Create for a Cause

Help Haiti!

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:57:28 PST

Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. Gets charged to your cell bill. Takes 10 seconds!

Support Haiti through organizations like Partners in Health, who will be supporting Haitian healthcare now and long after the immediate relief effort subsides: www.pih.org.

$1300 Raised for Orphans of Rwanda in December

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:58:27 PST

Nice way to end the year....over $800 from Create for a Cause tees and $460 from my Birthday/Facebook cause fundraising tool to help out Orphans of Rwanda! YAY! :-)

IMPUWE/Richard's Rwanda

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:20:11 PST

Jessica Markowitz is currently a Garfield High School Freshman in Seattle.

With Rwandan schoolchildren she is helping.
She plans to use prize money won by her charity to build a library.

"Impuwe" is Rwandan for compassion, and also stands for "inspire and motivate powerful, undiscovered women with education."

Repost below from Iheartdaily.com

In 2006, Jessica Markowitz, then 12, started a charity that has sent 22 impoverished Rwandan girls to school. Richard's Rwanda IMPUWE is named after Richard Kananga, an aid worker who stayed with her family that year ("impuwe" is the Rwandan word for compassion). Richard does reconciliation work in Rwanda, and when he told Jessica about the children who had lost their parents to genocide and could not afford school, she asked how she could help. "He connected me with 22 girls, mostly orphans, who needed assistance," says Jessica, now 14. "I talked to some girls at my middle school, and we formed a group that bloomed into something bigger."

Um, yeah it did! Through bake sale fundraisers, school supply drives and a ton of determination on the part of its members, Richard's Rwanda IMPUWE has changed the lives of those 22 girls. Jessica has taken several trips to rural villages in Rwanda, where she formed a partnership with a local girls' school. She spent this past summer teaching Rwandan kids to read in English. "I feel really determined to do something for girls like me across the world," says the Seattle native.

The charity is expanding to chapters in five more high schools this year. For her amazing work, Jessica was awarded a World of Children Global Changemaker Award last week -- that's like the Nobel Prize for youth. "One big goal we have is to build a women's empowerment library," says Jessica. "We want to emphasize female contributions in literature and academics to show the girls in Rwanda how powerful they can be."

So awesome! Through June 1st, all donations made to Richard's Rwanda IMPUWE up to $25,000 will be matched by a family foundation who heard about Jessica's efforts. So if you give, you'll be giving twice. Double good.

I'm excited to say that Graphic designer, Jason Oranzo, will be partnering up with IMPUWE for a design collaboration for the organization. More on that to come! :-)

VJ Movement: Video Journalism & Cartoons

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:21:46 PST

VJ Movement is a new collaboration between a global network of freelance professional video journalists and editorial cartoonists, and you, the public. They believe that there is more than one truth and the stories they feature reflect this. They recently launched their website: http://vjmovement.com/ so you can check out the impressive work by journalists around the world who are covering important under-reported stories.

This is Amy Brown's VJ movement link to one of the stories she produced about the Rwandan diaspora community living in New York City. It is part of a larger series about the Rwandan diaspora around the world.
Check it out!

Minerals and Conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:07:29 PST

A friend of friend is putting on a talk this coming Friday on minerals and the conflict in the DRC.

Artfully Unforgotten: Voices of Afghanistan

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:15:50 PST

Heather Metcalfe and the crew at Artfully Unforgotten are putting on a benefit this Friday to help women and children in Afghanistan.

Early Holiday Shopping Tip: Kora Horn Jewelry Designs made in Rwanda

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:01:18 PST

Shout Outs!

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:56:30 PST

Jina Moore did a great piece on Create for a Cause in the Christian Science Monitor.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1013/p07s01-lign.html

Thanks so much!

Also, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum just did a profile on the work Create for a Cause has done in the past year too!

http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_action/blog/?p=584

Natalie Frank and Voices of Rwanda collaboration

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:48:41 PST

New York artist, Natalie Frank's striking portrait exhibit featuring portraits of survivors who have shared with Voices of Rwanda. The show starts November 14 and ends on December 26, 2009.

