Advanced Cosmetic Surgery & Laser Center’s“Studio” A Launch PartyBenefitting The Karama ConnectionServing Orphaned Children In Tanzania Impacted By HIVCincinnati native Connie Naber visited the East African country of Tanzania back in 2005 and returned determined to stay connected. She saw firsthand how poverty and the AIDS pandemic across Africa had left so many children without parents and the overwhelming burden placed on society in caring for these children. Upon returning she created a non-profit organization known as The Karama Connection to help a group of orphaned and abandoned children, and assure that they were well-cared for, fed and properly educated.
Today, Naber is the proud, adoptive mother of 15 children who reside in a house with a live-in local staff that Connie rents in Arusha, Tanzania. Through her foundation, the children have a home, healthy food, education, medical support, caregivers and loads of love. The current group of kids range from five to eighteen years old. Connie visits twice a year and often brings along some volunteers. When she’s not physically in Arusha she’s often checking in via Skype from her home in Cincinnati — asking about chores, homework, visits to the clinic, and who’s eaten their vegetables. The kids are thriving and the stigma is fading away.
When Dr. Jon Mendelsohn, Medical Director of Advanced Cosmetic Surgery & Laser Center met Connie Naber in 2015, he knew that he wanted to get involved. On June 21, 2016 Mendelsohn, his wife and two teenaged children, traveled to the East African country of Tanzania to meet Connie’s children, many of whom are HIV positive.
Team Mendelsohn came armed with medical supplies, art projects, t-shirts and other learning materials for the children and were greeted with open arms and lots of hugs and love by both the children and staff.
While in Tanzania, Dr. Mendelsohn performed a successful surgical procedure on the lip of a boy named Muksin who is 15 years old. He was assisted by his wife and daughter, as well as one of the children named Cecelia who has aspirations of becoming a physician one day. Mendelsohn also brought along a pair of green surgical scrubs for each of the children to wear so that they could all show their support for Muksin and the surgical team that day.
Dr. Mendelsohn has continued to support Connie and Karama Cares through various fundraising events, including the sale of the framed prints in his office that he took while in Africa.
He will also be donating a portion of proceeds from his official “Studio A” Launch Party which takes place the evening of Wednesday, October 9th to the Karama Connection, with the goal of raising up to $10,000 by October 31. More specifically, attendees will be helping out one of Connie’s kids named Aurelia who has recently been accepted at St Augustine University of Tanzania with a full scholarship for her tuition. She is the first child from Karama to be accepted to a university which is a huge accomplishment. However, she still needs $5000 still needed for room and board, books, travel and health care for the year as well as a laptop, so the donations will be put to very good use!
Anyone and everyone is invited to attend this fun, free event and help a very worthwhile cause, while receiving some pretty sweet perks. The first 100 people through the door will receive a “Follow Your Beauty” gift incentive worth $1,000, including special $7.99 per unit Botox pricing when you bring a friend along! Jeff Thomas from Q-102 will also be there to keep things lively and “live stream” from Advanced’s new Studio A Media Center.
The Mendelsohn Foundation for the Arts was established in 2005 to provide children, locally and abroad, the opportunity to explore the world of the Arts through activities that educate, develop and stimulate their sense of self-image and promote increased awareness of self and others. The Butterfly Project is one of the programs produced by the Mendelsohn Foundation for the Arts to generate support and raise awareness for children’s art programs. Through the creation of hundreds of ceramic butterflies available for sponsorship, the Foundation has been able to help many local charities.
Dr. Mendelsohn recently took The Butterfly Project across the globe to Africa, where he and his family met the children living in an orphanage owned and lovingly operated by Connie Naber and supported by her non-profit organization, Karama Connection. Dr. Mendelsohn performed a procedure on one of the children, assisted with their health needs and educated them on day-to-day basic health. In addition, these children also participated in The Butterfly Project by painting ceramic butterflies, which are now on display in our office.
To learn about the organizations supported by the Mendelsohn Foundation for the Arts, please visit:
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The Mendelsohn Foundation for the Arts was established in 2005 to provide children, locally and abroad, the opportunity to explore the world of the Art through activities that educate, develop and stimulate their sense of self-image and promote increased awareness of self and others.
The Butterfly Project is one of the programs produced by the Mendelsohn Foundation for the Arts to generate support and raise awareness for children’s art programs.
Through the creation of hundreds of ceramic butterflies available for sponsorship, the Foundation has been able to help many local charities.
Dr. Mendelsohn took The Butterfly Project across the globe to Africa, where he and his family met the children living in an orphanage owned and lovingly operated by Connie Naber, and supported by her non-profit organization, Karama Connection. Dr. Mendelsohn performed a procedure on one of the children, assisted with their health needs, and educated them on day-to-day basic health. In addition, these children also participated in The Butterfly Project by painting ceramic butterflies, which are now on display in our office.
This year, The Mendelsohn Foundation has been instrumental in the growth of Happen’s Butterfly Garden located in Northside. The garden is a part of Happen Outside, a large garden with the mission of bringing families and the community together through art and nature. The Butterfly Garden supports the environment by providing a pollination garden for butterflies, bees, and other insects. It also provides an earn to learn program for Happen Teens participating in garden club. The teens plant and help to maintain the garden, filled with beautiful cutting flowers. The teens work with professional designers that teach how to cut and design flower bouquets. They also sell the flowers at special events, with the proceeds going directly to the teens.
The next outdoor project that is being built and funded by the Mendelsohn Foundation is Happen’s Do Goods Garden. The garden has been created to be an accessible garden that will provide vegetables for Happen programs and a local food bank, while also providing an opportunity for local restaurants to buy fresh vegetables grown steps away from their kitchens. The garden is unique in that it houses a 1,500 gallon underground water collection system and will include a solar irrigation system. It also includes 24 raised beds designed for accessibility to all. The garden will start growing and providing fresh vegetables to the community spring of 2024.
Dr. Mendelsohn and his team have a solid commitment to the community in which they live and serve. Dr. Mendelsohn and his team participate in and contribute to many annual fundraisers and events that benefit such causes as Karama Connection, the American Cancer Society, International Face to Face Organization, the Mendelsohn Foundation for the Arts, Happen, Inc., Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund, the Wellness Community, YWCA, Lighthouse Agency, AVOC, as well as many others.
