Cambodia Program Update.

For some time now, Touch A Life and Place of Rescue (our ministry in Cambodia) have been partnering to build new homes for children in need. Marie Ens, the director of Place of Rescue, just provided the following update regarding the exciting advancements being made in Cambodia:

"In northern Cambodia a few years ago, there were several churches who had each taken a few orphans. The hearts of the believers were responding to the needs of these children but because of their own poverty, it was very difficult for them to find the resources to care for them. Soon the number of children requiring assistance from these church groups rose to 45. A volunteer gathered them together into one central place, rented a piece of property, and built two shelters for them. The shelters were made of bamboo, thatch, and tar paper, and were very inadequate. A toilet block was built and someone else provided a well for drinking water. The children bathed beside the pond that was on the property, boys on one side and girls on the other. Food was scarce and became scarcer as the number of children rose to 60. The were lovingly cared for by caregivers who served for months as volunteers because there was no money to pay them. 

In October 2008, Place of Rescue responded to the need and went in to investigate. We found a well-organized group of people under the leadership of a Bunchhouy, a man who said that he had longed to run an orphanage for many years. The day we were there, the children and caregivers shared a soupy topping for their rice. It was made of chickens, green papaya, and fish sauce. We saw that the children had no mats, nets or pillows, and were additionally lacking other essentials. Providing new supplies was our first gift. We also provided a little money for food. We met with the orphanage's committee and discussed the possibility of Rescue taking over the orphanage if we could raise the funds. The children even offered to pray over us as we worked on making this dream become a reality.

By January 2009, we decided to provide all the money the orphanage would need for food, which came out to about one dollar per day per person. I also began seeking funds for the purchase of property and for the houses we wanted to build for them. We envisioned building ten houses for 100 children, which is how we began with Place of Rescue.

Soon we had enough to start the process and then one donor offered to give us all we needed to finish the purchase of the land and buildings. As if this were not amazing enough, Pam Cope called to tell me that a donor was offering a large enough sum of money which, along with some sponsorship, would provide the operating costs for Place of Rescue II for an entire year."

The Value of Optimism.

Last week, we posted an op-ed article that Bono (lead singer of the band U2 and widely known philanthropist) wrote for the New York Times. It praised the work that the Ghanaian government has done in creating a country that is suitable for their residents to live in, and it highlighted the achievements Ghanaians have made, calling the country a leader amongst other African nations.

Some readers responded to the piece honestly, claiming that while they believed that Bono's words were kind, he skimmed over the issue of slavery altogether. It's true that the article doesn't discuss the issue of trafficking on Lake Volta, or the issue of slavery at all. What the piece does do, though, is highlight the positive things about the country, allowing readers to optimistically view the strides Ghanaians have made in transforming their homeland. This, in turn, permits readers to want to invest in the country, seeing that its residents are making positive changes to improve their lives. 

The critics do have a point that the issue of slavery does need to be addressed. Fortunately for them and for Touch A Life, President Obama visited the Elmina Slave Castle on the Cape Coast and acknowledged in this CNN article that "the capacity for slavery still exists." Though the article, again, doesn't address the issue of trafficking on Lake Volta specifically, it indicates that the President is not naive to the fact that injustices continue to occur on a daily basis. Visiting the slave castle gave him the opportunity to remind American and Ghanaian citizens alike that humanity is still capable of treating one another poorly, and that is something that must be stopped. 

Ultimately, it's wise for the critics to observe that the key components of slavery are missing in Bono's piece. Trafficking clearly is a huge issue in Ghana, and especially on Lake Volta. But where we must start is from a place of positivity. We must first align with the Ghanaians themselves, allying with them and earning their trust. We must praise and acknowledge the work they've done and the progress they've made thus far. Then, and only then, will we be permitted to point out the flaws in their governmental systems that allow human trafficking to persist. Then, and only then, will their eyes be opened to the injustices occurring within their country. If we never praise the positive and only focus on the negative, we will never be permitted the opportunity to confront the Ghanaians on the issues present in their country. Our cries will fall on deaf ears.

