Build home and bring Christmas to an orphanage in Africa

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Build home and bring Christmas to an orphanage in
Africa
1888 Press Release - This is a crowdfunding
campaign which aims to assist an orphanage in
Togo (West Africa) that is going through a
serious housing issue. Our campaign aims to bring
hope and stability to the lives of 58 children
this holiday season, by building two dormitories
and providing a power generator and clean water
system. These seemingly simple things would be
life changing for these children. Lome, TOGO
(West Africa) - ALAFIA YOUTH (Non-Profit) - A
group of students and volunteers from around the
world are running a crowdfunding campaign to help
a Togolese (West Africa) orphanage build a decent
shelter for this Christmas season. Since last
October this orphanage of 58 kids have been
living without electricity and clean water in a
temporary dormitory that is way too small to
accommodate them for long. This campaign is
trying to raise support from people by offering
some very exotic and unique perks such as an
ebony pen and a traditional mask carved by a
Togolese artist. The orphanage was created in
2003 in Lomé (capital of Togo) by a brave lady
called Vondjogbe Charity. Mama Charity, as she is
locally nicknamed, gave up her business career to
follow a heart calling and devote all her life to
take care of her 58 orphans. They have been in
rental houses for eleven years and last July
their landlord asked them to move out.
Coincidently, at the time, she was also welcoming
two new twin babies, Philip and Philippa, who
lost their mother during their birth. Things got
tough for Mama Charity as renting prices are
increasing in Lomé and many landlords would not
rent their houses to orphanages. Facing such
desperate need to accommodate the orphans, she
strived hard to get from generous contributors a
piece of land and some money to build a temporary
dormitory. According to an old African saying,
whoever sleeps on someone else's mat is sleeping
on the bare ground. In other words, after 11
years, it is time for this orphanage to stop
renting houses and move into a house of its own.
Unfortunately the temporary dormitory is not now
large enough (660 square feet / 60 meters
square), and it makes it quite difficult to
accommodate 58 kids ranging from 4 months to 16
years old.
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The dormitory is overcrowded and conditions will
deteriorate during the Christmas season when the
climate is dominated by a hot, very dry and dusty
wind called the Harmattan. Moreover, the area is
covered neither by public power nor by public
clean water supply. Despite all these adversities
Mama Charity holds on firmly to her commitment
''This is not just about running an orphanage it
is about serving our community and having a
vision for a better future by taking care of the
marginalized and providing education to the
kids'' she said. This touching story reached
Koffi Nomedji, a Togolese Fulbright scholar and
co-founder of Alafia Youth, a non-profit
organization. He shared the story around and
mobilized some of his fellow students and friends
around the world by building an international
fundraising team. They finally landed the
campaign on Indiegogo, a crowdfunding website.
According to Koffi Nomedji '' Not only do we need
donation and support from around the world but we
also have great exotic Togolese gifts to give
back to our donators in order to brighten their
Christmas season as a token of our gratitude and
thanks''. In fact, this campaign is offering some
exotic perks such as a splendid ebony pen and a
traditional mask all handmade by a professional
local artist. The goal of the campaign is to help
the orphanage build two dormitories, install a
power generator and groundwater drilling
system. The campaign link http//igg.me/at/mamac
harity More info about Alafia Youth
http//alafiatg.org/en/ Contact person NOMEDJI
Koffi Amegbo Tel [phone]
31 35 Email koffi.nomedji ( _at_ ) outlook dot com