COMPASSION RESPONSE NETWORK

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COMPASSION RESPONSE NETWORK CIRCULAR No 14

Compassion Response Network,
Australian Company Number 103 240 071
By David Keane, 4/August/2003
PO Box 582, Gosnells WA 6110, Australia
Email address: keane@nw.com.au
Website address: http://www.compassion-response.net/

When on 11^th/April/2003, Compassion Response Network launched its fundraising appeal through the Internet grapevine, we had a target goal of US$90,000 to raise for the completion of the HIV/AIDS treatment and blood-testing projects in Harare and Kinshasa, and at least US$45,000 would need to be raised to commence the projects.

Total amount of donations received from 11^th/April/2003 to the end of July/2003, has totaled AUD$2,768.53, or about US$1,800, about 2% of the total funds being sought. Those donations received have been spent on preliminary purchases in early anticipation that the full appeal goal might soon be met, but now further expenditure is necessarily being put on hold. By the end of the financial year, expenditure matched donations received, and a full accounting of the last year's financial statement will be given in the next CRN circular.

It is clear that the Internet appeal was insufficient to attract sufficient funds. And the initial wave of donations has died down, indicated by the July total of donations being just AUD$10.00. And so our Inner Planning Circle has chosen to change direction, shifting from an emphasis on fundraising towards an educational campaign to transform the public consciousness. We are appealing for support for comparative treatment and testing projects that are critically important and urgent, but the general public clearly is not yet sufficiently familiar with the ideas behind alternative treatment comparative testing projects.

Future promotional work will from now on focus upon three main areas;

1. Applications to grants organisations. Major grants organisations like the Ford Foundation or Gates Foundation often grant up to 50% of target funds required for approved charitable projects. We are awaiting decision from the Australian Tax Office regarding our application for tax exempt charitable status, before we can initiate these applications to major grants organisations. A decision over our application for tax exemption is required to be made by the Tax Office within a month.
2. Approaching New Age magazines, Alternative Health magazines, Goodwill magazines, weekend newspaper magazines, international aid organisations, compassion groups, various NGO's, and radio and television interview hosts.
3. Networking vigorously within South Africa, where there is both First World affluence and a profound political and social awareness of the urgent need to find a comprehensive response to the AIDS pandemic. Such South African networking must approach not only magazines, NGO's and media, but also politicians and businesses. Before approaching politicians and businesses much research needs to be done on the economic cost of AIDS in South Africa. We do not yet have a qualified networker and researcher in South Africa willing to sacrifice the enormous amount of time and effort in the required campaign. Such a South African networking contact will be critical, for the major funding, apart from grants organisations, is most likely to come from South Africa. There the economic argument is just so overwhelming, that businesses and politicians simply must support alternative treatment comparative surveys if they are to economically survive.

If a compassion project really captures the public imagination, then an Internet appeal can be a very rapid and effective means of raising funds. But with our recent Internet appeal this did not happen. The public consciousness is clearly not yet broadly receptive to the ideas we are promoting. Even when discussing what we are doing with dedicated compassion workers, it is at times difficult to quickly persuade them.

We are challenging people to think through what needs to be done to provide a truly comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic. Such an educational task is not simple. Amidst the abundance of ideas about what to do about AIDS, there is too much emotive and confused thinking out there.

The challenge before us therefore is to awaken the minds of the intelligentsia and thinkers of the Earth. We cannot do this by massive distribution of half formed ideas. We must take our time, ever steadily expanding our outreach. We must ourselves as a group think through the issues involved of the many facets for initiating a comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic, together with the public interests and invoked demands in relation to AIDS.

So it is that our Inner Planning Circle has for the past month been discussing and fine tuning (after a month of drafting) an article for distribution to New Age magazines, health magazines, and weekend newspaper magazines. This article is now ready for global distribution over the next fortnight. We will not focus upon Internet as before, but will be writing individualised letters direct to editors around the globe.