Vietnam: The Story of the Sullivan House.

The completed Sullivan House in Vietnam.

Bruce Sullivan was the youngest of 11 children. Just days before he was born, his father passed away. A few years later, his mother died as well, leaving the Sullivan children to be divided amongst relatives to be raised. Childhood was difficult not only because of the loss of Bruce's parents but also because he and his siblings were separated. Despite his setbacks, Bruce grew up to become a kind, generous and hard-working man who desired to live a life devoted to service. Because of the events and emotions he experienced while growing up, Bruce knew that he wanted to do something to improve the lives of children who had lost their parents. He could relate with those children's sufferings and wanted to be a part of helping them channel their grief into growth. 

After researching numerous organizations that supported orphaned children, Bruce turned to his wife, Penny, for input. Penny connected Bruce with Pam Cope and Touch A Life. Not only was there a personal connection between Penny and Pam but there were so many logistical elements that fell into place for the Sullivans as well. They found Touch A Life to be fiscally sound and professionally run. After a few weeks of discussion, the Sullivans decided that they wanted to devote their time, energy and funds to supporting the work Touch A Life was doing for orphans and former child slaves. 

The Sullivans deliberated for some time over how they were going to spend the money they donated to Touch A Life. To pay homage to Bruce's childhood, they wanted to do something substantial, something that would prove to the children that they are worthy of being loved, adored and admired. Their hearts were drawn to the Vietnam program and when they learned that the program was in need of more housing projects, the Sullivans knew that providing the funds for a new building was up to them. They committed to raising the money to provide new, improved housing for the children in Vietnam. After settling on a plot of land that was home to a dilapidated building, construction began to renovate the structure so that it could be a beautiful place for the Touch A Life children to live. 

The Sullivan House was completed at the beginning of 2009 and is home to 15 children and their houseparents. The appliances are new, the ambiance is peaceful and the space is, overall, just perfect. The children in Vietnam are ecstatic about their new living situation, and all thanks goes to the Bruce and Penny Sullivan for their generous hearts. 

Students working on their assignments in the Sullivan House.

Incredible Op-Ed on Ghana by Bono.

Bono, the lead singer of the band U2 and a co-founder of the philanthropic groups ONE and Product(Red), wrote a column in the op-ed section of today's issue of The New York Times. The piece is brilliantly written and focuses on President Obama's trip to Ghana. The piece is structured around the praise of Ghana as a country while simultaneously raising awareness of the strides the Ghanaian government is making in revolutionizing Africa. 

It would be easy to simply share a link with all of you Web-perusers but to ensure that you read this excellent piece, the article has been re-posted on our blog from The New York Times Web site. 

REBRANDING AFRICA

By Bono

DATELINE: Imminent. About now, actually.

Soon, Air Force One will touch down in Accra, Ghana; Africans will be welcoming the first African-American president. Press coverage on the continent is placing equal weight on both sides of the hyphen.

And we thought it was big when President Kennedy visited Ireland in 1963. (It was big, though I was small. Where I come from, J.F.K. is remembered as a local boy made very, very good.)

But President Obama's African-ness is only part (a thrilling part) of the story today. Cable news may think it's all about him--but my guess is that he doesn't. If he was in it for a sentimental journey he'd have gone to Kenya, chased down some of those dreams from his father.

He's made a different choice, and he's been quite straight about the reason. Despite Kenya's unspeakable beauty and its recent victories against the anopheles mosquito, the country's still-stinging corruption and political unrest confirms too many of the headlines we in the West read about Africa. Ghana confounds them.

Not defiantly or angrily, but in that cool, offhand Ghanaian way. This is a country whose music of choice is jazz; a country that long ago invented a genre called highlife that spread across Africa--and, more recently, hiplife, which is what happens when hip-hop meets reggaeton meets rhythm and blues meets Ghanaian melody, if you're keeping track (and you really should be). On a visit there, I met the minister for tourism and pitched the idea of marketing the country as the "birthplace of cool." (Just think, the music of Miles, the conversation of Kofi.) He demurred...too cool, I guess.

