Restore Humanity is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to bettering the lives of the less fortunate around the world. It was established September 6, 2006 in the town of Fayetteville Arkansas by Sarah Fennel.
Restore Humanity is an organization exempt under section 501 ( c) (3) of the IRC.

Founder/ CEO: Sarah Fennel

Chief Financial Officer: Amos J. Richards

Learn more about us:

Inspiration

Significance of the name “Restore Humanity”

Mission

Our First Year and Beyond

Goals

Excerpts from Sarah Fennel’s Journals of her trips
    around the world

Restore Humanity in the News

Inspiration
In 2005 Sarah Fennel volunteered in South Africa with AIDS patients, orphans, and abused children. The majority of the country was living in poverty with no electricity, no running water, and no indoor plumbing. Many are living in shacks made of whatever material they could find. After living amongst these amazing people who had nothing, but were still grateful, she was forever changed and knew that she had to do something. After her return, she began gathering clothes, school supplies, books, and toys to send back to the children that she worked with.

During that time Fennel was a language and culture teacher at a local Montessori school in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She started gathering the goods there by teaching the children about the problems in the world and they inspired their parents to become involved. She sent a letter home to the parents asking them to donate goods. She thought it would be a small shipment, that she could ship herself, but the response was overwhelming! Within a week, there was a room full of donated goods! The parents were inspired and wanted to do more. It was then that Fennel realized that there are a huge number of people that care and want to help; they just don’t know how. She realized that she was the connecting piece between those who wanted to help and those who needed it. Shortly after, Restore Humanity was created. The support and the donated goods just grew from there.

Sarah Fennel had known for long time that there was something specific that she was supposed to do. She loved teaching, but always felt a bit anxious because she knew that she was needed elsewhere; that Yahweh (the Almighty Creator) had a plan for her. The moment Fennel decided to create Restore Humanity she felt at peace. She had found her purpose.

Significance of the name “Restore Humanity”
The name Restore Humanity was chosen because people needed help in so many ways. By helping them get what they need we are restoring humanity in their lives. At the same time, we are giving and helping others, thus restoring the humanity inside ourselves, creating a full circle. Each person that joins Restore Humanity or helps others in any way can begin to feel a sense of restored humanity within themselves, it is an incredible gift.

Mission
Restore Humanity is a non-profit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of the less fortunate people of the world. The purpose of Restore Humanity will be to start projects or help fund existing projects that will provide solutions to various problems in the world.

We will accomplish our mission through education on a global scale; education equals empowerment. We will supply the necessities essential to providing an education to children in need, thus giving them the confidence and opportunities needed to follow their dreams and create solutions that will uplift their community. These children can change the face of their country and possibly the world.

Restore Humanity will also focus on educating people in the world about the grim realities that their fellow men and women are living each day. We hope to touch people on a human to human level. Inspiring people to help out of respect for their fellow man, not out of pity.

Our First Year and Beyond
Restore Humanity was started September 6th, 2006. Our first big fundraiser was December 9th, 2006 where we raised over $12,000. Joseph Israel (Universal Music Artist) headlined the event. The money came from ticket sales, silent auction, and personal donations. From September to the end of December Restore Humanity raised over $19,000. The money was raised to ship goods that we gathered to ship to South Africa and Burundi. Sarah Fennel began gathering goods while still teaching at Montessori. There was a school supply drive at a local elementary school and a local athletic club (Fayetteville Athletic Club) gathered goods as well.

Restore Humanity gathered school supplies, toys, books, clothes, and shoes. The majority was to be shipped to South Africa wherein Sarah Fennel (Founder/ President) and Kimberly Clinehens (board member) would meet and distribute the shipment to the various places that Fennel volunteered at the previous year (2005). The other portion was to be shipped to an orphanage in Burundi.

After a local trucking company (PAM Transport) donated a truck and took the portion to be shipped to South Africa to an ocean port in Houston Fennel was informed that the government of South Africa had changed their laws and no one was allowed to ship used clothing into the country any more. Used clothing was considered contra band and if it was sent it would be destroyed. Sarah Fennel informed the people at the port which boxes were containing school supplies and books and sent those. The remaining 41 boxes were placed in temporary storage for a few weeks. Sarah Fennel had visited an orphanage in Kenya and attempted to ship it there, but there were so many restrictions it was almost impossible.

Fennel made the decision to give the boxes of used clothing and shoes to Katrina victims in Houston. The shipping company (Airways Freight) covered the shipping costs for the school supplies and books to South Africa. So Sarah Fennel and Kimberly Clinehens went to South Africa and used the money to buy new shoes, backpacks, school supplies, school uniforms, food, soccer balls, cricket sets and more! They also worked with Knysna Hospice in South Africa to pay school fees and start funeral policies for impoverished people that are dying. The money was better spent buying new things that people needed than paying outrageous shipping fees and customs. The economy of South Africa also benefited from those purchases.

It was a lesson learned. Restore Humanity will no longer be shipping goods (unless it is absolutely necessary). The funds raised will go directly to projects that Restore Humanity is working with and those running each project will be held accountable for each penny that Restore Humanity provides.

Goals

There are so many problems plaguing the world today and it is overwhelming. Restore Humanity wants to help provide solutions by taking one step at a time. We have current projects in South Africa and hope to broaden that scope in years to come. Many of the projects that we are working with are already established organizations such as, Knysna Hospice and Masizame Children’s Shelter. Both of these organizations do incredible things to help in their communities and we assist them when we can.

However, our main focus at the moment is raising the funds to build an orphanage in Kenya. These children desperately need our support and we are doing everything in our power to get it to them as soon as possible. For more information on this project, click here.

Restore Humanity board members have met with members of the Chamber of Commerce in Negril Jamaica about building a school there. Once the orphanage project in Kenya is stabilized we hope to begin work in Jamaica and we believe that we can help empower Jamaica through education. The Board is in the process of reviewing the situation in its entirety in efforts to create a plan of action.  For more information on this project click here.

Restore Humanity hopes to set up projects and assist the problems in the countries of Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda in the future. These three countries are dealing with immense poverty, which causes the majority of the people in these countries to deal with hunger, lack of access to education, healthcare, clean water, electricity, running water, indoor plumbing, etc. We hope to be a part of creating solutions as soon as the opportunity arises.

Rwanda and Burundi have dealt with mass genocide in recent years and there has been a civil war going on in Uganda. As a result of these atrocities the people have been emotionally and psychologically scarred very deeply which causes many problems. There is a child soldier crisis in all three of these countries in which millions of former children forced into horrendous violence are trying to integrate back into society. They need a safe place to get the emotional and psychological support that they will need to ever begin to lead a normal life. It is absolutely necessary that they have help or they will continue to live a life of never ending pain and quite possibly more violence.

There are still child soldiers in Uganda and Burundi, as well as many other countries worldwide. This is a completely unacceptable epidemic plaguing the world. We must all work together to end this. Restore Humanity is looking for solutions to this problem and the many others afflicting these countries and the rest of the world. We hope to begin to relieve some of the suffering that is affecting so many people all over the globe.

   Read more detailed information about any and all of the
       countries discussed here.