A Gant Heart – Former #NBA basketball player Manute Bol dies at age 47 #SudanSunrise

At 7 feet 7 inches tall, there’s no denying that former NBA basketball player Manute Bol was a giant on the court. He led the NBA in blocked shots for several seasons, while always drawing a crowd as one of the tallest people to ever to play the game.

But off the court, Manute Bol was also a giant: a giant of benevolence, and a tireless activist for peace in his native Sudan.

As millions of Sudanese lived through a seemingly endless war between the North and South, Bol took the fortune he earned as a basketball player and gave it all back to the people of his country. And when genocide broke out in the Darfur region in Sudan, he offered his prominent voice to advocate for an end to the violence.

In his native language, the word “Manute” means “special blessing.” There’s no doubt that for millions of Sudanese – and the tens of millions inspired by his story – Manute Bol was nothing short of a blessing.

Sadly, Bol died last week at the age of 47, from kidney failure related to a rare skin disease. It was too short a life for a sports icon who became more famous for his activities off the basketball court than on it.

But Bol’s hope for peace in Sudan lives on. His dream was to end the cycle of violence in Sudan by building schools where Christians from the South would study alongside Muslims from the North. This year could mark the opening of the first of these schools, and you can help achieve Bol’s dream by donating to Sudan Sunrise, the charity building each school.

You can also honor Bol by joining Save Darfur in calling on President Obama to make ending the violence in Sudan, which continues to this day, a priority.

Ultimately, the legacy Bol leaves is as important as his lifetime accomplishments. Too many of us are tempted to view the world in terms of all that we don’t have. But Bol’s life helped to teach us that we’re much more successful when we look at the world in terms of all that we do have – namely, our voice, and our capacity to give to a cause greater than ourselves.

Asante Africa Foundation, East African Children’s Education Fund

Asante Africa Foundation.

Asante Africa Foundation, Inc. is an East African Children’s Education Fund. We are a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to providing quality education to children in East Africa. We form partnerships with African communities and work with passionate local program managers who are deeply committed to creating change in their African villages. We envision African communities and families in which children have the opportunity to receive QUALITY education to define their futures. Generous contributions from Asante Africa Foundation donors bring these dreams to life.

Local villagers define their needs for achieving quality education, through infrastructures for all children attending school (such as construction of schools and sanitation facilities, serving a daily meal), providing teaching resources and educational materials, and funding scholarships / sponsorship for highly motivated and academically gifted children.

Asante is the Swahili word for thank you.
We are thankful to be active members of the communities we serve and we are grateful to our donors who fund projects that bring opportunity, choice and possibility to African villages.  >>READ MORE

Job & Volunteer Opportunities:
Click here to view different ways
to help children in East Africa

Women’s Refugee Commission – Where There is Health There is Hope #Burundi

Women’s Refugee Commission – Blog.
Deogratias Niyizonkiza: Where There is Health There is Hope

by Guest Blogger Deo Niyizonkiza, posted: May 19, 2010

Deo attends a severely malnourished child on a home visit in Kigutu

Deo Niyizonkiza was one of two refugees honored at the Women’s Refugee Commission 2010 Voices of Courage Awards held Thursday, May 6 in New York City. In his post below, Deo tells us why he founded Village Health Works in his home country of Burundi, and why he believes it is especially important to provide health care to refugee women and children.

Read more: Deogratias Niyizonkiza: Where There is Health There is Hope

South Africa Unleashes Plan to Slow AIDS Crisis

South Africa Unleashes Plan to Slow AIDS Crisis – NYTimes.com.

“If we had acted more than a decade ago, we might not have been in this situation where we are,” Dr. Motsoaledi said. “Obviously, we did lose time.”

Michel Sidibé, executive director of Unaids, the United Nations AIDS agency, said South Africa’s undertakings offered hope to the continent. “It’s the first time one country has scaled up so quickly, to so many people,” he said.

South Africa, the region’s richest nation and a symbol of democracy, has an estimated 5.7 million H.I.V.-positive citizens, more than any other country.

“In my village, when we want to kill the snake, we don’t hit the tail, but the head,” said Mr. Sidibé, who is from Mali. “The head of this epidemic is South Africa.”

