It's a small world - please can you help?

Earlier this year the Enfys Acumen, made a social responsibility commitment to put aside up to two days every month to provide charitable organisations that could not otherwise afford our professional fees with pro bono organisational development support (Click here for more information). This initiative has proved to be most satisfying, both for us and the people who have received our support.

One of the charities that has asked us for this help is called Aid for Orphans and the Disabled (AFOD) and is from the Gambia in West Africa.

The charity is registered with the Gambian government and started its work about three years ago. We have received endorsements from international aid agencies in the area that are familiar with the organisation, but do not have the resources to support AFOD themselves. Over the last few weeks, we have been exchanging regular emails and have had a number of telephone calls, including a mini workshop by phone at our expense to clarify the support needs of the charity. Communications of this nature, although wonderful in so many ways, are hampered by the fact that the only email access my main contact has is at an internet café and due to a poor telephone network, calls tend to cut out every few minutes or so.

Let me tell you a bit more

The Gambia is one of Africa's smallest countries and unlike many of its West African neighbours has enjoyed long spells of political stability since independence. This stability has not translated into prosperity however. Despite the presence of the Gambia river, which runs through the middle of the country, only one-sixth of the land is arable and poor soil quality has led to the predominance of one crop - peanuts. The population of the Gambia is 1.5 million and the country covers an area of 4,360 square miles - both are about half that of Wales, my home country.

The extent and effects of the AIDS virus in Africa are well documented and no doubt we are all aware that the majority of people with the disease can be found in Africa. The Gambia is equally affected by the AIDS epidemic and currently over 20,000 of the population of this small country are infected. AIDS tends to affect people between the ages of 15 and 49 years - the time when people should be most productive and have the greatest economic and familial responsibilities. The orphans of AIDS victims and disabled people in most of Africa are very much the poorest of the poor.

What about AFOD?

AFOD is based in Bundung Borehole on the outskirts of Serrekunda, the largest conurbation in the Gambia. The charity’s aims are to address the social needs of orphaned children and disabled people in the area. With very little statutory support for these people like we have in the UK, their plight is very much in the hands of other people in the community, but unfortunately prejudice and stigma remains high. A recent survey carried out by AFOD has shown that in their own local community alone there are nearly 1000 people who are orphaned children or disabled. Some of the greatest challenges are concerned with:

• Education - most orphaned children and disabled people miss out on educational opportunities not because of academic reasons, but because of financial reasons: they cannot afford fees, transport to school, books, uniform and shoes. With very little practical skills, they quite often become street beggars with no hope for a future

• Nutrition - many orphaned and disabled children experience a very limited diet. Research has shown that many such children only have one meal a day, consequently they are at greater risk of other illnesses and early death

• Health - in addition to AIDS, other illnesses like malaria, headaches, stomach problems and fevers are rife especially amongst AFOD’s target groups. Medicines are expensive and many orphaned children and disabled people simply cannot get to health centres because they cannot afford transport costs.

Why is the Enfys Acumen supporting AFOD?

No doubt just like us, you are bombarded with appeal letters from dozens of very worthwhile charities. At the Enfys Acumen we are supporting a number of other charities, both with pro bono professional services and as volunteers and donors, so what is special about AFOD?

What has really attracted us to support AFOD is that it was formed and is led by young people who are working together to try to improve quality of life in their community. Their passion for wanting to make a difference is so encouraging and equally important is that they are not really looking for handouts, but rather the help to develop their skills and resources to move from dreaming to action. They want to be in a position to improve their lot themselves.

AFOD currently has the use of some premises with limited office equipment and is run by one paid member of staff, Lamin Fofanah - a truly genuine young man, with a fantastic sense of vision and a commitment to hard work to benefit his community. There is a membership of thirty people and most of the current funds are raised from holding monthly dances.

Activities to date have included an education opportunity addressing malaria; raising community awareness of the issues faced by orphans and disabled people, specifically targeted at addressing cultural stereotypes and beliefs relating to these people; and sponsoring orphaned and disabled children through the school system.

