“A generation ago Sargent Shriver '38, a Yale alumnus renowned for his public service, gave voice to a new vision of global citizenship: that a single citizen could be as important as any institution; that it was possible to change the world one life at a time. His vision, of course, was the Peace Corps.”
Today the Yale Alumni Association keeps that vision alive with its Service Tours to help people around the world. Read more about it at the following link.
Yale Service Tours - Yale Alumni Travel Programs, Community Development, Volunteer Work

ANNO'S AFRICA is a UK based charity that offers an alternative, arts education to orphans and vulnerable children in some of Africa’s most desperately deprived city slums. The children who have been participating( Cut) in our Kenyan programme live in the most appalling conditions, sleeping either on the streets or in corrugated iron shacks with no amenities, where often families of eight or more struggle to feed themselves on less than a dollar a day. Scavenging on rubbish tips in an effort to find something to sell so that they can cobble together enough for an evening meal is the way many of these children survive. They are prey to many illnesses: malaria, intestinal worms, pneumonia and other lung infections and of course the ever present threat of HIV / AIDS.

The United Nations has launched a new project that may be of great value to many NGOs working to improve the conditions of communities around the Globe.
Global Pulse, is an innovation initiative of the UN Secretary-General, that allows for the analysis of patterns within big data and could possibly revolutionize the way NGOs and governments respond to economic shocks, disease outbreaks, and natural disasters around the world. You can find more information about this project at the online Forbes article: Data Philanthropy is Good for Business dated 9/20/11. Also, the United Nations has a Global Pulse web site [Link below].
In a nutshell, this initiative is working to “develop methods for harnessing real-time data to gain a real-time understanding of human well being.”
Global Pulse | Harnessing innovation to protect the vulnerable
Wherever the Need has been doing wonderful work for years. Focusing on Water Resources, Eco Sanitation and other resource issues, they have been mindful and balanced Development with Ecological responsibility.
They have just released their Summer 2011 Newsletter, and it is work a look.
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2011 Summer Newsletter | Wherever the Need
The Bazaar has been following Rye Barcotte and Carolina for Kibera for over 5 years now, and this article: " From the Field: Community Engagement Inside Kibera" recently appeared in the Sanford Social Innovation Review
"It’s easy to look at global poverty alleviation work abstractly. I spend a lot of time reading about and debating the meaning of “social entrepreneurship,” “community engagement,” and other popular jargon of our field, far away from communities in extreme poverty. But it only takes a minute of visiting a small nonprofit in, say, Kibera, a Nairobi slum of 1 million people, to remind you that distance is the wrong reference point.
This spring, I met Rye Barcott on a book tour for his memoir It Happened on the Way to War: A Marine’s Path to Peace, and learned about Carolina for Kibera (CFK). Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, CFK’s mission is to develop local leaders,
catalyze positive change, and alleviate poverty in Kibera. One of CFK’s core beliefs is that community problems require local solutions run by local leaders."
By FRANKLINE SUNDAY (email the author)
On a typical day, Susan Wanjiru checks and replies to her emails, updates and checks off items on her appointment book before she starts work at a busy Nairobi hotel.
The young hotelier also receives a text message informing her of the progress of her small dairy farm in Kinangop. The message has come through an iCow application that is promising to change the way small holder farmers in Kenya manage their dairy cattle.
The iCow is a voice-based WAP enabled application that keeps farmers abreast of essential animal breeding and feeding methods through technology. A farmer can register his cows free of charge through the iCow portal and gets regular SMSs about the breeding and production patterns of the livestock.
Read more of this story at the following site:
Business Daily: - Home |Mobile technology unlocks dairy farming potential
By George Okore
LUSAKA----A stakeholder dialogue on land policy issues in Africa will held in Lusaka, Zambia from October 4-5, 2011 in Lusaka, Zambia.
The forum to address underlying transnational commercial land deals in Africa comes at time when many Western Super powers are promoting and perpetuating improper land acquisition and use, hence agricultural challenges and food crisis facing the continent. Former African colonial masters are land problems in many African countries including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Somalia, Ethiopia among others.
