African Reflections Foundation Team Growing Stronger:

    In August, the African Reflections Foundation held its Annual General Meeting, where it was quite evident that the Foundation is gaining strength and momentum. Our CEO, Jean Dobbs, echoed the belief of others present, that we need to be people who not only care about the world around us and attend a meeting once a month, but who also actively give their time and talents to do what they can to help the people of Africa to help themselves ... and as we looked around the table, these are precisely the type of people that we now have working together to accomplish that mission.

    For one thing, our team is growing. We are fortunate to have two new members on board: Shai Butler is our new Director of Public Relations. She has been active with us for some time even before she was a board member. If you were at the “Art on Lark” festival this summer, you probably saw with her husband, watching over their young sons while they sold the “Masaai Beauty” jewelry that was handmade by Maasai women in Tanzania. They raised over one thousand dollars for African Reflections that day!  

     Shai’s husband, Odo Butler is our newest member. He has already proven himself so dedicated and enthusiastic, that he was just elected as our Deputy CEO. He has a special interest in the micro-financing programs that allow people of the remote villages in Tanzania, who have very little, to start  small businesses that allow them to support their families. Our founder, Maria Pool, has already started a number of such programs, which have empowered African women to start small vegetable or organic chicken farms. We are sure to see this effort grow in the near future. Odo will himself be traveling to Tanzania this October to meet face-to-face the people whose lives are made better by the work of African Reflections, and to get an idea of how much still needs to be done! He will also be assisting our sister organization, the Rafiki Group, in their ambitious aid project in a Tanzanian village this November.

     You have probably read about the amazing work that Team Rafiki has done this year (you can also visit their web site). However, you may not be aware of the valuable assistance Team Rafiki received from members of African Reflections. This has included collecting some of the much-needed items such as clothing, tools, food, and school supplies, as well as obtaining a donation of 35,000 packets of vegetable seeds from a local woman known as “the Seed Lady”, and donating 500 bucket irrigation kits. They have given time and “muscle power” to assist in packing the enormous amount of donated items, which now occupy a 40-foot container which is now on its way to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.  The African Reflections Team has also donated significant amounts money to help fund the transport of the items to where they are needed.

     We are well aware that small ambitious projects are just as important as large ambitious ones in raising awareness and funds. Hence, members of the Foundation are now busy developing a calendar of fund-raising events for the upcoming year, which will include a Gala tentatively planned for February 2009. You will be hearing more about this in the months to come.

     Also, you will soon be able to learn more about some of the other members of African Reflections, who we did not have a chance to mention here.  All of them are very dedicated to helping the African Reflections Foundation to continue to expand its efforts to help the people of Africa to better help themselves. Perhaps the reader will be inspired to join us!