You Clothed Me

Provide a uniform to a girl and get a free necklace made in Uganda.

Free necklace with free shipping to the first 30 that donate $15 to provide a girl with a school uniform.

The Think Humanity Hostel 2012; where we offer educational opportunities to 30 female students from underdeveloped and refugee camp communities in Uganda.

You will receive one 60-66" multicolored necklace made from recycled paper.

Each necklace comes with the following:

• Think Humanity brochure,
• Fair-trade media,
• 2012 small calendar; and a
• small card describing this "socio-economic" partnership with the Acholi women from the Quarter Camp in Uganda.

Donate here: Uniform and Free Offer

or donate at Razoo: Get Girls Into School

Please specify by typing in "uniform" and leave your name and address for shipping.

(Your address will not be used for a mailing list)

Pictured below are 30 necklaces.

Once the necklaces are gone, the girls will have their uniforms.
Hurry, we are leaving for Uganda soon.

(any late orders will be filled after we return)
"To help save lives and provide hope for refugees and underdeveloped communities in Africa by improving provisions for healthcare, clean water, education and socio-economic development."

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Beth Heckel, Executive Director

Please visit the archive newsletters (July - December 2011)

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Copyright © 2011 ThinkHumanity, All rights reserved.

Thank you for your support to Think Humanity.

Our mailing address is:
ThinkHumanity
2880 Spring Mountain Dr.
Loveland, CO 80537

Get Girls Into School - Think Humanity

THINK HUMANITY - GET GIRLS INTO SCHOOL



Shown are girls from the Kyangwali Refugee Camp that have benefited from the hostel/education in 2011

 The Think Humanity Girls’ Hostel begins a new year in January 2012 and will bring 30 new girls from refugee and underdeveloped communities together under one roof, where they will have access to secondary education.
Without the opportunity to study further, these children are likely to get married at a young age, earn low incomes, have large families they cannot support, and thus continue the cycle of poverty and under-development.

This project attempts to break that cycle. The children will not only gain access to secondary education, but they will be supported through additional tutoring, educational seminars, entrepreneurship skills training, leadership development, physical activities/sports, access to health care, and peace-building activities.
Our goal is not simply to give girls an education, but to give them the skills and tools necessary to succeed in life and give back to their communities. After all, they know their communities and the problems better than we do.

Of course, a project like this takes money. Education is a long term investment that requires initial capital – but the outcome is worth it. Education, and particularly female education, is a proven way for countries to develop and reduce poverty.

Please help us to educate young girls. We will have a link up soon where you can meet all our girls. Most of them are orphans, some have one parent, but all are waiting for this opportunity of a lifetime. -Charity Watson, Project Sponsor

What it will cost to sponsor a girl in 2012.

2012 Girl Education Cost Breakdown

Rent $75.00

Health Care $30.00

Transportation $25.00

Uniform $15.00

Firewood/Water/Electricity $10.00

Food Support $25.00

Books/School Supplies $20.00

Total for 2012 $200.00

Think Humanity will cover other expenses such as toiletries, IDs, cook, initial expenses such as beds, cooking utensils, furniture for study room and library and any overages/unforeseen expenses.

Funding for a student can be made in one payment or in installments.

Visit this fundraising link to Donate to "Get Girls Into School",

the Think Humanity website.

or Think Humanity, 2880 Spring Mountain Dr. Loveland, CO 80537

"The world may be better because you made a difference in the life of a child."

"Education for girls has been identified as one of the best solutions to reversing the relentless trend of poverty and disease." - UN Chronicle

What Bono Taught Me About AIDS and Justice (World AIDS Day)

What Bono Taught Me About HIV/AIDS and Justice

In 2006 I had the opportunity to attend a Global Leadership Summit that was hosted by the Willow Creek Association.

Bill Hybels, founding pastor at Willow Creek Community Church interviewed Bono. Bono, an Irish rockstar? This combination seemed interestingly odd, yet ended up being a life-changing experience for me; an eye-opener to poverty and the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

He commented on how the church had been inexcusably late to the game at fighting poverty and treatable diseases, adding that people are judgmental about the AIDS virus. Bono gave an example: If you came up to a car accident and the injured driver was drunk, do you help him or judge him and let him die? No, we have to act!

