he love of humankind is defined as philanthropy, but the definition on paper sounds and looks much different from how it sounds and looks in action.

In Africa a great need exists for these defined acts of love.

Malaria, human trafficking, lack of clean drinking water, and starvation are spreading like a spider web across the country,  and hope would seem to be running dry.

But it isn’t.

Organizations from across the world are reaching out to prevent, stop, and cure these catastrophes, and these efforts are starting much closer to home than one might think.

One trial that has stricken Africa is human trafficking.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), every day an estimated 27 million people are held in slavery worldwide, meaning there are more slaves in the world today than were taken from Africa during the entire 300 years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

 This modernday slavery can appear in many forms, such as sex trafficking, labor trafficking, vital organ trafficking and trafficking young boys for war.

Dusty Feet is an organization that is trying to stop and prevent human trafficking in Eastern Africa, particularly  in Nairobi, Kenya.

“Dusty Feet was created after I traveled to Kenya for the first time to conduct research on economic stratification,” said founder Nate Kaunley, a Springfield native. “Once arriving back in the United States, I could not walk away from the yearning I felt to be in Africa working with the people I lived alongside for the summer.”

Kaunley did some research and with the help of a few friends, Dusty Feet was born.

Today, Dusty feet as targeted all forms of human trafficking using various approaches.

“Recently, a community hosted a soccer tournament, which acted as a venue to educate youth on how to avoid being trafficked,” said Kaunley.

The organization also built a safe house in Nairobi that will serve as a shelter for street boys to sleep safely in during the night.

But to top all their efforts off, they are partly responsible for the drafting of the Trafficking in Persons Bill on Kenya, which will make all forms of human trafficking illegal there.

Another hardship currently facing  Africa is  waterborne illenesses caused by unsainitary water. This has become the focus of the non-profit organization Water.org, which has transformed hundreds of communities in Africa by providing them with clean drinking water and sanitation.

Water.org builds wells in developing countries, but it also includes the community in the maintenance of the wells.

 “It’s not just a well, but a full-blown program that involves health and hygiene education for kids in schools, community members, and latrines,” said Erin Swanson, communications specialist for the organization. “It involves the community in every step of the progress from planning, to building, to maintenance.”

The wells have turned what is usually a full day chore of fetching often questionable drinking water by foot into a 15 minute trip to safe and sanitary water, according to Swanson.

In places where wells are not physically able to be built, non-profit organization Convoy of Hope helps offer other options, such as water filtration systems.

These literal life savers cost $50 each and last a lifetime.

Recently, students in Parkview’s Helping International People club (H.I.P) partnered with Convoy of Hope to provide two families with clean drinking water for life via water filtration systems.

According to Convoy of Hope, 43 percent of the global population does not have access to clean water. The organization works to lower this statistic.

 
Despite the despair that has set into Africa, there still remains one thing: happiness.

“Africa has taught me that happiness is a choice,” said Kaunley. “I work with people who have been kidnapped, tortured, and raped hundreds of times. Often, I see true happiness in these victims despite the great tradgedies they have endured. They don’t let their circumstances determain their happiness.”

 Swanson and Kaunley both agree that to make a difference one must listen to the words of Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”