The Slought Foundation

4017 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104

Film: Four Seasons Lodge

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:40:54 PST

Aaron Soffin has spent the past year as an editor on the Four Seasons Lodge documentary. I'm going to watch it this weekend....and so should you! ;-)

Having lived through the unimaginable, a group of Holocaust survivors founded a vacation colony in the Catskills. For decades they gathered together, but now they face perhaps their final summer together. Directed by New York Times journalist Andrew Jacobs and beautifully photographed by a team led by Albert Maysles, this vivid, inspiring, and unexpectedly funny portrait reveals the indomitable spirit of a singular community. “This is our revenge,” one camper explains. “To live this long, this well, is a victory.”

"Gorgeously photographed...the awesome spectacle of life triumphing over annihilation." - Ella Taylor, The New York Times.
"Priceless! The ultimate revenge on Hitler." - Aaron Hillis, Time Out NY.

Opens Friday, November 20, 2009 at Quad Cinemas.

34 West 13th Street. NYC. 212-255-8800

Showtimes: 1:00, 3:00, 5:30, 7:25, 9:50

Filmmakers will be in attendance Saturday and Sunday for 5:30 and 7:25 shows.

Opens in Boston and LA on December 11. Opens in Miami on January 8.

Ride On: Wooden Bike Classic 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:27:36 PST

Project Rwanda's Wooden Bike Race starts November 25, 2009.
The Wooden Bike Classic is an annual bike festival designed to increase awareness of Rwanda as a tourism and cycling destination, as well as promote the development of an eco–tourism industry. Forget the Tour de France and get over to Kigali!

The Greatest Gift: Bikes

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:34:36 PST

Jazz vocalist, Alexis Cole has partnered with World Bicycle Relief to donate proceeds of her new holiday album, The Greatest Gift. A portion of every sale of the CD helps this noble charity provide bicycles to people in developing countries around the world; thus, giving individuals access to transportation, sustainability, and independence. The Greatest Gift, an enhanced CD, also includes two powerfully moving videos that document this wonderful work.

The World Log: Start Spreading the News...

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:09:29 PDT

Similarly, to Demotix's interactive, citizen-journalism format. The World Log is a pooling together a global database of personal accounts of development programs around the world.
This is great way to chronicle projects happening globally as well as way to network and partner with potential people/organizations.

The World Log is the place for those who are serious about international development and want to share their experiences and knowledge with like-minded people and learn from others. I love their slogan, "Realities of development. Stories from a world in progress."

Their aim is to aggregate stories and articles about development issues from bloggers, websites and networks and spread the knowledge to as many people as possible.

The World Log can be used in many ways. You can use the world map to find out more about development work and issues through the RSS feeds of registered bloggers, organizations and institutions. You can get your word out by linking your blog or website to The World Log. You can also get The World Log widget which puts a window to The World Log on your blog or website and displays topics that are relevant to you.

The platform is provided by the Swedish International Development Coorporation Agency (Sida). One of Sida's mission is to educate people in what development work is all about: what progress are being made in our cooperating countries, what issues are currently being dealt with and what does the daily life look like for people in different parts of the world. The hope and goal with The World Log is that it can be a platform for spreading stories that answer these questions, and a platform that encourages to further debate and discussions on topics like aid, environmental support and conflict solving.

The World Log already has several hundreds of blogs from all around the world listed as members, and they obviously hope that this initial strong growth will improve even more over time when bloggers start spreading the news. The site is still in beta and has not officially launched yet, so all you do-gooders out there, jump on the bandwagon now.

Initially, most members have been Scandinavian organizations, but as the interest grows they are contacting more personal bloggers in Africa, Asia and South America. As of today, probably around half of the members are situated in Europe and half in rest of the world.

The Grass is Greener: Green Scout Report

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:41:10 PDT

Unlike Kermit, it's easy being green with the help of Justine Suh's Green Scout Report.
It is a website dedicated to the celebration, education and promotion of responsible businesses and individuals as they push towards a smarter and more sustainable future. You will find professionally edited perspectives and breaking stories on:

* Insights from the most inspired business thinkers and designers of the day
* Companies and individuals reshaping the business world through sustainability
* Tips on how to enable and promote your business
* Profiles on the latest visionaries in stylish product design

Green Scout Report is a daily blog dedicated to being the definitive resource for understanding and benefiting from eco and sustainable business practices, as well as for gaining crucial information on innovations in eco-product design. The Green Scout Report website will be implemented alongside Suh's eco-product and branding consulting practice.

