The reality is that I know nothing about Africa. I have never even stepped foot on the soil of the continent (yet). Therefore, I do not pretend to be knowledgeable in matters I am not well-versed in.

And also therefore, it’s important to hear from the voices of people who are actually tied to these countries.

TMS Ruge, founder of Project Diaspora, writes an honest and real post about the #StopKony campaign, African agency, and respect for the people of central and east Africa.

“Let me be honest. Africa is not short of problems, epidemics and atrocities. But it is also true that it is not short of miracles, ingenuity, and a proclivity to surprise. We as Africans, especially the Diaspora, are waking to the idea that our agency has been hijacked for far too long by well-meaning Western do-gooders with a guilty conscious, sold on the idea that Africa’s ills are their responsibility. This particular affliction is called “white man’s burden” in some circles. Please don’t buy into this. Africa’s problems are our own.”

While I don’t believe in absolutely no aid or collaboration with any non-Africans, I do agree that more local/grassroots empowerment is needed to bring any real change.

Ugandan journalist, Rosebell Idaltu Kagumire, made a video response to this Invisible Children debacle. She takes a very calm and diplomatic approach, I think, but gets the point across that what the IC video represents isn’t going to cut it for the people of central and east Africa.

Rosebell implores us to focus on “intelligent campaigns” that are geared towards “real policy shifts rather than a very sensationalized story that is out to make one person cry, and at the end of the day, we forget about it.”

She adds that how the story of Uganda is told might be more important than the story being told:

“If you’re showing me as voiceless or as hopeless, you have no space to be telling my story. You should not be telling my story if you dont believe that I have the power to change what is going on.”

It’s Valentine’s Day!

…Oops?

Oh. You forgot.

No worries, The Adventure Project‘s got you covered. Today, they’re sending out personalized e-cards for you, making your life a little easier.

But they’re not just e-cards, of course (when are they ever “just” anything with The Adventure Project?) — they’re e-cards that add venture and impact lives.

Show your love online (yes, we’re green like that) by sending a simple e-card with a major impact. Just choose from one of their four cards (each one supporting one of their four projects: Health, Environment, Water, Hunger) and include a note to your special someone. And The Adventure Project will send it out to your loved one at some point today. Simple and sweet.

Your gift will arrive on time, show that you care, and change lives. Can’t get much better than that, right?

Pick yours out before today ends!

It’s official. The Adventure Project is having a Cocktail Party next week in Soho, and it looks like it’s going to be awesome. The crowd expected to attend will be mostly young leaders and entrepreneurs in the tech, media, socent, and international nonprofit industries, amazing supporters, and folks who just like a good party.

Complimentary cocktail drinks + time to hear from Becky Straw and Jody Landers, two incredible women working on making a lasting impact. They’ll be sharing about the work being done with entrepreneurs in Haiti, India, Kenya, and Uganda.

Details of the party:
When: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 — 7pm to 9pm
Where: 1534 (20 Prince Street, between Elizabeth and Mott)
Why: Support entrepreneurs in developing countries
Cost: $20

Honestly, complimentary drinks + doing good? Not a bad combo for an evening.

Hope to see your beautiful faces there.

Today is World Humanitarian Day 2011. Basically, a day to celebrate people helping people — awesome, right?

In line with such festivities, my mom and I recently joined The Adventure Project in their most recent campaign for revolutionized health care in Africa.

You can check out our fundraising page here.

It began with Jody Landers’ story about her youngest twins, adopted from West Africa, and her ambition to raise $170,000 — to honor the 170,000 mothers in Africa who die each year in childbirth because of a lack of proper health care.

To partner with her in this cause, my mom and I set out to raise $5,000 that will go towards The Adventure Project’s total goal. We figured that five is a significant number — the number of people in our family as well as the total number of hours my mother was in labor for also (true story; that woman is like a pro baby popper). My mom didn’t lose her mother at birth but early enough to understand first hand how no child should have to grow up that way. She also worked in maternal health and family planning, and knows the value of proper education and care for expectant and post-natal mothers in raising newborns and young children.

The Adventure Project is partnering with Living Goods, an organization that trains women in Uganda to become Community Health Promoters who in turn make home visits, meet with expectant and new mothers, and care for 700 people each in their communities. Best of all, there’s a social entrepreneurial aspect to it all. CHPs earn an income by providing extremely affordable (and accessible) health products to people. The goal within the next five years is to train and employ up to 5,000 CHPs, serving approximately 3 million people throughout different countries.

The money raised in this campaign will go towards making sure that that goal gets reached.

What better way to celebrate World Humanitarian Day than to highlight the women helping to bring revolutionized health care to their communities in need?

Don’t know about you, but I certainly love it.