost less than $500. There are so many families in need, but Cause and Affect is overjoyed to have been able to help these five.

Special thanks to the wonderful staff at the Soweto Hospice for their devotion to assisting these families on a daily basis. It is local heroes like them that keep us inspired to do whatever we can!

To support projects like this please make a tax-deductible contribution to Cause and Affect here, using credit card or Paypal.

As always thank you for your donations. As you can see, every dollar is making a difference!

WATCH THE FIELD REPORT VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE

Cause & Affect: Sending Impoverished Egyptian Students to School

Family with 3 kids who are in school thanks to this project.
WATCH THE VIDEO FIELD REPORT HERE.

Adam Carter, proud teacher, with his
middle school students in Ras es Soda, Egypt

WATCH THE VIDEO FIELD REPORT HERE.


One reason Cause & Affect founder Adam Carter chose to pursue teaching in international schools was to be able to establish meaningful relationships within a school community, which would allow him to mobilize his students to help improve their community. Now in his second year teaching at Schutz American School in Alexandria, Egypt he has partnered with local non-profits and mobilized his students to engage in a variety of service learning projects aimed at bettering the community of Alexandria and other parts of Egypt.



After designing the CONNECT course, based on instilling global citizenship through service learning, he has helped students carry out a range of activities in the past year and a half. To begin this school year, Cause & Affect partnered with the middle school students to carry out this wonderful project that sent 230 under-privileged children - living in Alexandria's most impoverished neighborhood - to school this year. The students raised over $3,000 to finance the back-to-school kits and school uniforms needed and Cause & Affect chipped in the remaining $450. Here is a description of the project from the CONNECT class blog.

Following up our wonderful Blanket

Distribution Project and Clothing Drive last year, we have deepened our relationship with the impoverished community of Ras el Soda, located in our hometown on Alexandria, Egypt. During last year's collaboration, we learned that many kids in this neighborhood are not able to attend school because their parents cannot afford to purchase them the school supplies or school uniforms they need. 

Not a pretty place, but home to thousands of people
 in need of aid and education

After compiling all of the supplies,
our students filled the backpacks 

Before we could do that though, we needed to jump to acton to raise the funds needed to purchase the supplies. In order to make this a true learning experience, students first studied the issue, learning why education is such important opportunity to improve a family's socio-economic condition. 





When our students heard this, they decided they wanted to help. We decided to make and distribute "back-to-school kits," complete with backpack, notebooks, pens, pencils, pencil sharpener, eraser, towel, toothbrush, toothpaste and soap.We then purchased the supplies wholesale (getting the best value for our money) and then brought everything to Schutz. Our students then ran an assembly line, filling over 200 of these kits with all the necessary supplies. 

Carrying back-to-school kits through the neighborhood to
our happy recipients

Students then made public awareness posters to help spread the word about what they were trying to accomplish. As they raised money, we used fundraising charts to show their progress and get them excited to fulfill their commitment. 

Happy boy who learned he gets to go to school this year

The final step was to hand-deliver the back-to-school kits to the families in need. We took the 6 students with the best posters to the community and were able to visit about ten families to deliver the backpacks. 

Our students, who come from privileged backgrounds, were
appalled to see people living in homes like this, but they are
inspired to make a difference
The final step was to hand-deliver the back-to-school kits to the families in need. We took the 6 students with the best posters to the community and were able to visit about ten families to deliver the backpacks. 

The rest of the backpacks have been delivered with the help of our local partner, the wonderful non-profit we worked with last year. 




Parents were informed that by accepting this kit, they were committing to send their kids to school. Our students were able to explain what we were doing to the Ras es 

WATCH THE VIDEO FIELD REPORT HERE.
As the video report shows, our students were able to put their compassion into action and make a profound difference in the lives of 230 of these kids, who would not be in school if our students had not raised the funds and taken the time to make this project a reality. In addition, they learned just how much they have to be thankful for and were rewarded with the satisfaction of improving the lives of those in need. The experience was tied to classroom activities and we also allowed the students to provide their feedback in school as we celebrated their success. This is what service learning should aim to achieve!

