Merck Connections Featured Retiree - Jean Semler

Merck Connections

Featured Retiree – Jean Semler

A DREAM, INSPIRATION AND OPPORTUNITY Ever since she was 10 years old, Jean Semler dreamed of helping those in need in Africa. Growing up, she donated money in school for children in Africa; later in life, she continued that support by having her own family sponsor children there. But on a relaxing day in August 2006 – three years after Jean retired from Merck – she was inspired to help in an even bigger way and really fulfill that dream. It began with a visit in their New Jersey home with Father Lawrence Kimbowa, a native of Uganda. He shared the story of his childhood there – the civil war, the refugee camp and the Chicago couple who sponsored his education and changed his life. He also shared the promise he made to himself – to give the children of Uganda the rare opportunity he was given as a child: the gift of education. Inspired by Fr. Kimbowa’s story, Jean and her husband, David Thelen, traveled to Uganda that same year and witnessed great need – half of Uganda’s population is under 15 years old and many children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. For most of these children, a quality education was not an option. Jean recognized the opportunity to truly make a difference, and she knew that the knowledge and business and management skills she learned at Merck – in addition to the network of people she built during this time – would play a large role in this effort. INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE Jean was employed for nearly 21 years at Merck. As a business manager for hospitals in New York and later, a business manager for the HIV group in New York City, she was part of the team that brought the lifesaving antiretroviral drug CRIXIVAN® to people dying from AIDS. Through her work at Merck, she was acutely aware of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. “I am very grateful for my Merck experience. It has opened many doors, and by going through them, many Ugandan children and families have hope for healthier and more prosperous lives,” said Jean. CHANGEALIFE UGANDA   Jean showcasing ChangeALife's positive impact on the lives of Ugandan women. Beginning with the sponsorship of 10 Ugandan children by friends who wanted to help, Jean and David created ChangeALife Uganda (CALU), which was formally incorporated in March 2007. Modeling itself after the UN Millennium Development Goals to end poverty, followed by a 501 (c)(3) non-profit classification in April 2008, CALU was poised to make a difference. “ChangeALife Uganda focuses on education, health care and income-generating opportunities,” explained Jean. “And it concentrates on children, because ‘children, are the catalyst for change.’”  She continued, “And, with so many Ugandan parents with HIV/AIDS, it’s important that at least one child be educated so that he or she can take care of the family once the parent(s) dies. Our goal is to provide these children and other children living in poverty with the education and skills they need so that they and their families have the opportunity for better futures.” IT’S JUST THE BEGINNING… One of the most fulfilling accomplishments for Jean took place in August 2012. CALU opened a new health center in Migyera – a truck stop town on the way to the Sudan. In partnership with Mildmay Uganda, the health center began providing testing, HIV care and antiretrovirals to 167 patients diagnosed with HIV. “Our work here has really just begun,” explained Jean. “I remember back in 2006 when a nurse here told me about the large number of people dying of HIV because of a lack of medication. I immediately recalled the 1996 New York Times headline highlighting a 50 percent reduction in mortality because of the new protease inhibitors, especially CRIXIVAN®. Here it was 2006 – 10 years later – and people here were still dying of AIDS in large numbers.” Now – 16 years later – the treatment and medication are finally available here, thanks to CALU. “Having the opportunity and the gift of meeting so many wonderful and generous people – and many are Merck people – who are making a difference in changing the lives of Ugandan children and families is one of the things I enjoy most about my retirement,” beamed Jean. “I am blessed to be living my childhood dream.”

