Blog Action Day 2008- Blog Against Poverty

October 15^th has been dubbed blog action day by the internet community. The topic about which to blog varies by year, and ASAP decided to get involved when we found out we’d be writing against poverty in 2008.

It’s not that posting a paragraph defining poverty and pitying the developing world will change anything overnight; it’s the inspiration that will be presented in reaction to millions speaking out against social issues most of us cannot comprehend. It is the fact that we are using the technology many take for granted to inform or educate the masses and perhaps open minds to a world they’ve never seen.

Living on $2 or less a day is not the beginning or end to poverty. One must ask why so many people are indeed living this frivolously, and then decide how to change it. Looking at statistics, 3.8 billion people out of the 6.5 billion in the world are surviving in moderate to extreme poverty. This is a reality that many look at and decide is too large to overcome. In short, however, poverty cannot be characterized as the lack of funds, only as the lack of access to funds and necessities to life such as water, shelter, and health care. For the developed world to act and problem solve we need to first recognize that poverty can not be fixed by giving money to those in need. We must help others help themselves through education, inform those of simple business practices, teach them to protect themselves against disease, and make sure that the developed half of the world has not written off the half that is full of opportunity and untapped success. Once single mothers previously uninformed of how to even go about making and saving money are taught to use their intrinsic skills to start small businesses, one family is lifted out of poverty. Her children are now able to drink clean water, eat healthy meals, even attend schools to develop their own minds and never be forced to live on $2 a day again.

Simply stated, this blog did not solve poverty, but there are organizations working to educate men, women and children and assist in acquiring sustainability. Thanks to blog action day, the word is getting out and it will not be long until the figure of 3.8 billion has rapidly shrunk.

Malawi drops HIV cash hand-outs

According to an article in the BBC, Malawi civil servants with HIV, who used to receive an extra $35 a month to help them buy more food, are now to get a food handout instead. Malawi is one of the countries worst affected by HIV/AIDS, with 7% of the 13million population affected.

To read the article click here.

Good Karma Coffee

ASAP is incredibly enthused to report updates of recent events. In conjunction with students at Olivette Nazarene University that are working with the SIFE program, ASAP is closer than ever to launching the Good Karma Coffee Project.

SIFE, Students in Free Enterprise, is an organization which holds competitions for university students eager to use their business and economic knowledge for the betterment of the world. Students work in teams and create and implement business models in areas with little industry to prove that their ideas are practical and effective, and can preserve cultural heritage while bringing societies into the 21st century.

ONU students are looking at the financial aspects of Good Karma Coffee and working vigorously to ensure the program’s functionality. Once the programs business aspects are finalized ASAP will begin working with small but optimistic coffee farms in Central and Southern Africa. The coffee will be grown naturally without fertilizers and sold at a fair price. The Good Karma Coffee project aims to teach men and women alike business practices and improve situations for the present and for generations to come.

Schools Working to Improve Lives in Rural Zimbabwe

ASAP Africa is thrilled to announce the receipt of two generous donations from schools with students looking to change lives. Students in the seventh grade at Einstein Middle School in Shoreline, Washington raised close to $500 for Zimbabwean school children through events including a community walk, bake sale, and car wash. We are very appreciative of the selflessness they showed and their willingness to aid in the sustainability process.
Our other recent donation came from the opposite side of the country, where two kindhearted seniors at Lakeland High School in Jermyn, Pennsylvania, are working toward a cause. Sam Parry and Sarah Liparulo have, so far, raised over $500 through coffee sales for ASAP and are not nearly finished fund raising. These two students decided to aid ASAP and work toward the goal of self-reliance in rural Zimbabwe as a senior project. We are so happy that these schools have chosen ASAP as their cause and hope this will inspire similar measures from others.



Sarah Liparulo and Samantha Parry working for ASAP in Jermyn, Pennsylvania

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangairai

After the Zimbabwe power-sharing deal was sealed last Thursday, Tsvangirai said there was need to immediately address the food shortages and attract foreign aid.

“The first priority is to unlock food accessibility,” Tsvangirai said amid loud guffaws. He said there was need to begin filling up the empty shop shelves, fill hospitals with doctors, teachers and ensure a rejuvenated public service. He said he envisaged a new Zimbabwe that was part of the family of nations.

