British local Ann Cotton has been awarded the 2013 Jesse & Helen Kalisher Humanitarian Award for her work in sub-Saharan Africa.
Four years ago, the founders of fine-art company Kalisher created their Humanitarian Award to recognize individuals who have done something miraculous for humanity and reward them with the gift of art. “It’s a small way for us to say thank you and to show our appreciation and respect for the tough choices that someone has made,” says Mr. Kalisher. “It’s our way of showing support.”

Cotton first visited Zimbabwe in 1991 and, two years later, founded Camfed (Campaign for Female Education) with a bake sale that sent 32 girls to school. Today, in her 22nd year, more than 2 million women have been assisted by her efforts.

According to the World Bank, in 2010, 48.5 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa lived on $1.25 a day or less, a principal factor in causing widespread hunger and inequality. Due to poverty, most parents choose to send only their sons to school, leaving as many as 24 million girls without access to an education at any given time.

A girl in this part of Africa may marry as young as 13, give birth to (on average) 5.2 children, and has a one in 22 chance of dying in childbirth. One in six of her children will die before the age of five. In contrast, if that same girl receives an education she will earn up to 25 percent more and reinvest 90 percent in her family; be three times less likely to become HIV-positive; and have fewer, healthier children who are 40 percent more likely to live past the age of five.


“A social entrepreneur is someone who witnesses the pain and struggle in the lives of others and is compelled to act and to alleviate them,” says Cotton. “The only failure lies in not trying or giving up.” 

The Jesse & Helen Kalisher Humanitarian Award includes the gift of a limited edition, hand-signed collector’s print of one of Mr. Kalisher’s photographs as well as a $1,000 donation. Previous recipients of the award include Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, who was instrumental in exposing lies and fraud within the American tobacco industry, and Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee who successfully led a peace movement in Liberia and Urmi Basu.
