The neighborhood kids had a lemonade stand today and took some of the money home for themselves, and donated some of the money to the Senegal trip. Thanks to all of them who helped out and for their generosity!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Got our shots!!!
We got our shots today. Just two each, although I am doing typhoid orally, and Zach still needs to get a meningitis vaccine at his doctor's office. Zach was a little overwhelmed with all the precautions -- don't swim in the water, don't eat any uncooked foods, use bug repellant, sleep under a mosquitoe net, don't drink any dairy unless it is pasteurized, etc etc etc. But the appointment at the travel clinic was great because it helped us to really be on top of the things we need to be sure to pack, etc.
I don't think Alyssa is feeling too jealous about our trip right now, seeing as how she didn't have to get any shots!!!
I don't think Alyssa is feeling too jealous about our trip right now, seeing as how she didn't have to get any shots!!!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
We picked up the medical kits that we will donate!
We picked up medical kits at Project CURE! And boy, what an amazing thing it was. The warehouse is HUGE. The medical supplies are stacked row after row after row. Most of the medical supplies come from upgrades (there is a newer and better out there, so why use the old one??) and from packs of sterile supplies in which one or a few items were used, but the others were not. The amazing thing is that there are 4 warehouses as big as this one in the US, and a number of collection centers, as well. All I can say is that I am glad that all this stuff is being captured so that it ends up in the hands of people who need it, instead of in a landfill.
The top left picture here is a picture of the type of medical kits we will be taking with us on our trip. We will take 4 of them - one for each village we will visit, and one for the folks in Dakar who are helping us out.
On another note, Project CURE won the big award they were competing for. They were selected by ColoradoBiz Magazine as the winner of their Top Company award for nonprofits.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Flooding in Senegal
Horse-cart drivers navigate deep floodwaters on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal, on Saturday. ( Rebecca Blackwell, The Associated Press )
Fatal flooding overwhelms homes and businesses on western coast of Africa
By The Associated Press
FASS MBAO, Senegal — Torrential rains have lashed Africa's western coast for the past three months, killing 159 people and flooding the homes and businesses of more than 600,000 others, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs.
By The Associated Press
FASS MBAO, Senegal — Torrential rains have lashed Africa's western coast for the past three months, killing 159 people and flooding the homes and businesses of more than 600,000 others, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs.
They include the patients of one of Burkina Faso's largest hospitals, who had to be carried out on gurneys after water invaded the wards. They include those living on the banks of a river in northern Niger, whose homes were swept away when a dike burst under the weight of the rain.
Among the six countries where the flooding has been most severe — Senegal, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger and Ghana — the neighborhoods most affected are the poor ones. Typically these communities are the result of urban sprawl, built without municipal approval, using unsafe materials.
The U.N. estimates that just in Senegal, 264,000 people have been affected by flooding. And although many families say their homes flood every year, they say that they do not have the money to move.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Senegal receives $540 Million Millenium Challenge Grant
The board of directors of the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, approved a five-year, $540 million compact grant to the Republic of Senegal to reduce poverty through economic growth. The compact, according to a September 7 MCC announcement, will focus on road rehabilitation and food security initiatives in some of the poorest regions of Senegal.
"On behalf of MCC, I want to congratulate the people and government of Senegal for developing an innovative compact that will make a tremendous difference in reducing poverty through economic growth by bolstering food security and transportation connectivity," said Darius Mans, acting MCC chief executive officer. "The Senegalese have laid out a clear vision of improving the quality of their lives through a results-oriented plan. MCC welcomes the opportunity to work together to achieve these compact goals."
The compact will invest in rehabilitating roads in the northern and southern regions of Senegal. Improving these roads is vital to supporting the agricultural sector -- by creating reliable, cost-effective and time-saving means to transport locally produced agricultural products to domestic and international markets year-round, the MCC announcement states. In addition to getting products and consumers to markets, these roads will provide access to essential community services such as schools and hospitals.
The compact also will invest in a strategic irrigation and water resources management project. This project, according to the MCC, will develop up to 10,500 hectares of additional irrigated land in the Senegal River Valley by increasing the volume of irrigation water. This work will prevent the abandonment of 26,000 hectares of existing irrigable land by rehabilitating drainage canals and expanding secure land tenure. The project will maximize the potential of the irrigated zone by increasing crop yields. For a country that currently imports 70 percent of its rice, the irrigation project will move Senegal a step closer to greater food security.
A compact is a multiyear agreement between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and an eligible country to fund specific programs targeted at reducing poverty and stimulating economic growth.
These programs must be developed in consultation with a country's citizens -- including women, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector -- and have the ability to measure both economic growth and poverty reduction.