The next stage will be to write to NGO groups, and compassion and aid and charitable organisations. Again, we must not rush, but must think through the issues very clearly through that we wish to discuss with such groups. The end result and success of our campaign is inevitable of only we continue to write quality letters and cause people in areas of influence to think through the issues.

For most surprisingly, it appears that no-one until now has attempted to awaken the public consciousness to think about the really central and fundamental issues involved, in what needs to be done to cultivate a truly comprehensive response to the AIDS pandemic.

If we are to be successful we must now focus upon those issues and invite such a global awakening and rallying. We must invite the development of a global Alternative Treatments Movement, which then comes together through a international convention like the Rio Earth Summit to prepare an Alternative Treatments Charter and form an International Alternative Treatments organisation. What then are those central issues that the general public will and indeed must rally around in due time?

These global issues go beyond Compassion Response Network's modest two treatment and testing projects in Harare and Kinshasa. We must attune to the creative and evolutionary impulse initiating the development of new ideals for humanity. We must attune to humanity's collective invocation and thoughts, and find those fundamental principles and values that will inspire new thinking.

Those fundamental principles and values we believe are embraced within our vision statement, mission statement and main objective, as written into Compassion Response Network Constitution.

Our vision statement is;

"The only way to guarantee a future of peace and progress for the whole human race is for enough men and women of goodwill to accept responsibility for the establishing of right relations, and to work actively with the principles of unity and goodwill."

Our mission statement is;

"To facilitate the emergence of a goodwill network in which the hands of men and women of goodwill are strengthened so that they become enabled to directly provide a meaningful compassionate response to the most urgent needs of humanity."

Our main objective with respect to AIDS is;

"To identify with the millions in the world with AIDS and facilitate a compassionate response through direct action until their suffering is transmuted to hope. To facilitate AIDS treatment and testing projects of sufficient scientific-medical quality to attract the interest and commitment of major aid and charitable groups. To cooperate with major aid and charitable groups to provide effective long-term responses to the AIDS pandemic."

These will remain Compassion Response Network's contribution and focus for the task of initiating an international convention and developing a global Alternative Treatments Charter. Others will have other issues that they may wish to bring to such a global conference, such as self-regulation of alternative health products, or ethically correct responses to other major diseases. These other issues also may be embraced if the group consensus seeks such an expanded agenda, but our focus will be to remain true to our vision, mission statement and objective for AIDS.

Something is definitely wrong with the way the formula that the American Food and Drugs Administration has for "proving" the safety and effective drugs at an exorbitant cost that only the major drug companies can afford. And then the Food and Drug Administration and insurance companies vigorously oppose natural and traditional medicines that often have a long history of effective treatment. Many of these treatments are natural and non-toxic, and have most impressive claims as to their curative efficacy. These claims need then to be given a fair go, and if in small scale projects the treatment lead to recovery of health and very positive viral load and immunity level blood test results, then the pathway needs to be put in place for sponsoring more extended projects and comparative scientific testing.

The monopoly of the American Food and Drug administration for approval and promotion of treatments, is no longer appropriate. The international Alternative Treatments Convention to be formed must lift up a truly ethical set of guidelines for safety, quality and efficacy of alternative treatments for AIDS, particularly with respect to comparative testing programs. Such guidelines to be defined in a Charter must set as their primary purpose, the enabling of a meaningful and direct compassionate response to the AIDS pandemic.

We must then lift up our agreed Charter and challenge the Food and Drug Administration's monopoly for approval of treatment and testing guidelines.

The First World "solution" of life extension drugs that neither cure, reduce viral load, increase immunity levels, nor lead to vibrant health, simply are not suitable for Third World conditions. The directing factor for future compassion work must be to enable of a meaningful, direct and comprehensive compassionate response to the AIDS pandemic. There is no other way forward if we are to reverse the tide.