The South African Finance Ministry said it expected that the broadened access to drugs would put a million more people on treatment in the next few years, roughly doubling the current case load. It has budgeted an extra $1 billion for it. Dr. Motsoaledi said Mr. Zuma reopened the budget to get more money for AIDS when it became clear that costs would be higher.

South Africa’s understaffed public health system and the ballooning cost of treating millions of people for life will pose daunting challenges to the government’s ambitious goals.

The United States has long been South Africa’s principal donor in the fight against AIDS, giving the country $620 million this year. But advocates worry that global donors will not provide enough money to sustain a rapidly growing treatment program.

For now, though, there is optimism among the scientists and advocates who had despaired as the nation dithered on AIDS under its former president, Thabo Mbeki.

“I’ve never known such a gathering of momentum around H.I.V. as in the last month or so,” said Mark Heywood, who directs the AIDS Law Project based in Johannesburg.

Mr. Mbeki had questioned whether H.I.V. caused AIDS and suggested that anti-retroviral drugs were harmful. Harvard researchers estimated that the government could have prevented the premature deaths of 365,000 people during the last decade if it had provided the drugs to AIDS patients and medicines that help stop pregnant women from infecting their babies.

Credit source NY Times

Africa Outreach Project, South Africa’s Charlize Theron

Africa Outreach Project.

The Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) is committed to creating a safer and healthier life for impoverished, under-resourced children and communities of South Africa, with a particular focus on individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Born from a partnership between Academy Award winning actress and South Africa native, Charlize Theron, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), the project’s mission is to create and support programs that not only address the immediate needs of the areas, but also promote self-sustainability, growth and responsibility.

The Entertainment Industry Foundation  (EIF), as a leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry, has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support charitable initiatives addressing critical health, education and social issues. As part of its services, EIF manages charitable services funds like the Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project for individuals and companies within the entertainment community in order to help them achieve a meaningful and lasting impact in the world.

Contact information:
Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project
c/o Entertainment Industry Foundation
1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700
Los Angeles, CA 90017

PARTICIPATE – UPLOAD YOUR PICTURE

As its first mission, the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project worked in collaboration with Oprah’s Angel Network to provide lead funding to create a mobile health and computer unit designed to improve the health and social development of youth in Umkhanyakude District in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The mobile health clinic was officially launched on November 8, 2007 at a school assembly attended by local dignitaries, representatives from Oprah’s Angel Network and Ms. Theron. Since the launch, additional support has come from the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), helping to provide additional mobile units. The units now serve approximately 10,000 students from 12 high schools, visiting each school for one week each month. In addition, the units have serviced over 8,000 community members during weekends and school holidays.

Annually, every student receives a minimum of:

• One hour-long session with an HIV counselor in which they are evaluated for health and social problems, offered HIV testing and presented with guidance for leading a healthier life.

• Four 90-minute computer-training sessions with a special focus on preventing HIV

• Four workshops on health education

Students and community members also have access to the healthcare nurse and social worker or psychologist that travel with the each of the mobile units.

The mobile health and computer clinics are owned and operated by Mpilonhle, a community-based, non-governmental charitable organization that brings life-saving services directly to schools in the rural KwaZulu-Natal province.  www.mpilonhle.org

Addressing all of the challenges of this rural district requires a multi-dimensional approach. Our next steps will be to expand the range of resources offered by building athletic facilities and clean water sources.

On October 22nd, 2009, the CTAOP and the ONEXONE Foundation announced their partnership on a unique new initiative, Home Field Advantage (HFA). ONEXONE Ambassadors, Matt Damon and Mia Hamm, and Charlize Theron are combining their efforts into HFA, pooling resources to create solutions that are sustainable, high-impact, and responsive to community feedback.

With all eyes focusing on South Africa as the host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Home Field Advantage will work together from now until next summer to build soccer fields as well as clean water sources at each field. The fields together with the wells will create an ideal space for gathering, which will not only uplift the overall sense of community, but also build off of Mpilonhle’s work by giving the mobile health units ideal locations to reach out to more individuals. Click here to learn more about Home Field Advantage.

LAFC Chelsea (Los Angeles Futbol Club) has also joined in this effort, making a three-year commitment to help build a community-wide soccer program for the schools once the fields are built. This will include uniforms, cleats, balls and equipment, along with professional training for local coaches, referees and administrators.