After spending a combined 12+ years in fashion and strategy consulting, Justine has decided to take her professional experience, education and contacts and combine them with her personal interests to promote style and substance as a an integral part of mainstream popular taste.

www.greenscoutreport.com

Cup of Joe - Rwanda Coffee Bike Program

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:10:11 PDT

My friend, Jenny Conaway, from Project Rwanda, just posted this up:

Pauly is delivering fresh coffee to you on his bike, just like they do in Rwanda. Project Rwanda will receive $3 for everybag of Wooden Bike Coffee you purchase.

The cost of one bag of coffee is $9.95. You can order regular, dark roast, whole bean and decaf.
https://woodenbikecoffee.com/ Select the coffee you would like to drink and reply back to this email with your order. You can Pauly when he delivers the coffee or send him a check in the mail. He will take care of the shipping cost and deliver your coffee to your door. A coffee farmer in Rwanda makes an average of $1 a day. Help the coffee farmers of Rwanda by ordering great fair trade certified coffee at the same price we would spend at the grocery store.

It is up to you how far Pauly ride! (He's located in the St. Louis, Mo...so I think the delivery area is within the state.) For more info about Project Rwanda and all the great work they are doing check out http://projectrwanda.org/

Changed by Design

justine@myelinrepair.org (Johnnie Walkers) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:21:45 PDT

Just came across Angela Yu's blog "Changed by Design" which echoes Chrissie's sentiments in starting her blog and nonprofit, "Create for a Cause."

Why this blog?
I have always appreciated great design. Design must have purpose to be great, and the most noble purpose for a design is to improve the lives of those less fortunate. I have found many blogs on design (often without a purpose), and many blogs on the developing world (usually oriented toward economics or business models), but no blogs that focus on design for the developing world. So, I decided to create my own.

Angela brings further structure and organization to her blog by categorizing her posts along the lines of the Millennium Development Goals -- a set of eight priorities to close the gap between the developing and developed worlds. She also covers more than just artwork or graphical designs -- she looks at the role of user interfaces (interaction design), marketing campaigns and more.

Check her blog out!

Africa Underground: Democracy in Dakar

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:10:17 PDT

Award-Winning Documentary About Youth, Hip-Hop, and Politics in Senegal to Premier in Harlem

Ground-breaking film Democracy in Dakar bridges the gaps between hip hop activism, video journalism and documentary film.

Brooklyn, NY— Next week, the Maysles Theater in Harlem will host a week long run of the documentary Africa Underground: Democracy in Dakar, an award winning film about the role of musical activism in the Senegalese political process. The documentary exposes audiences to a gritty, raw side of Senegalese music and politics, through youth hip hop culture.

Using hip hop music as the primary storytelling device, Democracy in Dakar chronicles the lived experience on the streets of Dakar before and after the controversial 2007 presidential elections. The film follows rappers, DJs, journalists, professors, and others, intimately capturing the fluidity and intensity of emotion surrounding the controversial election.

“We see hip hop as a means by which we can mobilize the fight for fair and free democracy,” says Baay Musa, one of the artists featured in the film. “Hip hop is a powerful non-violent weapon that can externalize what’s in the hearts of frustrated, disillusioned youth. Complacency often comes from ignorance, so we want to get our message out to as many people as possible.”

In the 2000 presidential elections, youth and hip hop profoundly contributed to the success of Abdoulaye Wade—a candidate who, at the time, “embodied change” from the long-standing Parti Socialiste du Sénégal, which had reigned since the country’s independence in 1960.

By 2007, the cost of living had increased exponentially and hundreds of thousands of young Senegalese men had died in attempts to migrate to Europe in the face of remarkable unemployment rates, the once hopeful population of Senegalese youth was again in search of change. It was during the winter of this year that filmmakers Ben Herson, Magee McIlvaine and Chris Moore packed a small set of equipment to film the weeks leading up to the election.

“I can’t think of another hip-hop film that approaches the convergence of hip-hop and politics in this way” said Magee Mcilvaine the films co-director. “By using hip-hop to tell the story of this election, we hoped to make African politics more relevant to a younger demographic who might not be interested in it otherwise.”

Originally shot as a seven-part documentary mini-series released over the Internet, Democracy in Dakar set out to raise awareness in the United States about the political situation in Senegal. The short films were unexpectedly viewed widely across Senegal and the African Diaspora as well.

