November 2, 2008 Dear Friends and Family, I am excited to announce that this January I will be leaving the United States to live and serve as a volunteer in Kenya. In partnership with Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) and Notre Dame Mission Volunteers (NDMVA), I will have the privilege of spending a year working with young children in the small village of Malava, Kenya. This new partnership with CMMB and NDMVA will give me the opportunity to help children affected by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, physical birth defects, and a multitude of other infectious diseases. Kenya is located in Sub‐Saharan Eastern Africa and boarders Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Lake Victoria, and the Indian Ocean. As of 2007, 1,100,000 Kenyan children have been orphaned because of the death of one or both parents due to AIDS. In the same year, 73,000 Kenyans died of AIDS. In addition, less than 5% of children under the age of five are sleeping with treated bed nets to protect against malaria carrying mosquitoes. Sadly, if the child does in fact get malaria, only 1/4 of children receive medical treatment. In Africa, 2/3 of all deaths occur in children age 5 and younger. Of those children, 2/3 occurs within the first week of his or her life and 2/3 of those children die in the first 24 hours of life. While in Malava, I will have the opportunity to work at either the local orphanage or the St. Julie’s Programme for Disabled Children. At the St. Julie’s center I would be involved with the children it serves who are in rehabilitation for numerous problems often linked to birth defects. Sadly, these defects are due to lack of adequate prenatal care and insufficient availability of basic medicines. The orphanage will serve the town’s children who have either lost parents due to illness or been abandoned by parents who most often did not want to care for an infant with HIV/AIDS. In fact, many children throughout Africa are abandoned by their parents and left for dead in trashcans. Those who are found alive then must live in the local orphanage. As part of my volunteer commitment, I have been asked to raise $3,000 to help offset the costs incurred by CMMB and NDMVA. However, since it will cost $15,000 for CMMB and NDMVA to allow me to serve next year, I am striving to raise all of the $15,000. All money I raise will go directly to supporting my work over the course of the next year. These costs include my basic living expenses, health insurance, transportation, and medical supplies. During this exciting time in my life, I am asking for your financial and emotional support as well as your thoughts and prayers throughout this next year. As a way to help me and the people of Kenya, please consider making a tax‐deductible donation to Notre Dame Mission Volunteers on my behalf. NDMVA is a non‐profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides, in partnership with CMMB, services and delivers aid without regard to creed, race, sex, nationality, or political circumstance. Every dollar that you will donate will go to directly support my service and me this year. Upon exceeding my goal, ninety‐seven cents of every dollar will go directly to the CMMB healthcare programs throughout the world. I encourage you to learn more by going to the website for NDMVA (www.ndmva.org) and CMMB (www.cmmb.org).
Since I am aiming to exceed my individual costs, I would like to encourage everyone to contribute. Some have already begun to support my service efforts with pledged contributions that range from $20 to $500. I would greatly appreciate any amount you are able to contribute, and it will be meaningful to have all of you as partners in this worthwhile effort. Please make your check payable to “Notre Dame Mission Volunteers” and be sure to write “Tom Murphy – Kenya” in the memo line so NDMVA will allocate your donation accordingly. If your company offers matching funds for charitable contribution, please also consider exercising this option as a way of increasing your contribution. To maximize my campaign and stay in touch with everyone at home, I have come up with a few ways that you can join me in partnership this year. I have begun a blog that I will use to chronicle my preparation and year in Kenya. For those who are unable to give, you can also help me raise money by simply visiting my site. I have decided to add advertisements onto my blog. When you go onto the page, the advertisers count your “view.” The more “views” of my page that take place the more money I will get from the advertisers. In two days, with just over two hundred views, I have raised over $40. I have set the goal of attaining 100,000 views by the end of next year. That is just 274 a day! By just taking a few seconds once a day every month, you can help. All you have to do is just go onto my site once a day and you will be contributing to my year of service. You can also help by telling your co‐workers and friends about my upcoming year in Kenya. Please feel free to forward or give this letter to anyone that you believe would have interest in my year of service, and encourage him or her to share as well. If you know a group or school that would like to become involved or hear me speak upon my return, please encourage them to contact me. Although I will be going to Kenya without you, I want to bring you along through your support. My departure date is set for January 7, 2009. Although I have a lot to do before I go, I look forward to seeing or hearing from you before I leave. If you have any questions please call, write, or email me at the addresses provided. Thank you very much for your help and support of any kind! I will certainly keep you posted on the progress of this big new step in my life. With heartfelt thanks for all your support, Tom Murphy Address ‐ 72 Prospect St Bernardsville, NJ 07924 Email ‐
[email protected] Phone (cell) – 908 938 0386 Blog – www.aviewfromthecave.com Donate electronically by indicating “Tom Murphy” ‐ http://www.NDMVAa.org/Donate/index.htm