spacer graphic
UNLIKELY HEROES
 
Each few months the VSF team will select a person to salute for their selflessness, as it relates to our global AIDS and orphan's mission.

We believe that extreme poverty, gender inequity and a lack of education are some of the key factors that have led to the international orphan crisis. Some of our choices may focus on those related issues.

 
 
Hoops of Hope
 
(Courtesy CBS, April 2008) "People think that kids can't really make a difference and that they should wait until they are older but that's totally wrong you can do something as a kid," said Austin Guttwein, who sounds a lot wiser than his 13 years.

After an African pen pal encouraged him to find out about the continent, he learned that 12 million African children have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

"I just kept thinking about what it would be like if I lost my parents," he said. "I just kept thinking about that and I just decided, you know what, I just have to go out and do something."

So Austin created Hoops of Hope, a charity for African Orphans that in just four years has raised $350,000 - one foul shot at a time

"There wasn't a high school within 60 miles," he said.

Twatchiyanda, Zambia, is a world away from Austin's home city of Pheonix. There, 20 percent of the children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Last fall, Austin and the community became forever linked.

"When I heard about how far you guys had to walk to go to school, I decided to do something about it," he said.

Hoops of Hope paid for a brand-new high school. The first lesson?

"I'm going to teach you how to shoot alright?" Austin said.

It was no surprise.

"I've never met a young person at that age who could be involved in raising funds for our children here, all the way from America," a leader of the community said.

Austin's next project? Paying for a new medical center in Twatchiyanda.

"It was amazing just to finally see what we've done and what we are yet to do," he said.

 
Hoops of Hope
 
rule graphic
 
 
Feed The Hungry By Clicking The Mouse
 
 
 
Written by Daniel Sieberg courtesy of (CBS) News - Couric & Co. Blog

Ingenious. That’s probably the best word
to describe computer programmer John Breen. He’s the man behind Freerice.com, a new Web site with a unique, two-pronged approach to tackling literacy and world hunger. A lofty-sounding goal, I know. But Breen is determined to make it happen, one click at a time.

When you first visit Freerice.com you see the vocabulary quiz that challenges your word wisdom. The game adjusts to your level of skill, giving you increasingly hard words as you progress. And, as a bonus, each time you get a definition right, 10 grains of rice gets donated to the United Nations World Food Program. How does the math work? Stay with me here –- Breen gets money from big-name sponsors like American Express, Fujitsu and Apple. Those companies place banner ads on the page. That money is then sent to the UN, which buys the rice in a particular region. To get the ball rolling, Breen actually
sent the UN a check for $100,000 (yes,
the UN verified it has his money). He has since collected about that much from the various companies, and the UN says it’s
in the process of buying a couple hundreds metric tons of rice to ship to Myanmar refugees in Bangladesh. More than 1.8
billion grains of rice (roughly) has been donated through Freerice.com thus far, according to Breen.

 
GIVE IT A TRY! www.freerice.org
 
 
rule graphic
 

 
Written by Sara Walsh
9SPORTS NOW

VIENNA, Va. (WUSA) -- "Ka-ching!"

It's the sound Tommy Kennedy hears every time he sends the ball through the uprights.

"Every kick is worth about $115," says Tommy Kennedy.

"Every field goal is about $330," explains Gordon Leib, James Madison's head coach.

The James Madison senior isn't padding his pockets, he's helping those who are short-changed.

"I visited Africa two summers ago and it was not a good thing to see, and it was shocking and I wanted to help out," says Kennedy.

With donations from the community, Tommy has turned points scored into money made for Global Camps Africa; an organization aiding children with AIDS.

"We'll bring more kids to camp to learn about AIDS and nutrition and play games and learn sports," explains Kennedy.

"Anyone that tries to help others like that is doing a great thing today. You don't see a lot of that today even in adults, much less teenagers that are usually focused on themselves," says Leib.

When his kicking campaign began, Tommy had no idea the kind of attention it would draw. Just this week he received a package from Redskins Park. Inside was an autograph kicking tee from Skins kicker Sean Suisham, accompanied by a note saying to keep up the good work and it's kids like Tommy that would make a difference.

"It's amazing and a good feeling. I didn't think it'd get this wide reaching. When I got called to the office and they gave me the package it was a great feeling," says Kennedy.



spacer graphic
spacer graphic

 
SEND US AN EMAIL
Tell us if you know of an unlikely hero who relates to our AIDS and orphan's mission.

 
McLean School Promises To Help Kenyan Kids
 

Courtesy Red Rose School
 
Written by Armando Trull
MCLEAN, Va. (WUSA)

Ken Okoth escaped the slums of Nairobi for America thanks to hard work, luck and scholarships from St. Lawrence and Georgetown Universities.
Advertisement

"I lived in a 10 by 10 room and slept on a dirt floor," he recalls.

Physically, the 30 year old high school history teacher at the Potomac School in McLean, Virginia, is 8,000 miles away from that dirt floor in a Nairobi slum, but he never left in mind or spirit. For the past three years, he has worked with the students, parents and faculty at his school to raise money for the Red Rose Nursery and Children's Center located in Kibera, one of the worst slums in Nairobi.

Thanks to the efforts of elementary, middle and high school students and their families, students at the Red Rose have a new classroom and 90 students have "uniforms, books, food and hope," says Okoth.

Last summer, Okoth went to Kenya with a group of students, parents and teachers from the Potomac School.

"For me, the most impacting thing was seeing how students realized that education and hard work was the only way to escape terrible poverty," says 17 year old senior Chris Coe. He recalls a young student who wanted to teach him Swahili. "She gave me one of her only books," he says. "I think of her whenever I see it," he adds.

The recent violence in Nairobi has many students there concerned.

"I just got a letter from a friend I made there," says Allison Fiske, an 18 year old senior. "I'm worried about the violence there now and what will happen to all the children."

Okoth fears that the Red Rose families face "hunger, displacement, rape and murder," so he vows to double his efforts to garner support for the school at the Potomac School and even the metro DC area at large "not just now when the Kenya story is in the news but over the next year."

The teacher is confident: "I know that people have big hearts and they will support what we are trying to do."

Red Rose School in Kenya
 
Red Rose Blog Spot