ABOUT UMKHANYAKUDE DISTRICT

The Umkhanyakude District is one of the poorest and least developed districts in South Africa. The area suffers from high rates of unemployment (80% of youth in the District are unemployed), malnutrition (both adult obesity and childhood stunting are common), gender violence, adolescent pregnancy (approximately 25% of female high school students will become pregnant before graduation) and substance abuse. Additionally, due to limited access to clean water, Umkhanyakude still suffers periodic outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases, including schistosomiasis- a debilitating parasitic infection. The HIV infection rates are particularly dire as the district has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world. Adolescents growing up here have almost a 50% chance of being infected by HIV during their lifetime. More than 5% of female high-school students are infected with HIV by the time they graduate and many more will contract other sexually transmitted infections. Despite the prevalence of HIV, adolescents receive little education on strategies to avoid becoming infected, life style changes necessary if infected, and how to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

RECENT NEWS

Report Calls Zambia’s Prisons ‘Death Traps’

NY Times Africa

(April 27, 2010)

Prisoners are required to work seven days a week for no pay, cell captains beat those seen as working too slowly, and water or toilets are often unavailable, according to Human Rights Watch and two other groups.

U.S. Envoy to Sudan Urges Focus on Political Future

NY Times Africa

(April 27, 2010)

Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, the administration’s special envoy to Sudan, said the United States should turn its attention to getting southern Sudan ready for its likely future as an independent state.

Bashir Wins Election as Sudan Edges Toward Split

NY Times Africa

(April 26, 2010)

The results showed a lopsided victory for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in what could be a step toward Sudan’s breakup.

World Briefing | Africa: Somalia: Pirates Abandon Town as Insurgents Approach

NY Times Africa

(April 26, 2010)

Pirates based in Xarardheere evacuated after Islamist insurgents took over a nearby coastal town late last week, officials and residents there said Monday.

In Niger, China Fortifies Its Reputation as Africa’s Investor

NY Times Africa

(April 26, 2010)

China is sealing its reputation as Africa’s behind-the-scenes force, ready to do business regardless of who is in power or whatever outrage exists about it.

PARTNERS

Click here to receive updates about the The Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project

Rock on the Mount, music festival,Santa Cruz Mountains, “One Concert, One Well”

About.

“One Concert, One Well” – Bringing Water to Africa

Rock on the Mount is a Christian music festival, featuring cutting-edge rock bands. This year marks the fourth year of the event and proceeds will benefit a well project in West Africa. Rock on the Mount is hosted by Mountain Bible Church; the event held in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Rock on the Mount is a destination event: music, food, venders, games. For information, please call the organizer at 408-493-0372 or the church at 408-353-2302.

About the Well

The water situation in vast parts of the world is desperate. According to the United Nations, more than one in six people worldwide — 894 million — don’t have access to safe freshwater in amounts necessary to sustain healthy living. Describing the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa, the U.N. writes, “Treating diarrhoea consumes 12 percent of the health budget. On a typical day, more than half the hospital beds in are occupied by patients suffering from faecal-related disease” (source).

What can we do?

Over the years, Mountain Bible Church in Los Gatos, California, has established vital friendships* in West Africa. Through those connections, this small church in the Santa Cruz mountains is reaching out to a community in the Saharan, striving to raise $15,000 for a well project. Presently, the community has one well and access to two muddy ponds where both humans and animals drink. The church hopes to raise enough money to install another well, greatly alleviating the suffering of the people.

One well can save lives in this community.

About the Community

The people are the Teleqan, a nomadic group who have wandered Northwest Africa for a thousand years. The total population of this ethnic group is about 100,000. The community Mountain Bible Church is serving numbers around 5,000.

Teleqan means “Sons of Isaac” in their native tongue, pointing to their Jewish origin. During the 10th century, a group of Jews migrated west to the West African Sahel and became known as the Teleqan. Around the 12th century, they were conquered by the Songhai Empire and converted to Islam. They, however, have held on to their name, language, and culture.

In modern times (perhaps throughout all history) the first Christian among this group is Daoud. He is a Bible translator among his people, and desires to reach his people with the Word of God and the message of salvation in Jesus. He has been testing translations from Genesis to the Teleqan and the responses have been very positive.

