November 1, 2007
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Spirit of America's project contacts in the Horn of Africa are a dedicated group of men and women committed to helping the local population. We're proud to work with them and grateful to you, our donors and friends, for supporting our outreach to their efforts.
This article, Service women teach English to orphanage girls in Horn of Africa, from Djibouti details school supplies sent by SoA that are being used to help orphanage girls learn English as a second language. An excerpt from the write-up shares that "prior to these donations [from SoA], all of the volunteer teachers did the best to develop lesson plans in order to teach our girls English, but the girls could not retain the information or do their homework as there were no materials". Your contributions to our Support US Special Ops Forces in the Horn of Africa made that happen! Read the entire article here if you want to bring a smile to your day. Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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September 18, 2007
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As part of our project, Support US Special Ops Forces in Africa, we posted a request from Captain Tim Matthews serving in Djibouti. Thanks to your donations to our outreach efforts in the Horn of Africa, SoA was able to send over 1,000 school backpacks filled with supplies which are starting to arrive just in time for the opening of new school buildings in the area. Schools, the actual building structures to house classrooms and children, are not the norm in many parts of the world where classes are held outside or in tents in the best of circumstances. But Captain Matthews unit in Djibouti has built school and a library for the children in this area. Those new school facilities along with the school supplies sent from SoA will make this a memorable start to the school year for these kids. The message below from Cpt. Matthews along with the wonderful pictures he shared tell the story better than we can so read on!
"Yes, the school supplies have started to come in! We received 275 backpacks, 504 packs of filler paper and 336 pencil boxes. My mail clerk says there is more coming so I don't have a final count yet.
As a teacher myself, it made me miss the beginning of school back in the states - but your generosity really makes a difference here. The Marines here continue to work with the local village schools. We finished building the library in Douda and a middle school from the states sent some books. We painted the primary school in Douda and we are scheduled to paint another school this month. I will write more tomorrow. I have included some of the initial pictures from our distribution in Nagat."
Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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July 11, 2007
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Captain Timothy Matthews is Marine Reservist serving as 2nd Platoon Commander and Civil Affairs Officer with the 6th Provisional Security Company in Djibouti, Horn of Africa wants to use his background as a history teacher to help get 4 local schools and 1000 children ready for the new school year. His team's "big project right now is to finish a school library and stock it with books." Their other goal is to "set the schools up for success at the beginning of the year."  Building a new library Cpt. Matthews wrote to SoA, "I am a Marine Corps reservist currently stationed at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, Africa. As part of my job here I visit the local schools to perform civil affairs duties. Helping out in schools is a natural fit for me because I am a US history teacher in the civilian world. Here in Djibouti, we have been helping schools by building desks, bookcases, and libraries. The feedback from the local Djiboutians has been outstanding. We have been using supplies sent from family and friends at home. Recently, we were told about your organization and how it could help us by further reaching out to the American people. We currently have ties to four schools in the local area. Each school has approximately 250 students. The schools are on the summer hiatus but we are working to collect supplies to start off the school year in September."  Kids in the classroom Anyone with school age children can appreciate how important getting a good start to the school year can be. It is challenging in developing countries where facilities and supplies are limited. With your contributions to our Support US Special Ops Forces in Africa project, we will help Cpt. Matthews provide a great start for the children of Djioubti. In addition to backpacks filled with supplies, donations will be used to provide books for the library, dry erase boards and markers, art easels and other teacher's aids.  Painting the school Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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June 29, 2007
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We received a message and photos from Captain Jason Fleming on the distribution of the 250 soccer balls that we provided as part of our Support US Special Ops Forces in Africa project. Cpt. Fleming will be transitioning to another region in the Horn of Africa. Look for updates on our next project to benefit the local community through his efforts.
Note from Cpt. Fleming-- "Attached are photos from the soccer ball distribution we conducted on Tuesday, June 19. We did it in coordination with the opening ceremonies of the 2nd Annual Sport for All & Olympic Week, held here in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. The Sports Commission Director, Ato Ibrahim Yousef was most appreciative and presented each of us with a t-shirt (see photo below).
