Killing the Worm

This month's issue of Good Magazine featured an article called Killing the Worm, by Austin Merrill, exposing the difficulty of eradicating Guinea worm disease in Ghana. Cases of Guinea worm disease have dropped dramatically in the last 20 years, but the painful disease that often affects children, is still persistent in northern Ghana.

Most often children contract Guinea work from swimming in or drinking water infested with water fleas that feed on Guinea larvae. One ingested the larvae penetrate the wall of the lower intestine and develop into worms. As they grow they tunnel through the body and eventually break through the skin of the victim. The article features first hand accounts of this painful process and notes the historical presence of this disease, tracing it back to Egyptian mummies.

In recent years international and multi-organizational efforts have been tasked with eradicating Guinea worm, but have faced the obstacles of local customs, community needs, and dissent among public health practices. If eradicated, Guinea worm disease will be only the second disease to be eradicated, small pox was the first.
For more on this article visit: http://www.goodmagazine.com/

New Website Features

Have you visited our website lately? We've added new features to bring you the latest news about The Building Fund. Check out our new pages featuring information on visiting our schools, video of our students, pictures from our schools and events, and audio clips from interviews with our founder and students. We hope that you enjoy the new features!!

Join ONE, support the Education for All Act!!

ONE is an innovative campaign bringing together over 2.4 million people to raise awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and other issues facing the world’s poorest countries. With the support of America's most well-known and respected non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations the ONE campaign is asking that the U.S. allocate a greater percentage of its budget to providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food.

ONE is dedicated to improving education opportunities for the disadvantaged and recognizes that education is a critical piece of the development puzzle and is actively supporting the Education for All Act.
About the Bill:
1. The Education for All (EFA) Act of 2007 would support countries with rigorous and accountable education plans endorsed by the Fast Track Initiative, and would also channel resources to post conflict/fragile countries through non-governmental channels.
2. Authorizes $1.5 billion in FY2009, scaling up by $500 million each year to a total of $3 billion in FY2012.
3. The legislation would create an Education Coordinator to report to the Secretary of State, with the authority to direct resources to various US government agencies for implementation.

You can join ONE and learn more about the Education for All Act by visiting their website http://www.one.org/about/.

Partnership with Architecture for Humanity

TBF is excited to announce a new partnership with Architecture for Humanity! The partnership will provide TBF with the opportunity to collaborate with Chicago area architects to draw plans for a community center housing a library, health center and public meeting space at The Young Apostles International School.

In early November members of the Architecture for Humanity Chicago Chapter will come together to discuss and draw plans for the community center, after which TBF will be provided with a series of options to present to The Young Apostles International School for consideration. Needless to say the students and administrators at The Young Apostles International School are excited about this venture as is TBF. We look forward to updating you on the progress this project!!

The Building Fund Seeks Fall Interns

Interested in working with The Building Fund? An internship with The Building Fund gives you an opportunity to learn first hand about our work while gaining valuable skills and experience. Click here to see our internship listings or visit idealist.org.

Communications Intern:
The Building Fund seeks a Communications Intern to aide the organization in increasing its media presence. An ideal candidate will have previous experience working with non-profits and an interest in international education. Interns will have the option to work from home and must be willing to committee 10 hours per week. Working closely with the Founder, the Communications Intern will be responsible for:
Researching new media opportunities
Increasing the organizations web presence
Creating newsletters
Other special projects

Development Intern:
The Building Fund seeks a Development Intern to aide the organization in its grant research and writing. An ideal candidate will have previous experience working with non-profits and an interest in international education. Interns will have the option to work from home and must be willing to committee 10 hours per week. Working closely with the Founder, the Development Intern will be responsible for:
• Drafting and writing reports, letters, and grants • Prospect and new donor research
• Assist in planning and organizing fund-raising events
The internship is unpaid, however, after completion of the internship the intern will have gained valuable skills and contacts, as well as a familiarity with the inter workings of a non-profit. We are also willing to write recommendations for our interns for future internships and jobs.

Please email your cover letter, resume, and one writing sample (can be creative, or school paper) to:
info@thebuildingfund.org
Please use subject line: Internship

Welcome to Our Blog

Welcome to The Building Fund blog!
We are excited to bring you the latest news from our projects and schools as well as current information on education in Ghana. We hope that you will visit us often and add your comments and questions.
Best,
The Building Fund