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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Prison Partners, Western Capital and Robert Paisola to Join "The Mission Africa Project"


Mission Africa
Opening creative doors of cultural exchange
creating strategic alliances and obtaining
resources to assist the underprivileged in Africa



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Being born and raised in Nigeria, we can define poverty as the inability to afford life's basic needs such as food, water, shelter, clothing, basic education and access to health care. Children suffer most in these conditions being that they are helpless and vulnerable.



With the severe economic shocks that rocked the Nigerian economy during the early 1980s there has been a steady increase in the level of poverty in the country. Among the factors contributing to the shocks were declining prices of oil, the country's main export, and rises in real international interest rates that compounded the external debt. The major underlying reason, however, was domestic policy mistakes.

Economic reforms were introduced by the government of Nigeria in mid 1986 in a structural adjustment program that included exchange rate devaluation, trade and financial reforms, and budgetary and monetary contraction. These reforms have not revitalized the economy's growth in Nigeria. Rather, there has continued to be the widening gap between the poor and the rich.



Having experienced first-hand this deplorably poor lifestyle, Ikoro and Ndudi started Mission Africa in 2003, a non-profit organization with a 501(c)3 status, with a mission to open creative doors of cultural exchange to positively impact the people of Africa.



Mission Africa board is made up of compassionate men and women with a desire and enthusiasm to create strategic alliances and obtain resources to assist the underprivileged in Africa especially, the children.



This Organization is an idea whose time has come. It signifies our contribution towards making life bearable for poor innocent children in Africa through the giving of kind hearted individuals, businesses and charitable organizations


GOALS AND OBJECTIVES




The goals and objectives of this project shall be divided into three namely: short term, medium and long term.



Short Term



In pursuit of these objectives, Mission Africa in partnership with LIWOCARE, has been engaged in the following activities: free medical outreaches, care for widows, Offer scholarships and school supplies to the poor and needy children, contribution to orphanages, feeding of street beggars, skill acquisition\rehabilitation programs, payment of hospital bills for indigent people, support of the deaf, dumb and blind, counseling and much more.

Twice a year, Mission Africa offers opportunities to Americans who desire to experience life in a different culture, through short-term mission trips, to Africa. This provide an avenue for many to see first-hand, the desperate situations of these helpless children in Africa.



Medium Term



Medium term objectives will focus on the expansion of the above objectives and outreach programs to become a mission field for economic development, and cultural exchanges between people's of the world. Mission Africa has a mandate to

v To provide, care, nurture and rehabilitate all those who are in physical, material, mental and spiritual needs; the poor, the depraved, the abandoned, prisoners, the oppressed, the distressed, the homeless and the dejected.

v To protect and defend the rights of children, the helpless, the oppressed,

v To build and establish, orphanages

v To build a global Mission house for missionaries and a retreat ground for church leaders

v To build and establish health clinics for the poor and helpless.

v To build a Youth (Vocational) Centre to train the youth on trade skills

v To provide gainful employment for the unemployed.

v To establish small businesses for responsible adults through micro loans

v To create tangible awareness about HIV/AIDS among the youth

v To reduce infant mortality by providing nutrition and health care services

v To work with adoption agencies in America for possible adoptions from our

v To offer educational opportunities through scholarship

v To provide means of transportation to missionaries by acquiring Mission Vans/SUVs

v To provide counseling services, organize workshops and seminars aimed at uplifting the condition and environment of the poor and needy in the society.

v To liaise with prison authorities, legal departments, hospitals, remand homes and orphanage with a view to assisting the inmates.

These efforts will exhibit the wealth of untapped gifts, talents and creativity imbedded in these neglected African children. Mission Africa will provide wholesome family economic sustainability within the framework of individual cultures and lifestyles of various African peoples. Teaching them to fish and not provide the fish all the time.



Long Term



Long term is to engage in educational and cultural exchanges between participants in the US and the various peoples of African countries. This is more so now that there is a major growth in private universities, civil society initiatives and international businesses. We may subject to availability of resources, produce arts, craft and cross-cultural educational materials for use both in Africa and the US.

MISSION AFRICA OVERVIEW




Description of Projects



Mission Africa started by partnering with organizations that are actually doing the work, running orphanages, providing for the poor and needy etc.

Clearly stating the vision of Mission Africa, will provide the compassionate with step-by-step directions on how to gather those in their sphere of influence and, together, do something life-saving and life-changing! for underprivileged families in Africa.



