Wild4life Kel Sheppey Grant Awarded 2010  Wild4life connects health providers to these remote communities. Working with field partners already established in these areas, we leverage their resources to create a delivery platform and then generate demand. In most of the areas that we work, HIV is the big issue and we've found that communities will mobilize around HIV, so we have made HIV our initial focus. We start by establishing a comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment program, which creates momentum and gets the community organized. We follow this work with a second wave of programs, targeting other common maladies such as TB and malaria, maternal and child health, reproductive health, and other related activities like family planning. The program is community driven, and makes use of resources and an infrastructure that already exists in rural areas to deliver health services. We bridge the gap between where resources are and where the need is. The best part is that it's affordable at less than $10 / person. Kel Sheppey is a Zimbabwean who grew up in southern Africa, where he developed a deep understanding and empathy for the needs of rural African communities. His professional career spans topics and skills that make him uniquely suited to found Wild4Life. He trained initially as a wildlife biologist, conducted research on spotted hyenas and medical immunology, ran a successful adventure travel company, served as Operations Director for the South African National Adult Literacy Co-op's Presidential Program, and was Oracle Corporation's Implementation Director for Latin America (Applications IT). In 2008, Kel left a corporate career in San Francisco to first drive a Landrover from Cape Town toLondon, and then focus his efforts full time on establishing Wild4life as the Managing Director. To learn more about Wild4life, please visit www.wild4life.org. |
