I'm gradually shifting from wanting to spend a bunch of money on trophy fees to wanting to just spend a little time hunting PG and touring Africa and committing the big trophy resources where they might actually change lives for the better.
I am coming from a Christian's perspective, and have in the past supported World Vision and Iris Ministries in Pemba, Mozambique.
But I would love to hear from folks who have seen relief and charity agencies at work on the ground, in the field doing work that is efficient and has a chance of having a lasting impact.
All replies/PMs most welcome.
And please know that my thinking is no reflection at all on those of you who are raring to go for elephant, lion, buffalo, etc.
It's just that the fire in my belly is changing direction. And yes, I know that trophy fees in themselves are game-changers by giving value to wildlife that otherwise might be poached or culled.

Bill,
I can relate with your thinking. Back in 2006 when I shot my only ele, croc and buff in Nam, I had a strong sense in my heart that it would be my last expensive hunt. In fact it has been, I have been doing some hunting in the USA and have been privileged to hunt a 1400 acre farm here in VA. We shoot 150 - 160 each year.

Anyway, I said all of that to say this. I felt the Lord released me to go back to Africa this past January. To make a long story short, I talked to several fantastic PH's, I somehow ended up with Terry Anders. He was in the process of trying to figure out how to help the community around Savuli.

Well, I have done irrigation projects in Kenya and Haiti. I work with locals to teach them how to protect and enhance the soil, and think out of the box. Anyway Terry and I have hatched a plan to do just this in late July early August this year. We will do some irrigation projects at schools and some churches. I will fence the gardens and then let chickens in to eat the bugs. Chickens supply eggs and meat as well. Next is tilapia ponds with rabbit cages above. Rabbit droppings will cause nitrates to build up in pond which create algae which tilapia eat. Water is also great for fertilizer for garden to grow lettuce for rabbit food.
Just a few ideas. So to answer your question, no I do not know of any good charities, a lot of them have a real high admin cost. I just see a need and use what knowledge I have to try to meet the need.

Brent

Brent: You are truly blessed to have useful knowledge to share on the ground. I wasted my life as a journalist in a newspaper newsroom and have very little to offer of a practical nature.

Bill,never too late. I am a landscape architect. I just felt the Lord draw me and He has continually given me witty ideas to work with.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:

I am coming from a Christian's perspective, and have in the past supported World Vision and Iris Ministries in Pemba, Mozambique.
But I would love to hear from folks who have seen relief and charity agencies at work on the ground, in the field doing work that is efficient and has a chance of having a lasting impact.
All replies/PMs most welcome.

Please add experiences of medical work in association with PHs, as opposed to the usual better-known medical missions. I'm interested in tying in something that links game management and health care through our PH community, such that we show we not only provide local protein and funding but healthcare as well.

We did a medical mission to Kenya once, it was awesome. My wife has one more year to finish her nurse practioner, part of her motivation to go back to school was for medical missions.

I have taken medical packs as referenced at this site to Burkina Faso: MAP International .

When I did so, there was a requirement that the meds were requested by medical personnel and delivered to them. I believe there is still such a procedure for MAP.

I went through my contacts in my church to find a worthy recipient ... most preachers know a medical missionary or two in the country you wish to visit... and found a dentist (not an M.D.) who fulfilled the 'script regulations and picked up two giant boxes of meds from MAP in Brunswick, GA. The dentist then distributed the meds to several R.N.'s who, in effect, acted as mission physicians.

I think the retail value of the drugs was $28,000.00. They "cost" me $500 which was the packing and administrative cost (and my Rotary Club paid for it). The boxes included everything from pediatric re-hydration salts to antibiotics and mild pain-killers.

Delta and AirAfrique (now defunct) let the crate-sized boxes accompany me for free after I begged some.

MAP knows what they are doing. I'll bet a call to them will get you started if the med supplies delivery suits you. I think they rate well up in the most efficient of charities in donations to delivery, btw. Charity Ratings

It is with pride that I find myself in the company of the above gentlemen. During my first 2 or 3 safaris I had notions of doing something helpful in southern Africa. I know a bit about construction, property management, local government, etc. No doubt I can find a niche. Thank you for re-kindling the thought.