The Teleqan are being reintroduced to their Jewish roots through the story of Abraham and Isaac. After a thousand years, they are hearing their history in their own language as chronicled in the Bible. The Teleqan have entered into a journey back to their Jewish roots which will eventually reveal the story of a Messiah who can guarantee eternal life and a relationship with God based on grace.

Good, safe water in abundance is hard to find in the desert where the Teleqan abide. Safe adequate water for their family and animals is the most important priority for them. Daoud’s GOAL is to install WELLS to better meet the needs of the people and their animals. We aim to support him in this goal.

Why a well project?

• A manifestation of God’s care for them
• A demonstration of the love of Christians
• A bridge for evangelism

HELP BRING WATER TO THE TELEQAN!

*Additional Information

Are you on Facebook:  Please be kind enough to share – thank you http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=295208129586

Due to the sensitive nature of this project, names have been changed to protect our contacts in West Africa. For questions regarding particulars of this story, please contact Pastor John Haak at Mountain Bible Church by telephone, (408) 353-2302, or through the church’s contact page, press here.

AfricanCrisis.

Please, if it is within your ability, PLEASE help this organization, PLEASE help Jaco. May GOD bless Jaco and heal him and fill him with Your love. Please pray for Jaco. You can join the Facebook group at the link below. Thank YOU. a Big Thank you also goes out to Adriana from Censorbugbear for helping get awareness. Janolifant]

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3255776…

BLOEMFONTEIN. A South African woman has launched a fund-raiser for the survival of her son’s empoverished best friend, Jaco Steenbergen – left semi-comatose after he was struck by a bolt of high-voltage electricity in November 2009. With proper care he could recover within 18 months. The appeal also reveals a shocking story of terrible neglect by the state-run Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein.

The care of this comatose patient was so poor that four months later the semi-comatose youth was released from hospital in a shockingly emaciated state and with infected bedsores. Moreover he has to survive like this while living in a two-roomed shed on a subsistence-smallholding with his destitute parents. Yet with the proper care and enough food he could recover within 18 months..

URL: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZL3Kngb81qo/S5DyDK6jo3I…

the youth’s friend’s mother Bernadine Coetzee writes us that “Jaco was a shy, kind, so humble, very handsome and loving 20 year old Christian boy, until tragedy struck. Due the recession, his well-known parents of Bloemfontein, went through financial difficulties and lost their furniture business, their home, their own furniture and vehicles. They also lost all their policies, insurance and medical aid. A friend offered them to live in a shed on a plot in Bloemfontein.

Jaco’s father became very ill with a very deep depression and Jaco and his mother worked hard at wooden frames and handy-man jobs to make a living. They converted a part of the shed into 2 rooms where they now live.

On a day in November 2009, Jaco was electrocuted by a high voltage 3 phase electrical installation whilst trying to close the big shed door where he and his parents live.

Jaco was dead for 10 minutes, but revived by Rosa Park Hospital on arrival. Rosa Park Hospital stabilised Jaco, but declared him in a coma with swelling of the brain. The bill for the first three days in the trauma high care unit at Rosa Park hospital was R50,000, and a family member obtained funds to pay this. However when the funds ran out, the youth was transferred to the public Pelonomi Hospital, also in Bloemfontein for the next 4 months. A terrifying tale of neglect ensued – with hospital staff neglecting to feed the Afrikaner youth through the tubing directly to his stomach: at one stage he hadn’t been fed for days… writes Ms Coetzee.

URL: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ZL3Kngb81qo/S5DyD3hMZCI…

“The nursing staff also neglected to clean and unblock a pipe that was inserted into his anal canal, and here a 15cm hole was burnt inside his anus due to leaking stomach acids. Jaco had to undergo an operation for this infection.”

“ The nursing staff were instructed to turn Jaco into different positions to avoid bed sores, and this too was neglected to be done. Jaco’s bed sores were so bad, that his hip bone protruded through his skin, and his back had huge bed sores as well. The hole in his throat where he had a heart & lung machine connected, was supposed to be sucked out at intervals, but this was also not done. Jaco’s parents, at all times did this themselves: taking the suction tubes, and sucked the mucus out the hole themselves, as Jaco would breath with difficulty until this had been done.

Started breathing on his own a week ago

Jaco started to breathe on his own a week ago, and is now in a semi-coma, but they have determined brain damage.

