New Tote Bags & Pins
4/22/08

We proudly present our brand new TNHF tote bag. Black, stylish, and featuring our “numbers as letters” design, this 100% cotton tote is perfect for your books, laptop, beach clothes, or groceries. Save a plastic bag and support TNHF in the process.

The bags are $10 and make a great gift. Have a hard time shopping for Mom on Mothers Day? Look no further. Check out the photos below and visit our Online Store here:

Nominate us for CNN’s “Young People Who Rock”
4/18/08

Each week CNN features a segment called Young People Who Rock highlighting young people doing innovative and extraordinary things. The weekly winners get a brief spot on CNN and a chance to showcase their work.

We think TNHF is a prime candidate for this competition and we hope you think so too. If so, consider nominating us for this award by clicking the banner below.

New TNHF Education Video
4/10/08

In this great new video, Anda Sozawe offers his personal thanks to Westmont College Students for their substantial contribution to his first year of college.

Westmont Students held a rock-paper-scissor tournament in March and raised over 1/4 of Anda’s tuition for 2008!

Special thanks to Chase Reeves of i looma productions for his terrific work on the video.

An Important Reminder…
3/16/08

Here at These Numbers Have Faces, we care deeply about issues of inequality, global poverty, disease, and conflict. But what gets us up in the morning is not the weight of these issues, nor the belief system we’ve adopted to confront them. The driving force behind TNHF is how deeply we care for Anda Sozawe, Coach Eric Kombela, Michael Mfengu, the players of JL Zwane FC, and our other friends in Guguelthu.

TNHF isn’t about a cause, it’s about a relationship. It’s about interconnectedness and the stark reality that all our lives are beautifully bound up together. This is “Ubuntu”, the South African theology of community.

We believe human relationships to be one of the most powerful forces in the world. It is in these relationships with our friends in South Africa where hope comes alive, where God is real, and where our lives find meaning.

For more on these ideas please visit the Ubuntu section of our website.Thank you for your continued support and partnership,

Vote On The Next TNHF T-Shirt!
3/10/08

We need your help to decide on which TNHF shirt to create next. From the following 6 designs, please choose which one you like best. Which one would you buy and/or wear? We value your opinion! Check out the designs below and then vote in the poll. As usual 100% of the proceeds go toward our summer South Africa trip and educational costs for Gugulethu youth.

Student Heads to Clinton Global Initiative Conference in the Name of TNHF
3/8/08

Jessica Almendarez is a sophomore at the University of California Riverside and has been selected to participate in the Clinton Global Initiative University in New Orleans, March 14-16. The conference features speakers, activists, and celebrities from all over the world and is “designed to challenge and equip college students to tackle global problems with practical, innovative solutions.” Former President Bill Clinton established the CGI in 2005.

Jessica has chosen These Numbers Have Faces and the education of Gugulethu youth as her commitment to action and will go to New Orleans to share her vision for social change in South Africa.

With the skills learned at CGI, she hopes to raise $4,000 to provide a year’s tuition for a member of the JL Zwane Football Club and help a Gugulethu student “become one of the growing numbers of individuals aspiring to diminish the lack of education caused by the apartheid era.”

We are proud of you Jessica! Read the full article on Jessica and CGI here

Update on Anda Sozawe at Northlink College
2/7/08

Thanks to your donations and support, Anda Sozawe has begun his college career! He wanted us to share this with all of you:

“Hi everyone, thank you for what you have done for me. Being at Northlink is incredible. I never thought these things would happen. You have opened doors for me and been there through the bad times and good times. I often think about where this started from and I want to thank God for what you have done for me. I am the first of my family to attend college. My mother is very proud.”

Want more from Anda? We’ve a put up a little interview on our Latest News Blog. Read the interview with Anda as he talks about being away from Gugulethu, dealing with race issues at Northlink, and enjoying his classes.

2008 is a BIG year for TNHF: Help us get to South Africa
1/10/08

2008 marks some big steps for TNHF as an organization. This year we will become an official 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit organization, meaning that all your donations from here on out will be tax-deductible.

Our big goal for this year is to raise enough money to get back out to South Africa this summer and achieve the following goals:

· Meet up with JL Zwane FC, evaluate our involvement, and present them with all sorts of new soccer equipment

· Check on Anda in school at Northlink College. Visit his dorm room, meet his friends, and see how his life is being shaped by a college education.

· Make a short documentary film about TNHF and our partnerships in Gugulethu

· Meet new Gugulethu students. We aim to partner with 1-2 more ambitious young people who want to attend college in the near future. We hope to document their lives, meet their families, and prepare ourselves to share their stories in order to provide future scholarships.

· Expand the partnership to another grassroots initiative in Gugulethu. There are so many wonderful programs already going on in Gugulethu, many of them involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We are excited to partner with another initiative within the JL Zwane community to help them continue making positive and sustainable change.

Please help us achieve our goals this year by hitting the donate button. We need to raise another $2,000 for our trip to South Africa to continue this dynamic partnership with the community of Gugulethu.

True Life: Growing up in Gugulethu
10/30/07

“I was coming home from school and the G’s [Gangsters] took my phone; they put their gun on me”. – Anda Sozawe

Read more about the daily lives of Anda Sozawe and Michael Mfengu from TNHF’s photographer and blogger John Vicory. Read the story here

$5 Campaign
8/28/07

Five dollars. It might be for coffee in the morning, for parking downtown, or you may lose it in the couch each month. But we’d love it if you would save some it for These Numbers Have Faces. While $5 doesn’t seem like much, our goal is to have each person who receives this newsletter commit to a $5 or £5 pound monthly partnership with us. Please click the appropriate heart to give with a secure online donation…