Thank you for coordinating all this - it was a real treat to be able to give this stuff out...
   
Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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June 5, 2007
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This email includes updates and info on:
Kenyan school children with the supply filled backpacks from Spirit of America. The best story was the delivery of soccer balls to the Lake Kenyatta Primary School. A school designed for roughly 400 students but maintains a student population of 900+ (daily). Hard to believe, but there has been only one soccer ball for the last two years! A soccer ball cost roughly $46USD each! SSG Hesselback reports "the children almost seemed to 'riot' when the head teacher began to pass out the balls. He of course regained order and afterwards played with the children before collecting the balls and securing them for the athletic program".
The joy filled soccer ball "riot" PLEASE ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO JOIN OUR MAILING LIST SOLDIER'S ANGELS SUPPORTING SPIRIT OF AMERICA'S MISSION Next email will focus on good news (that's not a typo!) from Iraq. Please let us know if you have questions, comments or suggestions. We want to hear from you! All the best, Posted by: Peggy Findley |
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May 21, 2007
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The website for the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) has published an article, "Service Organization Offers Support", about Spirit of America's work in providing supplies for the Lake Kenyatta Primary School at the request of US troops. An excerpt is below and you can read the entire article on the CJTF-HOA site here. “It is the support of organizations, such as Spirit of America, which
allows CJTF-HOA to assist a greater number of individuals in the host
nation,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kris Hesselbrock. “Often financial
restrictions or requirements do not allows us to have extra funding for
expendables like school supplies. So, with the additional help from
American service organizations, we are able to meet the extra needs of
the children in the Horn of Africa.”
Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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April 24, 2007
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SSG Stephen Branstetter, serving with Civil Military Operations for the Coalition Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, confirms that the 250 school backpacks filled with supplies and the 250 soccer balls sent by SoA have been distributed by their team. SSG Branstetter reports that "The supplies have been handed out to the teams and pics are supposed to follow their commands and sent directly to you via your email. Once again I thank you for all that you do on your end to help us on this end. We will post pictures of the distribution to local children coordinated by US personnel serving at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti as soon as we receive them. A big "thank you" to our donors and friends for helping us to sponsor requests from our troops in the Horn of Africa through our Support U S Special Ops Forces in Africa project.Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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April 18, 2007
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On April 6th, we received an update from SSG Kris Hesselbrock, recently stationed in Djibouti. Earlier this year, SSG Hesselbrock requested our support for school supplies, soccer balls, beanie babies and dental hygiene kits for the local children. He recently returned to duty after some much deserved time stateside and explains that he is now working out of three different areas while his operating base is in the process of being moved to Kenya. He arranged for the boxes to be forwarded to the advance party in Kenya. They report that our boxes are being received and will hold them to be distributed when the team is fully in place in Kenya. We're very excited to hear about the distribution, but SSG Hesselbrock asks for our patience while his unit is in transition. He expresses his thanks to Spirit of America and especially our many dedicated supporters. The need is great in this area of Africa and the supplies will benefit a great many. We'll keep you posted! Posted by: Peggy Findley |
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March 29, 2007
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We have received a new request for help in the Horn of Africa from US Army Major John Ling. He learned of SoA through our work with Sgt. Branstetter and would like soccer balls to distribute to the children in Ethiopia. My team is focusing on improving access to safe drinking water. We like to bring soccer balls to the towns and villages that we visit. If you are in a position to send any, we would love to have them. The terrain here is very unforgiving, so shoes and soccer balls do not last very long. Thank you for your consideration, John C. Ling US Army Civil Affairs Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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March 19, 2007
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It’s official… with the backpacks filled with school supplies also shipping late last week, we have fulfilled SSG Kris Hesselbrock’s request. That adds up to 50 boxes on their way to help the local people in Posted by: Peggy Findley |
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March 16, 2007
