HIGHLIGHTS IN AFRICA A lot has been happening! Two newsletters of 2007 tell the story more fully; Click on Newsletters and download. Over 100 youth have successfully completed training in Project Independence in Rwanda. We are very grateful for the on-going interest of the owners of five training sites. Seventy-three percent have found jobs or are working in the informal economy. Our CHABHA-Rwanda staff try to keep in touch with the graduates. They hold workshops for the students on matters such as work ethic, budgeting, job seeking, and HIV prevention. The first year of funding for Project Independence came from Operation Days Work, an organization of some 16 US secondary schools whose students raise funds by working one day, pooling the earnings, and selecting a project to support. It was really exciting to have American youth helping Rwandan youth. Now, thanks to a highly effective fundraising campaign by students at Northfield Mt. Hermon during the first half of 2007, (over $25,000 raised) another group of youth will support Project Independence for another year and continue the theme – youth helping youth. We are already thinking about continuing youth helping youth into 2008- 2009. The associations of children in Rwanda have flourished in terms of their services to the children, numbering now approximately 2750. The leaders of the projects are gaining skills, in organizational effectiveness, record keeping, budgeting, and grant writing. Ever more children are in need, however, so CHABHA's efforts must continue! Three of us traveled to Africa in May, Jane Davis, Susanna Grannis, and Belinda Whipple Worth. First we went to South Africa where we visited two projects. We visited an informal community near Standerton, South Africa, called Rooikoppen. CHABHA had provided money early in the year for the school to provide food. These extremely vulnerable children are not eligible for government help for a number of reasons, not the least of which is they are in illegal immigrant families. We are expecting that we will help a new project there, Rooikoppen Isibindi. See the section on African Projects. In Rwanda we put in hard work with the projects, leaders, and children. A special time during that visit was our going to Lake Kivu overnight with leaders of the associations and our CHABHA-Rwanda staff. We had fun, and we spent some serious time talking about gender and HIV infection. Our sister organization in Rwanda, CHABHA-Rwanda, is an official NGO registered there. The three staff are highly dedicated young persons whose efforts at reaching children in need are impressive, indeed. They maintain excellent relations with the leaders of the associations, helping out in the work with the children and administering the complex programs. We are very, very lucky to have their leadership there. We took about 600 knitted dolls that were distributed to the children of the three associations in Rwanda. They now have been given nearly 900.
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HIGHLIGHTS IN THE USA Three members of CHABHA's Board of Directors: Jane Davis, Helen Johnson, and Susanna Grannis had developed a Board Handbook to clarify roles and responsibilities. At our Annual Meeting in July we discussed that document in depth. The statements of vision, mission, and purpose and the details on how we work will serve us well, we think. We said good-bye, with thanks, to departing members of the Board: Carol Beatty, Billy Holliday, Terry Holliday, Steve Owens, Naomi Shafer. And we welcomed new members: Beverly Behrmann, Beth DeAngelis, Eric Rwabuhihi, Beverly Scott, Jim Scott, and Nancy Segall. We are embarking on a new way of working. Our goal is to spread the work and effort through the Board. We have several committees to that end: Communications, Finance, Fundraising, Networking and Policy, and Personnel. There are a couple of staff changes underway. One is to find a new Director for the CHABHA-Rwanda office. Eric Rwabuhihi has done an exemplary job as the director, and it is time for him to move on – marriage, graduate school, and so forth. We are pleased his knowledge and judgment will continue to help us for, as indicated above, he is a member of the Board. The other change will come when we have hired an Assistant Director of our US office. More about that later.... New materials are being developed to extend our missions to raise funds and to educate. These are: • The 2008 Calendar. Children of Rwanda, with wonderful photographs by talented Miriam B. Shafer is for sale at $15.00. • A filmmaker in New York is completing a short film on CHABHA's work that will be useful in presentations. • The brochure has been revamped to reflect our changes. If you and your friends would like to learn more about CHABHA and would want to host a presentation, let us know! CHABHA
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