URL: http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ZL3Kngb81qo/S5DyE_2yMyI…

Feeding costs R150 a day – which the family does not have…

“Jaco was sent home to the shed three days ago, and this family desperately needs help. Jaco must still be fed through tubes that are directly inserted into his stomach. The feeding into the tubes cost R150 per day, which the family does not have. He must be re-positioned every 2 hours as his bed sores have not yet healed. He must desperately start with physiotherapy as his muscles are all pulling stiff into spasms, but there are no funds.

“It only takes one act of kindness per person in this world to make a difference. Jaco’s dream was to become a carpenter, and when asked why, he would very proudly say ‘because Jesus was a carpenter, and look what he accomplished in his life’.

My daughter, Michelle, my son Duane and myself, have established a non-profit organisation called, Blue Butterfly Foundation, to assist this family with proper medical care for Jaco. The specialists have determined that, with the proper medical care, Jaco could reach very close to normal within 18 mths – 3 years. There is a private hospital that specialises in his type of required medical care, but this will cost R96,000 per month.

Do you have any suggestions or ideas, what so ever, that could help us with raising funds ?

We have registered the foundation, but have not yet received the NPO nr. We have plans for various fund raising events which include, Golf competitions, fashion shows, radio advertising, and then my youngest, Charne, has formed a Face-book group. If you would prefer to make a donation, all donations can be paid to Standard Bank Acc No 375 382 534 (Savings acc), Branch No. 023910. Please use your cell number as reference as we would like to thank you personally as well as keep you updated on his progress.

For any further information, you can contact me, Bernadine Coetzee, at 072 677 5711 or

Michelle Nienaber 084 297 2719 or

Duane Nienaber 079 492 7638

Source Url: http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2010/03/shocking-neglect-of-comatose-patient-at.html

Posted By: JanOlifant
*AfricanCrisis Volunteer*

ACTION ALERT -> More Support for Malaria Vaccine Research – Take Action Today @ The Child Health Site

Tell Obama to Further Support Malaria Vaccine Research – Take Action Today @ The Child Health Site.

We have a wee malaria problem in South Africa presently…

EVERY 30 SECONDS SOMEONE DIES FROM MALARIA – no amount of television campaigning by the Corrupt Department of Health for TB, AIDS, measles and malaria can help in South Africa because the Dept of Health has confirmed that despite their recent (Word-Cup-induced)… campaign to make it look good for the rest of the world not only do they NOT have the necessary vaccines, but they don’t have the money to buy them.. go figure!

It’s hard to believe that something as simple as a mosquito bite has caused the death of over 1.5 million people in 2008 and 2009, combined. Yet, each year, millions of people—especially those living in sub-Saharan Africa—contract malaria, the aggressive parasitic disease transmitted to people by infected mosquitoes. The World Health Organization reports that a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds. It’s a shocking statistic, especially when taken into account malaria is treatable. Unfortunately, half the world’s population is at risk of contracting the disease, and far too many of them—over 700,000 people in 2008 alone—are killed by it yearly.

Steps have been made to battle the spread of the disease in those parts of the world where it is most prevalent. Aid groups distribute insecticidal nets to keep mosquitoes away from people at night and even fumigate people’s homes. These efforts have no doubt alleviated the issue in some ways, but they ultimately don’t address the root of the problem, nor do they protect the citizens of these countries once they step outside their homes.

If researchers are to succeed in stopping the spread of malaria, and helping children in areas like sub-Saharan Africa where the disease is most prevalent, they need the support of health organizations and the governments of the world.

Tell President Obama to lend even more support to the cause of preventing, treating, and curing malaria—a goal that, if realized, would save the lives of millions.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW!! SIGN THE PETITION

Dear President Obama,

In 2006, there were 247 million cases of malaria reported—infections that caused nearly one million deaths, many of them young children in Africa whose immune systems were not well-equipped to handle aggressive infections. In the years since, the number has dropped thanks to the immense efforts of aid and health organizations.

However, millions of people are still affected by this disease each year, which means the efforts toward eradicating it must only intensify.

Please increase your efforts to bring the scourge of malaria in the developing world to an end. Give everyone at risk the chance not only to survive, but also to thrive, free of the fear their lives may be cut short by something as tiny as a mosquito bite.

Sincerely,

Donnette E Davis

S.Africa

Click to Give @ The Child Health Site

Click to Give @ The Child Health Site.

