Why
The World Advocacy Foundation (WAF) was born in response to a soul-rattling vision trip to six countries in Africa. Everything you’ve heard about Africa was found there… rampant HIV/AIDS desperation, biting poverty, grossly inadequate schools, need and suffering walking around with bare feet and big eyes. Each of these alone is weighty enough to break hearts and launch international aid campaigns. But what captured our attention, and begged a response, was the exuberant “spirit of Africa” shining through the thousands of faces of those living in desperate need.
As we travelled and interacted with Africans from all walks of life…simple villagers, tribal chiefs, young people with vision and dreams, mothers, community leaders, and children…we discovered a uniqueness of spirit. We saw overflowing gratitude, joyous singing and dancing, simple lives of hope and faith, openness, strong sense of family and pride of culture. We saw a beauty not easily found anywhere in our post-modern western world. We saw people with all of the positive attributes of world changers. We saw people with vision. We saw people with passion. We saw people who believed they could make a difference. We saw people with great potential. And we would empower them.
In 2007, The World Advocacy Foundation (WAF) was launched by a series of pilot programs, testing our theories of effective empowerment. We developed programs to educate, empower and equip international advocates in their third-world communities… the slums, the compounds, the villages and places of great need. We think it’s better to equip them to do the work…they are language trained, they are relevant to the culture, they live in proximity and carry a unique passion.
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They work in:
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They tackle the tough issues like:
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We provide resources like program materials, books, medical supplies and sports equipment. We get our advocates the training that will help them “do what they do”…from local training, conferences and workshops, to international opportunities that will develop their skills and a strong network. We identify their strengths and enable them to develop new programs, while putting necessary partnerships in place to support their efforts. We provide them with a small stipend to cover the basics, give them a fair living wage. We develop programs that partner US professionals with international professionals to address issues of great need in their work.
We’ve seen a lot of faith based “missions” endeavors that don’t best utilize limited resources. We’ve seen a lot of aid programs that fail to address the whole person, the spiritual component. And we’ve seen the large corporate NGOs with great intentions and deep pockets, but just as deep wells of administrative costs. We applaud good efforts, but we think it can be done better.
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