Newsletter - Spring 2020
A word from AIAIA President
James Cassidy, President
It has been said that "when we're not hungry for justice, it's usually because we're too full with privilege." In the 20 years that I have been fundraising for AIAIA, I have often been challenged by the imbalance that exists in our world in regard to the basic necessities of everyday life. If one can even imagine being "thankful" for the COVID 19 pandemic, I am aware of how we, the privileged in the world, now have more of a lived experience of having disrupted lives and having to even strategize the purchase of a roll of paper towels. Many of our citizens face very serious life and death challenges. In this current healthcare calamity, we are given the opportunity to increase "our hunger for justice" in our world community.
From the early 1980's, I, and many others had been very involved in providing support for another healthcare pandemic. HIV/AIDS was changing our world and we were confronted with far more questions than answers. Does this sound familiar? I made a choice in 2000 to travel to Africa with the hope of gaining a clearer understanding of AIDS. What I was not planning on was falling in love. I fell hopelessly in love with the men, women, and children of South Africa. In order to formalize that mutual bond, AIAIA, a Non-Profit 501(c)3, came into existence. Again, if one care dare to be grateful for a pandemic, the AIAIA partnership would have easily never happened.
In this Newsletter, you can see many of the partner- ships that are a result of falling in love twenty years ago. On behalf of our partners in Africa, I graciously ask for your continued financial support. For the first time in 20 years, all of us are being affected by this current pandemic. We no longer have the limited exposure and insight of only seeing others in our world struggling, while we remain safe and full of our own privilege. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
In Love and Gratitude.
AIAIA Programs
& Partners
Delegation Trip Recap
Darryl Savage, Board Member
Just as some societies consider the age of 21 as a “coming of age” for young adults...in some ways it feels as if the same is happening with Arm in Arm in Africa.
Our 21st annual delegation visit and 20th year as an organization was marked by a continued deepening of the partnerships in the communities we support and a growing leadership by our long-time South African friends (the people we call our “cousins”) as they work towards sustainable and improving future opportunities.
Our trip in February and March was marked by scheduling changes daily partly due to weather challenges leading us to new experiences with a chance for us to touch our communities in new and different ways. And all of this happened with the growing menace of COVID-19 spreading around the world which followed us back home—literally. Delegates were exposed to the virus either in an international airport or on the plane, leading to everything from positive test results, respiratory
distress, required testing for most and self-quarantine for all. This milestone trip was certainly one of the most memorable in Arm in Arm’s two-decade history.
This year, as with each, we addressed the food shortage, apartheid-mandated education deficiencies and healthcare needs.
Through the 20 years of continued focus in these areas, we are also learning not just to “give care“, but to “be there“: playing “capture the flag and “duck, duck, goose” with giggling children, watching the dance of natural healers, preparing food with the elders and searching for bugs through magnifying glasses with preschoolers. We know that the better we get to know the people we support and the organizations with whom we partner the more effective we will be together in providing what they need.
And as unpredictable as the 2020 trip was, it was even more inspiring!
Arm in Arm Board Member Amy McGovern has developed a special bond with Malungeni’s preschools. Here she shares with a preschool teacher books given by educators who wanted to make a difference an ocean away!
Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity provide physical, emotional & spiritual support
Healthcare
Though we rarely hear about the impact of HIV/AIDS anymore, the multi-generational death sentence for so many here is still impacting lives every day.
Our delegation visited the homes of several Guguletu families – some of which had three generations relying on one person’s (usually the Grandmother’s) pension check. These hard-working matriarchs share their stories of being evicted from their homes due to the atrocities created by apartheid. Many have lost multiple family members from AIDS, violence, and lack of affordable healthcare which have left some of them handicapped.
Each year the AIAIA delegation brings about hundreds of pounds of medical supplies to supplement medical needs to our SA families. We visited two facilities we are building a strong relationship with, The Sizakuyenza Safe Home Women’s Shelter in Cape Flats and St. Luke’s Hospice Care in Khayelitsha.
500 families receiving food per quarter will soon be smiling beneath masks
Food Distribution
Our largest investment in the health and quality of life for these often-neglected communities here is food distribution. What started as a mere 10 life-sustaining parcels of food some 20 years ago has now multiplied to nearly 2,000 parcels each year spread through our three primary communities of support. That's more than 157 tons of food.
Arm in Arm purchases the food in South Africa so the money stays in the communities there. The food parcels distributed consist of key staples including rice, flour, sugar, samp (ground corn), chicken, cream and cooking oil. The elders and leaders of these townships determine who receives the food based on those who need it the most. That can vary quite a bit. In fact, there have been times where people who help us distribute the food one year, are recipients of food parcels the next.
These stacks of food weigh more than 100 pounds and usually last for families between one and two months depending on the number of mouths to feed. The food distributions take place each quarter. The delegation gets to help distribute some of the first food parcels each year. Community organizers take care of this distribution the other three times. Many delegates will tell you that the feeling of carrying some of this food into the homes, the cars, and even the wheelbarrows of the recipients, may be the most rewarding feeling of all during our visits here.