Tsvangirai acknowledged that it was not the best deal and said he had made “painful concessions”.“I signed this deal because it represents the best opportunity to rebuild a prosperous place. I signed this deal because my belief in a new Zimbabwe runs deeper than the scars I bear from the struggle. I signed this deal because my hope for the future is stronger than the grief I feel for the past excesses.”Tsvangirai quoted Mugabe’s 1980 acceptance speech amid loud cheers. He said hatred belonged to the past and called for national healing.

Extracted from The Zimbabwe Times

Zimbabwe's political rivals reach power-sharing deal: Mbeki

President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have reached a power-sharing deal to end political crisis, South African mediator Thabo Mbeki announced Thursday."An agreement has been reached on all items on the agenda ... all of them endorsed the document tonight, signed it," the South African president, who chaired the negotiations between the political rivals, told a press conference.Details of the deal were not released and Mbeki said the agreement would only be made public after a formal signing ceremony scheduled for next Monday at 10 am.

How much was that?

On August 1st 2008 the currency in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Dollar (ZWD) was adjusted to keep up with skyrocketing inflation and 10 zeros were removed from the currency.

Coins that were taken out of circulation in 2001 are once again legal tender. On July 31st an item costing 10,000,000,000 could be purchased for only 1 ZWD. Here in the USA, the recently released 10 Billion ZWD note was selling for over 40 on EBay!

Mugabe and Tsvangirai to meet face to face

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe's president and his opposition rival agree to immediate talks about sharing power to resolve the country's political crisis.

President Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader are signing an agreement saying they "have an obligation" to establish a framework of "working together in an inclusive government."

The deal — which comes nearly three months after Zimbabwe's disputed March presidential election — also calls for preventing "all forms of political violence." More than 120 people have been killed, thousands injured and tens of thousands forced from their homes since the campaign began, rights groups say.

The agreement calls for talks to conclude within two weeks.

A poem for Africa

A new era is upon you.
One to replenish all of your sins
and it all started,
with your sponsored child sweet little grin.

She/he thanks you now.
For restoring her/his life.
You relieved her/him
from all her/his recent pain suffering, and strife.

Her/his expression will never change.
It will always be a smile no matter what is going on
and all her/his past memories
have faded out of her/his mind and are gone.

She/he looks up to you and
sees you as a hero.
Because you proved to him
that he can be more then just a zero.

She/he says no matter what he does or
how he does it, it will never be enough.
To repay you for showing him that he
can be more than enough.

Sean Wilson

Teaching Math in million percent inflation

Ever wondered what it is like to teach Math in a society that has million percent inflation???

Well... it makes it harder when the text books used to teach Math cannot keep up with the current situations. Consider this. When the ATM only gives out Z$100-billion at a time, enough only for two loaves of bread, students in grade school are learning about things like Z$1, and 20c and so forth. Many Zimbabwean children have never seen that type of money. These are the textbooks that were being used when I was in grade school 12 years ago!!!!! Year on Year inflation today is estimated to be around 12 million percent (no official figures from government). In textbooks, story problems portray a shopping basket to contain Milk for 25 cents, Bread for 50 cents and 2 cokes for 40 cents. I wonder what these children must think of "that" money. They have never seen it, and under these conditions they will probably never see it

ASAP has a program called Bridge the Gap which works in the rural areas to improve education standards. BTG is a program that is helping more and more students stay in school by learning to appreciate what they are learning. Too many students drop out of school after the primary level because they cannot afford to continue. ASAP Africa also equips teachers to educate effectively through holding teaching technique workshops and helping teachers to develop common exams for their area. Through these efforts at easing the transition in math education between primary and secondary school, ASAP Africa hopes to increase the percentage of students who make the jump with success.

A letter from Zimbabwe

Life is so stressful now here in Zim. Everyone thought normalcy would return soon after the elections but it is now apparent that things are getting worse. Only today, the price of a kingsize soft drink went up from Z$15 Billion in the morning to Z$65 Billion by sunset. There is no electricity often times and most people have to rely on candles for lighting that now cost $45 Billion each. For those who use (household) gas for cooking, the price is now Z$3,8 Trillion for a 20 Kg tank (contents only)!!! A quarter chicken and chips for the odd lunch now cost close to Z$450 Billion. When stressed, I find golfing a coping strategy. If I decide to play, I normally choose Wednesday afternoon from about lunch hour and spend two or so hours before returning to the office.

On the lighter side....