·  Learn About The Child Health Site	·  Send a Free E-Card!
·  About Our Charitable Partners	·  Easy Ways to Link to Us

The Child Health Site is dedicated to funding simple and very effective preventatives and treatments with the goal of robust child health around the globe. Your daily click funds the administration of Vitamin A to prevent life-threatening childhood illness and disease as well as one preventable cause of childhood blindness; the manufacture and fitting of children’s prostheses so that a child injured by a landmine or other accident can still walk, run and play and still has a fighting chance to be a productive contributor in his or her society as an adult; eye surgeries that can reverse one kind of childhood blindness; and HIV testing that will alert medical personnel that a mother may pass the infection onto her child at birth so that she can be treated and the newborn spared of this terrible disease. When you click, once per day, every day, you are helping to get these types of treatments and services to the children who need them most.

On average, over 70,000 individuals from around the world visit the site each day to click the blue “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button. To date, more than 100 million visitors have helped more than 4,194,000 children.

How You Can Help In Mere Seconds — Every Day

The Child Health Site provides a feel-good way to help promote awareness as well as prevent and treat devastating childhood illness every day — through easy and quick online activities.

With a simple, daily click of the blue “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button at The Child Health Site, visitors help children. Visitors pay nothing. The treatments and preventative services described above are paid for by our site sponsors and accomplished through our charitable partners, Mercy Corps, the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Helen Keller International.

Please remember to click every day to help children get and stay healthy, and to give hope to future generations. Every click counts in the life and health of a child.

You Can Help Even More

In addition to clicking the blue “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button, visitors can help more children by shopping in The Child Health Site store . With each item purchased, shoppers generate funds that bring these health services to more children. The store offers a wide array of items to show your support as well as fair-traded and handcrafted items from around the world that help families and communities pull themselves out of poverty — another very effective way to make sure children get the health preventatives and treatments when they need it most.

Charity Fundraising through Personal Web Pages – Your Cause.com <- #BRILLIANT

Charity Fundraising through Personal Web Pages – Your Cause.

I was fortunate to come across this link via a Google Alert this morning and zooooooooommmmmmmmmm ———->> off i went to have a look… I am more than a little (okay a lot)  impressed and feel the need to share.. Quoting from the site itself:

