Helps International (HINT)

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Fundraise for HINT

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Thank you for considering to help raise funds for some of our projects. We have listed on this page some of the different ways/ideas in which you can help raise funds right from where you are. Together we can make a difference.

Food For Funds (FFF)

5 or more people come together on October 16 (World Food Day) to eat, discuss ways of helping to end poverty in Africa, and make donations. Funds raised will be used to support Helps International’s work in helping poor people come out of poverty in Cameroon.

Procedure.

  1. Someone contacts HINT and indicates the willingness to organize a meeting through the Food For Funds website.
  2. HINT gets in touch with additional details about hosting the event.
  3. The meeting takes place.
  4. Funds are sent to HINT online via PayPal or deposited into our UK Bank account.

This is one of the easiest ways to raise funds for some of our on-going project. Please contact us to let us know if you will participates in this year’s Food For Funds Fundraising Event(FFF).

Testimonial: in 2006, Michael & Margaret Astbury in England organised a Tea Evening and raised more than GBP 300 for our Community Education Library (CEL) Project. CEL will kick off in September 2007 and will provide over 2000 school textbooks to about 300 primary school children. Organizing an event is a great way to raise funds for the work we do as well as creating a general awareness about our work and raising more supporters. We will provide you with the necessary information you need to pass across to your guests. Contact us if you will want to organize an event to raise funds for one or more of our projects.

Testimonial: In 2007, we raised close to $3,000 from 15 donors who gathered at Arlington, USA during the first ever Food For Funds event that we orgainsed through the effort of one family – Brian & Christe Dodds. The funds were used to extend credit to 25 rural women organised in 4 credit groups in two rural communities in the the South West Province of Cameroon. You too can take a simple decision to participate in this year’s FFF and change lives

Run For Funds (RFR)

Fifth Third River Bank Run

Participate in the 5th 3rd River Bank Run in the USA and help raise funds for HINT. Go to this website for information. Please contact us if you can run for funds to support HINT.

London Marathon

Participate in the London Marathon in London, England, and raise support for HINT.

ING Amsterdam Marathon

Participate in the ING Amsterdam Marathon in Amsterdam and raise support for HINT.

Procedure.

  1. Someone contacts HINT and indicates the willingness to participate.
  2. HINT acknowledges the willing to support her.
  3. Information about Potential Donor is uploaded on our website.
  4. ‘Potential Donor’ notifies his/her family members, friends, alumni, … about his/her plans to run for funds to support HINT and asks these people to support the project with donations as they are able to afford.
  5. The donor participates in the race.
  6. Funds are sent to HINT online via PayPal or deposited into our UK Bank account.

If you do not want to eat or run in order to raise funds for HINT but you can do something (such as writing proposals and contacting potential donors or have any other ideas on how to raise funds for us, please contact us.

How your donation will make a difference

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We have listed below some of the projects for which you can make specific online donations. Thank you for considering to help us.

Donate one or more Textbooks to our Community Library Project

HINT has set up a library to help provide school textbooks to orphans and children from very poor families, so that they can still be able to get a good education. The children borrow the books at the begining of the year, use them and return to the library so other children can borrow. Over 100 children have been helped already.

4,000FCFA (US$ 9.02 or GBP 5.03) will buy 1 textbook for 1 child.
32,000FCFA (US$ 72.13 or GBP 77.17) will buy all 8 necessary textbooks for 1 child
320,000FCFA (US$ 721.26 or GBP 402.26) will buy all 8 necessary textbooks for 10 children

You can donate online via PayPal or if you want to make a bank transfer, contact us for our account details in the UK or Cameroon. Learn more about our education projects. Thank you.

Help a poor youth gain IT Skills so that he/she can get a job and leap out of poverty.

Help a poor youth gain IT Skills so that he/she can get a job and leap out of poverty. More than 800 have been trained since 2005.

50,000FCFA (USD 105 or GBP 50) will train one unemployed youth,
500,000 FCFA (USD 1,051.81 or GBP 500) will train 10.

You can donate online via PayPal or if you want to make a bank transfer, contact us for our account details in the UK or Cameroon.  Learn more about our ICT projects. Thank you.

