PARTNERSHIPS

RESTORE HOPE: LIBERIA has recruited a number of allies to its cause of helping the vulnerable children of Kolahun.

In the organization's nascent stage, its founders, Drs. Bob Rufsvold and Barbara Burke, funded its work from their own pockets. But it became clear that the needs went far beyond their personal resources.

VITAL PARTNERS

Tides Foundation
www.tides.org
An early, vital partnership was created with the Tides Foundation, a family of donor-advised funds that share a social entrepreneurship mission. Since 1976, Tides has worked with more than 15,000 individuals and organizations in the mutual endeavor to make the world a better place. Tides encourages new ideas, innovation, and tools to make great ideas a reality. One such idea is RESTORE HOPE: LIBERIA, which was created under Tides Foundation auspices. The partnership with Tides was crucial, for it made possible tax-deductible contributions to RESTORE HOPE: LIBERIA.

MAGIF
A second crucial partnership, focused on operations, with the Margret Gieraths-Nimene Foundation (MAGIF) was forged in 2016. Due to a need for more local oversight than could be provided by the organization's founders, who are based in the U.S., or by its primary in-country medical advisor, David Okiror, who has a full-time job in the country's capital, Monrovia. Drs. Rufsvold, Burke, and Okiror sought a Liberian partner with a compatible mission and expertise. They found a perfect match in MAGIF, a not-for-profit foundation incorporated in Liberia to support health, education, orphanage management, and other sustainable social services there. It was founded by a German-born humanitarian development professional, Margret Gieraths-Nimene, who has spent most of her career in Sub-Saharan Africa. MAGIF is supported by a German newspaper and several other German nongovernmental organizations and individuals. Gieraths-Nimene is now RESTORE HOPE: LIBERIA's program director, and MAGIF oversees its local operational and financial processes.

Liberty & Justice
libertyandjustice.com
A recent corporate sponsor, Liberty & Justice aims to transform the apparel supply chain from worker exploitation and environmental degradation to partnership and sustainability. Liberty & Justice is Africa’s leading Fair Trade Certified™ apparel manufacturing company and is committed to a future in which producers and consumers are completely aligned in making economic choices that result in the eradication of poverty, the responsible stewardship of the environment, and the empowerment of workers through the fair exchange of quality goods and services. Liberty & Justice will provide school uniforms for the children sponsored by RESTORE HOPE: LIBERIA.

OTHER ALLIES
Several additional partnerships—less official but no less inspiring—have been drawn to Restore Hope's compelling cause.

Sister Schools Project
This project was established between the Restore Hope Tutoring school, near Kolahun Hospital, and the elementary school in Lyme, N.H., USA, home to Restore Hope cofounder Bob Rufsvold. During the project's first year of operation, the sixth-grade class in Lyme collected school and art supplies and children's books and raised $330 to cover the cost of shipping the materials to Liberia. The children also exchanged videos and letters. The Lyme students have so wholeheartedly embraced the needs of their counterparts in Kolahun that the project will expand to include other grades, and they aim to raise enough money to repair one or two of the Kolahun District's broken water pumps. [VIDEO: Greetings from the Kids of Kolahun >>]

GET INVOLVED
We welcome additional allies and partners—in large and small ways. Monetary donations of any size are also welcome. Contact us to learn how you can support the organization's mission, or Donate online.

KNITTIE KITTIE GOES TO KOLAHUN

Knittie Kittie Goes to Kolahun
This project is another example of how the plight of the children in Liberia has touched people far away. Sally Letchworth, a California resident, has hand-knit dozens of stuffed kittens—each dressed in overalls, mittens, and bow tie—and sent them to children of Kolahun. Many recipients of the dolls were ill, and most had never owned a single plaything. “The effects upon the children were nothing short of miraculous—they proved to be good medicine,” says Bob Rufsvold. The project is a testament to the power of compassion, to the fact that some solutions are small ones, and that every life matters.