[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 15, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E164-E166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN RECOGNITION OF AFRICARE'S 35TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 15, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 35th 
anniversary of the founding of the Africare organization. Africare is 
the oldest and largest African-American led organization committed to 
providing direct aid to the African continent--a leader in the fields 
of long-term sustainable development and health care, especially with 
regard to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
  The thousands of African families who have benefited through 
Africare's humanitarianism stand as a testament to the power of the 
organization's selfless mission. I am proud to offer my congratulations 
to Africare for many years of service embodying one of our Nation's 
most commendable ideal--extending our hand and heart to our fellow 
brothers and sisters throughout the world.
  Africare helps Africa. Over the course of its history, Africare has 
become a pioneer among private, charitable U.S. organizations assisting 
Africa. The organization has supported hundreds of grassroots projects 
in Africa that have changed the lives of families living on the 
continent. Africare's programs address needs in the principal areas of 
food security and agriculture as well as health and HIV/AIDS. Africare 
also supports water resource development, environmental management, 
basic education, microenterprise development, governance initiatives 
and emergency humanitarian aid. Africare reaches families and 
communities in 26 countries in every major region of Sub-Saharan 
Africa, from Mali to South Africa and from Senegal to Mozambique.

  The founders of Africare had a vision--to transform the lives of 
Africans and infuse into the often-forgotten and deprived continent 
much needed sustenance. In 1970, West Africa was suffering through one 
of the most severe droughts in its history which threatened the 
livelihood of livestock and crops. Villagers were fleeing their homes 
in search of water. Millions of human lives held in the balance.
  Among those providing help--medical aid in Niger--were 17 American 
volunteers, led by Dr. William Kirker, and his wife Barbara. Together 
they named their group ``Africare.'' The Kirkers themselves had been 
working in Africa, to improve African health care, since 1966. Although 
the work by the Kirkers was invaluable, more was needed to be done to 
stifle the

[[Page E165]]

crisis sweeping through the area. Diori Hamani, then president of the 
Republic of Niger, sought more support from the U.S., in particular 
from the African-American community. C. Payne Lucas, then director of 
the Peace Corps Office of Returned Volunteers in Washington was one 
individual who answered the call. He went on to become the first 
president of Africare, spending 30 years at the organization. He 
brought a unique blend of passion and steadfast commitment during his 
40-year career in African development.
  Under the leadership of the Kirkers and Lucas, Africare flourished 
and continued to make valuable contributions towards the development of 
the African continent. At the annual Africare dinner last October the 
13th, the founders of Africare were recognized in remarks made by 
Africare vice president Jeannine Scott. The event was attended by 
notable individuals including that year's Africare Distinguished 
Humanitarian Service Award recipient, General Colin Powell, the former 
U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development, Dr. Dorothy Height, president emeritus of the 
National Council of Negro Women, and my colleagues Representatives 
William Jefferson of Louisiana and Barbara Lee of Texas, as well as 
other civil and business leaders.
  At the anniversary dinner, Africare vice president Jeannine Scott 
introduced the founders of Africare and recounted the story of how the 
organization was founded. I thought it would be useful for you to 
understand the history of the organization and I therefore ask that the 
text of her speech be entered into the Record.

                Presentation of the Founders of Africare

                         (By Jeannine B. Scott)

