Almost 700 students. 78 five-year olds in one class. 4 classrooms. 13 staff members. This school in Uganda is grossly understaffed, and lacks the resources to educate these students effectively. The Allen Foundation was created in 2001. Bill and Helen Allen, the founders, created this private charity after Bill worked in Tanzania as a professional hunter for a safari company, and Helen worked for the United Nations in Central Asia. While Helen was in graduate school she met a woman who is a Maasai Tanzanian. The Maasai is a native tribe in Tanzania. During their time together they talked about how much help people in Tanzania needed.
When asked why they chose to raise money for people outside the country, the Allens said, “Here in the United States we have better means of raising money.” The thinking behind the foundation was to create a charity that was small. All the people involved are “regular folks, not diplomatic bureaucrats”, said Helen Allen. This way the money can go directly to helping people in parts of Africa. The Allen Foundation rarely writes grants to ensure the money is spent where it is needed most, and keep “politics” out of the decisions. All decisions are made by the board of directors, which consists of eight volunteers. This sets them apart from larger NGO’s, nongovernmental organizations, where they have more workers. Those groups are often very “top heavy”, and much of the money donated to them is used for travel and other expenses. The Allen Foundation does not use any donated money for travel. The money is used to give direct aid to people in Africa.
The Foundation raises money through private donation, and by selling baskets that are hand woven in various countries of Africa, including Ethiopia, Uganda and even from refugee camps in the Darfur region of Sudan. The Allen Foundation buys these baskets, at a price set by the women, and pays to ship them to Cody. Once in Wyoming, the Allens sell the baskets at fourteen different craft fairs. They had a booth at Country Christmas in Powell, and made a little over $1,000. They also sell the baskets online.
The Allen Foundation, on average, sends much needed supplies every four months. Since October of 2009, they have sent 300 pounds of donated school and sports supplies to schools in Uganda. For a 150-pound shipment, the cost of transport is about $580. Generally, it takes four months for the boxes to reach their destination. The Allen Foundation sent a shipment at the end of December, and the boxes are just now getting there. The shipments include books, school supplies, sports equipment, and anything else they can find.
They are currently raising money for a special project to build a block of six latrines for the girls. The current latrines are in such bad shape that they are basically nonexistent. That project will cost roughly $4,200. They also fund four children in Malawi to go to school for one year. This costs about $130 per child. In Malawi, families have to pay school exams, uniforms and supplies.
In Singita, a poor town in Tanzania, the women would gather salt in the salt beds. From this backbreaking work, they earned $1.50 per week. These women asked for a sewing machine, so they could make clothes. The Allen’s then went to the market and bought sewing machines for roughly $70. After that, they added the Cherehani Project to the Allen Foundation. This project loans money to women to buy sewing machines. After the women buy their sewing machine and begin making and selling clothes, they usually try to pay back the money. Most of the people the Allens are helping don’t want handouts. If the Allen Foundation sends them money, they want to be able to repay them.
Here in the U.S., we have safety nets. If you go through a hard period, many times you will get help from others. In Africa, there is no one to help them. Helen Allen said, “our very worst day of poverty here is nothing like their everyday living, every sick, rotten day.” These people value their education, even though they are lucky to make it out of primary school. If they do manage to pass high school, they have to count on grants for them to go to some form of college, generally in England. Helen Allen said, sometimes “we don’t realize how lucky we are, even in our worst time.”