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VIDA sent two containers of aid to our Chilean partner FEDES in May 2012.  The first container carried medical supplies and equipment to benefit the numerous clinics in the suburbs of Santiago.  These clinics serve some of the poorest people in the country.  The value of the shipment exceeded $1,000,000 and included over 2,000 surgical kits, 10 exam tables, and 8 gurneys and 2 operating tables.

In collaboration with Gymobree Corp., VIDA shipped a container of brand new children clothing manufactaured by Gymboree.  The shipment contained 250,000 garments, footwear and bedding with a value in excess of $5 million. This donation will be targeting impoverished orphanges and schools who offer the most efficent channel of distrubtion to a large number of beneficiaries.  VIDA and FEDES expect to distribute the Gymobree donation to over 50,000 children in Chile.

VIDA and FEDES are planning another shipment of medical supplies in June 2012.

VIDA is continuing to support grassroots efforts to bring medical care to the poorest  areas of Haiti.

In February 2012, VIDA supplied a medical team established  by Haitian born physician, Alix J.Magloire and two other Haitian born physicians who are working at a healthcare center in Cayes Jacmal. Medical teams have been visiting this center for the past two years with the assistance of VIDA. VIDA was also able to supply a group of volunteers who travelled to the center in Cayes Jacmal carrying 20 suitcases of medical supplies.    Aid  included nebulizers, ostomy supplies and surgical kits and other general medical supplies.

VIDA plans to continue and expand its support of medical teams serving Haiti as it represents the most efficient way to send scarce medical supplies to remote regions of Haiti.

Thank you to all our supporters!

 The last few months have been really productive for us here at HERA.

At the moment we are  in the process of planning the 2012/13 entrepreneurship training and mentoring programme. This year we are aiming to take on 36 women and have been working closely with our service providers to make sure we reach our goal. We’ve had a healthy number of new mentor recruits who are eager to share their vast experience and knowledge to their mentees. We are also very grateful to the current mentors from this year’s programme, who have committed to taking on another women this summer.

HERA has always been very fortunate to have volunteers come forward to offer their time to run workshops for the women on the course. For example, one of our past mentors has been running English Communication workshops focusing on giving women a stronger voice, a clearer English accent, more positive body language.  We also ran a life coaching session that focused on the women’s strengths, values and overcoming weaknesses. The women who have taken part in these workshops were very positive about their experience and were happy to recommend these workshops to other women on the course. 

HERA has been able to organize work experience for one of our women who will be starting her access to medicine course this September at a Plastic Surgery Clinic.   Opportunities like this are invaluable to HERA students. 

Your donations have provided us the opportunity to pay for the women’s travel to these workshops and attend work experience to ease their financial burdens. The more money we raise gives us the opportunity to offer more services to the women, to help them on their paths to economic independence. 

Thank you again for all your all help to make it possible for these women to achieve their dreams.

APWCR General Commissioner/CEO Mr. George Abang Tawoh who was offered a place and awarded full scholarship to attend the first ever London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Progamme for African Leadership (PFAL) that took place from the 17th March through the 4th April 2012 at LSE.

The programme which was very enriching that brought in brave proffessors from this great university,a wide range of experience African young Leaders covering the public and private sectors, civil society and the media, increased the leadership skills of APWCR CEO in a global perspective and more focus in the African Continent.

As any aspiring leader who will never want to misused any given opportunity, APWCR CEO uses this programme to shoot three birds; held many meetings with some advisory board members of APWCR in UK, Sarah Williams and Jacob Hipps and more importantly the successfully meeting we held in a coffee snack around Tavistock Square by 10:50am with this two distinquish staff of Global Giving Zdravka M. Sen and Jenni Tomlin about some of the difficulties APWCR has in fund raising for our project Grow plantains and support human rights in Cameroon and the handicappness APWCR has in internet accessibility.

The meeting ended by 11.00am same 5th April 2012 were Jenni and Zdravka assisted me with the backs that I was carrying after checking out in the LSE accomondation in Passfield Hall to Auston Station to Highbury Centre were I had to be there, three more days to enable me catch my return flight to Cameroon on the 8th April which I did and am now pulling on well with my work in APWCR in Limbe - Cameroon.

On our plantains project, APWCR volunteers are still suffering in transporting harvested plantains on their heads and backs. We are still appealing for our donors to donate to this our project to enable us purchase a 4x4 vehicle as you can see in the photos attached on how we are still struggling even at this twenty first century in carrying heavy load like plantains on our heads and backs, this continuous strainous activity has scared most of our female volunteers.