Feb 2013 Newsletter

February 2013 ETS Global Donates Pencil Boxes to the Students of St. Lawrence School      "Pens for Success" from ETS Global Thanks to a chance conversation on an airplane, students at St. Lawrence School in Migyera now have basic writing tools to begin the new school year.  On his journey to Uganda last summer, CALU Vice President Dave Thelen sat next to Lucia Loyo, Director of Global Affairs for ETS Global on the flight to Amsterdam, the first leg of his trip. Dave told Lucia about CALU and its mission to empower children to become change agents in their country through improved education, health care and income generating activities. Lucia told Dave about ETS Global's program "Pens for Success" to provide basic school supplies to children in developing nations. She agreed to help CALU. St. Lawrence Students will begin the 2013 school year well prepared. A few months later, a van pulled up to St. Lawrence School and delivered cartons filled with metal school boxes. Each box contains a pen, pencil, ruler and eraser and every student received one. Parents are responsible for providing writing tools for their children attending government-sponsored schools, like St. Lawrence. However, in Migyera, many parents cannot afford these supplies or they are not educated themselves to realize the importance of equipping their children with the required items.   "The best gift you can give a poor country like ours is to educate the children who are the future of our nation," said Fr. Lawrence K. Kimbowa, CALU's Director. "Education will empower them, open doors for them, and forge a destiny of opportunity for them." CALU remains grateful to Lucia Loyo and ETS Global for their support and partnership in our mission.  ETS or Educational Testing Service is best known in the United States for its college and graduate school entrance examinations.  New Student Photos and Report Cards Coming Soon Ambasize is promoted to Gr. 4 Ambasize Rebeccah's Report This year we are trying a new approach to inform our sponsors about their child's performance. Our CALU team in Uganda has been e-mailing us updated student photos and report cards which, over the next month, will be printed and mailed to you. Our goal is to keep you updated and committed to the educational journey of your student. Your feedback is important so let us hear from you. Ambasize in the photo above is from a family consisting of 11 members.  Most of her siblings have dropped out of school because the family was unable to pay school fees. Ambasize is a good student and ranks 3 out of 66. We are grateful to the Chen Family for making this educational opportunity possible for Ambasize.  QuartersForWater    "Let it H2O" Brings Water Project Closer to Completion In the spirit of the holiday season, Kathy Fable of Quinn Fable Advertising in New York City, creator of CALU's beautiful website, announced to her clients that she had made a contribution in their name to the QuartersForWater Program. Holiday "Let it H2O" card from Kathy Fable and Quinn Fable Advertising    With the help of famed advertising photographer Chip Forelli, Kathy designed a special holiday "Let it H2O" card explaining our effort to provide a steady supply of clean water to the students at St. Lawrence School, to the patients and staff at St. Francis Health Center and to the people of Migyera. She invited her clients to donate to the project, too.   "Through the program, we're helping build water collection tanks for on-site drinking water, enabling the continuing educational studies of many children at their new school in Uganda," she wrote. "So your donation will truly help change a life."   From Chip Forelli's water photography collection. As a memento of their donation to the QuartersForWater program, each client received a beautiful signed print from Chip's water photography collection. Clients were invited to visit the CALU website to  learn more about our mission, become Corporate Sponsors, and receive a complete set of four framed Chip Forelli water images. A big thanks to Maria Quinn and the staff of Mammoth Advertising for their holiday contribution.   ___________________________________________________________ QuartersForWater Power Lines Bring Water Project Closer to the Finish Line Power lines installed! It has been a long journey from 2009 when our CALU team committed to bringing water to St. Lawrence School and health center. The recent installation of power lines, funded by a Segal Family Foundation grant, moves the project closer to the finish line. The "race for water" began four years ago when our school children had no water and previous attempts to drill traditional wells in this semi-arid area failed.  The beginning of any journey is the first step. For CALU, it was research and community input. This was followed by project planning, installing rain water collecting tanks, hiring a hydrologist, searching for and finding water, drilling a well, building a pump house and constructing a 50,000L water tower and of course key to all of this, fundraising. We have raised over $154,000!      With two thirds of the work behind us, our 2013 goal is to install a pump and lay the network of pipes to connect the pump house to the water tower, school and health center.  Wouldn't it be wonderful that during the next DRY season, instead of filling jerry cans with dirty pond water, the children will drink clean water from our new well? Remaining project balance is $73,000.  $20 buys one yard of pipeline.   Can you help? St. John's Academy New QuartersForWater   School Partner Schools are participating in the QuartersForWater Project and CALU welcomes St. John's Academy in Hillsdale, NJ as a new school partner. Students at St. John's donated $1200 - or sixty yards of pipeline - at their Thanksgiving service project.   Schools interested in learning more about our water project click here to view our video and may view the list of ideas for projects for their students. QuartersForWater   Community Partners   CALU supporters might reach out to churches, schools, businesses, organizations and corporations near where they live and invite them to become Community Partners. That's what sponsor, Bill Flynn did with the Rotary Club of Spring Lake, NJ. The Rotary is committed to community, national and international service projects. CALU appreciates their generous donation to our water project and thanks Bill for his leadership and initiative.   CALU welcomes our newest community partner, the Colts Neck Reformed Church in Colts Neck, NJ. In addition to sponsoring a child and funding a unique women's sewing project, the congregations has embraced   QuartersForWater as the Church's Lenten service project. We are also excited to have Jill Niehaus and Ginne Hooper travel to Uganda this June to launch the women's sewing project.  Stay tuned for more updates about our exciting partnership with the Colts Neck Reformed Church.  Thank you Rev. Scott Brown for your leadership and caring.    The children and families of Migyera remain grateful to you - individuals, families, groups and schoolchildren - who have made this "pipedream" a pipeline of clean water for them. QuartersForWater   Be Part of the Team That Makes It Happen Pond during the dry season. Dear Friends of CALU, We are so close to completing the water project in Migyera that we hope to wrap it up as soon as possible. We invite you to be  part of a team that makes that happen!     With $72,000 to go, we are seeking 60 friends to pledge a monthly gift of $100 for one year. That's 60 people contributing $1,200 each for a total of $72,000. Gifts may be made through credit card, on-line via PayPal, or a monthly billing and payment. You decide what works best for you.     We hope to have the 60 pledges in place by the end of March so we can proceed with the final phase of the project.  A team, all 60 of us, working together to lay the last yards of pipe line, install the pump and supply clean water to the school and health clinic.     Please join our Team of 60. Every time you make your $100 monthly pledge payment, you will be turning on the faucet and giving a Ugandan child a fresh cup of clean life-sustaining water.     Email or call today! Let's get it done!      jsemler@changealifeuganda.org   732 833-1736