A Global Affair

Over the past two years, members of the greater Charleston community have developed the desire to create service-learning based projects that would further the economic and social development of underdeveloped countries around the globe through unique learning opportunities. In 2008, a group of College of Charleston students, faculty and alumni planned the first project, Technology for Africa, to benefit the residents of Cameroon (located in Central Africa). A Global Affair was established as a yearly gala and silent auction event to celebrate and make such opportunities through service possible.

Last year, 75 guests and friends gathered to celebrate and raised over $4600 dollars in a single evening which allowed our partner organization, College of Charleston, and the student group to travel to Cameroon and purchase the necessary equipment to make the Technology for Africa project a success ($64,000 in total were raised and donated to set up three computer labs with a total of 24 new laptops).

This year's gala and silent auction will benefit the organization's new project, Bandage for Africa, which seeks to ship by March 2010 a 40-feet container of medical equipment and supplies to one of Cameroon's only two medical universities, where 28% of the population lives on less then $1.25 a day and where life expectancy is just 50 years old. Money raised for this project will help guarantee the safe shipping and delivery of both donated and purchased equipment to l'Universite des Montagnes' new medical campus (In Bafounsan). We have exceeded our goal by raising $11,400.