What can we do other than really on your contribution to enable us overcome this difficulties in purchasing this vehicle.

Sincerely,

A quick re-cap!

PEPAIDS Schools of Good Hope Project is working with eight community schools in rural Zambia. Our aim is to reduce the disparity between the quality of education in these schools and government schools. To do that we are improving resources, through a fantastic UK-Zambian school linking programme and training volunteer teachers. Since we last fed back to you, all sorts has been happening!

Teaching the Tricks of the trade!

All of our schools are reliant upon volunteer teachers.  While these volunteers had been doing their best, they didn’t really know what to teach or how to teach. With only one or two volunteer teachers per school, classes were vastly over-crowded, and in some schools children could only attend for half a day in order to fit everyone in. Teacher motivation and parent confidence in the schools was low.

Our programme has been training the existing volunteer teachers as well as members of the community who had achieved at least grade 9 at school. The results have been fantastic! Since we started in November 2011, one school has gone from 1 to 10 teachers whilst another has gone from 2 to 12! By educating volunteer teachers with fundamental principles such as seating plans and classroom rules, varied teaching methods and constructive behaviour management, we have seen a tremendous difference! Class sizes are reduced and teacher motivation and parent confidence in the schools has soared! Word has spread of the value of our programme so even volunteer teachers from surrounding schools have been attending the training!

The schools-linking part of our programme has also been a great success! Fantastic fundraising by our UK schools has  enabled their partner schools to not only have learning resources, such as wall displays, books, toys and writing materials, but also to install vital equipment such windows, grill gates and locks for the doors so their precious new resources don’t get stolen! In addition, our fundraising has enabled some schools to install toilet blocks, while others have used it to help build new classrooms. As well as providing additional space, one school has been able to cater for a whole new intake of pupils! Pupils in the UK and Zambia have been learning about each other and Cecilia’s School of Good Hope- the namesake of our programme, hosted our first teaching volunteer this April!

Thanks to your tremendous generosity, Schools of Good Hope is achieving everything we hoped for and more! It is a true inspiration to everyone involved! 

Sneha Bhavan, is a unique home for boys who do not have the luxury of being able to live with their families. This can be due to parents not being able to care for the kids appropriately, trouble the kids have had at home, some have run away from home, and were found on the street or hanging out at train stations begging for change. It houses at this current point around about 84 boys. The Director, and the employees at the home are all volunteers from the church, who are trained in social work; they have spent many years with these kids, looking after the day to day needs of the kids, as well as helping them through any troubles they may have. It is unique to Kerala in the way that it is managed and funded, and there are many other shelters from around Kerala and India, mimicking what Sneha Bhavan is doing.

This summer was our first tour of Duty at Sneha Bhavan, having been to the home a few times, albeit just as a pop in, I was sure that we were going to be in for a real treat, but also something that was going to test our ability’s. The summer camp was designed to help build relationships with the kids and the people involved with the boy’s home. The camp had been split into three sections: English, Sports and Construction. Giving the boys and volunteers a chance to learn, have fun and improve their home. As this was the boys summer holidays, it was a time for them to enjoy themselves, and an opportunity for volunteers to get to know the boys on a different level to that of the classroom. It’s not about just getting involved on a surface level with the kids, but to show them that we are here to be an active part of their development, this was our motivation.

Developing relationships is a key element when working in community development and one that is overlooked far too easily. By working to what the community and partners needs are, can a development process start to take hold. Giving the group ownership of what they have done, more so what we have all done together is much more powerful than a hand out. By getting our hands dirty together we earned the respect of the boys and community, to show that we are here for them, here for the long haul. 

An important objective of the projects in Laos is our ongoing partnership with the local community, particularly the education sector – schools, teachers, and students - with whom we work. We aim to provide local Lao English teachers with professional development opportunities to gain additional English skills and upskill with new teaching techniques and activities.  

In pursuit of this important project goal, our second training program for Lao teachers this month, is focusing on the effective use of text in English lessons, and were delighted with a strong turn-out of 12 teachers representing five of our partner schools. The two hour session was run out of school hours as an optional opportunity, so we were thrilled with the positive response of our enthusiastic participants. The session covered the selection of appropriate text, processes for both listening and reading-based lessons, activity suggestions, practice tasks, planning considerations, and rounded off with a pop quiz. Participants received a full complement of resources to support them in their post-training reflection. The training was conducted in English, the teachers’ second or even third language, and their commendable effort was recognised with certificates of accomplishment.    

