photo | justi griersonIssue 01 | ONE
Writer: Liz Werner
Photographer: Candice Towell

Timon Bondo is hard to miss with his bigger-than-life smile, hearty laugh and effervescent spirit. Though lighthearted in most aspects of his life, Timon is serious about helping the children of Rabondo, Kenya, a small subsistence farming community where he grew up. Fraught with AIDS, poverty and a sense of hopelessness for the past decade, Rabondo is experiencing dramatic change because Timon is taking action.

Timon may not be whom you picture when you think of a hero. While his story carries a legacy of heroic proportions, Timon himself is an unlikely superman. Unsure of his actual age due to a lack of accurate birth records, Timon estimates that he is somewhere between 65 and 85 years old. His youth is not the only thing slipping away; he has been losing his eyesight for the past 10 years and now is almost totally blind. So how, then, did an aging and ailing man almost single-handedly restore a sense of hope to a village that is nearly 8,000 miles from where he sits today? Admittedly, Timon acknowledges that he is neither a genius nor a millionaire. Determination, patience and a vision of education were the guiding and abiding lights of Timon’s efforts as his programs continue to strengthen and save Rabondo’s children and community. Read the rest of this entry »

While still a young venture, (RED) is already making a tangible difference in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Positive feedback about (RED)’s efforts has reached their headquarters in Los Angeles, sometimes through surprising avenues. Smith recounts a meeting with executives from Gap in which she was told about how a man from Ghana waited outside a Gap store in southern California, asking if he could meet some of the employees. The man explained that he had lost eight family members to AIDS and knows of several more that are ill, and because of (RED), he has hope for their lives.

Home based care for people living with HIV and AIDS in Rwanda. photo | courtesy of the Global Fund/John Rae Read the rest of this entry »

Global Citizens Network

This GCN team helps build a health center in Maili Tatu, Kenya. Photo | Courtesy of Global Citizens Network

Looking for a meaningful travel experience? The Global Citizens Network (GCN) organizes volunteer excursions that immerse travelers in the culture and daily life of the communities they visit. Short-term volunteer teams are partnered with local organizations to participate in projects aimed at meeting the community’s needs. In addition to brick-and-mortar projects, volunteers have assisted in several agriculture initiatives including shade grown coffee, rice harvesting, irrigation plans and community beautification and restoration. Participants pay a program fee of $800 USD to $2,200 USD — depending on the site and trip length. Fees cover transportation within the country/state, accommodation, meals, training materials and a modest donation to the community project at hand. Trip destinations include Arizona, Kentucky, Washington, Brazil, Canada, Nepal, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, Thailand, Tanzania and Kenya. Summing up the experience, past participant Ted says, “It has become the most meaningful thing I’ve experienced in my life. It was more than a casual cultural exchange. I never felt like a tourist, I felt like I was coming home.” Read the rest of this entry »

In countries like Romania, Heifer cows are providing hope for the future in impoverished communities.
Photo | Courtesy of Heifer InternationalIssue 04 | Generosity
Writer: Liz Werner

Heifer International

In lieu of shopping until the cows come home, why not help bring a cow to someone’s home? For more than 60 years, Heifer International has been providing livestock and agricultural training to communities throughout the world who struggle for reliable sources of food and income. Through the nonprofit’s “Most Important Gift Catalog in the World” that can be found online, individuals can gift a variety of items such as seedlings, honey bees, cows, sheep, llamas, water buffalo, goats, flocks of geese, chicks and ducks. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo | Maciej DakowiczIf you ever happen to be visiting the Balkans, I suggest you get up early and fill your stomach up with an abundant breakfast: lots of coffee, bread and jam, a couple of eggs if you are not vegan. This is especially true if your plans include interviewing local residents for a story on microfinance and development programs commissioned for the upcoming Issue 5 of NEED magazine. Read the rest of this entry »

Nestor Jaramillo (center) talks with Congresswoman Betty McCollum (left) and the NPH chaperone (right) that traveled with the children from El Salvador.