Mission The mission of YourCause.com is to empower individuals to change our world—leveraging their own voices, networks, and spheres of influence to improve the lives of others. The dedicated and accomplished YourCause.com team is committed to supporting and facilitating the efforts of our caring member community and the causes they champion so passionately. Our History: Matthew’s Story In early 2007, I caught a glimpse of a Dateline MSNBC news program that profiled the atrocities of child soldiers in Uganda. I learned about children like ten-year-old Patrick, who was kidnapped and forced to become a soldier for a rebel group (Lord’s Resistance Army). Patrick, the soft-spoken, emotionally-drained and visibly-saddened young boy was being interviewed about his kidnapping, conversion, eventual escape and most recent effort to integrate into society. Patrick, like the other 55,000 children (including his sister), are stolen from their homes and villages only to be brainwashed and abused to conduct unspeakable acts of violence. Patrick was completely dependent on the LRA out of fear, which forced him to kill his own parents in order to save him and his sister’s life. As Patrick described these atrocities, a single tear ran down his face. I’m not sure he even had the energy to fully cry. After two years inside the LRA, countless massacres and traumatic abuse, Patrick escaped the rebel group and found refuge in a United Nations protected camp. Patrick, 12-years-old at the time of the interview, was now trying to seek education, rebuild himself and gain back a childhood forever hacked by emotional scars. As a parent of three children, the thought of something even remotely close to this happening to my family is unfathomable. Immediately, I was compelled to do something. Perspective quickly set in for me and, ever since that day, my purpose has forever changed. No longer was I driven by numbers in the sense of dollar signs or the size of my company venture. An immediate and instinctual shift took place that had me measuring my success through the number of lives I changed and the amount of good I could instill. Hearing Patrick’s story inspired me to channel my skills towards empowering myself and others to pursue the cause that is most meaningful to them. My hypothesis was simple: If I could connect the power of the Internet with the passion of a cause-minded individual, then change could incur. I wanted to provide the ability for anyone and everybody to have the ability to make a difference in whatever mattered most to them. For me, it was the child soldier’s of Uganda. For others, it may be cancer, the environment, civil rights or any of the other thousands of categories out there. Our Commitment At YourCause.com, we pride ourselves on measuring our success by the level of positive social change we affect—not by the number of page views, advertising dollars, and sponsorship agreements we log. Fundamentally, the company seeks to harness the passion of cause enthusiasts, donors, charities, and corporations to create a mutually beneficial business scenario that is scalable and sustainable— for everybody, forever. The entire YourCause.com team shares this commitment to making the world a better place. Each team member brings a background aptly suited to our collective mission to help grow what we feel is a truly remarkable community. These values shape all that we do—from our technology development, to our relationships with our members, corporate clients, partners, vendors, and sponsors. Expanding the Network YourCause.com is actively partnering with today’s most progressive, caring, and philanthropic organizations. Through employee micro–philanthropic programs, corporate sponsorships, celebrity endorsements, and business alliances, YourCause.com is quickly spreading its wings and touching countless lives. We encourage businesses, websites, philanthropists, and charities to contact YourCause.com to learn more about getting involved in this exciting adventure. About Our Team Matt Johl yourcause.com/mattjohl All the way from Leawood, Kansas, Matt brings several years of marketing and public relations experience to the table. After graduating from the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, he moved down to Dallas and shortly thereafter started working in the customer service/nonprofit department at YourCause. Every year on Christmas Day, Matt returns to his hometown, volunteering at a soup kitchen to feed the less fortunate. Matt’s favorite charity is Children’s Mercy Hospital, where as a newborn he received minor treatment and is forever grateful. Any day of the week you can find Matt watching and playing sports, basketball being his preferred. Amy Chait yourcause.com/amychait After writing her first poem at 11-years-old, Amy fell in love with words and grew a passion for creativity. She’s a fan of nonfiction and classics like Hemingway, a self-proclaimed iTunes junkie, and dedicates herself to forward thinking. Amy has a degree in communication studies with a minor in English from the University of North Texas and enthusiastically joined the team to assist with marketing communications and influence positive change. Creative Visions is one of Amy’s favorite causes, aligning with her mission to support creative activists who raise awareness through a unique perspective. Lizette Romero yourcause.com/MissLizette Lizette graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor of journalism. Through multiple editorial internships, including her cause-focused organization, Latinitas, she learned the importance of helping youth express themselves through various forms of media. Accepted into the graduate school of arts & technology at the University of Texas at Dallas, she declined admission to get her hands ‘dirty’ in the real world of design and social media at YourCause. Leaving behind the life of a college student (ramen noodles and all), she is thrilled to be part of a new concept of social networking for cause-centric purposes. Lizette flexes her writing, graphic design and communication skills within YourCause. Jing Hu yourcause.com/JingCause Jing, a software developer and mother of two, believes that in the 21st century humans shouldn’t have to face threats of starvation and hunger. For this reason, she supports the World Hunger Year organization, fighting the root causes of hunger and poverty. Originally from Shanghai, China and prior to coming to the United States, she spent about six years in Japan to learn the Japanese culture. Her favorite leisure activity is listening to classic music. Jing holds a masters degree in computer science from The University of Texas at Dallas. Prathibha Gannapureddy yourcause.com/Prathibha Before joining the team as a software developer, Prathibha did technical consulting for several clients. She has her Masters in Computer & Information Sciences and Bachelors in Electronics and Communications. Prathibha enjoys web development, browsing the internet and cooking. She likes to spend her time with family and kids. Prathibha is avid supporter of organizations that help kids. Wes Hendrix yourcause.com/weshendrix Wes is the partnerships manager at YourCause.com. With an undergraduate degree in marketing from Texas A&M and a J.D. from SMU in Dallas, he brings a variety of skills to the team. When away from the office, Wes enjoys the outdoors, photography, and travel. As such, he is committed to various conservation organizations, as well as supporting the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

YourCause.com Media Kit Official Logo • What’s YourCause.com? • Corporate Philanthropy Solutions • YourCause Corporate Clients • What’s YourCause.com for Nonprofits? • Press Release: Employee Philanthropy Solutions • Press Release: Esurance Grant Program • Press Release: YourCause Teams Up With AT&T • Press Release: YourCause Responds to Haiti