Support Zimbabwe

Support Zimbabwe is in the process of trying to convene conferences to bring together Zimbabweans from different parts of the world to play a constructive part in rebuilding the country. Currently, many of us have no collective plan on how we are going to either go back or be a part of the country's revival. The most important thing is to really revive the country and part of that solution requires a political change. But following that we need an economic and social plan. That will be the purpose of this conference.

Follow the link to their official website- http://www.supportzimbabwe.com

5 more years

On Sunday afternoon, President Robert Mugabe was inaugrated once again as President of Zimbabwe. He is the only President of Zimbabwe in my lifetime..

When I was born, Ronald Reagan was the US President. After him- George H.W Bush had one term, Clinton served two terms and George W Bush has also served 2 terms. All that time- Mugabe has been in power. And that is not even the start of Mugabe's reign- he had already been in power 8 years by the time I was born!! Hard to compare? I think so...

On Friday of last week, as Zimbabweans "went to the polls", inflation was reported to have reached 9 000 000%. I really dont know how to put this in comparison- maybe by comparing it to US inflation which is currently 4%. Nothing that we can compare it to will put it into perspective.

The USD is trading at around $1.99 to the pound at the start of this week. Compare this to the Zimbabwe figure of 85 Billion Zimbabwe dollars to one British Pound.. It is pretty accurate to say that the USD and pound will trade at around $2 this week- normally I just double any pound figure to get the USD figure. However, the Zimbabwe exchange rate will fluctuate greatly by the day- possibly by the hour.....

What is next for Zimbabwe????

Opposition to boycott June 27th elections

The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday pulled out of this week's presidential election in Zimbabwe, saying he is not prepared to ask people to die by voting for him, and accusing Robert Mugabe of "waging a war against the people". The Movement for Democratic Change leadership met and decided to withdraw from what it called a "violent, illegitimate sham of an election" amid the murders by the ruling Zanu PF militia and security forces of 100 opposition activists, the torture and rape of thousands of MDC supporters, and a state-orchestrated campaign of terror across swathes of the country.

In his statement, Tsvangirai said he had little choice but to withdraw: "The militia, war veterans and even Mugabe himself have made it clear that anyone that votes for me in the forthcoming election faces the very real possibility of being killed. We in the MDC cannot ask them to cast their vote on June 27 when that vote could cost them their lives. We believe a credible election, which reflects the will of the people, is impossible." Zimbabwe's justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said that if Tsvangirai writes to the electoral commission formally declaring he has pulled out, then the election will be called off and Mugabe declared president again.

This upcoming Saturday, Liz Bara will be on the panel of a discussion on Microfinance: Empowering women worldwide. On the panel this weekend,

BryAnn Chen is the Executive Director of the Refugee Women's Network based here in Atlanta. Created in 1995, Refugee Women's Network, Inc. (RWN), is a national non profit organization created by women, for women, that focuses on enhancing refugee and immigrant women's strength, skills, and courage, through leadership training, education and advocacy to promote independence, self-sufficiency, and networking among its participants.

Elizabeth Bara is co-founder and Executive Director for ASAP Africa. Created in 1992, ASAP’s mission is to cultivate self reliance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Until 2001, ASAP’s program focused on improving education infrastructure in rural Zimbabwe and maintained a constantly growing orphan scholarship fund. This year over 29,000 women will participate in ASAP’s currently funded projects in rural Zimbabwe, which are completely managed and implemented by ASAP’s local Zimbabwean staff. ASAP is currently replicating their program into Malawi.


Genia Topple is the Executive Director of the Rockdale Foundation. The Rockdale Foundation is a private foundation, established in 1994 through the generosity and passion of philanthropist Bob Pattillo. In 2003, Genia joined the Foundation and served as the organization’s Program Officer for Microfinance for 4 years, developing their strategy for microfinance in the Arab region and building relationships with grantees.


Astrid Yolanda Pregel is the President of Feminomics Inc., a consulting company working at the intersections of gender, leadership, entrepreneurship and the economy. She also serves as an associate with the Institute of Leadership and Entrepreneurship at the School of Management at Georgia Tech. Astrid retired from Canada's Foreign Service in 2003, capping her 25 year career as Canada's first woman Consul General to the Southeastern USA. She also was the first woman appointed Minister Counselor at the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C., where she oversaw the entire scope of Canada's commercial interests with the U.S. -- the largest trading relationship in the world.

