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Christmas With A Conscience: 12 Top NGOs In Africa For Gift Giving

Christmas With A Conscience: 12 Top NGOs In Africa For Gift Giving

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About 40,000 internationally operating non-governmental organizations provide essential services in the developing world, fulfilling functions that governments would normally administer. This is the time of year when they get a huge amount of the donations that fund them. Research shows that people are still likely to dig deep for donations to international charities at Christmas time, despite empty wallets. The week before Christmas is huge for NGOs. International charities receive the most over this period, according to the Guardian. The concept of a gift that keeps on giving is essential to many NGO fundraisaing efforts. We picked some worthy NGOs in Africa from Global Journal’s Top 100 NGO issue. If you’re all about Christmas with a conscience, here are 10 top NGOs in Africa for gift giving.

Sources: The Guardian, Global Journal

Slide 1_BRAC in Tanzania

1. BRAC: Matching Donations to Fight Exploitation

Formerly Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee, BRAC (No. 1 on the Global Journal List of Top NGOs), expanded to Africa in the 1990s. Its mission, a world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination, has expanded to include the words, “where everyone has the opportunity to realize their potential.” It now provides technical and grant support to 79 community-based organizations through such structures as the U.N. peace fund. For the holidays, BRAC has a coalition of supports matching each donation made between Nov. 18, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2014 dollar-for-dollar.

Source: BRAC

Slide 2_Care Package

2. CARE International: Helping Families Escape Poverty

CARE, (Global Journal’s No. 7), places special focus on working alongside poor women, whom it believes – when equipped with the proper resources – have the power to help their families and entire communities escape poverty. CARE provides basic education, disease prevention, access to clean water and sanitation and the expansion of economic opportunity. For Christmas this year, clothing company H&M will donate to CARE double the sale price on special labels. Otherwise, consumers can buy a multitude of giving gifts – from school uniforms to village taps — through a “CARE package” delivered to the country of the recipient’s choice.

Source: CARE International

Slide 3_Mercy Corps

3. Mercy Corps: Innovative Relief, Recovery with a Mouse Click

Like many NGOs, Mercy Corps (Global Journal’s No. 10) NGO has packaged its gifts into ideals. “Hope” (a package of clean water and vaccine initiatives), “Joy” (children’s safe spaces to learn), and “Peace” (the promise of solving a resource-based conflict). Donors can also give a tree, a bag of seeds or a cook stove. The ideas behind the packages seem to work. Mercy Corps’ relief and recovery programs have resulted in high-impact, cost-effective activities in water-drilling, mobile technology for commerce and building infrastructure in places such as Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Source: Mercy Corps

Slide_5 Handicap

4. Handicap International: $50 to Clear Landmines and Rebuild Lives

Co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, Handicap International (Global Journal’s No. 13) began as a victim assistance organization, which, with local partners, ran health and rehab programs for people with disabilities from landmines and civil war. The organization works in many countries in Africa, where it has not only introduced such advances as physiotherapy to several hospitals, but also helped local organizations clear landmines and rid communities of other armaments. For a $15 donation to Handicap International for Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, patrons can send a holiday card featuring de-miner Jonathan Matambo and his dog Katja to loved ones – $50 buys five and $100 buys 12 holiday tribute cards.

Source: Handicap International 

Slide 5_IRC

5. IRC: High-Tech, Customized Gifts of Rescue

Albert Einstein founded IRC ( International Rescue Committee), an NGO dedicated to lifesaving care and life-changing assistance for refugees forced to flee war or disaster. The IRC (Global Journal’s No. 14) has, however, become highly respected for its ability to lay the groundwork for lasting peace and economic development. The IRC offers typical NGO gift-giving fare – seeds, school supplies and mosquito nets – but this year is offering some new, 21st-century options, such as WakaWaka solar lamps, GPS devices to pinpoint well locations and women’s small business training. Prices range from $18 to $1,500, and the IRC has categories for teachers, doctors and nurses.

Source: IRC

Slide 6_Heifer

6. Heifer International: Goats, Sheep, Chickens, a Farm

Heifer International (Global Journal’s No. 20), was founded by Dan West, a farmer from the American Midwest and a missionary who worked on the front lines of the Spanish Civil War. He followed the teach-a-man-to-fish philosophy. When families gain sustainable income livestock, Heifer says it offers other opportunities such as schools, agricultural cooperatives, community savings and small businesses. Famous for its slightly satirical “Most Important Gift Catalog in the World” that arrives in do-gooder’s mailboxes every year, the Heifer collection features donated water buffaloes for $250, goats for $120 or sets of ducks for $20. The gift comes with shipping direct to the recipient.

