Build home and bring Christmas to an orphanage in Africa

This is a crowdfunding campaign which aims to assist an orphanage in Togo (West Africa) that is going through a serious housing issue. Our campaign aims to bring hope and stability to the lives of 58 children this holiday season, by building two dormitories and providing a power generator and clean water system. These seemingly simple things would be life changing for these children. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) December 05, 2014 - Lome, TOGO (West Africa) - ALAFIA YOUTH (Non-Profit) - A group of students and volunteers from around the world are running a crowdfunding campaign to help a Togolese (West Africa) orphanage build a decent shelter for this Christmas season. Since last October this orphanage of 58 kids have been living without electricity and clean water in a temporary dormitory that is way too small to accommodate them for long. This campaign is trying to raise support from people by offering some very exotic and unique perks such as an ebony pen and a traditional mask carved by a Togolese artist.

The orphanage was created in 2003 in Lomé (capital of Togo) by a brave lady called Vondjogbe Charity. Mama Charity, as she is locally nicknamed, gave up her business career to follow a heart calling and devote all her life to take care of her 58 orphans. They have been in rental houses for eleven years and last July their landlord asked them to move out. Coincidently, at the time, she was also welcoming two new twin babies, Philip and Philippa, who lost their mother during their birth. Things got tough for Mama Charity as renting prices are increasing in Lomé and many landlords would not rent their houses to orphanages.

Facing such desperate need to accommodate the orphans, she strived hard to get from generous contributors a piece of land and some money to build a temporary dormitory. According to an old African saying, whoever sleeps on someone else's mat is sleeping on the bare ground. In other words, after 11 years, it is time for this orphanage to stop renting houses and move into a house of its own. Unfortunately the temporary dormitory is not now large enough (660 square feet / 60 meters square), and it makes it quite difficult to accommodate 58 kids ranging from 4 months to 16 years old.

The dormitory is overcrowded and conditions will deteriorate during the Christmas season when the climate is dominated by a hot, very dry and dusty wind called the Harmattan. Moreover, the area is covered neither by public power nor by public clean water supply. Despite all these adversities Mama Charity holds on firmly to her commitment ''This is not just about running an orphanage it is about serving our community and having a vision for a better future by taking care of the marginalized and providing education to the kids'' she said.

This touching story reached Koffi Nomedji, a Togolese Fulbright scholar and co-founder of Alafia Youth, a non-profit organization. He shared the story around and mobilized some of his fellow students and friends around the world by building an international fundraising team. They finally landed the campaign on Indiegogo, a crowdfunding website. According to Koffi Nomedji '' Not only do we need donation and support from around the world but we also have great exotic Togolese gifts to give back to our donators in order to brighten their Christmas season as a token of our gratitude and thanks''. In fact, this campaign is offering some exotic perks such as a splendid ebony pen and a traditional mask all handmade by a professional local artist. The goal of the campaign is to help the orphanage build two dormitories, install a power generator and groundwater drilling system.

The campaign link: http://igg.me/at/mamacharity
More info about Alafia Youth: http://alafiatg.org/en/

Contact person:
NOMEDJI Koffi Amegbo
Tel: +228 91 49 20 73 / +228 22 19 31 35
Email: koffi.nomedji ( @ ) outlook dot com

http://www.alafiatg.org

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