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10 Recap an
nd Thank Y
You
As always, my firsst wish is that this note find
ds you and yo
our family in ggood health. I am writing to share the highlights of
the p
past three we eeks that Rose
e and I spent with our cooperative in Toogo. Before lleaving for To ogo, I imagineed that I
woulld have some days to rest since I spent a great deal o of time in 20110 on the roaad. However, this hope waas not
realizzed, as insteaad we workedd long hours. TThese hours w
were worthw while, though,, as this trip w
was a vivid rem
minder of
why we have com mmitted the past seven yeaars to the empowerment oof people in TTogo and gavee us courage to continue
o so. Furtherm
to do more, we werre able to touch on new an nd ongoing prrojects and objectives, inccluding:
New Coopeerative Memb
bers
Due to the p positive saless last year, wee were able
to bring in aan additional 15 memberss to our
cooperativee, of whom 10 0 are young w women.
Because of the extended d family struccture in Togo,
this means that more than 60 individuals will be
depending o on their incommes. Our hop pe is to bring
another 30 women to th he cooperativve before the
end of the yyear.
Solarr Energy for th
he Cooperativve
Wateer Treatment System
Consstruction of Nursery
Expansion of Maternal Health Program
Each year since 20 006, we have provided maaternal
supp port for 100 pregnant wom men. For the 22010‐2011
program, we decided to increaase the number to 400
wom men. On this trrip, we were able to visit m most of the
villagges, and for th
he first time, established aa binding
agreeement with th he Togo goveernment healtth system
of the central regiion, the Sokodé PolyClinique, to
proviide full materrnal support ffor 400 wome en. Alaffia
pays all fees and e expenses, and d the clinics p
provide all
need ded medical n ding regular checkups
needs – includ
and eemergency caare. During o our clinic tours, we were
also aable to visit w
with some of tthe women w who
participated in the e program ovver the past foour years.
It waas very gratifyying to see he
ealthy motherrs and their
children and to he ear how the mmaternal heallth program h has helped thhem.
Distribution of Birrthing Materials
In early 2010, we began a partnership with North Valley Family Mediccine in Tonassket, WA. Theere is a serious lack of
adeqquate birthingg materials in Togolese clin ontributes to high maternaal and baby death rates. D
nics, which co Dr. Justina
Bolz and her teamm in Tonasket set up a fund draiser for the
e Alaffia Mateernal Health program. Witth the enticem ment of
Alaffia products and helping thheir colleaguees in Togo, Dr. Bolz raised eenough fundss to purchasee birthing suppplies for 700
births. The materrials included basic supplie
es and equipm ment – such aas gloves, gau
uze, towels, sccalpels, scisso
ors, and
clamps. We promised Dr. Bolz to personallyy deliver these e materials too 7 village heaalth clinics in Togo to ensu
ure the goodss
weree delivered to
o their intendeed recipients.. Rose and I d
did just that –– and the clin
nics were beyo ond pleased aand grateful,
as many of them sstill use scisso
ors from the 1
1970s.
Bicyccles for Health
h
During our discussions with the Sokodé
PolyClinique,, we were askked if Alaffia could provide e
bicycles to lo
ocal Village Heealth Agents. For all
villages that do not have aa health clinicc, the central
region clinic system provides a Village Health
Agent. Villagge Health Agents visit housseholds to
conduct basiic health checcks, disseminaate
information about vaccination program ms, healthy
eating, malaria prevention and so forth, and
provide basicc first aid. Ho
owever, they are not given n
any method of transportaation, which m makes their
job very difficult to perforrm. We felt tthat this need
d
aligns with oour communitty empowerm ment
objecctives; thereffore, we decid ded to provide 100 bicycle es to the proggram. There aare 400 Villagge Health Ageents in central
Togo
o alone. We w will follow thiss initiative verry closely, and
d if they bicyccles are truly used in the wway the PolyC Clinique has
agreeed to, we willl provide another 100 bicyycles each yeaar for the nexxt three yearss. Furthermore, because o of this
addittional need foor bicycles, we will step up p our collectioons from 500 to 1000 bikees this year. Iff you live in th
he Pacific
Northwest and wo ould like to donate a bicyccle, please con ntact us.
Alaffia Project Coo
ordinator
elp us conducct better folloow‐up on our projects – deetermining their impact
Essi will he
and how b best to use funding and ressources.
Koulo
oumi Secondaary School
Durinng this trip, w
we visited
Koulooumi, and the e first trees
are nnow over 6 feet tall and
bear their first fruit this
will b
seasoon. Kouloumi was
choseen to particippate in the
Alaffia Bicycles for Education
program, and we personally
distriibuted 60 bicycles to the
studeents that live in the
surroounding smaller villages.
The KKouloumi school has
comee a long way, and in
recoggnition of Alaaffia’s help,
they have named their girl
and bboy soccer teams after Alaaffia. After ou ur visit, and se
eeing the deteermination o of the community, the studdents,
teachhers, and the school’s Dire ector, Alaffia h
has decided tto build a perrmanent 5‐claassroom struccture for the sschool.
Curreently, the classsrooms are cconstructed o of mud and sttraw. From Auugust to Octo ober, and then again in Maay and June,
schoool is often canncelled becau use the roof ccannot withsttand the heavvy rains. The sschool is located outside tthe village,
and vvenomous snakes often en nter the classrooms, even during schoool hours. The sschool also does not have a source of
wateer, and the Dirrector and teachers do not have an offiice. The tota l cost to provvide a well and solid, well‐built school
for Kouloumi is $9 9,000. Alaffiaa has pledged to finance an he school by August 2011.
nd finish consstruction of th
In summary, this ttrip was productive and prrovided us with a renewedd belief that A Alaffia commu unity projectss must
contiinue at all cossts and are worth all the lo
ong hours of wwork. It is alsso clear that tthese projectts are only po
ossible due to
saless of Alaffia pro
oduct, and whether you arre an Alaffia rrep, HABA Buuyer, Wellness Department Manager, M Merchandiser,,
Volunteer, Floor SStaff, or Alaffiia USA staff –
– your efforts reach beyondd what you caan imagine. O On behalf of the Togolese
comm munities and Alaffia coope erative memb bers, I deeply thank you annd wish all of you a healthy and peaceful 2011.
Pleasse visit www.alaffia.com or visit the Alaaffia facebookk page for moore pictures frrom our trip. Also, please forward this
recapp to your storres and staff.
Oncee again, thankk you for all of your support,
Olow
wo‐n’djo