Although Africa is on the other side of the world, the needs and problems of its people are top of mind for Stephen Hafner, managing director at Toronto-based Newport Investment Counsel Inc.

As a member of the board of directors of the African Medical & Research Foundation, Hafner is actively involved in fundraising for the Canadian arm of the charity, whose goal it is to enable disadvantaged Africans to improve their health and escape poverty.

“One of the challenges of AMREF is to dispel the idea that Africa is a giant, unfixable problem,” Hafner says. “Small steps can make a huge difference. The beauty of AMREF is that aid programs are run by local African people, who know where help is most needed and how to get the best results. What we can do best from here is fundraising, and use our resources to support the people who know how to help.”

AMREF’s key priorities are combating diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; teaching communities about safe water and environmental sanitation; offering clinical services, disaster management and emergency response help; and providing health training and learning materials.

Hafner says anecdotes from the field about improvements in the lives of individuals and families are the most rewarding aspect of his efforts. Basic health practices encouraged by AMREF, such as regular handwashing and the use of shoes and sandals, have made a huge improvement in health.

“Simply helping a community divert its water supply away from the latrine is a resolvable problem with a huge impact,” he says.

Stories he hears from AMREF’s doctors in the field, working in hospitals “that wouldn’t fit the definition of a hospital here” give him the satisfaction that progressive steps toward improvement are being made.

Hafner’s father and mother were born and raised in South Africa, and he visited the country as a child and later in 1990, with his wife. “Visiting Africa has given me a flavour of how the romance of Africa can capture a person,” he says. “It is spectacularly beautiful, but it is the human stories that are most compelling. It is uplifting and tragic at the same time.”

Hafner, 42 and a financial planner since 1992, hasn’t been back to Africa recently, but he is hoping to co-ordinate a trip with other members of AMREF’s Canadian board of directors in the next couple of years so they can experience the continent and its people first-hand. The realities of the situation will then be more “tangible,” he says.

He admits that persuading people who have never been to Africa to contribute to a charity that is focusing its efforts so far away can sometimes be a tough sell, especially when there are so many competing and worthy causes closer to home.

In fundraising, Hafner targets people and organizations with some interest in Africa, particularly corporations that do business there. AMREF holds a huge gala dinner every spring in Toronto, and most of Hafner’s efforts are directed toward obtaining corporate sponsorships for the event. Although Hafner joined the AMREF board only last year, he has been involved in fundraising and promoting the Canadian gala for about five years. From Christmas until the mid-May event, he spends about four hours a week meeting potential sponsors, as well as encouraging people to buy tickets to support the event.

“Sometimes it is simply a matter of asking for help, and the compelling nature of the need motivates people to give,” Hafner says.

Corporate sponsors have included MDS Inc., PlacerDome Inc., Barrick Gold Corp., McCain Foods Ltd., Morneau Sobeco Inc., Assante Capital Management Ltd. and Hafner’s employer, Newport. As well, several of Hafner’s financial planning clients have become contributors.

“We are always looking to increase the number of supporters and the amount they donate,” Hafner says. “Fundraising is like any endeavour. You must have targets and a game plan, and discipline in executing the plan to get the desired results.”

Hafner says AMREF raised about $1 million last year in Canada. Last June, the global organization was awarded the prestigious $1-million 2005 Gates Award for Global Health in recognition of its extraordinary achievements in improving health in the developing world.

“It’s a lot of fun to work with a group of interesting people focused on a worthy cause,” Hafner says. “The challenge is to move along the curve to the next level and come up with creative ways to raise money.” IE

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