The public is urged to help bridge the digital divide in Africa. Rwandan National Park guides need help to obtain a PC laptop and a link to the Internet to better protect their parks and families.

Fort Collins, CO -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/14/2014 --The Rwandan genocide began 20 years ago on April 7, 1994, but Rwandans are working very hard today to recover from the heartache and loss. Tim Merriman and Lisa Brochu of Heartfelt Associates work in Rwanda intermittently with USAID support to train National Park guides. Most Rwandans have personal stories of loss during the genocide or decades living as refugees in Uganda or The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The guides they know are committed conservationists helping to protect Rwanda's critical water supply and one of Africa’s most diverse rainforest ecosystems, as well as mountain gorillas, chimpanzees and a total of thirteen species of primates.

They want to raise $10,000 to purchase 25 new PC laptops to help Rwandan National Park guides do their jobs better while caring for family. Heartfelt Associates will load the PCs with office and virus protection software and ship them to the 25 guides and hosts as a personal gift from all donors to each one. The guides want to continue studying while they work and also support a family, often an extended family, who survived the genocide. A laptop connects them to the Internet via cell phone modems so they can better themselves through ongoing research and education. The park guides want to do what we do so easily and often take for granted - network with each other, do research about wildlife and other parks, communicate with former and future clients about the adventures in following in the tracks of chimps, Colobus tracking or birding on the continental divide between the Congo and Nile Rivers.

Donations are not going through a tax-deductible organization and will not be tax-deductible. Heartfelt Associates will take no administrative funds out of the campaign but do pay the credit card (4%) and Indiegogo commission from all crowdfunding dollars raised. They are personal donors to the campaign in the amount of two computers.

Pay it Forward in Rwanda
- The Gift to Rwandan Guides - $10,000 will fund laptops for 25 guides and hosts at National Parks, all of whom they have trained and know personally.
- PERKS - They think you will give to this campaign out of the goodness of your heart, expecting nothing back in return, but do have a few PERKS based on amounts given at four levels as indicated on the Indiegogo page.

Financial contributions help but there is more that any of you can do -
- Share this campaign with your Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter networks.
- Send an email to your friends you think might have an interest explaining that you are supporting this Pay it Forward campaign.
- Connect people to Indiegogo.com.

This campaign will receive all funds raised even if it does not reach its goal. Guides are given PC laptops during the campaign on a prioritized basis using background information about their families, educational efforts and community commitment. Funding duration: March 17, 2014 - May 06, 2014 (11:59pm PT).

For more background or a personal interview, contact Tim Merriman at 970-231-0537 or tim@heartfeltassociates.com

Indiegogo Page: http://bit.ly/OLBmkM