Galveston, Texas, January 10, 2015

Robert L. K. Lynch was recently elected to the board of African Childrens Haven, a Galveston non-profit that supports at-risk children in Eastern and Southern Africa.

“African Childrens Haven is a great organization that helps vulnerable kids lead healthier, more productive lives,’ said Lynch. “I’ve followed their work for some years now and have witnessed the effectiveness of their programs that help AIDS orphans and children living in poverty.”

“Robert and his family have been long-time supporters of our work and we welcome his willingness to play a more hands-on role,” added Linda Ercole-Musso, the organization’s founder and board chair.

“African Childrens Haven helps hundreds of poor children, especially those who have lost their parents to AIDS,” Ercole-Musso said. The organization also provides safe haven for girls seeking to escape childhood marriage, genital cutting and the sex and drug trades.

Lynch is well-known as a community and business leader and has served on numerous Galveston boards and commissions, including the city’s Park Board, the Galveston Historical Foundation and the Galveston Housing Authority. He was elected three times to the City Council.

An avid supporter of the arts, Lynch played a leading role in the restoration of the tall ship Elissa and the restoration of numerous buildings along the Strand. He is a past President of the Galveston Grand Opera and currently serves as an advisory member of board of the Frost Bank (Galveston) and as President of the Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund.

“We are truly excited about Robert joining us at African Childrens Haven,” said Ed Sulzberger, the organization’s Executive Director. Sulzberger noted that in addition to his duties as a board member, Lynch will also serve as the organization’s Treasurer.

“We are in a period of growth,” said Sulzberger, “and we look forward to Robert sharing with us his experience and expertise in the non-profit world.”

African Childrens Haven was founded in Galveston in 2006 and receives support from a variety of local citizens and businesses. The organization provides educational scholarships for deserving students and sponsors projects that enhance education in urban slums.

August 30, 2012

The Board of Trustees of African Childrens Haven is pleased to announce the appointment of Katherine Tate-Bradish as its first associate expert in the field of sex education and HIV prevention.

Tate-Bradish will serve as project leader of a new initiative to train large numbers of African sex educators in rural areas and provide the means to sustain their work through private enterprise.

An American, Tate-Bradish has many years of experience as an educator and advocate for rural women and children. In 2004, she began developing a sex education curriculum that is widely taught in Kenya and has found favor among women and youth groups. The curriculum includes the fabrication of sanitary napkins by local artisans. The scarcity and cost of sanitary napkins in rural areas is a major problem for local women and a significant impediment to girls’ education.

Trained as an attorney and educator, Tate-Bradish developed her curriculum based on information derived from sources that include the International Red Cross and Planned Parenthood. Her credentials include certification from the American Society for Training and Development.

Our sex education curriculum, she says, evolved organically with input from Kenyan teachers, high school students and women’s groups. “I call it The Sexual Health Alphabet: HIV/AIDS, other STDS, and the ABCs,” she says. In sex education circles, the ‘ABC’ concept refers to comprehensive education: Abstain, Be Faithful, use Condoms Correctly and Consistently.

The training takes six days and includes pre-and post-testing on factual understanding, daily assessments, and group and individual practice teaching. Most of the trainees are women farmers. Local church groups, HIV support groups, and women’s organizations also play a role.
Sex education and HIV prevention is a growing part of African Childrens Haven’s (ACH) agenda. ACH finances a variety of education projects for children in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya.

The two-year initiative, which is now being organized by Tate-Bradish in collaboration with ACH and the Vumilia orphan’s home in Western Kenya, will provide proof of concept and seek ways to extend the curriculum to large numbers of rural educators. Vumilia is an ACH member organization that works with women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.

An estimated 50,000 Kenyans have been taught by local educators trained using Tate-Bradish’s curriculum. In addition to scaling up, the project will also develop means to help sex educators sustain themselves financially.