Bono said, “Love thy neighbor is not advice. It’s a command. In a global community, the poor and the disadvantaged in Africa are our neighbors." He quoted Matthew 25:45: “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

He added, "Our purpose is to bring Heaven to Earth. The world is not a happy place for most people living on it." Bono wrapped it up with this statement: "Your charity is important, but your passion for justice is needed. I'm asking for your voice and for you to give permission to fix these problems that are fixable. It's not a burden, it's an opportunity...it's an adventure."

Within a year, Think Humanity became a nonprofit organization and our adventure began!

Think Humanity has done what little we can with our resources to help with AIDS sufferers in Uganda, but we can do more. Other clinics in Hoima charge $6 for a lab testing strip, but we provide this service free to those who cannot pay. When we do charge, it is only equal to the manufacturer's price of $2.

Think Humanity has held special meetings in Kyangwali Refugee Camp with the people that are suffering with HIV/AIDS. Some of the things we have done is to listen to their problems, which gives them hope and encouragement. We also give them items such as mosquito nets, soap and salt.

If you wish to help make a difference on World AIDS Day
1) learn more facts,
2) volunteer to help with a local organization (In Northern Colorado there is NCAP) or
3) a small donation to Think Humanity for test strips, bed nets or soap.
4) or to organizations, such as Global Fund.
Enjoy this day of remembrance and awareness, but know that beyond this day, any hope for a better world is to work towards compassion, love and fairness for all people regardless of where they live, what they do and who they are. - Beth Heckel, Think Humanity Founder

You ARE your brother's keeper and "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

www.ThinkHumanity.org



The above photo was taken in Kyangwali Refugee Camp during a day of hope for HIV/AIDS sufferers.



Think Humanity Morning Star Well

WATER IS LIFE

Another Think Humanity well is under construction. This well is near the Morning Star Secondary School in Hoima. This is the first well that Think Humanity has constructed outside of a refugee settlement camp.

The importance of this well is due to all the children coming to our clinic with typhoid. The water situation was unfavorable in this location; the results was illnesses and disease.

The well is not too far from the Think Humanity Health Centre. When we were treating our sponsored students for typhoid, the decision was made to have this well constructed to prevent more cases. Thank you to the donors who helped provide this well.

Bob and Pat Troeltzsch

Namaqua Universalist Unitarian Congregation

Kent and Patty Mills

and Albertha Moorlag

Shown with the beginning steps of the well is Amani Nkoma Jean-Paul, Think Humanity Program Director. JP said that the only challenge in construction has been too much water due to their rainy season.



The well was dug without hitting rock. This well should produce plenty of water for the students and surrounding community. Ideally we would like 4,000 liters per day, would provide enough drinking water for 2,000 people per day.

If you are interested in helping Think Humanity to construct another well, you can do so by visiting this link:

Water is Life

or visit our website at www.ThinkHumanity.org

Thank you to AFP for the event "It's a Small World" held in Diablo, CA in October. We are so grateful for your donation.

Women's Health Day

“I see their humanity”

WOMEN'S HEALTH DAY

-Charity Watson, Think Humanity

On Thursday October 27, 2011, Think Humanity its first Women’s Health Day. We brought 21 women from Kyangwali Refugee Settlement to be treated at our clinic. Well, we thought 21 were coming, but of course nothing is ever as planned in Africa – or in life… with 2 extra plus 4 children, our total was 27, with 3 men in the mix. We had worked with a local pastor in the refugee settlement to bring those who really needed treatment – and all those who came, women and men, were badly off.

You see, yes, the refugee settlement has a clinic, but they can receive upwards of 200 patients a day. They are not adequately staffed and equipped for those numbers. And they don’t give people the treatment they need. They don’t LISTEN to what is wrong. The clinical officers start writing before the patient can even explain – fever, chills, aches – Next. So, the patients get malaria meds and panadol (painkillers) and are sent home. No one ever investigates what is actually going on. So they go home and let the diseases and problems fester a little longer. Get a little more complicated. Maybe get a few more to add to the mix. And the patients all too often cannot do anything. They have children, homes – they dig in the garden every day so they can at least make some money – But not enough money to pay the transport to the nearest town, much less pay for treatment at a clinic there.

So that’s what we’re trying to do. Find out what is ACTUALLY wrong and then treat it – to listen to the patients- To get the lab tests that need to be done. But, it takes time. It takes time to translate back and forth and forth and back. I cannot translate. I cannot treat. I help where I can. I talk to people about preventative health – you can treat someone for a disease, but they must be EDUCATED, otherwise they return home and get it again. But how can I educate when people are in pain? When first, they just need treatment.

