[afro-nets] Grassroots Initiative

General afro-nets
1

Grassroots Initiative to Address Needs of HIV/AIDS-Affected
Children
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Meeting 3rd March, 2007 (Boston)

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the
way in which it treats its children -- Nelson Mandela

Dear Friend,

You are invited to the inaugural "Grassroots Initiative" Forum,
Saturday March 3rd, 2007, 11a.m. ­ 3p.m.

Location: 400 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02110

We all know that the vast majority of international development
funding ­ both public and private ­ is channeled through large
and often unwieldy organizations. Critics of development and
international aid frequently cite the ineffectiveness of bulky
programs in creating real and positive change. A myriad of
issues stem the tide of good intentions and innovative ideas.

Quietly, individuals like you have discovered and implemented
solutions to the problem of ineffective aid: partnering with
community-based organizations. Working at the grassroots level,
working from the bottom up rather than top down, has quickly
proven itself to be the most cost-effective, culturally
sensitive, and most importantly the most sustainable way to
realize change.

Martin Owino, the President of the African Health Foundation,
and Ellen McCurley, Executive Director of The Pendulum Project,
have heard from many of you about the need to support and unify
the voice of grassroots efforts that focus on a holistic,
community-based approach to providing care for orphaned and
vulnerable children in the developing world. Regardless of the
root cause of their vulnerability ­ be it armed conflict,
extreme poverty, or the HIV/AIDS epidemic ­ these children are
repeatedly forgotten.

The hope of the Grassroots Initiative is to bring together
Boston-area representatives of groups working in this field for
a discussion on shared needs, experiences, and a way forward
towards greater success. How can we best advocate for and
empower those we work with? How can we collectively grow the
track record of grassroots groups, thereby showing donors the
low risk of investing in our work? Can we leverage our unity
into greater influence? Individuals from the media, donor,
academic, and African immigrant communities are invited to
provide their input as well.

There is much to discuss and we all have a lot to learn from
each other. We ask you to save the date of March 3rd and come
prepared to share thoughts and ideas. For those who wish to join
in the planning process, feel free to contact us immediately.
Between now and March 3rd, please send us your ideas, comments
or questions. What would you most like to discuss? Your input
will greatly improve the quality of our inaugural meeting!

Please RSVP and send all ideas/questions to Seth Purcell at
mailto:spurcell@pendulumproject.org

We hope to see you there!

Warm regards,

Martin Owino and Ellen McCurley
Martin Owino, MPH, President
African Health Foundation
508 561 2115
P.O. Box 1774
Framingham MA 01701
mailto:theihsolutions@aol.com

Tim Burke
Volunteer, African Health Foundation
Tel. +1-617-378-1006

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Grassroots Initiative (2)
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Dear colleagues,

I wish you fruitful discussions on the initiative. I can not be
in Boston on the 3rd March, therefore, am contributing to your
discussion as you requested.

I am a Rotarian for a couple of years now. Let me share with you
what Rotary is partly about and probably how it could give a
hand with regard to Grassroots Initiative.

Amazingly, Rotary's grass root projects succeed to reach the
grassroot targeted beneficiaries at a rate of 95-99%. This is
through its well organized organogram, strict rules, members'
qualities and the organization's global web. Usually the grass
root project supervisors are the local Rotary Clubs which are
almost everywhere worldwide. The Rotary Clubs can collaborate
with any organization on and above the ground worldwide.

The condition which may be difficult for some international
development funding organizations is that project funds are
usually held by clubs and any payments to relevant service
providers are made after thorough evaluation of the prospective
projects by the Rotary Clubs. Strictly no Project on site no
payments. The Clubs are held accountable for anything going
wrong and at times, clubs have to refund in case of misuse and
poor project supervision. Therefore, I invite many
donors/partners to consider collaborating with Rotary Clubs
wherever they are working in the world.

Rotary rules are optimally strict while Rotarians are out there
for service above self, leading the way while sharing whenever
possible. In my view, these qualities of Rotary also makes
international development funding amazingly cheap. Most of the
work in terms of planning and supervision reporting is done
online with very limited movements. On the other hand, the local
beneficiaries trust the process, own the projects, short project
implementation time frame, projects sustainability is improved
and international donors are satisfied leading to reduction of
donor fatigue phenomenon just to mention some of the positive
points. It also instills the sense of collective participation
by all partners in the projects however far apart you may be.
Mainly just sending/exchanging projects' outcomes photos.

My friends and colleagues, whoever tries to collaborate with a
Rotary Clubs network in implementing any grassroot project
anywhere in the world will not regret.

Thanks and regards,

Dr Emeria A. Mugonzibwa-Mwanga, DDS, PhD
MUCHS, P.O.Box 65104, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Tel: +255-22-215-1135
Cellular: +255-713-606581
Fax: +255-22-215-0465
mailto:emugonzibwa@yahoo.com