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WELCOME
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Todd Putren, RN,
director of
critical care at Kootenai Health,
and his wife, Kim, have long
believed in helping others and
have extended their compassion
overseas through various sponsorship
programs. Their most recent
endeavor is through Asante
Ministries. The Putren family not
only sponsors multiple children
through this program, but they
decided to participate in a mission
trip after being so moved by the
objectives of the organization.
RISINGABOVE POVERTY
“The thing I really love about Asante
Bridging the Gap inAfrica
is their goal of raising leaders for
Rwanda to help bring families
above the poverty line,” Todd said.
“These kids are growing up in a
two-class society that is divided
almost solely based on whether or
not you have a college degree.”
The Asante program is helping
them to achieve that and bridge
the gap that is keeping them from
succeeding. It was developed in
Rwanda in 1999 by former child
refugees. After seeing success
with the initial child sponsorship
program, the organization started
the Asante Children’s Choir as
a living thank-you to those who
participated in the program and to
serve as a voice for those children
who still needed assistance. Today
the choir continues to travel the
world to raise awareness and sup-
port for the program. Unlike a lot
of other organizations, Asante gives
86 percent of all proceeds back to
the children of Rwanda, Uganda
and Burundi.
“There’s something to be said
about the Asante leadership,” Todd
said. “They’re doing it right.”
BRIGHTER FUTURES
Through Asante and volunteers
like Todd and Kim, more than
2,500 children have access to food,
shelter and schooling. While visiting
Rwanda, Todd and Kim were able to
meet the children they sponsor, see
the schools and living arrangements
created by the program, and learn
more about new programs that will
help to sustain families.
One project in particular reso-
nated with Todd, and since his trip
A S A N T E M I N I S T R I E S H E L P S RWA N D A N S A C H I E V E S U C C E S S
B YOND KOOTENAI HEALTH
By Andrea Nagel
Every once
in a while
we stumble upon a story of an employee or com-
munity physician carrying Kootenai Health’s tradition of compassionate
care beyond our hospital and clinics. It is through these individuals that
our message of community, wellness and caring can be shared across the
region and, in some cases, across the world. We hope to share these stories
in print and online through our new feature, “Beyond Kootenai.” You can
read these stories and more on our blog
newsroom.kh.org
.