Malungeni preschoolers see nature through a different lens, thanks to your donations
Education
One of the most devastating impacts from apartheid was preventing black South Africans from receiving pre-school schooling or anything more than a fourth-grade education. One of the most exciting things to see is how students are progressing from preschool up through high school and even through university-prep classes. Many students are enrolling in and attending universities and are finding realistic opportunities in our partner communities. Those are ideas thought nearly impossible just a short time ago.
In Malungeni, resident and passionate education leader and Board Member Olga Xapile toured delegates through both of the community’s preschool facilities. The newest school is headed by “Masi” Zondani who is building on the successes of the first preschool. Masi’s knowledge of the latest in technology has enabled her to increase parent involvement. And distance learning is on its way!
At the other end of the education spectrum, the FLY “Matric” mentoring program now has 85 volunteer tutors and 550 learners combined in Guguletu and Johannesburg. Math and Science focus has now been joined by trade school prep to give these students options at the University level. As the mother of one 15-year-old mentee told us, “This program means everything!”
“What started as a mere 10 life-sustaining parcels of food some 20 years ago has now multiplied to nearly 2,000 parcels each year spread through our three primary communities of support. That’s more than 157 tons of food.”
COVID-19 Response
Pat Dawson, Executive Director
Looking at the pictures and videos we have collected over 20 years of visiting the townships in South Africa, one conclusion is undeniable: our 'family' there lives in highly dense settlements where sanitation is a challenge under normal conditions. Introduce a pandemic and the risks multiply exponentially.
With our South African-based directors Spiwo Xapile and Olga Xapile advising, AIAIA has taken a 5-step response to the virus through mid-May:
Purchased materials in South Africa for township residents to produce 1,400 cloth masks
Purchased 5 COVID-19 testing stations for use with our healthcare partners
Expanded distribution of our food parcels from 1 day to 4 to help with social distancing and sanitation
Provided advance education for those receiving food parcels to ensure they understood the new distribution system
Funded personal protection equipment and food for Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity
Each year, AIAIA sets aside a small discretionary fund so that we are able to respond quickly to unplanned needs half a world away. While we're pleased we could fulfill the needs above, doing so has depleted most of our emergency funds while COVID-19 expands in South Africa. The immediate help of our donors is critical.
Thank you for your consideration.
Days for Girls
Jen Song, Board Member
Millions of girls around the world resort to using rags, cardboard, leaves, and other unhygienic materials to manage their menstrual needs. They are often isolated, shamed, and stigmatized during their monthly cycles causing many to fall behind in their studies or forcing them to drop out of school completely. In 2008, Days for Girls was created as a sustainable and hygienic solution to allow girls to live with greater freedom and dignity. Today there are Days for Girls chapters all over the world where volunteers sew, advocate, and educate in over 125 countries.
The reusable menstrual kits are made to last for several years and each provides two hand-sewn washable shields, eight pads, and a beautiful brightly colored carrying bag to ensure cleanliness and privacy. In addition, a few pairs of underwear and a lovely scented soap is included along with a very thorough health curriculum that accompanies each delivery.
During this year’s delegation trip to South Africa, AIAIA funded the purchase of 100 Days for Girls kits. Three of this year’s delegates, Jen Song and her daughters Lily and Ruby, took the online training course prior to departure and gave the first menstrual health presentation to a group of around 40 girls and young women in Malungeni. The topics of discussion included, hygiene, reproduction, personal safety, as well as an explanation and practice of how to use and care for the reusable kits. Community leaders in attendance expressed gratitude for both the kits and educational piece and believe they will greatly benefit these young girls.
Upon the delegation’s departure, Olga Xapile, our AIAIA board member and closest community liaison in Malungeni, went on to present the curriculum and provide kits to girls at two more schools in the area with the same enthusiastic response from the recipients. AIAIA saw first hand how Days for Girls kits have the potential of truly changing not only one’s daily life but her entire future. For more information on Days for Girls please go to daysforgirls.org.
Gains Through The Years
Pat Murphy, Co-Founder/Executive Vice President
From HIV to COVID-19 - 20 years of learning who my brothers and sisters are in South Africa. But why South Africa? To me the answer is easy: why not? These are my brothers and sisters, cousins, family and friends as much as all of you are my loved ones. I have seen my SA family born in hospitals that we would call archaic in the United States but have also seen the joy of giving a small bear that brings a smile to a new mother. That smile wasn’t there 5 minutes ago. Mom was wondering how was she going to feed this precious new life.
I have seen my South African family grow up in shacks with no running water, no bathrooms, dirt floors, no electricity, no food and 10 or more living in a shack the
size of one of our backyard sheds and these same people come to church on Sunday in the brightest and finest dress, singing and dancing with joy and HOPE, always HOPE, that makes my heart burst with love.
I feel the hugs that squeeze me so tight sometimes I can’t breathe, but love and wait for every one of them. I’ve been told if it wasn't for AIAIA we would be starving! I’ve seen an elder cry when we went into his home and say, “I never ever thought I would see a white person in my house.” I have taken every one of you with me, perhaps as a delegate, perhaps as a donor, perhaps through prayer and your warm heart. I will ALWAYS take your continued support with me because you, too, are
our loving family here supporting our family in South Africa. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You never know how strong you are until you are in hot water.” There is a lot of hot water right now here and in South Africa. I would like to focus on the gains through the years, through your love and generosity in so many ways.
Blessings to all and much love, hugs, and huge thank you to all.