We all know that efforts can there be wasted. Can we discuss that?

In developed parts of the world there are markets and financing methods for farmers to reduce their losses in the event of a crop failure. Is something like that a possibility? Or do you think that small, localzed efforts are potentially more likely to be of help?

Bill,

In my community World Vision is active but more so is an attractive and very hard working lady - Josien Dudok Van Heel whose charity is ZAP www.zap-foundation.com/engels/newsletter14.html

Great to see this. I have registered with a few agencies for a development project role. My background is agriculture (tea), animal husbandry (poultry) and general management. One day God willing....

it's been mmy experience that the big charities are less effective than the small ones or missionaries. the small ones take the time to say with the project till the people get in the habit of doing whats needed the large operations come in build something and leave. with in a yr the project is broken and unused. so place you time an money if your donating in small groups who plan to stay in country. I will be working with a medical mission in northern kenya i a few months. can't wait to get involved. what every you do do not send money to most of the ones you see on TV 90% ars scams the people see very very little from the. some of the orphan's here really need a lot of help but again you have to know where your money is going. like the old guy we see on TV all the time in the states. 10% of the money donated to him gets to the kids he was exposed as a con man a few yrs ago but people s keep supporting him. ok I'll get off my soap box if any of ya'll are going to be in kenya holler at me we'll get together for a meal

You guys make me ashamed for not doing more to relieve the plight of the poor in Africa. But you also make me think about how best to distribute my very limited help.

I cannot speak for Africa, but know a bit about South Africa. The old saying about: Give a man a fish,,,, teach a man how to fish....: comes to mind. What fundamentally is the reason there are so may poor in South Africa? One word = Corruption!

The terrorists ruling the country are corrupt. Top to bottom! The few on top steal, cheat and do generally just what they want in order to enrich themselves and their family. They also protect their fellow corrupt ministers from investigation or prosecution.

It is this stealing of taxpayers money by the ANC politicians that should be spent on poverty alleviation projects that is the MAJOR reason why there are still so many very poor people in South Africa.

Now we come to the real evil: The proposed new Protection of State Information Security Bill (whatever exactly it is called) is designed specifically to allow absolutely unchecked corruption by Zuma and his cronies. This will make th epoor much poorer!

Add your charity to the fight against this new law and you will do something positive!

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

This is a subject that within myself causes much angst and anguish. In the South African context, whatever charitable work is done for the poor, relieves the ruling party of a portion of it's responsiblities. A further development is the advent and furthering of "social grants." Social grants are nothing but a vote purchasing method, but the social evil that they have brought about is the increase in HIV/AIDS [ a social grant for a specific white blood cell count,] child support grants, [ have a child a year and there is the accompaning risk of HIV/AIDS.] Within the rural scenario, the amount of cash realised by families has resulted in most agricultural activities ceasing. Why plow, plant, hoe, struggle with the weather and pests for a maize crop when there is enough cash to purchase maize meal at the general store.
One can purchase computers, books and gear for school science laboratorys, but they get stolen and what is common in the Eastern Cape these days, burn the school down to protest what ever itch is the fancy for the week. One could purchase bicycles as the State cannot organise student transport, but in weeks the recepients have sold them and those not sold are stolen.
The best bet in South Africa is to identify a NGO, and there are many, especially those providing shelter for AIDS orphans or mentally handicapped. As the State is lax in helping out, they are always in need of donations. If this is the way you choose, first check to see that there is a proper system of checks and balances as theft from these institutions not uncommon.

My money has been going to Rafiki International.

It is a US based organization that is focused on orphans, Christian education and is in several countries.

Here is the link.

http://www.rafikifoundation.org/

With this outfit, you can participate, see where the money is spent and go yourself.

I have seen many others and this one is the most accountable to the donors.