Typhoid. Brucellosis. Syphilis. Malaria. STIs. UTIs. Infected Wounds. Swelling. Cysts. Possible cancer….

Most with a combination of 3 or 4. Literally people’s bodies breeding grounds for disease. I can’t help but want to wash my hands every 5 minutes. To bathe in hand sanitizer.

But when I look into someone’s eyes – ah the eyes truly are the windows to the soul. I see their pain. I see their humanity. I see that they are no different than I. That we are on this earth together. So I do what I can. I use the Kinyabwisha/Kinyarwanda that I know – because at least they can laugh at me butchering the language. I carry a baby on my back. I get water – food – for otherwise they’ll just go the whole day without eating and drinking. I drive patients to get ultrasound and x-ray (Not sure I will EVER drive here again).

But for the true work done I am so grateful…the doctors – the nurses - everyone who helped to translate – they worked so hard to make sure these people got actual treatment. And they are still working hard, as treatment continues for many of the patients. But, there is always hope. People are getting better, gahoro gahoro.

There will always be hope as long as we see each other. We don’t all have to love everyone, we don’t have to go to far away countries – we just need to see one another. To see someone’s eyes. To see the humanity in them.



Women's Health Day



Think Humanity USA

2880 Spring Mountain Dr.

Loveland, CO 80537 USA (970) 667-9335/214-1299

or

THINK HUMANITY UGANDA

Isaka Kijungu –Military Rd.

P.O. Box 219

Hoima, Uganda 0782170643 or 0790910221

Think Humanity is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our federal tax identification number is 26-1635429

Water is Essential to Life



This is where the people were getting water previous to the new well being built in SweSwe Village, Kyaka II Refugee Camp in western Uganda.



As we started down the hill towards the new well we were greeted by many women and children going up the hill carrying full gerry cans on their heads.

Think Humanity donations made it possible to build this well in SweSwe, a village in Kyaka II refugee camp that was so desperate for water. Smiles!!


THANK YOU DONORS TO THINK HUMANITY FOR MAKING THIS WELL POSSIBLE.

Nothing is Richer than Hope

Think Humanity “a positive change to refugees and communities in Africa.”


A special thanks to all that donated towards bed nets for the villages of Katikara and Nalweyo in Uganda.


The event was the most organized and successful one we have ever had and this is our eleventh one!

The leader in Nalweyo said that malaria is the most sensitive issue that concerns life and asked us to give more nets to people that were not registered on our distribution list. He also asked that we give nets to those in the village with HIV/AIDS so 60 nets were set aside for those people. The people all clapped in gratitude. He thanked us on behalf of the government because it helps to reduce the problem of malaria. They said they will let the communities know what Think Humanity is and that they are all now agents of TH.  He said, “This is not the government but a helping NGO. Thank you donors who did not let us down. Our community is very cooperative”

He ended by saying, “Nothing is richer than hope."
 

Special thanks to the donors of MaNdate 11.


Joe and Deb Bergholz
Will and Cathy Reents
Dunn Elementary, Fort Collins, CO
Katie and Grayson Smith
Rotary Club of Roseville, CA
Eric and Kim Paulsen
Westside Christian School
Bill Temple
Jim Heckel
Karen Sawdy
Linda Kirscht
…and others

Please continue saving lives!

 Thank you volunteers for MaNdate 11

Emmanuel, Jean-Paul, Jonas, Bagisha
Jimmy, Joe, Jim, Beth, Doreen
Robinah, Moses, Asolomon
Benjamin, Godwin, Job, Baraka
Joseph, Stuart, Danus and Oliver.

 www.thinkhumanity.org


Every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria in Africa

 Think Humanity USA
2880 Spring Mountain Dr.
Loveland, CO 80537 USA   (970) 667-9335/214-1299

10% off Etsy Store, now until July 2 with Coupon Code "Summer"

Visit our Etsy Store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThinkHumanity between now and July 2 to get your 10% off and also take advantage of our great sales!

A New(er) Mission Statement - updated after more than 3 years

"To help save lives and provide hope for refugees and underdeveloped communities in Africa by improving provisions for healthcare, clean water, education and socio-economic developement."