Dear Friends of EFA International,

I am proud to present to you our 2009 Annual Report describing our major accomplishments in the past year. Though this report captures the main quantitative results of our work in Cameroon and Rwanda to promote the successful future of African children and youth infected with and/or affected by HIV and AIDS, the voices of our beneficiaries speak louder than any numbers or figures you’ll find in this report.You’ll find examples of their testimonials as you read through this report.

In 2009 we introduced the peer education program to EFA’s Youth Empowerment Network, which provided ten HIV+ youth from five different communities in northern Cameroon with the knowledge and skills to serve as HIV educators in their communities.

In Rwanda, the Child Support Center in Kigali continued to serve orphans and other vulnerable children in the district of Kicukiro.The center provided school fees for over seventy vulnerable children in the community in addition to other support services such as nutritional assistance, homework assistance, and supplemental English classes.The children in the center also received moral support from communities in the US, including the Congregational Church (UCC) of Weston, Massachusetts, through letter-writing campaigns with the congregation’s young members and CSC beneficiaries.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude and thanks to all of our outstanding volunteers who donated their time and expertise to our operations. Our volunteers were essential to our achievements this year and provided us with substantial assistance in revising our website, applying for new grant opportunities and maintaining contact with our network of donors and supporters. Special thanks in particular go to Dana Allen-Greil,Whitney Eisenhower, and Stephanie Don for their contributions. Our partnership with the Peace Corps in Cameroon continues to provide our regional office with significant technical assistance through Peace Corps Volunteer Caitlyn Bradburn, who serves as our HIV Technical Advisor in Maroua, and several other Peace Corps volunteers who work with our HIV+ Youth Network associations.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this report.We encourage you to share any feedback you may have by sending us a message at info@efainternational.org. Thanks to all for a successful year. Here’s to our continued collaborations in 2010 and beyond!

We are together! On est ensemble!

Respectfully,

Andrew P. Koleros, MPH

EFA Founder and Executive Director

Tags: annual report, Board of Directors, News from Cameroon, News from Rwanda, organizational development