       Dr. Kirker and his wife Barbara are here with us tonight 
     and we are honored to pay tribute to them and the vision they 
     had to found an organization to initially respond to the many 
     health care needs of our brothers and sisters in Africa.
       In addition to these founders, we have with us some of the 
     first volunteers who served with them. They are:
       James Sattler, an attorney in Hawaii who donated his 
     services at the very beginning of Africare's life;
       Joan Victoria Saccardi--a volunteer on Africare's very 
     first trip to Africa, and who faced her own bouts of illness 
     while carrying out the work she believed in;
       And Cosco Carlbom was also one of the dedicated volunteers 
     on the very first trip, providing vital technical expertise 
     and was one of only a handful of volunteers to complete the 
     entire two-year mission.
       Please join me in welcoming these very first Africare 
     pioneers.
       Another early Africare supporter, Myra Takaski, was not 
     able to join us here tonight. Through the Savings and Loan 
     she headed, Ms. Takaski provided Africare with all the 
     clerical and support services the young organization needed. 
     Our thoughts are with her this evening.
       Out of the looming dilemma that Africa was facing, His 
     Excellency Ambassador Oumarou Youssoufou, the First Secretary 
     at the Niger Embassy, contacted his old friend C. Payne Lucas 
     who had been Peace Corps director in Niger, beseeching him 
     on the part of then president Hamani Diori to lend his 
     expertise and leadership to the organization.
       Ambassador Youssoufou and Mr. Lucas discussed the idea. Mr. 
     Lucas was then working at the Peace Corps headquarters in 
     Washington and was interested in new ways to improve the 
     quality of life in Africa. C. Payne also remembered a 
     question that had been posed to him years earlier by 
     President Diori: ``Why don't black Americans, whose ancestors 
     came from the continent, respond to the needs in Africa?''
       Mr. Lucas agreed to assume the leadership of the 
     organization, insisting on two important conditions. The 
     first was to expand Africare's focus to include not only 
     health, but water and agriculture as well. His second 
     condition was to ensure that the organization would be rooted 
     in the African-American community and would serve to educate 
     all Americans about Africa--its human, spiritual, historical, 
     and material wealth.
       With these objectives on the table, Mr. Lucas became the 
     first executive director of Africare. He reincorporated the 
     organization in Washington, D.C. and recruited another Peace 
     Corps staff member Dr. Joseph C. Kennedy to serve as his 
     deputy.
       With an interest-free loan of $30,000 and a second-hand 4x4 
     vehicle turned over to the program in Niger after a cross-
     Saharan trek--both provided by a dedicated benefactor, the 
     late Mrs. Lorraine Aimes Watriss--the ``reborn'' Africare was 
     on its way.
       For the next year, the only paid employee of Africare was a 
     secretary. C. Payne himself accepted no salary and donated 
     the basement of his house as Africare's first office. In 
     addition to grants, Africare collected donations from 
     ordinary people, often just a few dollars, or nickels and 
     dimes and Mr. Lucas would say, at a time. Seeing the value of 
     organization, the Nigerian Embassy then agreed to house 
     Africare, volunteering the first floor of its Chancery near 
     Dupont Circle.
       It was surely not easy. But the vision and sincerest of 
     commitments were its impetus to succeed. And succeed, I am 
     sure ladies and gentlemen you will agree they did!
       It is from these humble beginnings that the Africare you 
     see, know and support today emerged and grew under the 
     guidance of Mr. Lucas and Dr. Kennedy.
       Thanks to their 30+ years of efforts, energy, sacrifice, 
     risking their careers and more, a solid foundation was laid:
       Enabling the original vision to become a true and tangible 
     reality;
       Fostering a legacy that has led to the transfer of over 
     half a billion dollars for more than 2,000 economic and 
     humanitarian assistance projects to some 36 countries 
     throughout Africa;
       Touching over 2 million lives directly on the continent;
       Training and mentoring hundreds, if not thousands of young 
     Africans and Americans to follow in their footsteps;
       Constructing Africare House--home to many whose convictions 
     and activities embrace Africa;
       Educating the American people of the greatness that is 
     Africa!
       In honoring our founders this evening I would like to ask 
     Dr. and Mrs. Kirker, along with the first Africare volunteers 
     present here tonight, Mr. Sattler, Ms. Saccardi, and Mr. 
     Carlbom, to join me here on the stage.
       I would also like to acknowledge His Excellency Ambassador 
     Oumarou Youssoufou. He could not be with us tonight, but is 
     ably represented by his daughter Zouera Youssoufou. I would 
     like to invite her onto the stage in her father's place.
       I would also like to call a teacher, colleague, my 
     professor and friend, Dr. Joseph C. Kennedy to join us here 
     on stage.
       And finally, I have the distinct honor to call a visionary 
     leader and guide, and my mentor, Mr. C. Payne Lucas.
       It is truly an honor for us to pay tribute to all of you 
     here tonight. Please join me, ladies and gentlemen, in 
     welcoming Africare's earliest pioneers and leaders: Dr. 
     William Kirker and Mrs. Barbara Kirker, Mr. Sattler, Ms. 
     Saccardi, and Mr. Calbom, Dr. Joseph C. Kennedy and Mr. C. 
     Payne Lucas--the people who made tonight's 35th anniversary 
     possible.