By myself as secretary of Compassion Response Network, I have limited time and ability to do much, and the speed with which we can make a public impact will increase many times with abundant support from other people, especially from overseas, where I do not know of many magazines or networking contacts. Much of my networking and promotion must necessarily, especially with respect to compassion groups and media, focus in Australia. Here then are some of the areas in which others can greatly assist with the educational work;

Distribution of the New Age magazine article. This article is sent as an attachment with this email, and may also be found on the CRN website through the main index. I seek to send this article to all New Age magazines throughout the world, as well as to alternative health magazines, internationalist magazines, goodwill magazines, and newspaper weekend magazines. The article can be used generally as an introduction to many groups and celebrities and organisations as to what we are doing and promoting.

I will naturally try to distribute to all available such contacts within Australia, but I know of only a few such magazines overseas. Those I will be sending to (each with a personalised covering letter) include;

New Zealand - Many to Many
America - Alive, Common Ground, Shared Vision
Britain - World Goodwill, Positive News, New Humanity, Kindred Spirits
Europe - International Perspectives
South Africa - Odyssey

There must be a hundred or more such magazines and groups outside of Australia we can send our article to, but I do not personally know of them. If you know of a good magazine or contact, please email me and let me know something about them and their contact details, or perhaps you might like to distribute the article yourself?

Grants giving organisations. I know of the Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation which both seem to be sympathetic to accepting applications for our types of projects. I will be applying to them immediately we officially get granted tax exemption. Being granted tax exemption seems very likely as we structured our constitution with tax exemption in mind, but it just takes a while to be made official. If you know of any other grants giving organisations receptive to our type of projects, please let me know about them.

Contacting celebrities. A number of our networking friends have suggested, "Why do we not present our ideas to celebrities, singers or concert bands?" Elton John and Sir Bob Geldoff have been suggested, and I am sure there are dozens of others who might be interested in supporting a comparative surveys of alternative treatments for AIDS. But I do not know where to start with this one. Can anyone suggest who I should approach, and how I should go about helping them become aware of what we are doing? Many of these celebrities get just so much fan mail, and I do want our message to at least get read and considered.

Compassion and aid groups. I have sent a few of our articles with covering letters to a few compassion groups, but with no response. If we are going to make an impact here we need to take our time and do it properly. We need to challenge them about what each group is doing about responding to the AIDS pandemic, how effective their response is, and whether they are at all interested in expanding their service to embrace a more comprehensive response. Rather than supply an article about what we are doing, we must involve them in creative debate. We need to cause them to think deeply about these issues. Developing strategies of approach will need to await distribution to New Age groups over the next month. I will be able to approach compassion and aid groups within Australia. I will appreciate anyone in other countries who will be eager to approach aid and compassion groups in their own countries. Once we have got a number of responses. I will then approach radio and television interview hosts within Australia. Anyone interested in developing media contact in other countries is likewise welcome to become involved.

General networking. How much I will be able to network within Australia is limited. We desperately need other skilled networkers who are eager to do likewise in New Zealand, America, Britain, Europe, and all other overseas countries. The AIDS pandemic is a global problem, and we urgently need to form a movement of active servers to lift up the idea of finding a comprehensive solution.

A networker in South Africa. This will be the really critical service task before we can commence our projects. Such networking will involve three stages; networking magazines, compassion groups and media as I am doing in Australia; thoroughly researching the economic impact of AIDS in South Africa, both with respect to business and national economies; and finally vigorous promotion with irrefutable arguments to politicians, businesses and insurance companies, and maintaining the pressure until an alternative treatments movement is formed with sufficient people power to manifest our dreams. At the moment we do not have one single networker in South Africa who will commit to this greatly challenging service. We could do with a whole team, but even one individual who is both talented and committed could work wonders.

Two goodwill workers active in health support in Africa have recently approached Compassion Response Network, Godfrey Shemea from Tanzania in East Africa and Bonaventure Onyejido of Sierra Leone in West Africa. Both of these nations have English as their national language, both are very impoverished, and Sierra Leone has just emerged from a ten-year long civil war. Compassion Response Network is delighted to establish these contacts, and we are arranging to send each of them a healing kit, which includes two healing devices, a colloidal silver maker and a zapper.