100% of all donations for Mission Africa projects go entirely to the designated project. Mission Africa solicits funds from businessmen and individual sponsors to specifically fund the administrative costs, staff and overhead. These projects include:

v To build, 3 orphanages each housing 30 orphans (1st building in progress)

v To build 1 Youth (Vocational) Centre to train the youth on trade skills

v To build 2 Health Centres (1st Building in progress)

v To build 2 Mission Houses to house and care for mission teams and church leaders.

v To provide Mission Vans/SUVs for Missionaries' transportation while in Africa.


Methodology


Mission Africa intends to use our experiential knowledge of the culture, traditions and mannerisms of Africans to determine and prioritize the needs, one village or city at a time. Our board and donors will be guided by appreciative inquiry, supplemented by action research and indigenous empowerment to solicit and receive funds and resources needed for these projects.



Partners of Mission Africa LIWOCARE and Caring Hearts International stationed in Africa will supervise projects and make sure the work is done. They will report to the board of Mission Africa on a constant basis.



Mission Africa teams will go to Africa twice yearly to monitor and evaluate the progress of individual projects



Justification


The main justification for this project is as they say that the world has become a global village. In the Seattle area of Washington State, the Igbos of South-eastern Nigeria constitutes a sizeable proportion of the population. There are also a sizeable number of other ethnic groups from Nigeria. There are also immigrants from other parts of Africa. All these migrations is in a bid to find better life and help for those left behind in Africa.



Mission Africa has a mandate to find ways to improve and sustain the standard of lives in Africa and restore a sense of dignity and pride to people who have no means of escaping the hard life among the poor there. This will entail the support of all local and international philanthropic individuals and organizations. To achieve our objectives, there has to be synergy between all peoples working on the projects.



Through these projects, Mission Africa will provide a forum for people to exchange and learn some of the cultures, values and behavioural patterns of those they may be working with in future. It will also be a forum for people to exchange and learn about such values as tolerance, respect and recognition of differences.





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Youth Vocational Centre



Open to all youth ages 12 21 years who desire to learn a vocation or a trade.

Will offer training and apprenticeship programs on the following trades:

Carpentry, Plumbing, Dress making, Hair braiding, Hair dressing, Electricians, Fashion designing, Barbing, Shoe making, computer skills and much more.



The Centre will also house lots of recreational games for the youth such as: Table tennis equipment, Pool table, Basket ball court, Volley ball court, Cyber Café etc. These will all generate funds.



The 2nd floor will house a big hall for rent by the public for weddings and other occasions to generate funds for sustainability.

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Global Mission House



Two buildings of 8 (3 bedrooms, 3 baths) apartment complexes to house Missionaries that visit that part of Nigeria year round.



Global Mission House will also serve as a retreat centre for Pastors, and church leaders at a minimal cost. These kind of facilities are lacking in the eastern part of Nigeria.



Mission Africa teams will use the mission house whenever they visit Nigeria. It will save lots of money on hotel bills. Modern amenities will be included for certain level of relaxation and comfort. It will be exclusive for Christians and will also generate funds.



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2 Health/Women Clinics - # 1 (Building already in progress)



v This project is designed to alleviate the health care crisis in Africa, one clinic at a time.

v Addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis through a health care and educational framework.

v Assisting women's reproductive health issues.

v Providing quality health care on a sliding-fee scale.

v Distributing affordable and unadulterated medicine.



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FINANCIAL SUPPORT


The Mission Africa budget amount would come from individuals, business and charitable organizations making donations to support Mission Africa projects


SELF-SUSTAINABILITY


The Youth Centre and Global Mission House will bring in funds to sustain themselves. Graduates from the Youth Centres would be supported through micro loans which will be paid back with minimal interest. That too will be a means of generating funds. The orphanage would also bring in funds through local and international adoptions fees.




OUR FUTURE

The future for Mission Africa is to engage in educational and cultural exchanges between participants in the US and the various peoples of African countries. This is more so now that there is a major growth in private universities and civil society initiatives. We may subject to availability of resources, produce cross-cultural educational materials for use both in Africa and the US.



Mission Africa mandate is an vision whose time has come. If we have to build an inclusive world where basic needs are met for children and desperate families globally, then, you have to support Mission Africa. This project will signify your contribution towards alleviating poverty world wide. Our mandate has become imperative because the world seems set on a part of prejudice, hate, intolerance and self-centeredness. That is not the way for a world that should be home to all. We look forward to your support for Mission Africa; you will be saving lives, one child at a time, one family at a time, one village at a time.

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