“In Senegal, hip-hop is being used as a way to critique Senegalese and global systems of inequality and injustice, sometimes successfully and sometimes not,” explains Ben Herson, the film’s founder and co-producer. “The important thing is that people are trying and that’s what this film is about.”

As Senegalese leaders continue to disappoint their voters and as global injustice prevails, many journalists contemplate the increasing fragility of Senegal’s democracy.

“Senegal is one of the few African countries never to have a coup,” says Musa. “Sometimes it seems as though the media is just holding its breath until we do. They don’t understand that we are a peaceful people and we will continue to inspire hope, not violence, through hip hop.”

Facebook Event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122422409142&ref=ts

4 NYC SCREENINGS!

Dates: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - Saturday, September 26, 2009
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: MAYSLES CINEMA
343 Malcolm X Blvd / Lenox Ave
New York City

Contact:
Benjamin Herson
ben@nomadicwax.com

The Beginning of the Ride

justine@myelinrepair.org (Johnnie Walkers) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:00:05 PDT

Courtney Carver, a talented photographer and avid biker with multiple sclerosis, is applying her passion, can-do attitude and creativity to help raise money to support the research of the Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF), the nonprofit where I work.

She created the Ride Project with the goal of raising $1,000,000 for the MRF's research in developing the next generation of treatments for MS. She will be selling limited edition photographic prints focused on things that move, since MS is a neurological disease that is known to stop people's mobility.

In her own words:

About My MS
In July of 2006, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I thought my vertigo and fatigue was the result of an ear infection but after many tests, I learned that I had MS. The past few years have been a roller coaster of healing involving yoga, diet changes, lifestyle adjustments and MS drugs. The only constant in this journey has been my fight. From the minute I knew what I was up against, I started fighting. With the love and support of my family, friends and MS blogging community, I now have a lean mean fighting team ready to do what it takes to put an end to MS. In the meantime, I am living with it in the best possible way.
About My photography
Photography is part of me and has been ever since I can remember. In my experience, I have loved the sound of a shutter, the smell of dark room chemicals and now the immediate gratification of digital photography. When I was at Savannah College of Art and Design twenty years ago, being a fine art photographer was my dream.
In the fall of 2008, I produced my first collection, “Boats and Lines” You can view that here: www.mackaybrooke.com and purchase the images here. With interest from the cycling community in the image “Spin” and my desire to CURE MS, the Ride project came to life.
I am living the dream.

Please visit Courtney Carver’s site and checkout the gorgeous movement-focused photographs that she is selling — and if you can purchase a photograph and support the MRF's MS research!

Thank you so much Courtney for applying your creativity, ingenuity and energy to helping the MRF achieve its mission of speeding up the discovery of myelin repair treatments for individuals with MS everywhere.

In SF Tonight: Silent Auction to benefit House of Hope in Uganda

justine@myelinrepair.org (Johnnie Walkers) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:47:15 PDT

My friend Brian Piech is helping to organize a charity art event in San Francisco tonight to benefit "The House of Hope" in Uganda.

The House of Hope, located in Kyazanga, Uganda, is bringing education, nutritious food, clean water, medical care and community support to orphaned children living in the Masaka district in southwestern Uganda.

If you are in the area, or have friends in the Bay Area please let them know about the event. It sounds like it's going to be a fun time with amazing wines and photographs for bidding.

Tuesday, September 15

6:00 to 8:30 pm

Marx & Zavattero Gallery
77 Geary Street @ Grant
San Francisco
$20 suggested donation at door

RSVP: info@worldactionforhumanity.org

4Real - Make Change Real

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:27:20 PDT

4REAL Flow is a revolutionary donation tool for individuals. It's an easy-to-use tool to raise money for your favorite cause without spending any of your own.

How does it work?
4REAL Flow generates valuable offers and deals from businesses. By accepting any of the offers, money flows to your favorite cause. Also, with 4REAL Flow you can recommend friends and businesses to other members and search their recommendations. Searches also bring up any relevant offers providing more opportunities to flow money to your cause. 4REAL Flow is powered by 4REAL’s partner, Wantsa.

How do I get started?

1. Sign up and become a member of 4REAL.com and automatically receive your free 4REAL Flow account.

2. Select a cause you would like to raise funds for. (You can change your cause at any time.)

3. Look over the many offers from businesses. Offers include sponsorship, coupons, lead generation, surveys and polls.

4. Select offers. 100% of the funds from the offers you see will go to your cause.

5. Nice work! You've just flowed money to your cause without spending any of your own!

6. Recommend friends and businesses to other 4REAL members.

My favorite cause is not in the system. What can I do?