WATCH THE VIDEO FIELD REPORT HERE.

One Birthday = A Lasting Impact!

In an effort to show his middle-school students the positive change they can create by "donating" their birthday to charity, Cause & Affect founder Adam Carter is asking friends and donors to make tax-deductible birthday contributions to C&A on behalf of his birthday. Simply click here to make a donation with credit card or Paypal to support our current projects, such as our latest projects helping impoverished elderly sisters in Ethiopia, Syrian refugees in Turkey and Parkinson's patients in Ethiopia.

As part of the Connect class he has helped design and teach, Adam and his students engage in a variety of service learning projects to assist their local community of Alexandria, Egypt - and beyond! Last year they did a "Week Without Walls" service learning trip to Aswan in southern Egypt and also distributed blankets and spare clothes (see video here) to an impoverished neighborhood in Alexandria.

Adam's students are currently raising funds to send 230 local impoverished students to school, as their families would not be able to afford the $15 needed to purchase the necessary school supplies and school uniforms. Hard to believe, but it's true. Your donation will help show how much good these students - and hopefully others - can accomplish by sacrificing some birthday presents, instead asking for donations to charity on their behalf.

Please make your birthday donation here and spread the word. If you would like to donate YOUR birthday, please contact us so we can help. Thanks for your help.

Chicago fundraiser on Sat., Aug 2nd, 3-5pm / Korea Project / C&A in the press in Japan!

UPDATES FROM CAUSE & AFFECT FOUNDATION:

1. Save the date! Cause & Affect will be holding a summer fundraiser in downtown Chicago on Saturday August 2nd, from 3 to 5pm. Details to follow. If you cannot attend, please make a donation to help us continue our worthy projects around the globe! Easy to make a Paypal or credit card donation here. As you know, every dollar counts!!

2. Cause & Affect recently began a project assisting North Korean refugees in association with our partner organization Helping Hands Korea. We have created and funded a vitamin program for the malnourished refugee children being rescued from horrible conditions in North Korea. Details coming soon! 

3. Cause & Affect's recent project in Fukushima highlighted in March 2014 issue from Japanese magazine Connect.

Reducing Disease and Improving Sanitation in Rural Guatemala by Building Latrines

In searching for local non-profits to partner with, Cause & Affect looks for those organizations that implement a bottom-up model, allowing the local community to speak up and propose solutions for the issues that affect them.

For, this reason, we were overjoyed to discover the work of People for Guatemala, a US and Guatemalan-based NGO that creates development councils of village women that meet to discuss their local issues, propose solutions and then submit a detailed proposal to the organization's board to seek funds.

 WATCH FIELD REPORT VIDEO HERE
This model is imperative as it allows the local Mayans, for decades cut off from any involvement in their own development, to identify problems and seek solutions. In many cases, the only thing holding them back from realizing all of their projects is a lack of funding. Cause & Affect visited one such village, Los Magueyes, to learn about their attempts to improve their living situation. Fortunately, they had already addressed two of the most pressing issues:
1. They had built Chapin-style stoves in their home to cut down on respiratory problems caused by use of wood-burning stoves
2. They had installed water purifiers to reduce the amount of
 water-borne diseases
The 3rd issue was addressing the unsanitary and often dangerous latrines they had been using. Without running water, rural Guatemalans use latrines, but the old-fashioned ones (basically a hole in the ground) present a lot of dangers, such as:
1. Flies breed in the waste and then enter the family home, spreading disease through contact with food, etc.
2. Mosquitoes breed in the latrines and spread disease
3. Children accidentally fall into the deep holes, often drowning
4. During rainy season, latrines overflow, spreading waste everywhere
5. Fecal matter seeps into the groundwater, tainting water supply.

What are needed are a special type of dry latrine that separates the waste between urine and feces, as it is this mix that becomes noxious; on its own, the feces biodegrades and can be used to fertilize the fields, as all of these families grow their own food.  These latrines are much safer and do not breed flies or mosquitoes.