The High Level Forum on Land-Based Foreign Direct Investments in Africa comes at a time when recent discussions have focused on increasing demand of farmlands across the continent by both foreign and local investors. The meeting will explore and reach agreement and consensus on appropriate and concrete actions on how to address the issue of land based investments in the continent in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
To read more, go to the following link:
Africa: Zambia to Host Land Policy Meeting
The Medicines Patent Pool Announces
First Licensing Agreement with a Pharmaceutical Company
London, 12 July 2011: Today the Medicines Patent Pool announces its first licenses with a pharmaceutical company, Gilead Sciences, to increase access to HIV and Hepatitis B treatment in developing countries.
Photo from Medicines Patent Pool web site
* * *
The Medicines Patent Pool and UNITAID joint press release is available here [pdf], and also posted below.
Questions and answers on the Patent Pool licenses are available here [pdf].
Per the Medicines Patent Pool transparency policy [pdf], the full texts of the licenses are posted below.
The main licensing agreement between the Medicines Patent Pool and Gilead is available here [pdf].
The amended and restated form is available here [pdf].
The form sublicensee agreement is available here [pdf].
A very encouraging press release came out on May 11, 2011 from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) and was followed up by this posting by the Family Health International (FHI).
Cover of HPTN publication
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Initiation of Antiretroviral Treatment Protects Uninfected Sexual Partners from HIV Infection (HPTN Study 052)
FHI Statement on HPTN 052
May 12, 2011
Men and women infected with HIV reduced the risk of transmitting the virus to their sexual partners by 96 percent through early initiation of oral antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to findings from a large-scale multinational clinical study conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN).
The clinical trial, known as HPTN 052, was designed to evaluate whether early antiretroviral use by an HIV-infected individual would reduce transmission of HIV to an HIV-uninfected partner and potentially benefit the HIV-infected individual as well. The trial is the first randomized clinical trial to show that treating an HIV-infected individual with ART can reduce the risk of sexual transmission of HIV to an uninfected partner.
HPTN is a global partnership dedicated to reducing the transmission of HIV through cutting-edge biomedical, behavioral, and structural interventions, largely funded by National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases with additional funding from National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute for Mental Health, at the US National Institutes of Health. FHI serves as the coordinating and operations center for HPTN. As the operations center, FHI is responsible for the scientific management of HPTN and facilitates and participates in HPTN leadership, scientific working groups, protocol teams, and the community engagement program.
"FHI is proud of our role as the Operations Center for HPTN in facilitating the HPTN 052 study," said Dr. Ward Cates, President, Research at FHI and member of the leadership of HPTN. "Treating infected individuals prevents transmission to their uninfected partner and benefits the individual. Armed with these findings, FHI can continue to contribute to the informed care and treatment and prevention of HIV through our global programs and intramural research."
HPTN 052 began in April 2005 and enrolled 1,763 HIV-serodiscordant couples at 13 sites across Africa, Asia and the Americas, the vast majority of which (97 percent) were heterosexual. An HIV-serodiscordant couple has one member who is HIV-infected and the other who is HIV-uninfected. In the study, the HIV-infected partner was required to have a CD4+ cell count (T cells) between 350-550 cells/mm3 at enrollment, and therefore did not require HIV treatment for his or her own health.
The investigators randomly assigned the couples to one of two study groups. In one group, the HIV infected partner immediately began taking a combination of three antiretroviral drugs upon study enrollment. In the other group, the HIV-infected partners began ART when their CD4 counts fell below 250 cells per cubic millimeter (cells/mm³) or an AIDS-related event occurred.
Throughout the study, both groups received HIV-related care that included counseling on safe sex practices, free condoms, treatment for sexually transmitted infections, regular HIV testing, and frequent evaluation and treatment for any complications related to HIV infection. Each group received the same amount of care and counseling. In addition, individuals who become HIV-infected during the course of the study are referred to local services for appropriate medical care and treatment.
The trial was slated to end in 2015; however, the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) recommended that the results be released as soon as possible. The DSMB concluded that it was clear that early initiation of ART by HIV-infected individuals with relatively healthy immune systems substantially protects partners from infection, with a 96 percent reduction in HIV transmission.
Study participants are being informed of the results. The study investigators will continue following the study participants for at least one year.
