The Aslan Network is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that aims to provide support to children in need so they can pursue opportunities to better their future.
Our mission is to bring empowerment to those in less fortunate parts of the world by paving the way with hope and opportunity. The Aslan Network designs and releases merchandise in which all proceeds go right back to our cause.
On average, it costs about $70 a month to sponsor a child in need depending on which children’s home and which country the funding goes too. Our passion project started with the Children’s Home in Kipkaren, Kenya. One of our goals this year is to aid countries other than Kenya, from Thailand to Mexico, reaching different parts of the world.
The profit we make from merchandise sales is distributed to manufacturing and sponsorship. Through sponsorship we offer financial aid to cover the costs of housing, medical expenses, school fees, and food for orphaned children. This financial support gives these children the gift of time and opportunity, so they can focus their energy on tasks necessary to prepare for their futures.
When customers buy our merchandise, they are sponsoring a better life for a child in need. In some cases, sponsorship is detrimental. Depending on specific medical needs, sponsorship could mean life or death.
Each Aslan product sold or donation received moves us one step further in our mission.
Our goal is to become a non-profit organization that functions primarily on fundraising that is an alternative to the common method of pledged monthly donations from individuals to a single child. Instead, we raise money as a whole and sponsor these children as an organization. Donations and pledges are appreciated and accepted, but what makes the Aslan Network different is that we raise money from the products we sell, events we have, or donations we receive and use those funds to give back.
So far, we have been more than successful with our efforts, but it is truly in the hands of our customers and donors to really make a difference.
The Full Story
THE BEGINNING
Our story begins in 2010, in a tiny rural town called Nuevo. Jeremy Van Liew and a handful of passionate others planned a trip for the following year to head to Kipkaren, Kenya with the goals of providing funding to the city’s only medical center and providing support to the Children’s Home.
The group heading to Kipkaren made their plans known and worked tirelessly to fundraise. Throughout the year they planned numerous benefit concerts, designed and sold shirts, and collected donations. By early 2011, they raised more than their goal. They called their project The Aslan Network.
A NEW VISION
During their 2011 trip, Jeremy took an interest in the local women’s group-workshop. The women made clothing, sold the garments to the people in the village, and used the profits to support the children’s home. This was community-based social marketing in action, and it inspired Jeremy with a new vision. He noticed the unique designs and fabrics and knew that people in the US would notice them too.
The Aslan Network’s initial success in promoting and fundraising for a common goal got Jeremy thinking about the bigger picture. He couldn’t bare the thought that people died because they lack access to the same resources that are so plentiful in our country. He dreamt of expanding The Aslan Network to market cultural products made by poverty-stricken people and use the profits to benefit their communities. As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Rather than continue the model of depending on donations and outside help for their livelihood, he wanted to make opportunity more accessible. He wanted to bring people closer to hope.
IN LOVING MEMORY
Jeremy Van Liew towered over everyone who knew him. It’s easy to do when you stand at 6’9”. Even more impressive than his height was his heart. He cared about the things other people didn’t think of. Jeremy was the kind of person you’d meet and feel like you’ve been best friends your entire life. He filled people with encouragement and embodied creativity. With Jeremy, everything was something to notice; every person was someone to enjoy life with.
August 1, 2012 started as a day like any other. Jeremy took a shower as his younger brother James browsed Netflix down the hall. After seeing Jeremy sneak back into his room, James went to ask if he wanted to join him for a movie. Then, everything changed.
A 911-phone call was made while James’ brain became overloaded with information to process. A raging panic had set in. Instructions on how to perform CPR were passed along and performed, but the effort was fruitless. Just moments before James came down the hall, Jeremy died of an aortic aneurysm.
For James and the Van Liew family, life was unrecognizable. With time and the extended arms of the friends and family, James turned his pain and grief into ambition. Jeremy died with a dream and James knew he had to continue building on his brother’s legacy. Jeremy’s spirit lives on in the lives he touched, and continues to be a guiding force for The Aslan Network’s mission.
FACTS
KENYA AND THE ASLAN NETWORK
An estimated 47% of children are orphaned in Kenya, leaving roughly 3 million orphaned and vulnerable children under the age of 18. Over 25% of these children are malnourished in a country whose economy is largely driven by agriculture. Many orphaned and vulnerable children find themselves without proper social support. This denies their chances to access basic needs such as health care, education, shelter, and nutrition – all of which are already difficult to attain from the start.
Quality health care facilities and properly trained health workers are hard to come by. According to World Bank, only 20% of Kenyans have regular access to medical care. Kenya is one of the most affected countries by HIV in the world. Children affected by HIV/AIDS are vulnerable long before their parents’ die, often dealing with stigma and discrimination on top of taking care of ill parents and assuming responsibility for siblings. Malaria, tuberculosis, and pneumonia are other leading causes of death – all of which are preventable and treatable diseases.
As citizens of a first world country, we’re accustomed to the idea of government stepping in to help those at risk. That's not the reality in countries like Kenya. According to data from UNICEF, half of Kenya’s population lives below the poverty line and the unemployment rate hovers around 40%. There is no government assistance for families living in poverty. There are no government ran orphanages. For orphaned children this means losing parental love and care and likely being disinherited by next of kin, as they are unable to support extended family.
In impoverished nations like Kenya, education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty. Primary education is free but secondary school is not. Without the proper support, many children are unable to afford school fees to continue their education. This puts them at a disadvantage for making a living later in adulthood. This is the disheartening and vicious cycle of poverty.