 WATCH VIDEO HERE
The community has seen these special latrines in action and only lacked the start-up funds to make it a reality. Another great component of this development model is the fact that each family makes a financial contribution to the projects, so they have a stake of ownership and maintain the facilities with pride and diligence. With $1,500 Cause & Affect financed the construction of 5 latrines for the community of Los Magueyes. In addition, everything is done on a communal basis. We purchased the materials and dropped them off and taught them how to construct the first latrines and then the village men get together and build the other four. This is the most effective model of communal development and we are very happy to have been able to help the inhabitants of Los Magueyes help themselves! The film shows the success of this model and the entire process in action. To donate to projects like this, simply click here - donations accepted via credit card and Paypal. Wonderful projects like this are financed due to all of your wonderful donations, no matter how small!

 PLEASE GIVE TO PROJECTS LIKE THIS  - EVERY DOLLAR MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE'S LIVES!

Cook & Affect: Assisting a Vocational Training Culinary Arts Program in Guatemala

WATCH FIELD REPORT HERE

In rural areas of Guatemala, the indigenous Mayans have been economically marginalized for decades. One of the biggest challenges they face is finding sustainable jobs, beyond seasonal agricultural work. Luckily, a fantastic local non-profit called Amigos de Santa Cruz is addressing that need and helping the locals of one such town help themselves and find work.

Since partnering with Amigos de Santa Cruz back a few years ago (see 2010 field report here), we have been charting their amazing progress in building their CECAP center, which is a vocational educational center for the local Mayan inhabitants of Santa Cruz. Since Santa Cruz has very limited educational and work opportunities for its inhabitants, this center provides very valuable training for the locals in six fields: sewing, computer education, carpentry, welding, foot loom weaving and culinary arts. On a recent visit, we saw these classes in action and salute Pat Torpie, the organization's founder and their amazing staff for helping prepare and place so many locals for employment that will allow them to provide income for their families. Their program director Juan Antonio is a great cook and patient instructor who shares their vision and is an integral part of the program's success.
                          
                            WATCH FIELD REPORT HERE
One of the greatest successes of CECAP has been the culinary arts program, as all 17 of the graduates from the first two years have steady work as cooks in hotels and restaurants in the area. Building upon this success, we offered to help them develop their program, as they are looking for ways to make the program self-sustainable. They have established a small restaurant in the CECAP building, which has majestic views over beautiful Lake Atitlan. In one year, profits from the restaurant Sabor Cruceño have already allowed the culinary arts program to be self-sustainable.  

In order to expand their menu and bake goods they can then sell in the local market, Cause & Affect decided to help them by purhcasing the kitchen supplies they need to start baking pizzas, desserts, cakes, etc. With $955, Cause & Affect purchased a new food processor, a Kitchen Aid hand mixer, a rolling pin and various other kitchen accessories needed to expand the program's menu, instruction and profitability. 

We then brought in our resident chef, Linda Champagne (Adam's mother who lives in Guatemala and used to teach cooking classes and write cookbooks) to share her expertise by conducting a series of cooking classes to teach new recipés. In her first class, she taught them how to make pizza, including making the crust from scratch. Special thanks to Mom for her great help - and very impressive Spanish skills! It's such a joy to work with Amigos de Santa Cruz and their wonderful work helping the residents of Santa Cruz find such rewarding work.     WATCH FIELD REPORT HERE

 

Helping Deaf Children from Calcutta's Slums Become Heard

WATCH FIELD VIDEO HERE

WATCH FIELD VIDEO HERE

Life is very tough here in the slums of Calcutta, India but it is even more challenging for the deaf and hearing-impaired. Faced with such a lack of medical care, many diseases and conditions go undiagnosed. The same is true for deafness. As a result, many parents simply assume these children are just stupid or mentally-handicapped. In many cases, these kids do not get properly diagnosed or ever learn sign language. Can you imagine being trapped in your own home, unable to express your most innermost feelings. Never being able to play with your brother, tell your mom that you love her or ask your father how his day was?