"This is excellent news," said Dr. Myron Cohen, HPTN 052 Principal Investigator and Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Health and Director of the Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The study was designed to evaluate the benefit to the sexual partner as well as the benefit to the HIV-infected person. This is the first large randomized clinical trial to definitively indicate that an HIV-infected individual can reduce sexual transmission of HIV to an uninfected partner by beginning antiretroviral therapy sooner. HPTN recognizes the significant contribution that this study's participants have made to furthering the progress in HIV treatment and prevention. We are very grateful for their participation."
About HIV Prevention Trials Network
The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) is a partnership between scientists and communities around the world to develop, evaluate, and implement cutting-edge biomedical, behavioral, and structural interventions to reduce the transmission of HIV. HPTN uses randomized controlled clinical trials, designed and conducted according to the highest scientific and ethical standards, to identify the best combinations of interventions for the populations at highest risk of HIV infection worldwide. HPTN is largely funded by NIAID with additional funding from NIDA and NIMH, at the NIH.
About FHI
FHI is a global health and development organization whose science-based programs bring lasting change to the world's most vulnerable people. Since 1971, FHI has worked with 1,400 partners in 125 countries, forging strong relationships with governments, diverse organizations, the private sector and communities. By applying science to healthcare programs and clinical research, FHI is helping countries make measurable progress against disease, poverty, and inequity—improving lives for millions.
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For more information, view the HPTN press release (May 11, 2011) or visit www.hptn.org
Media inquiries:
Matt Matassa
703.647.1909;
mmatassa@fhi.org
This editorial by Ambassador James Kimonyo’s appeared in the MinnPost.com website on May 11, 2011 and was posted on the Books For Africa web site.
H.E. Ambassador James Kimonyo
Addressing Africa's book famine: The impact is immeasurable
By Ambassador James Kimonyo | Wednesday, May 11, 2011
I come from a family of eight in Rwanda. We worked very hard to get an education growing up. We shared books with other households and families. Sometimes we waited a week to get a book back that we had loaned out and sometimes we were lucky to get the book back the day before an examination. And so it goes for millions of schoolchildren in Rwanda and throughout Africa. We have many problems on our continent, but one of the most serious is our book famine.
As Rwanda and other countries make progress over the next 20 years, human capital and education will be the key ingredients. The only way we can transform our country is through education. Our strategy is to create a knowledge-based economy. That is our vision. There is nothing better than having books for our students to help us achieve that objective.
A container of books from St. Paul-based Books for Africa will be shipped to my country in the next couple of months through the work of Peace Corps volunteers and Ambassador W. Stuart Symington. That's 22,000 books for our children. The container will also include books for a law library donated by Thomson Reuters to help us educate young law students, build democratic institutions and develop the rule of law.
I recently visited St. Paul, where I attended a number of events sponsored by Books for Africa. I was impressed with the generosity of the people of Minnesota who donated more than $80,000 last month to help pay for books that will be sent to Rwanda and other African countries. Our people thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
For one purpose only
The West often sends money and military weapons to Africa and other developing nations. While well-intentioned, sometimes that aid ends up in the wrong hands with serious negative consequences. But books for children and for law students can only be used for one purpose and that is that is to educate. That is soft power at work in the field. A small amount of money invested in the United States is turned into thousands of books — which, in turn, are shared by millions of young people in my country and around the continent. That is a small price to pay to help us build and develop our countries.
The impact of a book in the hands of a child in my country is immeasurable. I hope that the people of Minnesota and the rest of the United States will continue to understand that concept. Your understanding and your generosity make a huge difference.
James Kimonyo is the ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda to the United States.
MinnPost - Addressing Africa's book famine: The impact is immeasurable
Six years ago this month I wrote about Kabissa helping folks in Africq manage the digital age. And from the looks of things, they are still going strong.
Kabissa (our name means completely in kiswahili) is a volunteer-led non-governmental organization founded in 1999. We help African civil society organizations to put Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to work for the benefit of their communities. We do this by providing an online platform where people and organizations working in Africa can showcase themselves and connect with each other for peer learning and information sharing.
Network connecting people and organizations for Africa | Kabissa
AMREF continues to find new and innovative ways to improve healthcare in Africa. The Press Release below appeared on April 13, 2011.
AMREF is pleased to announce a new and exciting partnership with the Open University (UK).
Africa has a serious shortage of health workers and many have little or no formal training; yet, they are the ‘front line’ of health care across Africa.