Help a poor orphan, youth or widow with a loan or grant for a small business

HINT provides micro loans to unemployed youths so that they can start of grow their small businesses. These businesses provide employment that improves the socio-economic lives of the poor. Pictured here is Joshua who received a 50,000 FCFA (USD 105 or GBP 50) loan from HINT and started a cassava farm 2 years ago. He is now able to support himself and looks forward to supporting his family from his growing business.

Loans range from as small as 25,000 FCFA (USD 53 or GBP 25) to 100,000 FCFA (USD 200 or GBP 100)
We do not only provide loans but also training as well so that our beneficiaries can better manage their businesses.
Let us know if you can support many more entrepreneurs with a larger loan.

You can donate online via PayPal or if you want to make a bank transfer, contact us for our account details in the UK or Cameroon.  Learn more about our economic development projects.Thank you.

Support our efforts towards contributing to stopping HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Part of our mission at HINT is to contribute to the global fight against HIV/AIDS. We do this by training HIV (Peer) Educators whwo are members of groups and who in turn will be able to educate their members. The trainees represent different groups of people in the society and the idea is to help them run HIV sensitisation seminars and campaigns among their own people.

HIV/AIDS in Cameroon in 2005
Adults aged 15-49 with HIV/AIDS = 470,000
New HIV infections, 2006 and Adult HIV prevalence (%) = 5.4
Women age 15-49 with HIV/AIDS = 290,000
Children with HIV/AIDS = 43,000 AIDS orphans (ages 0-17) = 240,000
AIDS deaths = 46,000

It costs us about USD 400 to run a seminar for 25 educators and covers food, transportation, manuals, related material… Consider supporting these seminars.

You can donate online via PayPal or if you want to make a bank transfer, contact us for our account details in the UK or Cameroon.  Learn more about our health projects. Thank you.

Donate a computer to our Computers For Sustainabilty (CFS) Project.

HINT currently depends on spontaneous individuals and organisations of good will to donate to its work. None of these individuals of organisations have decided to support us on a long term basis. HINT does not have any permanent source of funds to support it charitable work. This is very delicate as we must continue with the projects we’ve started as well as expand to other communities.

Computers for Sustainability (CFS) has been designed to help establish a permanent and sustainable base of funds for the work of Helps International (HINT) in Cameroon and the rest of Africa.

Summarily we will ship 400 refurbished Pentium Computers (minimum Pentum III) from the USA (or UK) to Cameroon. The computers will then be exchanged for cash. proceeds from the sales will enable us to continue to make other shipments while the proceeds will then be used to support our charitable work. This way, you support us once and we do not have to keep asking for support from you, year-in year-out. Your USD 50 or more can impact generations to come!

It will cost us 20,000,000 CFA (XAF) (USD 41,797.28 or GBP 20,000) to ship 400 computers to Cameroon and sell them within a minimum of 6-8 months at the cost of 30,000,000 (USD 62,695.92 or GBP 30,000). 19,000,000 will be used to continue the business for the following year while 11,000,000 (USD 22,988.51) will then be used to support our projects annually.

So, we need 800 people (or less if you donate more than one computer) who will give USD 50 each by January 31, 2008. Join us in improving the lives of the poor through technology. Place your own stone on the foundation.

You can donate online via PayPal or if you want to make a bank transfer, contact us for our account details in the UK or Cameroon.  Learn more about our ICT projects. Thank you.

Our partners for this project are:
Hope Outreach International Ministries (HOIM), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
InterConection, Seattle, USA

Learn how you can support us.

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Thank you for considering helping us in our efforts to help poor and needy people in our community. As a non-profit organisation, we rely very strongly on the generosity of people like you to be able to do our work.

There are a number of ways through which you can help. You can make an online donation to help with one of our projects, donate in kind, volunteer with us, or help to fund-raise.

To see how your donation will be used, go here.

