Inside ARC - 10.30.13 - Top Ten (continued), Annual

Hi jay, Here's an update from ARC. Let us know if you have any questions. -Daniel Daniel Wordsworth, President ***********************************************  * Top Ten: Changemaker's Award (continued)*   Last time, we shared some of the ideas from our Top Ten finalists in ARC’s CHANGEMAKERS idea competition. Again, the question we asked our worldwide staff: If you could do one simple thing, how would you make the ARC experience better for the people we serve? Below are three more ideas that advanced to the Top Ten: Idea #27 came from Rwanda: Plant Cassava Leaf trees at each household in Gihembe refugee camp in Rwanda. Many refugees in the camp are anemic because the rations they receive from the United Nations are composed primarily of beans and maize. Cassava leaves are very high in iron and an ingredient common in Congolese cooking. In addition to addressing the problem of anemia, the trees would help with soil retention and provide shade in the camp. Idea #24 came from Minneapolis: Introduce a bicycle-sharing system in refugee settlements. With access to a bike, refugees wouldn’t need to spend hours traveling by foot to school, to get water, to the clinic or to the market. Creating a bicycle cooperative would also increase employment in camps, as refugees themselves would be responsible for the assembly and maintenance of the bicycles. Idea #57 came from Thailand: Create ARC’s own ‘TED’ Talks. Inspired by the global TED idea sharing platform, ARC TED would create a leadership forum to tackle ideas around ‘t’ransformation, ‘e’ngagement, and ‘d’ignity for peace. Small groups would discuss ideas posed by TED talks and other web content, focusing on peaceful change leaders and concepts. Leading with understanding and experience, we’ll inspire timeless leadership values. *Annual Report* ARC's Annual Report is available online. You can view it at: http://www.arcrelief.org/annual_reports/Annual_Report_2013.pdf . If you'd like to request your own copy of the report, just respond to this email with your name and address and we'll put a copy in the mail. *Engage*  We're sharing photos, video and stories on social media. Join the conversation. Friend us! --- http://www.Facebook.com/arcrelief Follow us! --- http://www.twitter.com/arcrelief Subscribe! --- http://www.youtube.com/chriskatarc Check us out! --- http://www.instagram.com/arcrelief *Giving*    At the request of readers, I always include these links so they’re easy to find when you need them. Thanks so much. Become a Monthly Donor: http://www.ARCrelief.org/givemonthly Donate Online: http://www.ARCrelief.org/donate Give Us a Call: (800) 875-7060 Send in a gift: American Refugee Committee Donor Service Center P.O. Box 1002 Minneapolis, MN 55480-1002 USA

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Inside ARC - 10.16.13 - Bamboo, Heroes, Top Ten