I received a letter from Godfrey Shemea in November 2002, and he wrote.

"My name is Godfrey T. Shemea. I'm 34 Years. I have been Deacon by profession after completion of my courses of Evangelism 1991/92 and Christian Education in 1995/96 at Lutheran Bible College Mwika, Moshi. I attended Christian Counseling for Marriage and Family in 2002 at Day Star University-Nairobi, Kenya and some seminars of HIV/AIDS. I work at Regional Hospital- Mount Meru, Arusha Tanzania as Servant for caring sick People. I am facing with many problems of the Sick People when I visit the Ward. We have Program of Contribution for treatment in my Country, actually still this is difficult to the people who are poor. This Hospital gives service to the 10 Districts.

"When I visit them to the wards for service as counseling, praying together etc . I am faced with the needs of these people like food, buying medicine, helping with clothes, for the people who are a long time in the wards because they are from faraway, adopted infants etc.)

"Another big problem I am facing also is for the People who are HIV/AIDS victims. This is the big problem to my Country and we need to help our Government for those cases. This is the Government Hospital.

"For this reason I have thought to start the special Ministry for this Sick People (who are poor totally, adopted children, HIV/AIDS victims). I have dreams about that with the Word of God for them. And I take this opportunity to share with you that my dreams and expectation to hear from you for any assistance or advice for this Ministry.

"My Salary of $ 60 per month is not enough to help them because I have family of 4 people. But because I trust in God I can help.

"I will be happier if you will support me to establish this ministry for these people."

I offered to send Godfrey a healing kit with a colloidal silver maker and zapper. He accepted and it is now ready, about to be sent to him. In June 2003, he wrote in connection with the offer for a healing kit,

"I'm willing to accept the offers you will send it to us. Actually as you know that these big diseases of Malaria and AIDS kill so many people in our African Continent. And in this hospital where I am serving, you will see the patients from three to four per day who die. So I think it will help also to see how to help more of these people. Even though, I know that when we join together to praying for them, God will show the way. "

Bonaventure first wrote to Compassion Response Network in May 2003, describing the appalling health situation within his country Sierra Leone.

"The family capacities of the people in Sierra Leone were devastated consequent on the decade old war. Affordable basic medical services are but a luxury for most families. The mortality rate is alarmingly high. Government medical services are yet to cushion primary health care delivery. Basic medical service needs and delivery are complimented through humanitarian intervention by NGO's. As part of the government and NGO's collaborative health care delivery services implementation, the government implored NGO's to come up with health proposals that would be affordable and sustainable. Therefore, we contacted oversea partners who furnish us with information on the colloidal silver project, including your contact. Using our well cemented contacts with the government, the national director who is the wife of a minister discussed this subject with the health minister. With keen interest the minister demands more information that would interest the government to collaborate with Guard Foundation International for the purpose of implementing a national colloidal silver programme."

I sent Bonaventure a copy of the article "The ONLY Way", and invited him to share about himself and the work of Guard Foundation International. He replied in this way.

"Guard Foundation International was founded in October 1999, obtained both temporary and permanent certificate from Ministry of social welfare, gender and children's affairs in March and May 2000 respectively as a voluntary non-profit organisation. On 30th October 2001, the NGO certificate was endorsed by the Hon. Minister for Development and Economic Planning responsible for NGO's in Sierra Leone.

"We do Child Protection, Economic Empowerment and Primary Health Care as humanitarian intervention programmes. We undertake Family Tracing and Reunification for unaccompanied children, Monitoring of Police detention centres for children in conflict with the law, Juvenile Justice Programme, Documentation, Family Tracing, Mediation and Reunification for street children among other child welfare intervention.

"Guard Foundation International uses co-operative ideology for economic empowerment and poverty alleviation, with this intervention we have been able to enable economic oriented groups to metamorphose to co-operative societies and unions. We held a national workshop August 2002 and will be holding another come October 2003. We have been able to implement agriculture programmes through farmers co-operatives.