More deaths reported in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's opposition party says four more of its activists have been killed in a firebombing near the capital, Harare. Zimbabwe holds a presidential election runoff in just over a week. President Robert Mugabe has been accused of unleashing widespread violence to insure a victory at the polls over opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai who won the first round. There's concern the runoff will be neither free nor fair. Thesecond round of voting is being held nationwide on June 27th

Car theft

Zimbabwe's ruling party has been accused of car theft after an armoured BMW, confiscated by police last week from the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, was spotted being driven by its officials. A spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change, Nqobizitha Mlilo, said the BMW X5 was impounded by police on 6 June when Mr Tsvangirai was detained for several hours at Esigodini police station in south-western Zimbabwe. "We do not know who is inside the vehicle but a group of Zanu PF officials have been using it to drive between election points in the Beitbridge and Lupane areas," he said yesterday. The BMW, which has South African number plates, had been impounded for alleged registration irregularities. The vehicle, which is armoured, was delivered to Mr Tsvangirai only last week after reports of an assassination plot against him. The disputed election run-off between Mr Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe has been set for 27 June. But the MDC is facing increasing hurdles in its campaign, including election violence, bans on rallies and snap arrests of its leaders. Mr Mlilo said the ruling Zanu PF party was "a law unto itself. They're insane." The bizarre car development came on top of the curious case of the disappearing letter. The office of South Africa's President and regional mediator, Thabo Mbeki, has denied the existence of a message of complaint sent to him on 13 May by Mr Tsvangirai. The letter, which was leaked to the South African media 10 days ago, called on Mr Mbeki to step aside as mediator, claiming he has failed to be impartial. But Frank Chikane, director-general of Mr Mbeki's office, told a press conference that the letter did not exist. The MDC says it has "re-delivered" it.

From The Ugandan Observer

The Ugandan government is watching the political stalemate is Zimbabwe "with keen interest," a government official has revealed.

Addressing reporters and diplomats in Kampala, a top government official, Prof. Apolon C. Bambi said that "the interface between Comrade Robert Mugabe and Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai is so lugubrious that we have decided to interlocute dynamically, with atomistic diligence." He added that the Ugandan government would consider "intercalating its cerebral assets" into the Zimbabwean situation if it did not ."

As we went to press, oppressed, starved and beaten Zimbabweans were still waiting for results of a general election held last month. Meanwhile, Mugabe's "Kalangala Action Plan" operatives have been dishing out more beatings to opposition supporters, according to video evidence that surfaced this week.

Prof. C. Bambi dismissed criticism that the Ugandan government was not doing anything about the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe. Diplomats and journalists had complained that as Chairman of the Commonwealth, President Yoweri Museveni should be spearheading efforts to find a solution to the stalemate.

"Honestly, to propagate the propaganda that Uganda is asunder from the rupture politique in Zimbabwe is to pander to obscurantism. On the contrary, we are assiduously acclimatising to the situation with a view to propitiously and profusely interface," the professor explained.

The revelation that Uganda would "propitiously and profusely interface" came as a relief to concerned diplomats, journalists and political observers.

"I am happy that the Ugandan government is finally doing something. I didn't quite catch what exactly it is doing, but it sounded quite serious," a British diplomat, who studied English and Diplomacy at the University of Oxford, told The Analyst.

President Robert Mugabe welcomed the news of Uganda's possible "interfacing" as "an interesting proposal."

"With a facelift, the people of Zimbabwe would think they are getting a whole new president," he said. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

Rallies blocked, Opposition members in court

Zimbabwean opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai, constrained in his campaigning options by police obstruction of rallies, staged a walkabout in the second city of Bulawayo on Monday as he did in Hwange and Victoria falls this weekend.

Officials in those two cities blocked rallies by the founder of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change by closing off access to the planned rally venues.

In Harare, meanwhile, rival MDC formation chief Arthur Mutambara was expected in court Tuesday for arraignment on charges arising from the publication in April by the Standard newspaper of an article he wrote blasting President Robert Mugabe.

Police arrested Mutambara on Sunday at his home in Marlborough, Harare. Sources said he was being held at the Matapi police station in Harare's Mbare section.

Also in custody on Monday was parliamentarian-elect Eric Matinenga of the Buhera West constituency in eastern Manicaland province, arrested Saturday for allegedly inciting violence. He was headed for Mutare magistrate’s courts today.