If you are interested in helping in some way but would like to ask us further questions, please contact us

Information for Volunteers

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Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Helps International (HINT), Cameroon. There are a number of volunteer opportunities to help build individual & community skills, create employment opportunities and place a smile on many faces through our 5 major operation areas:

Your participation will help us get to the point where we can approach and collaborate with the international development community in a more effective way.

We accept volunteers with a wide range of skills and a strong belief in the value of sustainability and who are willing to make a long-lasting contribution in the work we are doing. Volunteers will bring the most value in their organizational skills, reliability, project and people management, and basic enthusiasm. Each volunteer will be provided with ‘SMART’ objectives upon arrival. At this point, our work depends largely on volunteer support and involvement plus their generous financial support to kick-start some of our projects or replicate sustainable ones.

Volunteer Location

Currently, all of our projects are taking place in the town of Buea in the South West Province of Cameroon. You can learn more about the historic town of Buea on Wikipedia Volunteers will be accommodated at home, usually living with an assigned caretaker and his/her family. Security and cleanliness are of prime importance to us when deciding where to place volunteers.

Examples of projects you could be working on:

  • Teach Computer Education to students at one of our partner Schools or train IT Instructors for these schools
  • Write funding proposals for some of our projects and help with fundraising.
  • Organize fundraising activities for our projects including contacting and following up donors. This can be excellent for online volunteers who do not or cannot leave their home countries to Cameroon.
  • Coordinate shipment of computers and other equipment such as medical suppliers and the distribution and installation in schools and community centers.
  • Teach Computer Basics (MS Window, Internet, Emailing, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access, MS PowerPoint) at one of our partner scholls in Buea or at our Community IT Centres
  • Teach Web Design or Networking, or Computer repairs and maintenance, Desktop publishing or Photo Editing to about 10 students in class for 3 hours a day.
  • Serve at our Community IT Training Centre as Office Secretary, Cyber attendant, IT Instructor or IT Technician.
  • Run HIV/AIDS sensitization seminars in schools, prisons and at Community Groups, etc
  • Train HIV/AIDS Educators at our Centre, in schools, prisons, at Community Groups, etc
  • Participate in a medical outreach as part of a team.
  • Train young social entrepreneurs in basic business set up and management skills.
  • Identify needy orphans especially those orphaned by AIDS in targeted communities for subsequent support.
  • And there can be other opportunities…

Volunteer Requirements

Volunteers with HINT are required to:

  • Be at least 18 years of age.
  • Be available for a minimum of one week.
  • Be able to speak English fluently. Ability to speak French will further ease communication because Cameroon is a bilingual country.
  • Be able to mentally adjust to new culture and way of life.

When do we recruit volunteers?

You can volunteer at any time throughout the year. Volunteers can stay from a period of 1 week to 12 months.

Cost to Volunteers

HINT asks for a contribution of USD 10 per day per volunteer. We require that each volunteer pays the sum of USD 300 to cover living expenses for the first month and AIRPORT PICKUP BEFORE arrival in Buea. The remainder is paid upon arrival in Buea. This can be easily done via our PayPal account. The monthly fee covers:

  • Airport pick-up and drop off.
  • Accommodation (Home stay with a family, a room of your own, shared baths with other volunteers or you may have a bath of your own depending on number of volunteers present), water, electricity, Phone use (at home and in the office), documentation, etc
  • Breakfast, Lunch and a snack for dinner. In our culture, lunch is the heavy meal while most people may just eat a snack or some fruits for dinner. Tea and Coffee is available at all times.
  • Internet Access at our head office
  • Administration and communication fee
  • If you need to, you can convert currency at www.xe.com/ucc.

This fee does not cover:

  • Your flight ticket to Douala International Airport and back
  • Cost of visa processing in your country and visa renewal in Cameroon (if need be).
  • Personal sightseeing & photography in Cameroon.
  • Insurance (Health), if necessary
  • Departure tax of XAF 10,000 ($20) per person at the Airport
  • Bottled water (Tap water in Buea is pure and quite healthy)
  • Beverages and entertainment
  • Any other related personal cost

Basically you can get by on US$20 per week for your miscellaneous expenses or US$ 30 per week if you do not want to live on a tight budget.

About Cameroon and Buea

Application Process

Fill out our online application form.

