If you had one week to explore your neighborhood and make it count towards ASH, would you?

Sounds really simple, but now you can.

Between January 4-11, you can go to www.charitubl.com and look for something that you might already do every day. For example, you need food every day. Simply go to this website and look for restaurants you might consider going to. Once you find something that appeals to your taste buds, choose a charity, and charitubl will make sure a portion of what you spend goes to the charity of your choice. Opportunities change monthly, so check back often in case you’ve missed something!

Just to be clear, charitubl isn’t a daily deal/discount type of thing. You still pay full price for whatever you choose to eat/do, but charitubl will donate a portion of what you spend to your favorite non-profit organization. There are no sales or coupons- this is just a way to donate through things you do everyday. From the opportunities on charitubl we’ve seen so far, the percentage of donations have been pretty generous, and you’ll get to fund raise for ASH while trying out new things in your neighborhood.

How this works:
Once you choose and buy your opportunity from charitubl, you will be emailed a voucher to be printed and brought to the business. On the voucher will be the charity of your choice and the financial impact your purchase will have. Your opportunities eventually expire, so use them while you can!

If you’re interested in promoting a more responsible lifestyle where giving is a part of your daily routine, please take a few minutes a day to visit charitubl to see opportunities. How awesome would it be if the dinner you were grabbing with a friend this week happened to be at one of the featured restaurants on charitubl? You can eat with good company while donating to ASH.

Please help us spread the word- reblog, tweet, and facebook this. We also want to hear back from you! After your charitubl experience, comment on this blog post and tell us how it went. We are also on Facebook and Twitter, so you can reply there as well!

We are really looking forward to hearing back from you all…happy charitubl-ing!

Signing off,
ASHteam

PS: charitubl is currently available in NY

PPS: happy new year!

While everyone else is wearing and spending the greens, ASH is up to something green, too.

We are excited to announce the launch of 2012 “Root into ASH: A Greenhouse Campaign”. This is our newest project in addition to the continuation of our programs at the Community Center in Wamuini, Kenya.

The Greenhouse Campaign is great for a number of reasons- having a greenhouse will allow farmers to grow fresh produce to sell at local markets, generating more funds for the Community Center.

Two women walk down a road in Wamuini, Kenya (photo: Junhee Chung)

What is this Community Center, you ask? It is a place where all ASH projects grow out of- medical, agricultural, vocational…you name it. Currently, it costs around $1000 per month in operations. We believe that estimated profits from having a greenhouse will roughly cover operational costs at the community center for 5 months!

An implementation of the greenhouse will create more jobs, introduce scalable farming techniques, and promote health and nutrition. This is important because according to our Health Census Data, there’s a lack of access to fresh produce and poor commercial farming opportunities, which result in poor health.

A woman gathers beans in the village of Tawaii in Wamuini, Kenya (photo: Junhee Chung)

To start off our campaign, we will need to raise around $4,200, which includes installation of the green house and irrigation and a farmers kit.

With your help, we plan to construct the greenhouse in Wamuini by January 2012.

Root into ASH by visiting our website. You can help us build this greenhouse by helping us reach our fundraising goal. Also, don’t forget to follow the Greenhouse Campaign’s growth both here and on our website!

Signing off,
ASHteam

PS: Stay tuned for updates on ASH events in Boston regarding the Greenhouse Campaign!

Meet Christine: Kyle shares the story of our vocational sewing program’s star student.

kylemu:

Christine was referred to the ASH vocational training program (sewing/tailoring course, and basic income management paired with entrepreneurial training) by the area Chief, who knew just where to send her when she heard of Christine’s tough situation.

Both of Christine’s parents fell ill a few years ago and sadly passed away, leaving Christine to fend for herself with almost no money, on top of caring for her 8-year-old sister. To make circumstances more difficult, Christine became pregnant after basically being used for sex by a man who took off before he even knew a child was on the way.

A star student from the beginning, Christine picked up each lesson with ease and quickly rose as one of the most skilled students in the class. Not to mention, she was supervising and preparing porridge for the Early Child Development (ECD) class, brewing tea for community center staff, helping with daily health center cleaning and prep, and picking up tasks randomly asked of her… all to cover her school fees. She couldn’t monetarily pay for the small amount of required course fees, so she “paid” through lending a hand around the community center. To top it all off, Christine is the sweetest and most hardworking person I’ve yet to meet in Kenya. She’s just one of those people you look at, and can’t help to be crazy inspired.

Well, Christine’s hard work paid off. The day after graduating from our program, she landed a job at a sewing/tailoring shop owned by a local boarding school. Benefits include: commission-based salary (which is much better for Christine b/c she’s quick and efficient), stable work orders, free housing, and a location near town.

As we helped move Christine and the small amount of possessions she had at her previous, tiny home, I couldn’t help but to tear up thinking about how proud I was of her and that what we’re trying to do through ASH is actually working and making a difference. I hadn’t had my “super motivational” moment yet… until Christine. But it’s much more than just motivation for me, it’s strong proof that the ASH model works. Provide the foundation for someone living in poverty to lift themselves to a higher standard, and they will! We don’t have to rely on the old way of charity anymore – giving free handouts, pouring in money from Western countries, etc. Create sustainable opportunities for empowerment, and watch holistic improvement in health and living thrive. 

Our college group, ASH Boston University, came up with these quirky tshirts:

Thanks to ASH BU, we’ve got some excellent modeling going on here:

Do Re Mi

BU’s Dean Elmore getting into the spirit of ASH

To order, email wearebuash@gmail.com with the desired size and quantity. Currently, we are accepting orders in Boston and working on ways to get shirts to you guys outside of Boston. Shirts can be paid for in cash and/or picked up from any ASH BU member in Boston (email wearebuash@gmail.com).

If you plan to order Must-ASH t-shirts online, our paypal account is now accepting orders. Shirts are $12 in cash, but $14 online due to processing fees.

You can access our paypal page here:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ENPPDTSCQ3XV6

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Signing off,
ASHteam