Source: Heifer Int’l

Slide 7_Room

7. Room to Read: Sending Shelves of Books

Room to Read (Global Journal’s No. 26 NGO) began with a case of job burnout. Overworked Microsoft executive, John Wood, took off for some hiking and discovered a local school with few books. He promised to bring some back, and then founded Room to Read, which promotes and enables education in Africa through programs focused on literacy and gender equality in education. Room to Read now establishes school libraries, builds schools, publishes local-language children’s books and trains teachers on literacy education. For Christmas, Room to Read patrons can send two library shelves full of books to children in Africa for $50, new book manuscripts for $100, a stocked library with games and toys for $250 and a writer and illustrator workshop for $1,000. Holiday gift cards come gratis.

Source: Room to Read

Slide 8_Amnesty

8. Amnesty International: The Yellow, Perennial Holiday Favorite

This international organization hardly needs an introduction (Global Journal’s No. 27), and always commands donations thanks to its long history. This year, monetary gifts to Amnesty come in the form of fashionable fair-trade scarves, barbed wire silver cuffs, eco-friendly wallets and the omnipresent candle-and-barbed-wire logo on a yellow T-shirt. Sometimes tangible gifts make for better holiday cheer — 100 percent of the money earned goes straight to Amnesty, which has campaigned against maternal mortality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and hidden prisons in Eritrea.

Source: Amnesty Int’l

Slide 8_Riders

9. Riders for Health: Buy a Motorcycle to Save a Life

Many healthcare NGOs exist in Africa, but dirt roads and other obstacles often prevent them from reaching villages in time to save lives. Riders for Health (Global Journal’s No. 31 NGO) helps solve that problem. Its sole focus is providing reliable, cost-effective and practical transport services for health-centered organizations across sub-Saharan Africa. Riders for Health’s expertise lies in managing vehicles for its partners –most often motorcycles. The NGO says it has improved access to healthcare for 12 million people across Africa and employs mechanics in seven countries. For the holidays, supporters such as Princess Anne purchase very cool T-shirts, hats, Christmas cards, or a fortnight’s worth of fuel and a toolkit.

Source: Riders for Health

Slide 10_Merlin

10. Merlin: Gets a Gift Catalogue and Support through Save the Children

Many NGOs parachute into Africa when a humanitarian crisis strikes, but not all of them stick around after the catastrophe – just when the country’s problems really begin. Merlin (Global Journal’s No. 32), merged with Save the Children in 2013, a few months after celebrating its 20th year. It maintained more than 5,000 staff, and established clinics and hospitals in 40 countries. But with the alliance, Save the Children gets its healthcare component and Merlin has access to Save the Children’s extensive – and exclusive – Christmas collection, which includes $480 Bulgari rings and pendants, personalized Save the Children mugs for about $12 each, or a tie for dad and scarf for mom from about $30. Shoppers can buy bicycles for health care transportation, soccer balls for kids’ recreation or art materials and musical instruments for less than $100.

Source: Save the Children

http://www.hki.org/our-impact/about-us/mission-and-goals#.VJhr8F4Bo
http://www.hki.org/our-impact/about-us/mission-and-goals#.VJhr8F4Bo

11. Helen Keller International: Sight for a Small Sum

The World Health Organization estimates that 90 million people worldwide are at risk of river blindness, an infection caused by a parasitic worm transmitted through a black fly bite. It is the world’s fourth leading cause of preventable blindness. Helen Keller International (Global Journal’s No. 34) has reached millions across Africa each year by providing annual mass distributions of ivermectin, a drug proven to prevent and treat the disease. The NGO also runs more than 180 programs that prevent blindness and vision loss by providing better access to basic eye care such as prescription eyeglasses and vitamin A supplements for young children at risk of malnutrition. This holiday season, Helen Keller will receive donations from people who shop with Amazon Smile or buy Tom’s eyewear through its One-to-One program.

Source: Helen Keller International

Slide 12_Concern

12. Concern Worldwide: The Goats that Keep on Giving

A goat never stops giving, according to Concern Worldwide (Global Journal’s No. 63). It provides milk, manure that helps improve soil fertility and kids that can become a source of income. By shelling out for six chickens, a fuel-efficient stove or a water pump, patrons of Concern neither have to wrap their presents, nor send the card to the address of the giftee. Concern says it works in partnership with the very poorest people in Africa, directly enabling them to improve their lives, as well as assisting in influencing decisions made at a local, national and international level to reduce extreme poverty.

Source: Concern Worldwide