International Trends and Services
The International Trends and Services facet provides services and delivers transformational programs to people of African ancestry globally so that they may have a better quality of life. Programs are designed and developed to service educational, health and cultural needs and to help people emerge from poverty. A primary objective of our international work is to enrich the lives of women and their families.
Our “boots on the ground” approach provides for more personalized methods for assisting and improving the lives of women, children and men worldwide through long-term programs committed to empowerment and public policy leadership in advocating for social justice.
Since the International Trends and Services Facet was formed in 1970, The Links, Incorporated has demonstrated its commitment to enriching and sustaining the cultural and economic survival of people of African ancestry, through friendship and service. The Links have:
- Adopted schools in South Africa, Liberia, Ghana and Jamaica
- Built The Links Maternal Waiting Homes in Liberia
- Provided MaamaKits in Liberia and Uganda in partnership with the World Health Organization
- Partnered with Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures and performed several thousand dental exams over three years at three primary schools in Jamaica
- Helped train 4th-6th grade students in CPR
- Donated nearly 1,000 books to Links Friendship Library and for students to take home
- Donated nearly 200 Amazon Kindles in Jamaica
- Donated a Links Computer Lab
- Donated an Ultra Sound Machine to Falmouth Public Hospital in Jamaica
- Dug wells in Haiti
- Assisted in building homes for Haitian refugees at the San Diego, California border
- Provided hospital equipment, dental and medical care in Ghana and Haiti
Since 1996, The Links, Incorporated has built, refurbished and furnished educational materials to more than 60 schools in South Africa, successfully making a direct and significant impact on the lives of thousands of African students and families.In 2013, we expanded our programmatic impact in Africa and adopted four schools in West Africa—the Todee School, AME University, the School for the Blind, and the Ann Sandell School. While engagement with these African schools continues today, we are also working with three primary schools in Jamaica—St. Mary’s Preparatory, Mt. Zion Primary, and Watford Hill Primary.
Through in-kind donations, monetary support, and the lending of professional expertise in curriculum and lesson plan development, we are aiding in the reestablishment of the South African, West African and Jamaican educational systems. An integral component of our outreach is the implementation of The Links, Incorporated Teacher Training program in partnership with governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. Through this program we empower teachers who complete the training to return to their schools and train other teachers.
For more information about International Trends and Services facet programming in the St. Louis (MO) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, please contact its@stllinks.org.
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Meet the Facet Chair & Co-Chair
Karen Jordan
Chairman
Kedra Tolson
Co-Chairman