Quietly, modestly--but also heroically--Ghana's going about the business of rebranding a continent. New face of America, meet the new face of Africa.

Ghana is well governed. After a close election, power changed hands peacefully. Civil society is becoming stronger. The country's economy was growing at a good clip even before oil was found off the coast a few years ago. Though it has been a little battered by the global economic meltdown, Ghana appears to be weathering the storm. I don't normally give investment tips--sound the alarm at Times headquarters--but here is one: buy Ghanaian. 

So it's not a coincidence that Ghana's making steady progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Right now it's one of the few African nations that has a shot at getting there by 2015.

No one's leaked me a copy of the president's copy of the speech in Ghana, but it's pretty clear he's going to focus not on the problems that afflict the continent but on the opportunities of an Africa on the rise. If that's what he does, the biggest cheers will come from members of the growing African middle class, who are fed up with being patronized and hearing the song of their majestic continent in a minor key.

I've played that tune. I've talked of tragedy, of emergency. And it is an emergency when almost 2,000 children in Africa die a day of a mosquito bite; this kind of hemorrhaging of human capital is not something we can accept as normal.

But as the example of Ghana makes clear, that's only one chord. Amid poverty and disease are opportunities for investment and growth--investment and growth that won't eliminate overnight the need for assistance, much as we and Africans yearn for it to end, but that in time can build roads, schools and power grids and propel commerce to the point where aid is replaced by trade pacts, business deals and home-grown income.

President Obama can hasten that day. He knows change won't come easily. Corruption stalks Africa's reformers. "If you fight corruption, it fights you back," a former Nigerian anti-corruption official has said. 

From his bully pulpit, the president can take aim at the bullies. Without accountability--no opportunity. If that's not a maxim, it ought to be. It's a truism, anyway. The work of the American government's Millennium Challenge Corporation is founded on that principle, even if it doesn't put it that bluntly. United States aid dollars increasingly go to countries that use them and don't blow them. Ghana is one. There's a growing number of others. 

That's thanks to Africans like John Githongo, the former anticorruption chief of Kenya--a hero of mine who is pioneering a new brand of bottom-up accountability. Efforts like his, which are taking place across the continent, deserve more support. The presidential kind. Then there's Nigeria's moral and financial fist--Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a managing director of the World Bank and the country's former finance minister--who is on a quest to help aFrican countries recover stolen assets looted by corrupt officials. And the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which is helping countries like Ghana clean up the oil, gas and mining business, to make sure that profits don't wind up in the hands of kleptocrats.

Presidential attention would be a shot in the arm for these efforts--an infusion of moral and political amino acids that, by the way, will make aid dollars go further. That should be welcome news to the Group of 8 leaders gathered in Italy to whom Mr. Obama bids a Hawaii-via-Chicago-inflected "arrivederci," as he leaves for Africa.

This week's summit meeting looks as if it will yield some welcome new G-8 promises on agriculture. (So far, new money: America. Old money: everyone else.) This is hte good news that President Obama will bring from Europe to Ghana.

The not-so-good news--that countries like Italy and France are not meeting their Africa commitments--makes the president's visit all the more essential. The United States is one of the countries on track to keep its promises, and Mr. Obama has already said he'll more than build on the impressive Bush legacy. 

President Obama plans to return to Africa for the World Cup in 2010. Between now and then he's got the chance to lead others in building--from the bottom up--on the successes of recent efforts within Africa and to learn from the failures. There's been plenty of both. We've witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly in our fraught relationship with this dynamic continent.

The president can facilitate the new, the fresh and the different. Many existing promises are expiring in 2010, some of old age and others of chronic neglect. New promises from usual and unusual partners, from the G-8 to the G-20, need to be made--and this time kept. If more African nations (not just Ghana) are going to meet the millennium goals, they are going to need smart partners in business and development. That's Smart as in sustainable, measurable, accountable, responsive and transparent.