Bill, I really like your post and will tell you what we are doing because many of you and your generosity and supprt are what began this great effort. First, I have to tell you the story so bear with me. Many of you will remember John Greeff and his leopard mauling in July 2010 and the fundraising that we did to help him through it. Lots still going on there and lots to do but the experience John had and the support he received "opened" his eyes on what he could do for others. He found a group of ladies called the "Three Mothers" in Hwange, Zimbabwe that had started an Orphanage to support childred orphaned for a variety of reasons but mostly from parents with HIV. John asked me to help him with this and we did. This year we took some days out of our hunting and went and bought about $400 US worth of Food and supplies and took these things directly to them. We had lunch with them one of those days, they sang to us, etc. This was a very powerful and rewarding day. These ladies are the real thing and they feed at this time over 300 children. They are striving to build a full orphanage and have building plans as well as a donated tract of land (not stolen) that they have an irrigation project and crops on. They also have a garden next to the current building, about 5 acres. If any of you are in the Vic Falls or Hwange area I strongly encourage you to let us help you with a visit so you can see for yourself.

More of the story is that I joined the Board of Dirctors of Something More Safaris (there are a couple of other Board Members that are on AR here as well) and I am going to make this a special focus of the small group that I engage with regarding Africa and helping others. To get more visibility to this as well as really getting serious about our PH relief fund we had a videoographer (Phllip Smythe who posts on here as well) join us on our last Safari and we got some great footage of the children, the three mothers, and all that is going on there. We will soon have that edited and a link to the SMS website which I will post here so you can all see it. Plans are to use this as a genesis to what we can do to give back to others. I like many am always concerned about where the money goes as when my sister was in the Peace Corps she saw the theft and corruption of many of the charities. To avoid this, all the money that I can raise for these children will be managed and distributed to these ladies through John and Vicki Greeff who are there on the ground several days per week. This way, I can feel confident that it is going to its intended use. If any of you would like to talk to me more about it, please email me at larry_burgin@yahoo.com or 980-328-0204. I love to talk about it and cannot wait to show you some video and pictures. So, to sum it up our support efforts are in two directions, the first to establish a true PH relief fund that will be there when bad things happen to great people (John for example). We were on our backfoot when this happened but with some effort we can be prepared for the next time. Please note that this is not only focused on Zimbabwe PH's but all be it Africa, Australia, Alaska, etc. etc. Need and distributon will be managed by a board that will also contain some hunting professionals. This is being developed at this time. The second will be to support these "Three Mothers" and the Orphanage.

Thanks for reading my long winded post but I want to close with some personal thanks to some people that have been in the background helping me get this going. No details but you should all recognize the generosity of Larry Shores, Aaron Neilson, Phillip Smythe, Paul Reed, Brett Hoop and of course Saeed for the AR website. I could not have gotten this started without those guys. Anyone that wants to help or know more please contact me.

Bill, again thanks for taking the time to raise all of our awareness and allow a discussion on this worthy topic. If someone will help me, I will send a few pics of the children so you can see them. Also, I have all the contact info for the "Three Mothers" should you wish to contact them. Please recognize for US people, if we use the SMS process to support them, it is fully tax deductible for you. Paul Reed, if you wish, please add to my comments.

Thanks again,

Larry

I reckon BIGBBEAR-Larry has given you a really good answer Bill.

I am very impressed by the responses I have seen here; thank you so much to all who have posted or sent PMs. My heart has much to ponder.
It is a comfort to find so much caring for the indigenous peoples of Africa among the AR fraternity, and that for many of us, it is not just about "ME and MY trophies."

there are some really great org. and people going great things here you just have to be careful and pick the right one that suits you. i like the smaller ones because they seem to be more transparent. but thats just me.

I am glad Larry posted this. It is great work for a great cause with no BS involved.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
My money has been going to Rafiki International.

It is a US based organization that is focused on orphans, Christian education and is in several countries.

Here is the link.

http://www.rafikifoundation.org/

With this outfit, you can participate, see where the money is spent and go yourself.

I have seen many others and this one is the most accountable to the donors.

+1 for Rafiki. Our church supports this charity and my wife and I went to the orphanage outside Lusaka in 2007. No charity is perfect, but this one is in 10 southern African countries and besides educating the children, does do medical outreach to the surrounding community.

I am PROUD of my friends here on AR.
My wife & I have done a few things to help, but not enough.
Thanks for stirring my passion to help.
I recently have made friends with a missionary in Tanz., think I'll check with him to see what I can do.