Relevant Links
West Africa
U.S., Canada and Africa
Senegal
Sustainable Development
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a U.S. government corporation designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world. Established in January 2004, MCC is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance and economic freedom and investments in people. MCC's mission is to reduce global poverty by promoting sustainable economic growth. Before a country can become eligible to receive assistance, MCC looks at its performance on independent and transparent policy indicators. MCC selects eligible countries for compact assistance.
MCC expects to sign the compact with Senegal on September 16. It will be signed by Senegalese Minister of Finance and Economy Abdoulaye Diop and Acting MCC CEO Mans at the State Department in Washington. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and Secretary Clinton will preside at the signing, the MCC announcement said.
"On behalf of MCC, I want to congratulate the people and government of Senegal for developing an innovative compact that will make a tremendous difference in reducing poverty through economic growth by bolstering food security and transportation connectivity," said Darius Mans, acting MCC chief executive officer. "The Senegalese have laid out a clear vision of improving the quality of their lives through a results-oriented plan. MCC welcomes the opportunity to work together to achieve these compact goals."
The compact will invest in rehabilitating roads in the northern and southern regions of Senegal. Improving these roads is vital to supporting the agricultural sector -- by creating reliable, cost-effective and time-saving means to transport locally produced agricultural products to domestic and international markets year-round, the MCC announcement states. In addition to getting products and consumers to markets, these roads will provide access to essential community services such as schools and hospitals.
The compact also will invest in a strategic irrigation and water resources management project. This project, according to the MCC, will develop up to 10,500 hectares of additional irrigated land in the Senegal River Valley by increasing the volume of irrigation water. This work will prevent the abandonment of 26,000 hectares of existing irrigable land by rehabilitating drainage canals and expanding secure land tenure. The project will maximize the potential of the irrigated zone by increasing crop yields. For a country that currently imports 70 percent of its rice, the irrigation project will move Senegal a step closer to greater food security.
A compact is a multiyear agreement between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and an eligible country to fund specific programs targeted at reducing poverty and stimulating economic growth.
These programs must be developed in consultation with a country's citizens -- including women, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector -- and have the ability to measure both economic growth and poverty reduction.
Relevant Links
West Africa
U.S., Canada and Africa
Senegal
Sustainable Development
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a U.S. government corporation designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world. Established in January 2004, MCC is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance and economic freedom and investments in people. MCC's mission is to reduce global poverty by promoting sustainable economic growth. Before a country can become eligible to receive assistance, MCC looks at its performance on independent and transparent policy indicators. MCC selects eligible countries for compact assistance.
MCC expects to sign the compact with Senegal on September 16. It will be signed by Senegalese Minister of Finance and Economy Abdoulaye Diop and Acting MCC CEO Mans at the State Department in Washington. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and Secretary Clinton will preside at the signing, the MCC announcement said.
Map of Senegal
Here is a map of Senegal. We will be in Dakar, St. Louis, and in the Matam region (in and around the town of Matam, in the northwest part of the country).
Project C.U.R.E.
ColoradoBiz Magazine has recognized PROJECT C.U.R.E. as a finalist for its annual Top Company award in the nonprofit category. The organization shares this early distinction with two other Colorado-based nonprofits: Denver Rescue Mission and Colorado Uplift.
Top Company is Colorado’s most competitive business awards program, judged on the basis of sustained financial performance, operational excellence and community involvement.Companies submit or are nominated to the program. Long-time sponsor Deloitte selects finalists after rigorous evaluations. Then a panel of business professionals and leading policy officials convenes to determine winners in each category.Winners in each category will be announced Sept. 15 at an awards luncheon in the Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Learn more about Project C.U.R.E. at: http://www.projectcure.org/
Top Company is Colorado’s most competitive business awards program, judged on the basis of sustained financial performance, operational excellence and community involvement.Companies submit or are nominated to the program. Long-time sponsor Deloitte selects finalists after rigorous evaluations. Then a panel of business professionals and leading policy officials convenes to determine winners in each category.Winners in each category will be announced Sept. 15 at an awards luncheon in the Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Learn more about Project C.U.R.E. at: http://www.projectcure.org/
Fundraising has Begun!!! Please support our trip!
September 12, 2009
Dear friends and family,
I am writing you today to ask for your financial support for service projects that I will be completing, along with my son Zach, in Senegal, West Africa in November.
As many of you might know, I worked extensively with the African community during my time living in Summit County. There are approximately 100 African men, most of whom are from Mauritania and Senegal, who live and work in Summit County. They send their earnings back home to help support their families. Most of them are asylees in this country, and some of them have already completed the arduous process of gaining citizenship and bringing their families to the United States to live with them. For years I provided interpretation and advocacy services to my African friends, and my life was richer for the friendships I gained.
A few friends from Summit County and I hatched the idea several years ago of traveling to Senegal to go to the homes of some of our African friends. The trip was conceived as a way to provide service in their communities, and also to foster cultural understanding and exchange. This November, our dream is coming to fruition, and a group of eight of us will be traveling to Senegal in November - accompanied by two of our African friends. The trip feels to me like a chance of a lifetime, a chance not just to travel in Senegal, but to visit the homes and villages of my friends who live there.