Africa is not just Barack Obama's homeland. It's ours, too. The birthplace of humanity. Wherever our journeys have taken us, they all began there. The word Desmond Tutu uses is "ubuntu": I am because we are. As he says, until we accept and appreciate this we cannot be fully whole.

Could it be that all Americans are, in that sense, African-Americans?

Be Involved in Obama's Trip to Ghana.

President Barack Obama is heading to Ghana to deliver a speech in the capital of Accra. He will make his presentation on Saturday, July 11. There are ways for people to be involved, even if they are simply watching or listening to the broadcast from abroad.

Individuals can submit questions and comments via text in many African nations, including Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. Unfortunately, the SMS option isn't available for viewers/listeners in the United States. Facebook, however, is hosting a live chat during the speech. This way, anyone can participate in providing feedback by sharing their ideas and comments with others around the world. Additionally, participants can follow the speech on Twitter and share their feedback by posting reactions.

Social media is becoming increasingly important in terms of communication, as evidenced by the use of text messaging, Facebook and Twitter to spread the word of Obama's speech in Ghana. To create awareness of the event, participate in these forums. Show your support for Obama's trip to Ghana by posting the news on your own Facebook profile or Twitter account. Acquaint yourself with the various forms of social media that are taking over the world; while they might seem overwhelming at times, these outlets are helping people stay connected no matter how far they are from one another.

Emmanuel Update.

Sweet Emmanuel, smiling after a day full of school and playing outdoors.

Participants in the Emmanuel Project, created by volunteer Josh Farrar, were able to raise enough money to sponsor Touch A Life child, Emmanuel Degbe, for an entire year. They achieved this goal in just a few short weeks, collaborating to raise $1,800 to pay for Emmanuel's food, shelter, clothing, education and medical needs for the next year. We are so grateful to these people for uniting to sponsor this sweet boy.

While on a recent trip to Ghana, consultant Emily George was able to get an update on how Emmanuel is doing. She wrote the following in an e-mail:

• Emmanuel continues to grow in leaps and bounds, but still does not grow weary of being held, cuddled and carried around like the adorable five-year-old that he is. He is reading and writing English very well. Emmanuel loves to play football (soccer) with his friends when he gets home from school. He most recently stated that he wants to be a soldier when he grows up.

To those of you who participated in the Emmanuel Project, you can take ownership in the development of this incredible boy's life. Because of your financial contribution, Emmanuel will undoubtedly become a leader within his community. 

Emmanuel acting out his dream of becoming a soldier.

Emmanuel and Emily.

Children Helping Children.

One of our partner organizations is Kids Caring 4 Kids, a non-profit organization devoted to raising awareness of the fact that despite their youth, children are some of the most important catalysts in paving the way for change. The members of the organization encourage children, regardless of age, to get involved in causes that matter to them, reminding them that the littlest act of service can sometimes go the longest way. 

It seems that the mission of Kids Caring 4 Kids is catching on. Recently, Touch A Life consultant Emily George was able to educate a class of students on the injustices occurring on Lake Volta. Via Skype, an online communication server, she taught a group of third-graders in Alberta, Canada, about the children who were working as slaves on the lake. Inspired, they decided to hold a popcorn sale to raise money for hygienic products, especially toothbrushes and toothpaste. They managed to raise $60.00, which allowed them to purchase 57 toothbrushes and 62 tubes of toothpaste. 

The point isn't really how much the children raised. Instead, the beauty is in seeing these young hearts come alive with the desire to make a difference in the world. It has been ingrained within them that even the smallest of donations can change lives. The world is theirs for the taking, and we are so proud to be affiliated with children with such generous hearts and giving spirits.

Write An Amazon Review.

Looking for an easy, way to make an impact to the Touch A Life Foundation without spending any money or very much time? Write a review of Jantsen's Gift on Amazon.com. It's an easy, effective way of highlighting both the cause and the book in one fell swoop. Just log in or create an Amazon account, find the Jantsen's Gift page, and enter in a review about the the book. It's that simple!