WATCH FIELD VIDEO HERE

Fortunately, an amazing woman named Brinda Crishna recognized this problem and decided to open an amazing non-profit to help address this shortcoming of aid and education.  Today, VAANI (which means "sound of the soul") works in several regions in India, but Cause & Affect decided to address the situation here in Calcutta, where VAANI works directly with deaf children and their families through their Kolkata Metropolitan Project. 90% of all the project's deaf children and families come from lower socio-economic backgrounds and low literacy levels.




The project is an effort mainly to combine center-based specialized services with a community-based approach and aims to:

• Ensure that all deaf children aged between 0-14 years have access to diagnosis, early stimulation and education
• raise awareness of the issues surrounding the primary education of deaf children
• work towards raising the expectations of parents and the wider community for the deaf child’s potential
• help the parents and the wider community to understand the value of educating the deaf child

It has been a challenge convincing parents who are mainly concerned about their child’s educational needs to also be involved in his/her emotional and social growth. VAANI's community mobilizers have worked hard to make them understand the need for communication, and to convince reluctant parents to come with their children to the resource centres and to be a part of the VAANI extended family.


 WATCH FIELD VIDEO HERE

After numerous field visits, Cause & Affect looked for the most direct way to assist the project. Our timing couldn't have been better, as they were looking for funding to open a brand new Resource Center. This facility will house a new Early Prevention Program to allow babies up to 3 years old to participate in the project as well.  Cause & Affect donated $1,000 to purchase supplies and materials for the project. As the video shows, this project is transforming these children's lives. It is amazing to see children suddenly have the ability to express themselves for the first time in their life. We are so thankful to VAANI for their amazing work and professionalism!

Please allow us to continue supporting worthy projects like this by donating here.
Special thanks to Eric Wiesner for your assistance and generous donation - you da man!

"Theater for Development" as a Means of Empowering Mayan Children in Guatemala

Watch Field Report Video Here

Proportionately the largest indigenous population in the world, the Mayans of Guatemala have a proud cultural tradition, but sadly, they have been discriminated against for centuries. Though they have won a right to a free education in recent decades, the odds for their academic success are stacked against them. There are a few main reasons to explain this achievement gap:
1. Their rural schools are severely lacking in school supplies;
2.  Spanish is their second language (they speak Mayan dialects at home); and
3.  The discrimination they face from non-indigenous students.
As a result, they often feel out of place and afraid to express themselves in school, which adversely affects their performance and often results in drop out.

What is needed is a way to create a more comfortable academic setting, where the Mayan students feel free to express themselves to fellow students and teachers. In my humanitarian work in other countries, such as Brazil, I have seen firsthand the positive effect that "theater development" has on marginalized populations; Theater for Development is an innovative tool used in the field of international development, wherein participants act out dramas, comedies, musical numbers and dance performances as a means of self-expression. The component of role play allows them to experience the situation from another angle and the improvisational component allows them to think on their toes and experience new forms of thought and action.

On the heels of other projects' successes, Cause andAffect was eager to administer this innovative methodology in a Guatemalan context, so upon our field visit in February, we were overjoyed to discover that CasaSitio (a wonderful partner organization of ours) was also interested in bringing this practice to their recipients.

We then partnered with a Brazilian organization that was conducting a Theater for Development training workshop in another city of Guatemala, so Cause and Affect agreed to finance the training session. With $1,000 we were able to send CasaSitio's practitioners to the 4-day training session, pay for the training materials and then install the theater project into their curriculum. 

We had to wait eight months for the training session and implementation of the program, but we are very pleased to announce that the social theater workshops are in full swing, and are already paying a valuable dividend in improving the academic performance of these Mayan students!

As the field report video documents, the students are overjoyed to have a forum in which they can freely express themselves, engage in role play and become more comfortable with their surroundings. With a more healthy integration into their schools and a new-found enthusiasm, they are already planning brighter futures.

The success of this project once again shows just how far a small amount of money, invested in a responsible manner, can create very effective change.

To contribute to projects like this, please visit our website and our Give page here, where you can easily make a donation via PayPal or credit card. Special thanks to CasaSitio for their assistance and our generous donors!