I am going on this trip, and am taking Zach, my 9-year-old son with me. The decision to take Zach is an exciting one - Todd and I feel that it will be an amazing learning experience for him. His school is fully supportive of the trip and is working with him to incorporate his learnings into his school work. Coincidentally, his class is doing an extensive unit on Africa this fall, and we are planning to link electronically with his classroom during our trip.
We are writing you today because we need your help. As is often the case, the financial needs associated with a service project trip are substantial. While we are covering all our own travel expenses, we are seeking donations for the service projects we will complete while we are there. Specifically, we need funds to:
· Purchase and transport four low level medical kits from Project Cure (http://www.projectcure.org/). The kits and transport will cost our group $800 total but contain about $3,000 ($12,000 total!) in medical supplies for village health clinics.
· Purchase and transport school supplies for distribution in three villages (Ndindory, Doumga Ouro Alpha and Hoorefonde).
· Purchase supplies to paint three murals (one at the high school in Summit County, and two in the primary schools in Doumga Ouro Alpha and Hoorefonde). The mural project is intended to foster cultural collaboration and understanding in the villages.
· Pay for ½ the travel costs of Oumar Niang and Aliou Ba, our West African friends who will be traveling with us.
Our hope is to create a partnership with the villages that we visit so that we can continue to provide assistance and development opportunities in the years to come.
I am perhaps most excited about the opportunity to visit my good friend Mamadou’s village. I have known Mamadou since the late 1990s and have received many gifts from his family over the years. I am so excited to be able to visit his village and meet the family that I have heard so much about.
You can follow our trip – and all the preparations for it – on our blog, http://senegal-2009.blogspot.com/. I just set up the blog and posted some of the photos and stories from over the summer. We leave for our trip on November 2 and will return on November 15.
Any donation that you can provide would be most appreciated. Please send checks to my home address (contact me for the address if you don't have it). Checks may be made out to: Friends and Family of West Africa. Checks are fully tax-deductible via Father Dyer United Methodist Church in Summit County, and we will provide you documentation for your records. [Note that our trip is NOT religious. Our accounts are being held and sponsored by the church, but there is no religious element to the trip.]
Thank you very much! We look forward to hearing from you!!
Susan and Zach
Dear friends and family,
I am writing you today to ask for your financial support for service projects that I will be completing, along with my son Zach, in Senegal, West Africa in November.
As many of you might know, I worked extensively with the African community during my time living in Summit County. There are approximately 100 African men, most of whom are from Mauritania and Senegal, who live and work in Summit County. They send their earnings back home to help support their families. Most of them are asylees in this country, and some of them have already completed the arduous process of gaining citizenship and bringing their families to the United States to live with them. For years I provided interpretation and advocacy services to my African friends, and my life was richer for the friendships I gained.
A few friends from Summit County and I hatched the idea several years ago of traveling to Senegal to go to the homes of some of our African friends. The trip was conceived as a way to provide service in their communities, and also to foster cultural understanding and exchange. This November, our dream is coming to fruition, and a group of eight of us will be traveling to Senegal in November - accompanied by two of our African friends. The trip feels to me like a chance of a lifetime, a chance not just to travel in Senegal, but to visit the homes and villages of my friends who live there.
I am going on this trip, and am taking Zach, my 9-year-old son with me. The decision to take Zach is an exciting one - Todd and I feel that it will be an amazing learning experience for him. His school is fully supportive of the trip and is working with him to incorporate his learnings into his school work. Coincidentally, his class is doing an extensive unit on Africa this fall, and we are planning to link electronically with his classroom during our trip.
We are writing you today because we need your help. As is often the case, the financial needs associated with a service project trip are substantial. While we are covering all our own travel expenses, we are seeking donations for the service projects we will complete while we are there. Specifically, we need funds to:
· Purchase and transport four low level medical kits from Project Cure (http://www.projectcure.org/). The kits and transport will cost our group $800 total but contain about $3,000 ($12,000 total!) in medical supplies for village health clinics.
· Purchase and transport school supplies for distribution in three villages (Ndindory, Doumga Ouro Alpha and Hoorefonde).
· Purchase supplies to paint three murals (one at the high school in Summit County, and two in the primary schools in Doumga Ouro Alpha and Hoorefonde). The mural project is intended to foster cultural collaboration and understanding in the villages.
· Pay for ½ the travel costs of Oumar Niang and Aliou Ba, our West African friends who will be traveling with us.
Our hope is to create a partnership with the villages that we visit so that we can continue to provide assistance and development opportunities in the years to come.