I can vouch for World Vision. Our church sponsers over 2,500 in kids Tseikuru, Kenya through World Vision. (Yes - 2500 - We go to a very large church) World Vision's plan is to go into a community and teach them how to be self sufficient and be out of there in 15 years. We basically sponser an entire community. As a board member of our church my wife and I were able to take a "Vision Trip" in 2007. We were thoroughly impressed with the World Vision staff. They understand that it's not about just giving hand outs. We have raised money to HELP them dig multiple wells, make loans for micro enterprise, invest in donkeys, chicken and goats, help them build schools etc. The community is being transformed.

I would highly recommend World Vision.



Doug

quote:

Originally posted by ddrhook:
there are some really great org. and people going great things here you just have to be careful and pick the right one that suits you. i like the smaller ones because they seem to be more transparent. but thats just me.

Hook

the question was--WHICH one?

names not philosophy

SSR

I have been reading up on some of the suggested charities evaluated by these guys:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
The financial reports are interesting reading.

I doubt I'll ever hunt much in Africa unless I piggyback after a missions trip and hunt for a couple days. I cannot pay expensive trophy fees due to my love of the African People. I do not expect anyone else to adopt my ways... this is just the way it is for me.

The church I pastor is headed for Liberia to rebuild bible schools and churches destroyed by war. For the churches we put up the uprights and roofs and let the national church do the floors and walls. This makes it a partnership and gives them ownership. Anyone that would like to give or go along can contact me via these forums. Churches cost $7000 and I can ship 10 per container. WE are far short of what we need to go. After some of the infrastructure is rebuild we will build them on the ground there and save lot of cash. Please know I'm not soliciting funds and Liberia has little for sightseeing or hunting. It will not be a fun trip but will be rewarding.

Regarding orphans...
I would recommend not supporting large orphanage for a number of reasons. Small group homes ran by a few widows that give a semblance to a family is much healthier and sustainable than a large traditional orphanage. Institutionalizing children should be a last resort. I moved to Africa to do large orphanages and child sponsorships but realized that they are not always the best practice. In fact finding family members to take the child is the best practice over all. There is a lot of reasons I say this and a lot of history behind it, a whole lot more to talk about but time constrains me...

Questions you should always ask...
Is there partnership with the African people?
Is your project sustainable?
Will it continue after you are gone?
Does it build dependancies?

Partnership ensures that it will fit the culture and context that they live in. Don't look at it with American eyes only. Listen to their prospective.

Sustainability is exceedingly important. Unless it is just relief and clearly communicated as such.

Can your project continue without your constant oversight. Boots on the ground (missionary or NGO) will add a protection level against misappropriation of funds.

Be careful not to build dependancies. I know of a situation where drought caused a famine. Rice was donated and the next year they never planted their crops because it was easier to get rice from an NGO than sustenance farming. The rice may run out! So with relief must come education and mitigation of the problem that caused the crisis.

I certainly do not know it all but this come from a few years of this kind of work. I love Africa and have given my live to her... she is my great mistress.

Anyway... I commend you all for doing something for those less fortunate on the continent we love so much.

Aaron

I thought i'd add this from a giving sermon of mine...


