Along with Loibor-Siret Sustainable Education Forum, HFC has been working to identify the major factors that cause death and illness among Maasai mothers and infants, and then create an innovative model to address these problems.

This project is in partnership with the Rotary Club of Fulton (Missouri-USA) and the Babati Rotary Club (Babati District, Manyara Region, Tanzania).  With a Rotary Foundation Global Grant, these clubs are working with HFC and LSEF on the following initiatives in the villages of Loibor-Siret and Kimotorok:

• Training traditional birth attendants (TBAs) on safer-birthing practices

• Distributing safe-birthing-kits to TBAs and local clinics

• Installing solar panels on the clinics

• Installing a Solar Suitcase in both clinics

• Establishing a basic clinical laboratory in each clinic for the diagnosis of diseases

• Developing an experimental medical transport service using Basic Utility Vehicles

• Distributing malaria preventing bed nets

• Developing a series of educational videos that can be taken into the field

• Constructing latrines at clinics, schools, and marketplaces

• Training mothers in the “First 1,000 Days” – a child survival initiative

Future projects to increase mother/newborn/infant survival include:

• A birthing center/mothers’ waiting house close to each village clinic

• A rainwater treatment initiative in Kimotorok to bring clean water to the area

• A community mapping program to help medical transport drivers find the remote bomas (homesteads)

Many individuals in developing regions look for sustainable opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty; however, despite having great small business ideas they don’t qualify for small loans because of their low-incomes.  

Micro-loans and grants give individuals in poor communities the financial resources they need to start their own self-employed business. This financial assistance from Humanity for Children empowers these aspiring entrepreneurs with opportunities to create small profitable businesses within their community. These programs do not constitute “hand-outs” – the loans are repaid with a small interest fee, so that others in their village can use that money again to begin other new businesses. Micro-loans and economic empowerment grants, because they recycle the money over and over, give families and entire villages a chance to improve their standard of living. Humanity for Children believes that aspiring entrepreneurs can fulfill their dreams through these business ventures.

Some of Our Projects in Action...

Pediatrics is strongly involved in children's education in all parts of the world and we believe that education is the basis for a lasting impact in the villages of the developing world. Without the ability to obtain education beyond grammar school, children find it difficult or impossible to find productive work and are destined to a life of poverty. The children and families in these villages realize the importance of education and are desperate for help in obtaining it. With a high school, college, or university diploma, these children are able to provide for themselves and their families, help the villages grow, and enable future generations to be prosperous. However, many of the children living in rural villages in East Africa do not even make it through primary or secondary school. The education programs run by Humanity for Children seek to help children to obtain primary and secondary school education by sponsoring teachers, providing solar lamps through the Bright Light Campaign and paying for the education of young girls.

Education is crucial for children living in poverty to provide for themselves, their families and their villages. The Bright Light Campaign brings solar lamps to middle-school children in two remote villages in Rwanda, Gashanda and Gahurire. Humanity for Children will distribute solar lamps to the Primary-6 students in these two villages and build libraries that contain books in their tribal language (Kinyarwanda) and English. With a 5-year commitment to the campaign, we will have enough time to study the effects that the lights have on study time, the number of books read, and admission rates of those seeking secondary education. The children receiving these lamps will be able to study after dark and will have better tools to obtain a brighter future. 

Beginning in 2006, we worked closely with villages and small communities in remote areas of East Africa to establish health facilities. Our goal was to bring health care to the people needing it the most: people living so far from existing health clinics and hospitals that it often took them days to access care. Until 2011, this was Humanity for Children’s primary focus. Although we’ve broadened our mission to include many other factors that significantly affect individual, family and village health, our commitment to providing equality and accessible health care continues.

KARAMA CLINIC, RWANDA

Built in partnership with the Kibungo Anglican Diocese and the Ngoma District Mayor, this clinic should be completed in 2018 in a village about 15 miles from Kibungo.  It has been primarily funded by Callaway County (MO) supporters through the HFC’s Rwanda Community Partnership that links Ngoma District with Callaway County as “partner communities”.  The location was selected after a group of Westminster College (MO) college students conducted a health needs assessment in Kazo sector. The facility sits halfway between the City of Kibungo and the Gashanda Health Center, thus providing a health clinic every 15 miles.

GASHANDA CLINIC, RWANDA

Built in partnership with the Kibungo Anglican Diocese, the Gashanda Health Post is located in a renovated district office building in Gashanda, Rwanda, which was generously donated by the District Government in Kibungo. Renovation on the existing structure was completed in March of 2010 and the clinic opened in February 2011. This clinic has added a birthing center and is now serving approximately 500 patients each week. Support for this project has been supplied by a matching grant from Rotary International in partnership with Rotary Clubs in Kigali, Rwanda, and Mount Vernon, WA.  The clinic was successfully transferred to the Ngoma District Office of Health in 2015.

ROTA CLINIC, KENYA

The Rota Dispensary/Clinic serves an area of 50,000 inhabitants in the western Kisumu area and serves as the flagship dispensary for the Kisumu Ministry of Health. The clinic has added a large birthing center developed by the Rota Village, the Ministry of Health, and Humanity for Children. In 2017, after completing its start-up/empowerment agreement of 5-7 years, HFC transitioned leadership of the clinic to the village and the Ministry of Health. Its success led to it being considered a “model dispensary/clinic” due to its collaborative strategy, services rendered, and health needs met.

Our partnerships between schools in the U.S. with schools in East Africa provide opportunities for these communities to build new relationships, gain knowledge and engage in cultural exchange. We are constantly looking for new schools to join partnerships.

A School to School Partnership

As of 2012, two high schools became partners despite being 8,000 miles apart. On Tuesday, July 3rd in the Eastern Province of Rwanda, Dan Harms, the Dean of Students at Lutheran High School South, in St. Louis, Missouri, along with three recent LHSS graduates – Lauren Gardner, Brendan Kurtz, and Sarah Cooney – formalized the partnership with Rwamagana Lutheran Secondary School. 

Headmaster of the Rwanda school, Robin Strickler, introduced the LHSS group and their Humanity for Children teammates to the students, faculty and staff. Tours were given and HFC team members ate lunch, played games, and had great conversations with members of this high school community. Robin had come to Lutheran South this past May to talk with the students and administration about the potential partnership. 

It was during this visit that Lauren, Brendan, and Sarah first met Robin and learned about the invitation to participate in this partnership. On July 3rd, Dan and his students gave a number of gifts to the school, including three laptop computers, soccer balls, school uniforms, and even some retired athletic jerseys from Lutheran South. HFC is looking to develop more school to school partnerships.