Monday, February 25, 2008

iGaming Portal Challenges Others to Support African Aid Project

Online-Gambling-Insider.com Donation Will Support Malawi School Built by Slotland.com

Leading gaming portal Online-Gambling-Insider.com has made a substantial donation to Slotland.com’s community development project in Malawi (Help-Malawi-Children-Charity.com) and challenged others in the online gambling industry to share their success in this way as well.

"When Slotland initially announced the building of the school we ran the story on our news network but we felt that a project such as this needs every little bit of support it can get," said Ryan D, Founding Editor at Online Gambling Insider. "To see the dedication of the Slotland team, and the amazing results they have achieved in what is a challenging environment deserves the utmost respect."

The Online Gambling Insider’s donation is already at work in Malawi since the PayPal donation processing puts the money directly into the Project Team’s hands.

Hoping to appeal to the competitive nature of people in the online gambling industry, the Editor has challenged gambling operators, affiliates and players to also make a donation.

Malawi is the 8th poorest nation on earth. Nowhere has AIDS had such a severe impact. Education is the key to ending the poverty so, two years ago, Slotland funded the construction of a school and community center in the remote village of Juma. They have since built a maize mill in a nearby Kantimbanye that provides a small income for the school and a much-needed service to area farmers. The school’s teachers have become a resource for teachers in surrounding villages, and farmers in the area have learned new sustainable agriculture methods in the center’s demonstration gardens.

From the torrential rains that hindered volunteers during construction to the opening ceremonies last fall, the story of how western philanthropy can make such a huge difference is told on a fundraising website launched this winter, Help-Malawi-Children-Charity.com.

“We got the idea to produce the website because so many of our players were asking how they could donate personally,” said Martin Smith of Slotland.com. “Food for the students. Gas for the jeep. Building materials. The project is becoming more and more self-sustaining, but they still need help. The beauty of this fundraising site is that donations go directly to the Team in Malawi.”

The Project Team in Africa – a small group of dedicated European and American aid workers -- has registered a non-profit organization called boNGO Worldwide to receive online donations. The organization is committed to assisting communities develop self-sustaining projects. boNGO is an acronym for “Based On Need-driven Grassroots Ownership”.