Everyone has a dream of where they see their life going. For many of us here in the United States, it’s something that we can see come to fruition, but for many others around the world, it’s just not possible, all for a variety of reasons. But in Africa, the problems just seem to compound one another and the odds of someone living a fulfilling life just seems so astronomical. From civil war to diseases to other forms of strife, people in this third-world continent are in need of assistance and for a chance to realize their true potential.

Well things need to change. Instead of building upon fear and concern, perhaps we should realize that our efforts should go towards helping to build up hope and their future. With respect to Africa, one such charity is going above and beyond to help promote these ideals. It’s called THRIVEGulu and just this past week launched to the world as a means of helping the people of Uganda rebuild their lives and become self-sufficient once again.

Started by actress Eliza Dushku (Bring It On, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse) and her mother, Professor Judy Dushku, THRIVEGulu is a non-profit organization operating in Uganda that focuses on building and operating a trauma healing and reflecting center in Gulu (northern Uganda). It supports the healing and rehabilitation of trauma victims of the Ugandan civil war through the use of education–basically shows them that violence isn’t the answer and that there is much more they can do besides simply picking up a weapon and attacking their neighbors. Most of the time, a proper education is probably all that’s needed to help stop the violence and many in Africa, let alone Uganda probably don’t have access to it. According to their website, THRIVEGulu offers classes that are geared towards “helping rebuild society, increasing confidence and independence among participants, and providing creative outlets for victims of trauma to tell their stories…“

GAG, the world’s largest and fastest growing online comedy community, today announced a new mobile app for its wildly popular irreverent and hilariously funny content. 9GAG’s new mobile app – named “9GAG” makes it even easier for people to quickly discover, express and share visual entertainment through photos and videos by delivering seamless access from nearly any mobile device, including both Apple iOS and Android platforms. The only official mobile app from the creators of “9GAG” is available immediately from http://9gag.com/mobile and through the Apple App Store.

In addition to launching a mobile version, 9GAG today announced that it has received $2.8 million in seed funding from venture capitalists and angel investors led by early stage investment firms Freestyle Capital and True Ventures. Joining Freestyle Capital and True Ventures are First Round Capital; Greycroft Partners; returning investor 500 Startups; and individual investors Scott Banister (co-founder, IronPort); Chris Sacca (Lowercase Capital); and David Tisch (TechStars), among others.

One of the hottest songs this summer is not one you would typically think would be this big. It’s amazing that the song people can’t get out of their heads isn’t the ones that are played frequently and practically non-stop (I’m looking at you Gotye), but rather the ones that are remixed over, and over, and over again. This summer, that one re-dubbed song happened to be “Call Me Maybe“, sung by the pop sensation, Carly Rae Jepsen.

Soon after its release, the Internet was abuzz with dozens of remakes of the pop song and included college athletes, Sesame Street, regular individuals, President Obama, and many others. Just doing a search on YouTube will reveal over a couple thousand video remakes of the song. So it was only a matter of time before someone here in the tech community, and in Silicon Valley, no less.

Last night at the launch party for the new African charity, THRIVEgulu, the sensational startup band named feedbomb took the stage to perform a brand new song. In case you don’t know about feedbomb, it’s composed of past and present members of Facebook, including lead singer Randi Zuckerberg, Chris Pan, Andy Barton, Eric Zamore, Robert Johnson, Mike Vernal, Eric Giovanola, Sean Chaffin, and Chris Struhar, the group puts on one hell of a performance singing covers of the best songs of the past few years, and even some familiar oldies. So while at the THRIVEgulu event, their second song just happened to be a brand new one and one that was written by Owen Thomas, the West Coast editor at Business Insider, and it was called, “Fund Me Maybe“.

Caring for one’s community is an important principle in our everyday life. Most people probably associate it with their neighborhoods, their friends, family, culture, etc. But in the tech industry and in social media, the community holds a more virtual and larger meaning. Everyone is in the same community. People on Twitter are part of this so-called Twitterverse and the same can be said for folks on Flickr, Facebook, Foursquare, and even on enterprise services like Salesforce, Yammer, etc. There’s a reason why we have new career positions opening up in companies called Community Management–because people need to know that they’re being taken care of and that the community is being fostered and maintained.

But sometimes, when you’re thinking that what you’re doing doesn’t affect your community, the community organizer can find ways to surprise you and show that you’re appreciated. Take a look at this new video interview with Cyan Banister, angel investor and founder/CEO of Zivity, conducted by NBC Bay Area News last night. This is the CEO of a popular mature and artistic fan interaction platform and she just did something most CEOs probably wouldn’t do…she helped a total stranger in Aurora, CO pay her medical bills. Why? Simply because she was part of the Zivity community.

It’s been just under a week since that unfortunate Friday morning in the town of Aurora, CO and we’re not really sure what happened. Yes, we know that a mad man took the lives of dozens of innocent people who wanted to do nothing more than sit in a theatre and watch the premiere of the most-anticipated movie of the summer, The Dark Knight Rises. And in an instant, that all changed and now it’s up to us to help that community heal and come back stronger than ever. It won’t be easy, as many lives were shattered and changed, but there are some things that we can do to help things get a little better.

One of those things is financial support for the victims and families. As with all tragedies, recuperation and medical bills will be especially difficult to overcome and no one needs the added stress to compound their grief and suffering at this difficult time. Already there are some hospitals in the Colorado community that have already begun to help alleviate this anguish, but more can be done. And when I read stories like this where you read about the life of one of the victims being unable to pay her medical bills because she’s penniless, your heart reaches out for them. So what can we, the community, do to help these people heal? Follow the example of HopeMob and just give what you can.