The needs of orphans and disabled people are huge and to be fair, there is so much that Lamin and AFOD would like to achieve, that up to now they have been trying to be all things to all people.

This is where the Enfys Acumen can really help and make a difference

As an organisational development and coaching practice we work with all kinds of organisations and businesses to clarify their goals, determine the values behind what they do, be specific about their starting point and agree the action steps to achieve what they want to achieve. This is exactly the kind of help that AFOD needs. Current ideas from the AFOD team include developing training and workshop facilities to help orphans and disabled people to lift them selves out of the despondency their circumstances so often put them in. They would like to establish a micro finance scheme to provide the basic equipment people might need to set up their own business ventures. AFOD really wants to develop the capacity to create new opportunities for orphans and disabled people. The Enfys Acumen is prepared to make a long term commitment at our expense to provide organisational development and coaching support to AFOD, but to truly get the ball rolling and help key people on the right to track, we have been advised that it would be beneficial to spend ten days or so, working with AFOD in the Gambia to develop plans and strategies.

How can you help?

As you will be aware the Enfys Acumen is a new business, we have only been trading since last year. However we are driven by a strong sense of wanting to make a difference in the world and these days our community is very much a global community, is it not?

We are more than prepared to make the time available to help AFOD in the Gambia, but unfortunately the costs of doing so will be considerable, specifically the costs of travel and subsistence expenses when we are out there. If the Enfys Acumen could actually spend time with AFOD in Gambia, we would be able to:

• Support the charity to create a development plan that will ensure they create the kind of services that are needed most, will be able to demonstrate to other members of the community and funding bodies that they really do mean business and consequently ensure greater support

• Create strategies for fundraising and marketing to secure the resources needed to take things forward - remember winners have 2 things: definite goals and burning desire to achieve them

• Provide community capacity building training for other people and projects in their community

• Set up a focussed email/telephone coaching process for Lamin Fofanah and possibly other key personnel to ensure the sustainability of AFOD’s work in the long term

Please pledge a donation or sponsorship

We see our work as an investment in the future of AFOD and would like you to also invest in improving the quality of life of some of the most vulnerable people in the world today. The fact that you are still reading this eBrief suggests that you might be driven by some of the same motivations as we are at the Enfys Acumen, you might not be able to offer the same kind of practical support that we can offer, but you can still help to make a difference.

We would really like you to pledge either a personal donation or some business sponsorship as a contribution to the costs of our social responsibility work with AFOD in the Gambia. We just need to raise funds to cover our travel and accommodation costs, remember the time will be given at our expense. At this point in time we only need to raise a further £300 to enable us to get to the Gambia.

Just think about this for a moment...

• A return flight to Banjul in the Gambia will cost approximately £550

• Accommodation in a guest house local to AFOD will cost about £40 per night

Why should you support the Enfys Acumen's work?

With one hand we are trying to appeal to your altruistic nature. We want you to feel the buzz of satisfaction and warm glow that giving money to improve someone else's quality of life gives us all.

But on the other hand…

• We have so much that we take for granted in our culture, wouldn’t it be great if you really could do something that would improve quality of life in another culture that is not as well off as we are in the UK

• There is plenty of evidence out there that to those who give, even greater abundance will be returned

• If a business or organisation pledges to sponsor us for £50 or more we will provide a framed certificate and photograph of our activities to display in your premises, supporting your own social responsibility endeavours.

• Perhaps we could work together in the future on developing a social responsibility commitment in your business or organisation.

Why a pledge?

If we don’t raise what we need to be able to get to the Gambia, we simply will not be able to provide AFOD with the kind of service they really need. We don’t want you to hand any money over unless we can be sure that we will get all that we need to provide AFOD with the required support.

Please make a pledge, when we reach our target of we will come back to you to ask you to actually make the donation.

I look forward to hearing from you soon, if you want to do so, please make your pledge within the next few days so that we can benefit from cheaper flights and the time available.