"When Guard Foundation International responded to the govt of Sierra Leone call for institutional support for basic medical services, we conducted a fact finding survey of the state of health delivery services in Sierra Leone. Our findings were not impressive, therefore we resolved to seek the most affordable health care delivery to reach out to the most impoverished as a result of the decade old war, hence the linkage with the Compassion Response Network.

"Guard Foundation International has a sub-Saharan focus. That is why it is an international NGO. Our projects are focused to attract funding from outside Sierra Leone. Guard Foundation International is presently settling down at 29-30 Kaduna Street, Port Harcourt, Rivers State-Nigeria. We dispatched that literature and your recent mail to them. Making arrangements on undertake the Colloidal Silver and zapper project there, they may not have much funding problems. My family have strong contacts in Nigeria. I hope to even do better there whether another group works there or not what we expect is result.

"I am a Nigerian, graduated from Nnamdi Azikiwe University with Bsc Business Education, commerce/co-operative. Trustees include, Fanta Fillie Faboe is National Director, Rev. Mrs. Teresa Temple Finance Director and Emmanuel Onyeaka, secretary, Enitan Tobuku Metyzyger a consultant with UNDP and formerly director general Ministry of Development and Economic Planning. Dr. William Cole Chairman board of trustees, Kenechukwu Ekeoma lecturer University of Sierra Leone, and Evang. Engr. Okechukwu Obika.

"The Pentecostal Church here is where I worship. The Health Minister happens to be my sister in CHRIST the woman that has been working tirelessly with me for this purpose is the president of West African Nurses and Midwives association/college, and a sister in CHRIST. The Bishop and the entire mission is solidly behind me."

Compassion Response Network has ordered construction of a colloidal silver maker and when it is ready we will send Guard Foundation International a healing kit, including both a colloidal silver maker and a zapper. The National AIDS council is unaware of colloidal silver solution treatment, and first seeks that the treatment becomes more popular before it can be accepted, I proposed they await the healing kit and then provide treatment free to patients with malaria and AIDS, under medical supervision, before further promoting it.

Both Godfrey Shemea of Tanzania and Bonaventure Onyejido of Sierra Leone have dedicated their lives and efforts in the efforts to relieve acute poverty and diseases, and both groups have urgent need for financial support. Funds are very scarce in both countries.

It is true that in Sierra Leone the government has indicated an interest in funding cheap, safe and effective treatments for major diseases like malaria or HIV/AIDS. But no government funding will be forthcoming until these treatments have been demonstrated, and that could take months or years. In the meantime, these valiant groups have little overseas support and have limited capacity to attract donations from an extremely poor local population.

The treatments of colloidal silver solution and zapper can be supplied to the community at no expense for the patients. But there are many little expenses involved in continuing such group work; batteries, distilled water, bottles, office expenses. These are fairly cheap and would not be of concern to anyone in affluent countries, but in Tanzania and Sierra Leone the struggle to earn enough simply to live is so severe, that it is nearly impossible to afford these little expenses without at least some regular overseas donation to support their service work.

I as secretary of Compassion Response Network, live on a moderate disability retirement pension, from which I each year sponsor four such goodwill service groups in Africa, Joseph Bile in Ivory Coast, Robert Maduka in Nigeria, Albert Mananga in Democratic Republic of Congo and Geraldene Cockcroft in Zimbabwe. To each of these I donate about US$320 each year to support goodwill service group activity of healing for the poor. Such donations have been vital in maintaining these group activities. Without such donations, our entire healing projects in Africa may well have collapsed. I unfortunately have now used up the limits of my small pension, and am unable to offer similar support for Godfrey or Bonaventure.

If anyone is interested in financially supporting these courageous and vitally important service initiatives, you are invited to contact either myself the secretary of Compassion Response Network, or Godfrey or Bonaventure directly.

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