Recognising a mutual belief that empowered, well-trained and well-supported health workers (including doctors, nurses, clinical officers, midwives, and community health workers) are critical to the development and success of African health systems, AMREF and the Open University will soon be embarking on a partnership to train health workers through distance learning.
The partnership was formed after recognising the common goals and ambitions of AMREF and the OU:
AMREF, Africa’s leading health development organisation, provides training for health workers in 33 African countries, equipping them with the necessary skills to address their countries’ biggest health issues; from HIV/AIDS, to antenatal care, malaria, waterborne diseases, cervical cancer to cleft palate repair. Committed to providing the best, most relevant service possible, AMREF is an expert in curricula and Human Resources for Health (HRH) development. Using an array of training methods; from classroom-based, to print-based distance learning courses to eLearning and online trainings, AMREF brings training opportunities to those who need it the most.
Open University is a world leader in modern distance learning and has recently launched the Health Education and Training (HEAT) programme in Africa. This ambitious programme aims to train 250,000 Community Health Workers (CHW) over the next five years through providing distance learning modules to increase their skills and capabilities. The HEAT programme is now piloting in Ethiopia, but is ready to be taken to other African countries, and has the flexibility and potential to be adapted for use by midwives, doctors, nurses, and other health workers.
Recognising this shared commitment to increasing Human Resources for Health (HRH) in Africa, through this new partnership AMREF and OU will share experience and expertise, working together to develop, implement and manage distance training programmes for mid-level and community health workers. AMREF and OU will collaborate in submitting applications for joint funding, build partnerships with organisations with similar goals, and work together to roll out OU’s HEAT programme beyond Ethiopia.
“We believe that this collaboration will take AMREF’s innovative e-learning, m-learning and broader distance learning interventions further afield in Africa”, says Peter Ngatia, AMREF’s Director of Capacity Building.
“We hope to dramatically assist in the global effort to scale-up training of Human Resources for Health to ensure countries have the right numbers and competencies required for quality health delivery and attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.”
More about AMREF's work training health workers across Africa
More about Open University's Health Education and Training (HEAT) programme
AMREF | AMREF’s New Partnership with Open University
The Serpentine Gallery had an exhibit of maps. And among those maps was this one created by software engineer Kia Krause.
Click the link below to go to the Serpentine Gallery site. There you can click on the link that will enlarge the image so that you will be able to read the accompanying data.
This is something to think about when considering the relevance of Africa in a global context.
Edge - Serpentine Maps Marathon


Dr.Hawa Abdi, a living hero before the eye of thousands of IDPs a mother, a leader of hope and prosparity,an inspiration and the couragious woman,the founder of the Dr.Hawa Abdi Foundation and the first woman to run and oparate a private hospital in somalia the first doctor and the list never end.
Abdi received her medical training in Kiev, Ukraine, during the 1960s with the help of a Soviet scholarship. At the time, Somalia was allied with the Soviet Union, while its archrival and neighbor Ethiopia was a partner of the United States. (In an abrupt Cold War reversal, a Marxist regime came to power in Ethiopia in 1974 and Somalian dictator Mohamed Siad Barre switched loyalties to the U.S.)
After completing her studies, Abdi returned and opened her clinic; soon the practice drew clients from all over the country, and even abroad. She was one of Somalia's first female gynecologists.
She married, raised three children, invested in hundreds of acres of farmland and had enough left over to purchase a beach getaway.
After Siad Barre was toppled in 1991 and Somalia descended into clan-based civil war, Abdi struggled to keep her clinic independent. One day, she says, soldiers with the HAWIYE clan swarmed the facility, looking to kill or capture patients from the DAROT clan.
"You will have to kill me first," she recalls telling the armed fighters. They left and never bothered her again. Abdi opened her private clinic for women and children in 1983. But when the government collapsed eight years later, she threw open her doors to all, treating victims of shootings, malnutrition and a string of epidemics.
As word of her generosity spread, the needy flocked here. More than 15,000 families currently live on her land. She offers treatment, clean water and whatever food she can spare. Nowadays, few can pay, but no one is turned away.
Abdi acknowledges that after 25 years, she dreams of escaping this place. "I'm tired," she says, sighing. "Sometimes you lose hope, you feel depressed. I've been here so long." [Bio here.]
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