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L. Nygaard
San Francisco, CA
Thank you for the wonderful documentary. Please inform me if there is any way to more directly assist Luka and others in his situation.
From the Filmmaker:
Thanks very much for the feedback. I've received these types of questions from many people.
The dilemma as to how to solve the problems entangled in trade, development, debt and foreign aid are complicated. Sadly, there is no simple answer, but we must continue to push our leaders to create a fairer, more human system that is based on dignity and sustainable development.
Here are some ways you can help:
1. We are trying to raise enough money to ensure that all Luka's brothers and sisters, as well as cousins will be able to finish high school. At the moment, Chiwesa and Maureen, Luka's sister and brother, have both started high school. I have set up a small fund for Luka and his family, and committed to sending them money every school semester to cover the costs. If you would like to make any contributions contact me at shantha@earthlink.net. I would be happy then to provide regular updates on how the family is doing.
Alternatively, you can contact the family directly through their local church. The address is:
Hilda Mukungu
C/Evangelical Church of Zambia
P.O. Box 910015
Mongu, Zambia
2. There are so many families in need. Sadly the situation in Southern Africa has gotten worse as now a terrible drought has affected huge segments of the population. I have many friends struggling to pay for the children to go to school and a growing number who have left their children orphaned. If you would like to help cover the costs directly for some of these children to go to school, please let me know and I can put you in direct touch with the families.
3. While in Zambia, I worked with a great local organization called the Copperbelt Health and Education Project (CHEP). They run community based schools for orphans in the Copperbelt, an area where the HIV/AIDS rate is very high and the number of orphans is growing. They also support home based care services for those that are dying with the disease. The organization is run by a very dedicated group of young Zambians and is a registered charity in Zambia. There website: www.chep.org.zm
Tax deductible donations to CHEP can be made through the Sports Humanitarian Group, the fiscal not for profit through which the documentary was made. Please make checks out to the Sports Humanitarian Group, but note it is for Chep and mail it to 206 Ninth Ave, Apt. 4n8, New York, NY 10011.
CHEP will keep you posted with regular updates on their activities.
4. To become politically involved in canceling debt and changing the harsh conditionalities attached to the lending policies of the World Bank and the IMF, contact Jubilee Network. They can keep you posted on the latest legislative actions going on in Washington. For full campaign news visit www.jubileeusa.org
5. In Zambia, Pete Henriot, heads Jubilee- Zambia, where they do fantastic work to local advocate for better policies for the poor. It is part of a growing global network fighting for more social justice and building alliances between those in the North and South. As he advocates, debt cancellation will not solve all Zambia's problems, but none of Zambia's problems will be solved without debt cancellation! The website address is: Jubilee-Zambia web site: www.jctr.org.zm
I am often remindend of the words of a friend, Kenyan activist Wahu Kaara, who told me, "Politics is not electioneering or voting or campaigning. Politics is a question of life, what you eat, where you live and what you do." It is certainly a lesson that needs not just to be learnt by African politicians but also those in the world's richest capitals, who continue to wield so much power over the world's poor.
Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information. Thanks again for taking the time to watch the documentary.
Kind regards, Shantha Bloemen, Director/Producer, T-SHIRT TRAVELS
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