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The children will love getting those sparkle toothbrushes and beanie babies! Can’t wait for updates and pictures, we’ll keep you posted. Good news to share, most of the supplies requested by SSG Kris Hesselbrock in Posted by: Peggy Findley |
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January 31, 2007
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We are pleased to have two new requests in this week from forces replacing the 96th Civil Affairs that we have been working with in the Horn of Africa under our Support US Ops Forces in Horn of Africa project. With your continued support we will provide these supplies and more to benefit the population in this region of Africa. SSgt. Kristopher Hesselbrock, Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of a Civil Affairs team with the 489th also in Djibouti requested our support for beanie babies and school supplies for children receiving vaccinations along with dental hygiene kits for the locals. SSgt. Hesselbrock shares that “by rewarding kids that had received their vaccinations, we were able to increase the rate of vaccinations by over 50% in less then a two week Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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October 6, 2006
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Greetings, A great update on the Horn of Africa request from US Special Ops Forces follows below, including a long email from Sergeant First Class Joe Roberts. With most attention on Iraq, one can forget American men and women are serving and building relations throughout the region (and the world). In this case, your quick support made a real difference. I encourage you to read Sgt Roberts' email in whole. Here is an excerpt ("Both children and adults came up to us wanting to 'Thank America'") and a photo for starters ... I recently met in Washington with Brigadier General Joe Dunford of the Marines. The last time we saw each other was at Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi, Iraq in June 2004 when I was visiting on behalf of Spirit of America. General Dunford repeatedly thanked Spirit of America and our donors for supporting the Marines in Iraq. He said we had no idea how much it meant to them. He noted that the war is a 'test of endurance' and appreciated that we have continued to offer help throughout. SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES - HORN OF AFRICA This summer we received a request from US Special Ops Forces in the Horn of Africa - based in the tiny country of Djibouti and active in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda. They requested items that could provide immediate assistance/relief for local people - solar lanterns, school supplies and soccer balls. The humanitarian effort also has a larger purpose: to build stronger relations and combat terrorist recruiting. SoA donors responded quickly and generously, contributing $21,924. The project description is here: http://www.spiritofamerica.net/projects/116 /> We have reports from distribution of the donated goods from Ethiopia and Kenya. Here is another photo from Ethiopia.
And the email from SFC Joe Roberts regarding Ethiopia. ====================== First off, I want to say hello and I hope all is well with you. I haven't had computer access for quite some time. So far the SoA donated items have been distributed to the countries of Kenya, Djibouti and just recently Ethiopia. We were finally able to get back to Ethiopia due to a massive flood near the city Dira Dawa. In only a few hours during the night up to 9,000 people lost their homes. Hundreds are dead any at least a few hundred still missing and presumed dead.The community has actually responded rapidly to the crisis. They are rapidly constructing a "tent city" to provide temporary housing. We are assisiting in those efforts as well. Because of the natural disaster, we all agreed here to use the majority of the SoA items for this area of Ethiopia. Mostly because of what many of the chidren in this community have endured in the last few days. In fact an uscheduled flight from Djibouti to our location is bringing in the rest of the items because the initial amount we brought had such a huge impact. We toured 6 schools in the the city which are housing many of the Dislocated Persons (DP's). We noticed that almost every child in the 6 shools/shelters had not one toy due to all their possesions being washed away in only minutes. At each shool each child went from a look of shock from the flood to a look of disbelief when we brought them the SoA soccer balls. The shelter coordinaters lined up the children in teams of 10 to shake our hands and recieve their new SoA items. Then we took part for a while in soccer games with the children. A few days later we talked to one of the Task Force coordinaters for the flood relief. She was very happy to let us know that she could she a very visible decrease in the depression of the children just from the SoA soccer balls. She said it gave the children more of a reason to interact and take their attention off some of the overwhelming issues they are dealing with. In fact when we went back to the shelters the kids swarmed to us. Not because they were expecting more but because of the SoA items that your donors helped raise to send over here. Both children and adults came up to us wanting to "Thank America". Tomorrow we are are bringing together many of the NGO's who are assisting in the flood effort. We are going to show them the remaining SoA items that are to be donated to help the childre deal with this crisis (school supplies, soccer balls, and solar lanterns). Togther we will help decrease some of the hardships these children have faced. Also know that it's been a good mixture of different branches of service and units within each service handing out the donated SoA items. Special Operations Forces Joe Roberts, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion ========================= Sgt Roberts' email is also here: http://www.spiritofamerica.net/site/blog/749 /> Here are two photos from Kenya