  I ask that the text of a statement by Africare president Julius E. 
Coles which outlines Africare's work today also be entered into the 
Record.

       Although Africare's initial focus was on providing medical 
     care to the needy of Africa, the methods used to raise the 
     standard of living in Africa soon grew more diverse.
       When C. Payne Lucas took the helm of Africare in 1972, he 
     saw that in order to make a meaningful difference in the 
     lives of Africans, the organization had to do more than 
     provide occasional medical care. In order to change the 
     situation in Africa, Africare would also have to assist 
     Africans in gaining access to the tools necessary to take 
     control of their own lives.
       Following in Lucas's vision, Africare has focused on three 
     main areas: health and HIV/AIDS, humanitarian relief, and 
     food security. Over the years, we have developed close 
     working relationships with African governments.
       By working in tandem with governments at the national and 
     local levels, as well as with countless communities and 
     villages throughout Africa, we have shown ourselves to be 
     trustworthy partners in development.
       In response to Africa's need for additional medical care, 
     we have committed ourselves to addressing the health issues 
     that adversely affect the families we serve. Africare's 
     programs have a strong HIV/AIDS component that tackles an 
     entire spectrum of issues related to the disease. HIV/AIDS 
     awareness and education programs focusing on concrete 
     behavior change given the people we work with the 
     knowledge they need to keep themselves safe from 
     infection. Africare also works to address the needs of 
     people living with AIDS and provide care for children 
     orphaned by the disease.
       Africare has also taken steps to encourage stable, long-
     term increases in the standard of living. Africare's Food For 
     Development staff members in countries across Africa help 
     locals to achieve food security by delivering food supplies 
     and providing technical assistance to local farmers. Using 
     food resources and funds ftom the U.S. government, Africare 
     administers both emergency food distribution as well as Food 
     For Work programs in which food supplies are exchanged for 
     community service. Africare staff also helps locals to 
     maximize the productivity of their land through modern 
     farming techniques. By planting new crops and using 
     innovative farming methods, African families can increase 
     their annual yield and better withstand otherwise disastrous 
     events like droughts and famines.
       Africare also provides humanitarian relief services to 
     victims of natural and manmade disasters across Africa. Our 
     current programs distribute Title II food supplies to victims 
     of famine and drought. Africare also works intensively with 
     refugees to ensure that people forced to flee their homelands 
     are provided not only with the supplies they need to survive, 
     but the skills and resources to rebuild damaged societies.
       In addition to the three pillars of health and HIV/AIDS, 
     food security, and emergency relief, Africare works through a 
     variety of means to facilitate positive changes in the daily 
     life of Africa. By building wells and springs, Africare 
     develops resources from which entire communities can draw 
     safe, clean drinking water. Through education initiatives, 
     children and adults gain the literacy skills necessary for 
     long-term success

[[Page E166]]

     and access to practical health and nutrition information. Our 
     environmental programs have planted thousands of trees which 
     enrich ecosystems and will reduce soil erosion, benefiting 
     future generations. Africare's focus on stable societies 
     includes initiatives to foster civil society and responsive 
     governance. Africare supports indigenous nongovernmental 
     organizations and encourages peaceful transitions in changing 
     societies.
       Microfinance programs encourage women to start small 
     businesses which help communities become more resistant to 
     economic downturns.
       Over the past 35 years, Africare has been able to work with 
     millions of people in 35 countries across the continent. Our 
     organization has grown to be leader in the field and a model 
     of how Africans and Americans of all races can work together 
     towards a common goal. Now we are more convinced than ever of 
     the necessity of helping to build a stronger, more stable 
     Africa. As we continue with our work, we will also continue 
     to grow and evolve to meet the changing needs of Africa.

  Mr. Speaker, Africare is an institution of which all Americans should 
be proud. Please join me in saluting Africare for all it has done over 
the last 35 years and wishing it well as it continues to bring hope and 
inspiration to millions of people throughout Africa.

                          ____________________