Any registered charity/non-profit can join 4REAL Flow. If your favorite cause is not currently in the system you can email them a description of 4REAL Flow with the following link: www.4real.com/join/

Create for a Cause partnering with Orphans of Rwanda for fundraising

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:27:45 PDT

Orphans of Rwanda is dedicated to helping orphans and other socially vulnerable young people in Rwanda pursue a university education and ultimately become leaders in driving economic development and social reconciliation.

ORI has helped many orphans from Gisimba Orphanage as well as others in the country.

Orphans of Rwanda is selling Create for a Cause designer tees in women's and men's fits. Printed on organic Edun-Live cotton tees made in Uganda, the shirts cost $40 each, and 100% of proceeds will support ORI's talented university students in Rwanda.

For anyone that would like to purchase a tee-shirt, please contact kimberly.greenberg@orphansofrwanda.org
Orphans of Rwanda is asking that you donate online through their project "Housing to Empower Rwanda's Future Leaders" because they are currently entered in a competition through the GlobalGiving website and are in 3rd place!
They are only $1,798 away from the level they need to reach by August 14 in order to qualify for bonuses. To donate or spread the word, please click here.

Gisimba Orphanage - Jenny Namur Karp

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:48:33 PDT

Jenny Namur Karp at Gisimba

How Fortified Peanut Butter Brings Two People Together.
A nutty story (literally) of how Jenny and I met

Here's a wonderful serendipitous story that has come full circle. A year ago, I met Jenny Namur Karp on my flight to Nairobi. After some friendly bantor on the plane, I mentioned to her that due to extreme overweight baggage fees, I would be unable to carry on the 5 heavy boxes of Plumpy Nut Peanut Butter that were destined for Gisimba Orphanage. She graciously unloaded all the Plumpy Nut (story here) off my hands at Jomo Kenyatta airport and made sure they were rightfully distributed while she was working in Kenya.

Happily, we've stayed in touch since. A month and a half ago, we were having dinner together and she mentioned she was heading back to Africa and wanted to spend a week volunteering in Rwanda. I was able to connect her with Ildephonse, Director of Gisimba Orphanage, to work out a volunteer schedule.

It brings a smile to my face to know that the stranger (now friend) I met on the plane who helped me distribute the diverted fortified peanut butter, later went back to the orphanage I volunteered at to help out. Pretty awesome!

Here is an personal account of Jenny's first day of teaching English at Gisimba Orphanage in Kigali, Rwanda.

July 14, 2009

Hotel Garni du Centre

I arrived in Kigali Friday, July 10th – with one name and one phone number.

“Call me when you arrive – I’ll tell the taxi driver where to go.”

I have wanted to come to Rwanda for some time. This month, I had the opportunity to travel to South Africa for work and am now taking 2+ weeks to volunteer here in Rwanda and then vacation in Tanzania with Steve. 3 countries in 3 weeks is my kind of travel.

Landing in Kigali, I was high on hills. Land of a thousand hills – “milles collines” – the rolling countryside was gorgeous. The lush greens reminded me of Vietnam – one of my favorite places. I got off my puddle jumper (sorry dad – I couldn’t even figure out what it was – something similar to the saab), and followed the crowd. The terminal is not exactly enormous. Inside I grabbed my bags, changed some money, and found myself a taxi – en francais. (One of the many reasons I had looked forward to the trip was the opportunity to practice my French – which is poor at best. Conveniently, I’m teaching English to 5-6 year olds at Gisimba orphange. My French is about the same as their English – so we’re getting along great!)

I had planned to spend my week in Kigali with a host family, but when I arrived that seems to have fallen through. I spent my first night and the subsequent three at SKY HOTEL. Mon dieu. SKY is conveniently located next to nothing – other than Kigali’s seediest dance club (which, in case you’re wondering, plays everything from MJ, Madonna, and Dolly Parton, to various Africa artists from 6pm to 3am). I’m flexible and can go with the flow especially when traveling internationally, but by this morning I’d had enough. I’m now sitting on the deck of a wonderful little room at Hotel Garni du Centre overlooking the pool and drinking a Mutzig – a lovely Rwandan beer. It’s across the street from Mille Collines (Hotel Rwanda).