Hi jay, Here's my quick update of the last few weeks at ARC. Let us know if you have any questions. -Daniel Daniel Wordsworth, President ***********************************************  * Bamboo at Kiziba * Congolese refugees living at Kiziba Refugee Camp in Rwanda have begun cultivating bamboo. Why? Kiziba sits on a hillside with very few trees. The threat of erosion and even landslides is very real. Camp residents are taking environmental protection in the camp very seriously. They’ve already planted 172 bamboo stalks and will plant 500 more in the coming days. Bamboo grows incredibly quickly and its roots can reduce soil erosion by up to 75%! In addition to its environmental benefits, camp residents hope the quick growing plant will provide a source of sustainable livelihood for furniture makers and artisans in the camps.  * ARC's Heroes *    October is a month that we pause to recognize all our amazing ARC humanitarian workers doing heroic stuff in the field. Anyone can be a hero. Each of us every day has the opportunity to be a hero – it’s in moments when another person is in need and struggling that heroes emerge. Our heroes in the field just happen to be confronted by more of these moments each day than you or I might be. In places like, Somalia, South Sudan, Pakistan and Thailand, they regularly put aside their needs or wants – or even their safety – to help someone else. Will you join us in thanking them for what they do? Just take a quick moment and reply to this email with a message for our aid workers in the field letting them know you appreciate what they do. We’ll share your message with our team overseas in our global staff email update.  * Top Ten: Changemaker's Award *   In the last couple of email updates, we let you know about our new CHANGEMAKERS idea competition for our staff around the world. The question we asked everyone: If you could do one simple thing, how would you make the ARC experience better for the people we serve? The response was incredible - we received more than 100 exciting ideas! We’ve now narrowed the list to the top ten submissions. We’ll share a few of those ideas with you today and a few in the coming weeks. Idea #58 came from South Sudan: Plant Moringa and Neem trees nearby 25 health facilities in Kapoeta district. The trees leaves are more nutritious than oranges or other fruits and could help reduce malnutrition rates in kids under 5 years old. Idea # 43 came from Thailand: Promote and encourage populations to do exercises like aerobics, to promote improved health in refugee camps. Idea # 85 came from Uganda: Institute a six-week catering and cooking training course in refugee settlements. Upon completing the program, participants could open restaurants or use their new school to gain employment in future. *Engage*  We're sharing photos, video and stories on social media. Join the conversation. Friend us! --- http://www.Facebook.com/arcrelief Follow us! --- http://www.twitter.com/arcrelief Subscribe! --- http://www.youtube.com/chriskatarc Check us out! --- http://www.instagram.com/arcrelief *Giving*    At the request of readers, I always include these links so they’re easy to find when you need them. Thanks so much. Become a Monthly Donor: http://www.ARCrelief.org/givemonthly Donate Online: http://www.ARCrelief.org/donate Give Us a Call: (800) 875-7060 Send in a gift: American Refugee Committee Donor Service Center P.O. Box 1002 Minneapolis, MN 55480-1002 USA

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Inside ARC - 10.2.13 - CGI, Changemakers, A+

Hi jay, There's a lot happening at ARC these days. Here's a quick recap of the last few weeks. Let us know if you have any questions. -Daniel Daniel Wordsworth, President ***********************************************  * ARC at Clinton Global Initiative * Last week, ARC participated in the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting in New York. At the meeting, I announced ARC’s Commitment to Action to decrease child mortality in Eastern Congo – to help kids survive to age 5. You can read the full Commitment here:  http://get.cgilink.org/v/c/830093. Right now, 1 in 5 children in DRC doesn’t survive to age 5. We need a new approach NOW to help Congolese kids! While at the meeting, ARC presented to social entrepreneurs, NGOs, foundations, and potential corporate partners. Our first social enterprise zone is slated to open in eastern Congo in March of 2014. Stay tuned for more details.  * The Changemaker's Award *    A couple of weeks ago, I told you about an ideas competition we launched for ARC staff worldwide. Yesterday was the last day of the competition. In total, nearly 100 ideas were submitted to answer the question: If you could do one simple thing, how would you make the ARC experience better for the people we serve? Ideas have ranged from environmental protection efforts to using technology to improve health to peace-building…and more. One of these ideas will eventually be awarded a $10,000 prize for their country program. Over the course of the next several weeks, we’ll share a handful of these ideas with you. Keep an eye on your inbox.  * An A+ *   ARC was recently upgraded to an ‘A+’ rating by CharityWatch, one of the largest charity watchdog groups in the U.S. The last few years, ARC had received an ‘A’ rating from the group. Groups included on the Top-Rated list “generally spend 75% or more of their budgets on programs, spend $25 or less to raise $100 in public support, do not hold excessive assets in reserve, and receive ‘open-book’ status for disclosure of basic financial information and documents to CharityWatch.”  You can see ARC’s listing here, which highlights “Top-Rated Charities in International Relief and Development”:   http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html#intrelief *Engage*  We're sharing photos, video and stories on social media. Join the conversation. Friend us! --- http://www.Facebook.com/arcrelief Follow us! --- http://www.twitter.com/arcrelief Subscribe! --- http://www.youtube.com/chriskatarc Check us out! --- http://www.instagram.com/arcrelief *Giving*    At the request of readers, I always include these links so they’re easy to find when you need them. Thanks so much. Become a Monthly Donor: http://www.ARCrelief.org/givemonthly Donate Online: http://www.ARCrelief.org/donate Give Us a Call: (800) 875-7060 Send in a gift: American Refugee Committee Donor Service Center P.O. Box 1002 Minneapolis, MN 55480-1002 USA

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