The African Well Fund is pleased to announce that during 2007 we raised a grand total of $207,770 USD, once again exceeding our 2007 goal of $100,000! That brings our total raised since inception to $480,440! We wish to thank each one of you who helped to make this unprecedented achievement!
The African Well Fund would like to take a moment to look back at the highlights of 2007 as well as taking a look forward at what is in the works for 2008.
2007 in Review
- AWF kicked off the year by announcing that Pittsburg band Anti-Flag would be donating a portion of the pre-sale ticket sales from its spring tour to AWF. Throughout the tour, AWF volunteers manned tables at shows and raised a total of $2,000 for clean water projects in Africa.
- In March, AWF board Chairperson Julie Cook was interviewed for the weekly program Zócalo on Southern California’s public radio station KPCC.
- Our annual Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday campaign raised over $34,000! With funds from this drive, African Well Fund and our partner Africare teamed up with Invisible Children to build wells at schools in the Northern Ugandan district of Gulu.
- Fifth graders from Phoenix Country Day school raised over $11,000 in March by collecting pledges for a walk-a-thon.
- In April, AWF was featured on two U2 fan Web sites. U2 Station interviewed board Vice Chairman Rob Trigalet for an article and @U2 ran a news article highlighting the 2007 Bono’s Birthday Well campaign.
- First graders from Linda Verde Elementary School in Lancaster, Calif., raised over $200 for AWF in May while learning to count coins by combining lessons with a penny drive.
- AWF participated in the Be the Cause: Walk for Hope in Long Beach, Calif., again this year, raising over $2,500 from the walk.
- In June students from East Petersburg Elementary School in Lancaster County, Penn., raised $3,800 in a penny battle held between different classrooms.
- In October, African Well Fund benefited from the Indie Springs: Hope is Eternal concert in Los Angeles. Donations from tickets and T-shirt sale raised over $700
- InTO the Heart raised $3,000 for AWF when the fifth annual U2 fan festival rocked Toronto on Nov. 1–3.
- From Nov. 12–19, AWF held its third Got Water? A Virtual Auction for Clean Water Projects in Africa online auction and raised over $3,000. The auction featured water bottles signed by Bono, Travis Barker of Blink-182 and +44, Criss Angel, Barry Manilow, and the members of Anti-Flag; an EDUN ONE Campaign T-shirt signed by Ali Hewson, Bono and designer Rogan Gregory; an autographed Tom Morello CD; a book signed by Pete Wentz of Fall out Boy; and Duran Duran’s "Live from London" DVD and greatest hits CD signed by all four original band members.
- Filmmaker Steve Buckwalter completed a short DVD about the African Well Fund using footage obtained during the 2006 AWF trip to Uganda.
Where your donations went
Donations from this year have funded clean water projects in:
- Uganda: AWF teamed up with Invisible Children to provide boreholes at seven schools in Northern Uganda, improving the quality of life for over 8,000 students.
- Malawi: This project included eight rehabilitated boreholes, six new boreholes and latrines at seven schools. According to reports AWF has received, this project has really brought the community in the Dowa district together, inspiring the initiation of projects such as building additional school rooms and housing for teachers.
- Zimbabwe: This project is a continuation of a 2005 AWF project in the district of Gokwe. The new project will rehabilitate seven shallow wells and one deep well, providing 2,000 people with safe, clean water.
- Liberia: Four new hand-pump wells will be built in Fenutoli, Liberia, and two existing pumps will be rehabilitated, benefiting over 15,000 people in the community.
- Niger: The village of Tsamia Jigo, a community of 3,000 inhabitants, will benefit from the construction of a new well and the completion of an old well that need to be dug deeper.
Looking Ahead to 2008
This is already shaping up to be another prosperous year as AWF works to expand its reach and fundraising power in 2008. Some of the things we are looking forward to in the New Year include increasing our presence on MySpace and Facebook, launching a page on YouTube that includes footage from our DVD, and potentially making a second board trip to Africa. We anticipate the next Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser to be another success and we’ve already received some exciting donations for our fourth Got Water action next fall! With increased donations we hope to be able to fund some larger scale clean water projects in order to reach as many people as we can in the most efficient, sustainable manner possible.
AWF is looking to expand our volunteer expertise as well. As you may know, AWF is entirely volunteer-run with no paid staff. We are currently seeking volunteers with experience in grant writing, Web programming, accounting, article writing and fundraising. In order to ensure that every dollar donated goes directly to water projects, any administrative costs are funded by merchandise sales (excluding well shares and Mile in Her Shoes certificates) or in-kind donations.
We remain dependent on our volunteers and donors to make this possible. Check our volunteer forum often for the latest news on our ongoing projects and to share any new ideas or suggestions.
Thank you again for all your support!