Achieving Organisational Sustainability through IT

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1.    Project Name: Computers for Sustainability (CFS)

2.    The Problem:
We have relied on freewill donations, gifts and meager funds raised from our IT Centre to be able to run our non-profit organization called Helps International (HINT). However, shortage of funds has always been a huge hindrance to implementing our mission to improve the social and economic well-being and health of the poor and under privileged in our society through education, skill development and job creation. We have projects in the areas of IT training for underprivileged youths, educational support for orphans/underprivileged children; micro-loans for rural women; HIV/AIDS sensitization and information/training seminars. Most of the time, the progress of these projects has been hampered due to lack of funds. Over the years, these projects have expanded as the needs become enormous but there has not been a corresponding increase in the amount of funds needed to support these programs.

3.    The Solution:
Therefore, instead of continue to rely on spontaneous donations from our partners (to whom we are very thankful for their generosity in the past), we will like to work with them (current partners) to establish a profitable social enterprise that will generate the funds needed to support our on-going projects and to initiate new ones. After research I have discovered that sale of computers and accessories is one of the most profitable businesses in the country now. Calculations have shown that the business will generate about 21,091,250 million CFA XAF (US$ 42,781) annually.

4.    Implementation:
The business idea is to ship 400 refurbished Pentium 4 computers to Cameroon and sell. Some of the computers will also be used to set up 2 additional IT centers that will employ a number of people too.

5.    Fundraising:
The fundraising strategy is to get 2753 people all around the world who will donate $25 each. This will raise US$ 68,831, the needed start-up capital for the business. This amount will cover cost of shipping, seaport clearing and setting up the sales centre in Buea, Cameroon. I will be launching an online appeal for donations as soon as all plans are made concrete. I will also be in the USA between May and August 2009 mainly to raise these funds. I hope to visit churches, organizations, individuals with whom we have a relationship and trust that all needed funds will be realized by October 2009. Shipping should take place in November/December 2009.

6.    Logistics:
I should have asked for hardware donations but that would be difficult to assemble and ship. We will work with an organization such as interconnection.org in Seattle, USA that assembles and ships refurbished computers to the developing world. I am also researching the possibility of shipping from computeraid.org in the UK or from Dubai, wherever shipping cost will be minimal with high quality computers. Mr. Paul Fonkwo a Cameroonian based in CA who has been shipping PCs to Cameroon will be providing advice and help.

7.    Accountability/Transparency:
All funds will be collected and managed by the following organization:

Hope Outreach International Ministries (HOIM)
10993 N Harrell’s Ferry Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70816
Phone: 225-272-5432
Fax: 225-272-6805
Email: hopeoutreach @ gmail.com
Website: http://www.hopeoutreachinternational.org/

HOIM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and will manage all in-coming and out-going funds for this project and issue tax-deductible receipts to all donors. Financial records will be available to all donors at the end of the fundraising drive, and also upon request.

8.    Business Ability:
I developed a Business Plan for a similar project while at Santa Clara University in 2006 while attending the Global Social benefit Incubator (GSBI). I received a full scholarship (US$ 25,000) to attend this highly prestigious and competitive business training opportunity because of the impact we were already making in the lives of young people in our community through IT. My desire for social and economic change especially among the youths and the need for our NGO to be financially sustainable are the main motivations for such project.

Implementation of this project will provide a permanent base of financial support for the work of HINT and we will not have to continually ask our friends and donors to support our work year-in year-out. I believe if you had to make a choice, you would rather teach someone how to fish than to give him fish. By supporting this project at this time, you are actually making provision for years to come.

9.   Budget:
To see details of how the capital will be invested click here.

10.   Conclusion:
I will greatly appreciate your suggestions, thoughts, advice, opinion or any kind of support on this project. Just use the form below to comment.

Thank you.

Genesis G. Tinshu
Executive Director/Helps International (HINT)
https://www.hintonline.org
Cell Phone: +237 76274131
Email: tinshu @ hintonline.org

About HINT

Our mission is to improve the well-being of the underprivileged in our community through education, skill development, and job creation.

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