Missionary Del Tarr who served fourteen years in West Africa for the AOG tells about the price that some people pay to sow the seed of the gospel in hard soil. I was always perplexed by Psalm 126 until I went to the Sahel, that vast stretch of savanna more than four thousand miles wide just under the Sahara Desert. In the Sahel, all the moisture comes in a four-month period: May, June, July, and August. After that, not a drop of rain falls for eight months. The ground cracks from dryness, and so do your hands and feet. The winds of the Sahara pick up the dust and throw it thousands of feet into the air. It then comes slowly drifting across West Africa as a fine grit. It gets inside your mouth. It get inside of your clothes. The year's food, of course, must all be grown in those four months. People grow grain sorghum or milo in small fields.
October and November...these are beautiful months. The granaries are full -- the harvest has come. People sing and dance. They eat two meals a day. The sorghum is ground into a mealee pop and the meal lies heavy on their stomachs so they can sleep.
December comes, and the granaries start to recede. Many families omit the morning meal. Certainly by January not one family in fifty is still eating two meals a day.
By February, the evening meal diminishes. The meal shrinks even more during March and children succumb to sickness. You don't stay well on half a meal a day.
April is the month that haunts my memory. In it you hear the babies crying in the twilight. Most of the days are passed with only an evening cup of gruel. Then, inevitably, it happens. A six or seven-year-old boy comes running to his father one day with sudden excitement. "Daddy! Daddy! We've got grain!" he shouts. "Son, you know we haven't had grain for weeks." "Yes, we have!" the boy insists. "Out in the hut where we keep the goats -- there's a leather sack hanging up on the wall -- I reached up and put my hand down in there -- Daddy, there's grain in there! Give it to Mommy so she can make flour, and tonight our tummies can sleep! "The father stands motionless. "Son, we can't do that," he softly explains. "That's next year's seed grain. It's the only thing between starvation and us. We're waiting for the rains, and then we must use it."
The rains finally arrive in May, and when they do the young boy watches as his father takes the sack from the wall and does the most unreasonable thing imaginable. Instead of feeding his desperately weakened family, he goes to the field and with tears streaming down his face, he takes the precious seed and throws it away. He scatters it in the dirt! Why? Because he believes in the harvest.
The seed is his; he owns it. He can do anything with it he wants. The act of sowing it hurts so much that he cries. But as the pastor’s say in that part of Africa when they preach on Psalm 126, "Brother and sisters, this is God's law of the harvest. Don't expect to rejoice later on unless you have been willing to sow in tears." And I want to ask you: How much would it cost you to sow in tears? I don't mean just giving God something from your abundance, but finding a way to say, "I believe in the harvest, and therefore I will give what makes no sense. The world would call me unreasonable to do this -- but I must sow regardless, in order that I may someday celebrate with songs of joy."

quote:

Originally posted by Aaron Rust:
I thought i'd add this from a giving sermon of mine...


Missionary Del Tarr who served fourteen years in West Africa for the AOG tells about the price that some people pay to sow the seed of the gospel in hard soil. I was always perplexed by Psalm 126 until I went to the Sahel, that vast stretch of savanna more than four thousand miles wide just under the Sahara Desert. In the Sahel, all the moisture comes in a four-month period: May, June, July, and August. After that, not a drop of rain falls for eight months. The ground cracks from dryness, and so do your hands and feet. The winds of the Sahara pick up the dust and throw it thousands of feet into the air. It then comes slowly drifting across West Africa as a fine grit. It gets inside your mouth. It get inside of your clothes. The year's food, of course, must all be grown in those four months. People grow grain sorghum or milo in small fields.
October and November...these are beautiful months. The granaries are full -- the harvest has come. People sing and dance. They eat two meals a day. The sorghum is ground into a mealee pop and the meal lies heavy on their stomachs so they can sleep.
December comes, and the granaries start to recede. Many families omit the morning meal. Certainly by January not one family in fifty is still eating two meals a day.
By February, the evening meal diminishes. The meal shrinks even more during March and children succumb to sickness. You don't stay well on half a meal a day.
April is the month that haunts my memory. In it you hear the babies crying in the twilight. Most of the days are passed with only an evening cup of gruel. Then, inevitably, it happens. A six or seven-year-old boy comes running to his father one day with sudden excitement. "Daddy! Daddy! We've got grain!" he shouts. "Son, you know we haven't had grain for weeks." "Yes, we have!" the boy insists. "Out in the hut where we keep the goats -- there's a leather sack hanging up on the wall -- I reached up and put my hand down in there -- Daddy, there's grain in there! Give it to Mommy so she can make flour, and tonight our tummies can sleep! "The father stands motionless. "Son, we can't do that," he softly explains. "That's next year's seed grain. It's the only thing between starvation and us. We're waiting for the rains, and then we must use it."
The rains finally arrive in May, and when they do the young boy watches as his father takes the sack from the wall and does the most unreasonable thing imaginable. Instead of feeding his desperately weakened family, he goes to the field and with tears streaming down his face, he takes the precious seed and throws it away. He scatters it in the dirt! Why? Because he believes in the harvest.
The seed is his; he owns it. He can do anything with it he wants. The act of sowing it hurts so much that he cries. But as the pastor’s say in that part of Africa when they preach on Psalm 126, "Brother and sisters, this is God's law of the harvest. Don't expect to rejoice later on unless you have been willing to sow in tears." And I want to ask you: How much would it cost you to sow in tears? I don't mean just giving God something from your abundance, but finding a way to say, "I believe in the harvest, and therefore I will give what makes no sense. The world would call me unreasonable to do this -- but I must sow regardless, in order that I may someday celebrate with songs of joy."