This relaxation a pleasant change from the weekend – which, to put it mildly was an emotional one. I spent my Saturday and Sunday at various genocide memorials. Pictures were not allowed but I promise you the image of 5000 skulls is not an image I’ll ever forget. Nor is the school, that’s been memorialized in Nyamata. It’s not pristine or orderly as with the other memorials, it’s exactly the same as it was in 1994. Machetes and clubs, clothes, and shoes are strewn amongst the remains of those left for dead.

But the point of this already longwinded email is to tell you about my perfect day. They don’t happen often and they are quickly forgotten, but today is one of those days worth documenting. After moving to my amazing new hotel, I prepared my English lesson for today (sitting on my deck, taking in the sun, admiring the animals in the clouds). The kids at the orphanage range in age from 2-23, and their English language skills range about the same span. It was a bit of a challenge but, I pulled it together and hopped in my taxi with my favorite driver – who completely overcharges me but tells me stories, gives me tours, and is generally sweet as pie.

I get to the classroom – not knowing how many kids, what age, what their english language skills are, etc.. and there are 50+ kids ranging from 6-20. And they are full of life and smiles and ready to learn. They have their notebooks and “bics” and write down everything I put on the chalk board. I start by telling them I’ll answer any question they can ask in English. First questions – HOW OLD ARE YOU? ARE YOU MARRIED? HOW MANY CHILDREN DO YOU HAVE? WHY DON’T YOU HAVE ANY KIDS? (Let’s not get personal!) Needless to say, I immediately fell in love when they told me they thought I was anywhere from 19-25. J Not to mention their unbelievable ability to open their hearts and minds, to share, care, and love. These kids have suffered immensely (orphaned either by the genocide or HIV/AIDS) and within an hour of meeting me they’re braiding my hair, drawing me pictures, clinging to my legs, and telling me they love me. In the course of a day they were able to give me more than I hope to give them in a week. And I’m reminded in no small way of all the luxuries and love in my life.

The day culminated with a motorcycle taxi home. I’d never ridden on a motorcycle til yesterday… and being a good public health-er, I never fail to mention that 40% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents affect motorcyclists … but in addition to falling in love with Gisimba and Rwanda, I may have fallen in love with motorcycles too. It’s so… FREE!

It was a perfect day… simple and full of hope.

I hope yours is filled with sun and smiles. Above all, please know you are loved.

Xoxo,

jenny

Create for Cause has raised $7000 since Jan '09 for various orgs!

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:25:47 PDT

Happy One-Year Anniversary to Create for a Cause!

I started this blog/website a year ago to document my doings in Africa and am happy to report it's grown to become a forum to highlight other people's ideas and projects as well as collaborations with organizations I continue to work with. Hoping for many more years to come!

Artfully Unforgotten raises $4000 for Gisimba Orphanage

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:06:29 PDT

Artfully Unforgotten's presentation of "Artists for Gisimba" raised funds for the Gisimba Memorial Center Orphanage. On June 27th, Artfully Unforgotten partnered with Hello Living in raising the necessary funds to hire instructors to come into the orphanage to teach the arts.

20 Artists + the music of Mamarazzi & Ashley Jones + a children's activity center + amazing food, drinks and raffle prizes = A GREAT SUCCESS!

Create for a Cause items were able to contribute $260 of the total $4000!

The Ride of Your Life - Rwanda's only Amusement Park

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissie Lam) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:59:40 PDT

Sylvie Mukamusoni has managed to start up the only amusement park in Rwanda - Bambino Super City in Kigali City.

Mukamusoni, a former nurse, along with fellow women entrepreneurs, began with sourcing for a bank loan in 2004, which was finally granted by the Bank of Kigali. Equipment was procured from China, and installation was done in 2005 by Chinese technicians.

Situated on a 49-acre plot of land and about 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) from the city center, Bambino Super City is located in prime real estate. Lushly vegetated, the amusement park is a place to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. The park is being developed in three phases. The first stage, already in place, includes children’s games, a restaurant, a conference hall that holds 1,000, an adult and children’s swimming pool, and scenic landscaping.

“We have opened up the park for children in the neighborhood who could not otherwise afford paying to access our games,” Mukamusoni says. “This is part of our social responsibility. Our dream is to see children— those from poor and rich families alike—happy.”