Lawyers in Midtown

A rollarcoaster of emotions. My grandfather fell very ill yesterday. None of the family wants us kids coming down to Florida, so I'm just sitting around and there's nothing I can do.

So I was actually glad that i.HUG had the lawyer's appointment today. It gave me the chance to focus a bit, and that was nice change of pace.

I remembered that I'm surrounded by tons of people, and their talent abounds. So I asked Michael, our treasurer, (pictured here with his girlfriend Carrie, also a volunteer, in my little NYC apt.) to come to the appointment with me--and he happened to be at a consulting gig across the street, so he was able to make it.

So, remember: this lawyer is my dad's employee's father's partner. (Can you follow?) Quite an amazing firm in a huge skyscraper off 42nd Street: they seem to only work with nonprofits and health organizations, so they really knew what they were talking about. Both he (the father) and his partner (the 501c3 expert) sat and talked with us about how we're organized. Post 9/11, it seems it's really difficult to set up overseas nonprofits without some really tight controls over and oversight into how that money is spent...crazy things like checking "watch lists" to make sure the people you're dealing with aren't terrorists. I'm all about not-a-penny wasted, but come on. Still, reassuring to have expert eyes on it.

Anywho. Even better than that, he agreed to look over the application once we re-jigger a few things. So here we go. Everybody, wish us luck.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! (and so on and so forth)

There is light at the end of the tunnel. You have no idea what it's like to, for months and months, painstakingly fill out the 501c3 line by line, box by box, attachment of conflict of interest statement by attachment of organization's narrative. And then...just as the last few unanswered questions remain. To have that sinking, sick feeling dawn on me. I think I filled it out in the wrong way. Called the IRS and they said it sounded to them that I set it up with this and that and this and that was wrong.

So I have an appointment on Thursday with (can you follow) my dad's employee's father's partner. As TLC once said, I ain't too proud to beg. But I will definately have to bring this guy a cake.

Sloooooooooowwwwwwwwwww

Another lesson learned: everything takes so much longer than it should. I'm pointedly referring to my ineptitude (ok, I know I'm being a bit harsh on myself, but still) to complete the 501c3 application. I'm searching for some lawyers willing to donate their time and are skilled in nonprofit law, so send any contacts my way. I'm just feeling so frustrated.

Jane tells me to relax: that if I think things take a long time now, just wait until we're in Uganda.

Was speaking to Susan Desmond-Hellmann--she's head of product development over at Genentech and part of the Academic Alliance--who made a side remark about how difficult it was to set something up in Uganda. I'm just now understanding that. I mean, Pastor Paddy has a cell phone. He's computer savvy. And there's an Internet cafe not too far from where he lives. But truly transmitting information and working seamlessly is not easy. For one, there are these awful power outages, which seem to be occuring more frequently given that the water levels are so low from the drought.

But Paddy did send me these photos...he's just back from preaching in Congo.

An Early Lesson: Making Funds Go Far

In 2004, when I traveled to Uganda to report on AIDS, I asked my company to make a donation to Paddy's group. With that money, Paddy bought the kids holiday gifts--back packs and water basins, which help prevent the spread of some skin infections.

It made me realize how using in-country partners could really cut down on the administration costs. So that even such little money could go far and it's impact noticed in the intended area.

Helping Uganda Grow

Together, Jane and I formed a nonprofit group called i.HUG. (The "HUG" stands for Helping Uganda Grow). We have another acronym we also like to use: SEED. (It stands for Sustainable Education, Ethical Development, which is kinda what we're all about).

And we have all these totally wonderful people on board. Like Lynn, who designed our fabulous logo. I can't figure out how to post it...but trust me, it's that good.

Meet Co-founder Jane Dicker

And then there's Jane. She spent a year in Uganda teaching in a village. During this time she became friends with a couple who were both dying of AIDS. Shortly after she returned both the husband and wife died leaving behind 5 children - now all orphans. She also spent a few months living with Paddy's family in Kabalagala. She's a Brit and a fine teacher. She also has a dream of setting up a non-profit school in Kabalagala that is owned and gives back to the community.

Co-founder Joanna Breitstein

Now, I had actually met Pastor Paddy back in 2001. I was working at a business healthcare magazine (where I still work today) and was also the webmaster. He e-mailed looking for AIDS information. I sent him some links, but also let him know about Pfizer's Diflucan program--where the company gave away free drugs that helped manage some nasty HIV-related illnesses. He hadn't heard of the program, but ended up taking some children there. And they got a bit better--that was a really wonderful.

We kept in touch. And a few years later, I applied for a Kaiser Foundation grant to go to Uganda. I had never applied to anything like that before. But guess what. I was one of 10 journalists in the world that won--and in October 2004 I took a flight to Uganda.

I got to meet Paddy, and eat with his family of a beautiful wife and nine adopted children each Sunday. And Paddy took me to visit the clinics. And he took me into the homes of AIDS patients. And I saw how children of not more than 7 were now mothers and fathers to their brothers and sisters.

But far most touching was attending the children's program on Saturday. Children who lived out on the street--or from home to home, or other situations--filed in a few at a time to spend few hours of song, football, or just being children. I was inspired that something like this meant so much.

Heros

I never knew any heros until I met Pastor Paddy. With no sign of aid, no HIV drugs, and poverty overwhelming, Paddy had mobilized legions of church goers to look after abandoned children. I loved how they crowded around him when he walked through Kabalagala. He's given them all nicknames.

I'm not the religious sort. But I guess there's a line in the bible that says "be a father to the fatherless," and that's what Paddy is trying to do. He's built a type of infrastructure--of committed people, of programs that meet regularly, and of ideas--that makes it possible to dream big.

Beyond the Tarmac Road

Klaus Leisinger, who heads up the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, always asks "What's happening 5 meters beyond the tarmac road?" That really strikes a chord for me. 'Cause while the white SUVs of NGOs crowd the parking lots of downtown Kampala, and the media calls Uganda an "AIDS success story," there's no sign of international aid in Kabalagala.

There's a very special place in the world called Kabalagala. It's just outside the capital city, Kampala, in Uganda. Here lives about 16,000 people.

It's a place that is so overwhelmingly poor, AIDS so rampantly bad, that the situation has put increasingly large number of children's lives on the edge. Orphans, street kids, and other neglected children crowd the dirt roads when they should be in school.