Congresswoman McCollum presents Vanessa and the other children with an American flag along with a certificate stating that each flag had been flown over the US capitol in their honor. The Congresswoman was instrumental in expediting the children’s visas.Minnesota businessman Nestor Jaramillo was inspired to help these children after seeing one of them in a traveling dance troop at his church. He contacted Friends of the Orphans and discovered that not one, but five children at the NPH home in El Salvador had misaligned eyes. Jaramillo enlisted the services of doctors, nurses and a hospital in order to make the surgeries possible. With the medical arrangements in place, he purchased airline tickets for the five children and their chaperone from NPH El Salvador to Minneapolis. Friends of the Orphans then organized the host families that cared for the children while in Minnesota. Read the rest of this entry »

The night before his corrective eye surgery, Jonas enjoys some pizza at a restaurant in Minnesota.Issue 02 | Health
Writer: Stephanie Kinnunen
Photographer: John Abernathy

Five orphaned and abandoned children recently received a gift that will last a lifetime. A Minnesota businessman spearheaded an effort that brought the five children from El Salvador to the US for corrective eye surgery. Misalignment of the eyes can affect vision and depth perception. There is also a social stigma attached to this condition that could prevent these children from having a normal life. As they become adults, it could be difficult for them to find a good job or be accepted by peers. Without the generous assistance of a non-profit organization, a congresswoman, numerous host families, a hospital, a pediatrician, a surgeon, nurses and donors, this gift would not have been possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo | John AbernathyJohn Abernathy, one of NEED magazine’s contributing photographers, consistently offers readers compelling visual narratives. He has voluntarily completed three assignments for NEED, featuring two Minnesota-based stories in Issue 2, along with a shoot in Guatemala for Issue 4. Abernathy’s success as a photographer has allowed him to make a living off something he enjoys, but he is certainly not the only one benefiting from his work. Recently, the man behind the lens allowed me to turn it back on him, offering some professional insights and personal experiences.

Q: Do you see the world differently as a photographer and how do you feel about approaching your subjects?

A: It interests me to think that all photographers are basically faced with two questions: where should they stand and when to take the photograph. Yet there is so much variety between photographers. This makes me think excellent photography is about getting outside yourself and shooting from an uncommon perspective, both physically and mentally. Photography is a selective process. By taking a photo you are choosing what is important and what isn’t. I try to think about whether the subject will think they are portrayed honestly in the final article. Read the rest of this entry »

photo | courtesy of SunNight SolarAs prices at the pump rise, with the cost of oil soaring over one hundred dollars a barrel, the demand for renewable energy solutions is increasing. Solar energy has recently been discussed as a viable alternative energy option, especially in southwestern states where the sun is plentiful.

While here in the US we are looking to diversify our energy sources, two billion people in the developing world live without electricity. In these places, darkness brings studying and microenterprise activities to a halt. Kerosene is most prevalently used to provide light to the home, but it is an incredibly dangerous and unhealthy resource. It is extremely flammable, and since it is often used for cooking, house fires are common. The health effects are perhaps even worse: it is estimated that people who rely on kerosene inhale the equivalent of two packs of cigarette smoke per day. Read the rest of this entry »

Back to Work

Like so many others in New Orleans, Sarah Duncan’s life was left in ruins after Hurricane Katrina. She is a professional musician in the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches music part-time at Loyola University. The concert hall in downtown New Orleans was severely damaged by the flood, leaving the orchestra without a venue and the musicians without work for six months. Most of Sarah’s students were evacuated, and few have returned to the city. During the disaster, the delicate equipment and instruments Sarah relied on for her livelihood – two violins, a piano, her music library and recording equipment – were all destroyed when her apartment was flooded with two feet of water.

Sarah plays her repaired violin, which was made possible with a self-sufficiency grant from Modest Needs.
photo | courtesy of Kyra Carpenter Read the rest of this entry »