About Cheruto

WARNING: Sometimes, the questions Who, What, Why and How are best answered elaborately. So, for those of you who are interested in some background information, hold on tight and dig in.

Organization

It was actually a little girl that sparked all this: Cheruto, an 8-year old girl from Kenya. She contracted AIDS about two years ago. Her friend, Dutch actress Hanna Verboom, immediately set out to do something. Hanna sold paintings she had made herself and used the revenue to provide Cheruto with the medication and nutrition she needs. This basic human exchange is relevant to us all: one person supporting another. It inspired the foundation of the Cheruto

Founded in 2008, Cheruto currently has a board, a dozen volunteers and two full-time employees. We are committed to keep overhead low. So, we will keep working with our sponsors and volunteers, and hire staff only when necessary.

Context

Aid needs to become more personal and direct.
Development organizations have received severe criticism over the last few years. People with small-scale aid initiatives find it difficult to get timely and sufficient support. Donors lose touch with the organisations they trust with their money. There’s a growing tendency to support small-scale aid projects, as small projects allow for more personal interaction. They are more transparent, more manageable, and give people the feeling that their support actually makes a difference. The smaller, the better.

Vision

‘All human beings are born equal in dignity and rights. They (...)should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood’. (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1)

So what’s up with over one billion people living on less than a dollar a day? We can do better than that!

Although we all agreed on this, the spirit of worldwide brotherhood is often hard to find. Sustainable relationships (such as worldwide brotherhood) are formed through direct interaction between people. That’s how the abstract concept of ‘International Development Aid’ can return to its essence: people supporting the people they are connected to.

Billions of people lack the things they need to live a healthy, happy life. Things like clean water and education. At the same time, billions of people are interacting through online social networks and mobile phones. There, in people’s need to interact socially, in their innate curiosity and tendency to care for whom they know, lies great potential. If we match some people’s basic needs with the social needs of others, then both can be fulfilled through interaction and exchange on equal terms.

Mission

Cheruto mobilizes social networks to reduce global inequality.

Goals

• To facilitate personal contact around small-scale aid projects and get projects done efficiently.
• To make social responsibility a positive part of people’s daily lives. We want people to proudly express their involvement with each other and their projects.

Method

In order to reach our goals, we’ve developed a brand new platform. It's an online facility where anyone can present their basic needs in the form of a project. Each project gets great tools for active promotion within existing online social networks. Soon, social networks form around the project. These mobilize people to support the project and tell their friends, who mobilize their friends, etcetera. This way, projects can be realized in no-time, together. No fees, no middlemen.

So?

Support us, become a Funding Partner, and GET IT DONE.