I am perhaps most excited about the opportunity to visit my good friend Mamadou’s village. I have known Mamadou since the late 1990s and have received many gifts from his family over the years. I am so excited to be able to visit his village and meet the family that I have heard so much about.
You can follow our trip – and all the preparations for it – on our blog, http://senegal-2009.blogspot.com/. I just set up the blog and posted some of the photos and stories from over the summer. We leave for our trip on November 2 and will return on November 15.
Any donation that you can provide would be most appreciated. Please send checks to my home address (contact me for the address if you don't have it). Checks may be made out to: Friends and Family of West Africa. Checks are fully tax-deductible via Father Dyer United Methodist Church in Summit County, and we will provide you documentation for your records. [Note that our trip is NOT religious. Our accounts are being held and sponsored by the church, but there is no religious element to the trip.]
Thank you very much! We look forward to hearing from you!!
Susan and Zach
Friday, September 11, 2009
Summit County’s West Africa connection | SummitDaily.com
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20090603/NEWS/906039962&parentprofile=search
Posted using ShareThis
Posted using ShareThis
Lunch at Mamadou's
Over the summer we visited Mamadou's house and had lunch with Mamadou and his friends. The kids were very impressed by the communal eating -- and by the enormity of the plates the food was served on!!
A long way from home | SummitDaily.com
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20090621/NEWS/906209988&parentprofile=search
Posted using ShareThis
Posted using ShareThis
Alyssa and Mamadou
Alyssa and Mamadou. I met Mamadou in the late 1990's and we have been good friends ever since. He has had lots of medical issues over the years and I have been able to provide interpretation and support for him. Zach and I will be traveling to Mamadou's village, called Ndindory, and staying overnight with Mamadou's family during our trip.
West African Mountain Stars Soccer game
The West African Mountain Stars took the Hispanic Hot Boots 5-3 in a friendly soccer match at Rainbow Park Sunday afternoon, but everyone was a winner at the intercultural event.
Almost 50 men competed in the game that was organized by Friends and Family of West Africa (FFWA), a group of Americans and Senegalese who are traveling to Senegal in November to foster cultural understanding between the two countries. After the game, hamburgers, hot dogs and a variety of West African dishes were available for all.
“The fun and companionship was great,” said Sylvia Dowty, one of the 10 individuals traveling to Senegal in November. “It was a wonderful opportunity to bring the community together and share a bit of each other’s culture.”
The goal of the FFWA group is learn first-hand about life in Senegal. Through its November trip, the group hopes to increase understanding of Fulani culture, values and religion, to deepen relationships between West Africans and other residents of Summit County, and to explore opportunities for socio-economic development within Senegalese communities.
Prior to the soccer game, the group completed a cross-cultural orientation facilitated by Myrna Ann Adkins of the Denver-based Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning.
“I was surprised when Aliou said I would be treated like a king when I am there,” said Zach Robertson, 8, who will go on the trip with his mother, Susan. “I think that might feel a little strange to me.”
The group chose to travel to Senegal to deepen long-standing relationships with individuals from that country. While in Senegal, they will stay in the villages of Oumar Niang and Aliou Ba, the two Africans taking part in the trip. The group will provide medical and school supplies and potentially computers to the villages they visit.
The group is covering its own travel expenses but is accepting donations to help with medical supplies and other service projects. Donations may be sent to FFWA, c/o Father Dyer UMC, PO Box 383, Breckenridge, CO 80424.
Almost 50 men competed in the game that was organized by Friends and Family of West Africa (FFWA), a group of Americans and Senegalese who are traveling to Senegal in November to foster cultural understanding between the two countries. After the game, hamburgers, hot dogs and a variety of West African dishes were available for all.
“The fun and companionship was great,” said Sylvia Dowty, one of the 10 individuals traveling to Senegal in November. “It was a wonderful opportunity to bring the community together and share a bit of each other’s culture.”
The goal of the FFWA group is learn first-hand about life in Senegal. Through its November trip, the group hopes to increase understanding of Fulani culture, values and religion, to deepen relationships between West Africans and other residents of Summit County, and to explore opportunities for socio-economic development within Senegalese communities.
Prior to the soccer game, the group completed a cross-cultural orientation facilitated by Myrna Ann Adkins of the Denver-based Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning.
“I was surprised when Aliou said I would be treated like a king when I am there,” said Zach Robertson, 8, who will go on the trip with his mother, Susan. “I think that might feel a little strange to me.”
The group chose to travel to Senegal to deepen long-standing relationships with individuals from that country. While in Senegal, they will stay in the villages of Oumar Niang and Aliou Ba, the two Africans taking part in the trip. The group will provide medical and school supplies and potentially computers to the villages they visit.
The group is covering its own travel expenses but is accepting donations to help with medical supplies and other service projects. Donations may be sent to FFWA, c/o Father Dyer UMC, PO Box 383, Breckenridge, CO 80424.
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