Aaron,
I needed that...Good WORD...Amen.

This month has been very dismal for me, but this encourages me that the harvest will come!

Wow, Aaron. You made my day, my week, my month, maybe my year. Bless you for your efforts.

i will be retiring May 2013 after 35 years of medical practice- thus i will have more time available to spend in Africa before or after a safari. i would much appreciate any info on where i might be of service throughout southern Afica. God has seen fit to bless me in many ways and it is high time i give something in return. PM's appreciated.

As a missionary in Tanzania, I have seen and continue to see on almost a daily basis many different organizations coming in to help the people here. Some are very well thought out and implemented but I fear most are planned from a western mentality and are not very effective over here.

Some of the points that Aaron brought out in his message are very important indeed. Building dependency is I believe the most common and fatal flaw of missions or NGOs throughout Africa. It is an ever challenging aspect to working with the different African cultures, i.e., “helping without hurting”. Gleen J. Schwartz has authored a book called, “When Charity Destroys Dignity” which is a well written book on this subject of dependency.

There are many different organizations that build schools, teach vocational activities, teach agricultural development, educate about HIV, provide medical care and so many other things and they are to be commended in their efforts. I have close friends in Monduli, Tanzania that run a medical clinic there and they are doing a great work. I know of others in Mwanza that are teaching about agriculture along with many other things. All those are giving of themselves to try and better the lives of the Tanzanian people that we so dearly love.

Our team here in Iringa, TZ are focused primarily on the Biblical education of the Tanzanian people. We feel like by teaching God’s word we can help people not only with their spiritual lives but in their physical lives as well. There is no better way to educate about HIV, ethics, social development, business practices, even animal conservation, etc. than to teach God’s word, the Bible. I know that I speak along with so many others who are diligently trying to make a difference in the lives of the African people when I say that this is truly the best “job” in the world.

I applaud all those that are considerate of the African people and hope that you are able to find effective ways to use your resources to better mankind.

Carey

Carey, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this. I will look for that book by Glen Schwartz, as I know this point is critical.
I touched on it before, but wish I had medical, engineering, construction or agricultural skills to share but I don't. And at 59, I don't have the strong back I had at 35!
Still, I am sure there is something I could do for a couple of weeks without actually getting in the way.
The majority of the most meaningful memories I brought back from my hunt in Namibia in 2007 had to do not with game animals, grand as they were, but with the people, whether they were herding livestock or selling maize along the highways, or at work or even hanging around the streets of Kamanjab or Otjiwarongo -- such diverse and beautiful people and so in need of jobs! I must get back, whether to hunt or otherwise.

Hi Bill,

If I had a hat on I would be taking it off to you.

This is the main charity I work with by raising resources for them from my day job in corporate finance.

http://www.worldchildcancer.org/where-we-work

Due to their delivery system it is possible to literally sustain children's lives with relatively low and highly efficient capital allocations. A typical clinic will be seeded with about $50,000 per annum over the first five years and its impact is immediate from day one.

http://www.worldchildcancer.org/our-approach

Best wishes to you.

Milo.

I "discovered" Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1977 to 1980. As far as I know there are no age limitations and some programs do not require any excessive physical strength or condition. Since I then made a career out of African development work, I have encountered innumerable organizations working on the continent in almost every domain. From faith based, to politically based, to international NGO's, there are so many that I think almost anyone could find a program that makes use of the skills acquired in whatever area they have worked; including journalism.