More Kenya photos at: http://www.spiritofamerica.net/site/blog/754 Next week I am meeting with Lt. General Jim Mattis, USMC, at Camp Pendleton - down the road from me here in So. California. You may remember General Mattis was the Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division. His Marines in Al Anbar initiated the first major request we received at Spirit of America (for medical supplies, school supplies and Frisbees) in January 2004 and the second major request (TV equipment). Gen. Mattis is now the Commanding General of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. The subject of our meeting is how Spirit of America can best help moving forward. I'll share observations with you in a future email. As the holidays near and you plan year-end giving, we hope you will consider Spirit of America. In the coming weeks we'll provide information on our finances and future plans. All the best, Jim Hake & the Spirit of America team Main site: http://www.spiritofamerica.net /> Donations: http://www.spiritofamerica.net/site/give /> or 1-800-691-2209 Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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October 5, 2006
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Check out these great photos from the Specials Ops Forces in Africa sent by Sgt. Joe Roberts. The pictures show the school supplies, soccer balls and solar lanters being delivered to grateful local citizens as part of our Support US Special Ops Forces in Africa project.  Civil Affairs Team-654 of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa distribute soccer balls donated by SoA  Special Operations Forces distribute SoA supplies to those affected by a serious flood  Special Ops Forces distibute soccer balls  Solar lanterns donated by SoA are distributed to a medical facility by Special Ops Forces in Horn of Africa Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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September 14, 2006
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This slide from SFC Metzger who is the Team Sgt. for CAT-A 655 stationed in Kenya shows the distribution of soccer balls, solar lanterns and school supplies donated by SoA. Troops serving in the area share that "what [SFC Metzger's] team has with the SoA items and their mission as a whole will have a far reaching, positive affect on the people they have assisted in Kenya."
Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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September 11, 2006
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When Spirit of America began supporting Sepcial Operations Forces requests in the Horn of Africa, our troops wanted supplies "intended to provide tangible improvements in living conditions of the local people" in an effort to foster positive perception of the US and to combat the difficult circumstances that can make the local area a breeding ground for terrorism. Little did we know that the supplies would arrive just in time to make a real difference in an unexpected disaster. As our Special Ops Forces contact describes in the following email, a devastating flood in Ethiopia left a swatch of destruction but the supplies donated with the help of our wonderful donors brought needed relief. Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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August 1, 2006
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We received the great news from Special Operations Forces in Africa that the hundreds of boxes of school supplies, soccer balls and solar lanterns are arrving en masse. Thank you to all of our wonderful donors for supporting this project! Here's a note from SFC Roberts: I just got back today from one of my missions. When I returned there were countless boxes from SoA... No one could believe just how many items arrived not to mention so fast. As soon as I get a count of all items I will go into detail with you on when and where the items will be distributed. I will also make sure that each CA team provides pictures with a write up for you to use in any updates on the site. Once again thank you very much... SFC Roberts, Combined Joint Task Force/Horn of Africa Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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June 27, 2006
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Greetings Spirit of America Friends and Supporters, This update includes:
REQUEST FROM U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES IN AFRICA We have a new request from US Special Forces operating in the Horn of Africa. Their goal is to reduce the spread of extremism and terrorism in countries like Ethiopia and Yemen. Their work on the front lines strengthens relationships with and improves the conditions of local citizens. Sergeant Joe Roberts in photo below emailed us:  Sgt Joe Roberts and villagers - Horn of Africa Posted by: Jim Hake |
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Spirit of America was inspired by the humanitarian activities of U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan. Read their story. Posted by: Jim Hake |
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