Participants were asked to complete a Training Feedback Survey in order to assess the value and effectiveness of the training. 100% of participants liked the techniques/tips and most rated the training between 8 and 10/10.  Everyone stated they wish to do more training , and interestingly, all teachers found the training too short, and in response an all-day training is planned in the coming months to reach out further to our teaching partners, keen on improving their classroom skills, techniques and teaching methods. 

As a nation highly reliant on foreign aid, and with an education system struggling to modernise, burdened by inadequate funding and resources, our involvement offers opportunities for English tuition with native and fluent English speakers with a wide cross-section of students, thus enhancing their long term employment prospects in a country increasingly moving towards tourism and export as major economic drivers. Teachers receive low pay and have little or no access to professional development, hindered by both financial factors and a general lack of opportunity. We are pleased to offer this free service to the community, and are overwhelmed by the positive response of the participants, with comments such as “This course is brilliant” and “I am very proud to join”.  

Our house was for a mother and her four daughters aged 2 to 16. Her husband had died 12 months before and they have no income other than what they can earn from collecting and selling plastic bottles for recycling and picking wild vegetables for sale. Her name had been put forward as a deserving case after consultations with the village chief.

Their old home was timber framed, built on stilts, light corrugated iron roof with bamboo and palm leaf 'walls'. It was unsafe and badly damaged by termites and the ravages of time .The new house would be similar construction but with higher concrete supports, to project the timbers from flood in the wet season, a separate kitchen and better fitted out.

Our working days started at 7.00 a.m. when we were driven by Tuc Tuc to the site. Our first task was to demolish the old house and clear the site (watched apprehensively by the two youngest children seeing their home disappearing before their eyes!) Some old materials were retained for the new separate 'detached' kitchen, which was to be built by some of the villagers in a real display of community spirit.
We worked alongside two experienced Khmer guys.

Sinn, a real character, was site foreman and Gann, a lovely hardworking, skilful and patient tradesman. Que Rico were represented by John, also very experienced and who looked after the volunteer's interests and safety on site, made sure we drank sufficient water and rested when we looked tired and made sure we 'knocked off' at mid day. It was a great team and and although work was hot and tiring at times, it was good fun. Also, as time when on and we got to know the family better, we were more than convinced our work was worthwhile!

The next days were spent marking out, cutting and jointing the timber frame members. These were pretty hefty pieces of timber but a giant 'workmate' had been knocked up from old timber for our comfort, complete with a sun shade (essential!) to make work easier. We then assembled the frame on the ground ready for lifting and fixing in place, achieved with the help of local villagers who turned out in force. The night before there had been a brief ceremony to bless the house and the site it was on. Local women also appeared to help the family prepare food for the workers and when work was finished we were all invited to share a meal. Quite an honour for us. It was great to see the frame in place, beginning to look like a house. All this after only one week!

We then set about putting in the floors, internal wall and door and preparing the palm leaf outer walls. After two weeks, we were told work should be completed the next week and the final house blessing had already been arranged! This was a record time for a Que Rico house build.

When the big day arrived, many relations and villagers came to the ceremony performed by a village elder and three monks from the Wat Ateva monastery. The house had been decked out with baskets of offerings and incense sticks and looked great. After the ceremony, keys were presented to the mother, photos taken and we were invited into the house for a meal. Then, it was time for us to go and leave the family to enjoy their new house, more pics and happy farewells. It was an emotional moment for the volunteers, to see the culmination of their work!

Opportunities like this, being part of a project that makes such a positive difference to a small family in real difficulty, are rare indeed. Over those 3 weeks, we'd become very fond of this lovely family who, despite everything, carried on life with great dignity. It was heart lifting to see them walk up into their new home together. We were all left with a great sense of achievement and felt privileged to have been part of it. Would we do it again? Yes, without hesitation!

It was also a privilege to work alongside the Khmers to help build this house. They use techniques to get over the lack of power tools that we've probably forgotten in the west. Fascinating to watch and do.

The construction of the bathrooms at Padres Unidos school from Cañete Cue, Carapeguá is done.

The opening ceremony was held on April 24, and it was attended by teachers, students, parents, representatives of Global Infancia and authorities of the Ministry of Education (MEC).

The ceremony took place outside the building of the new toilets. The Director of the school and Marta Benitez by Global Infancia said some words regarding the improvement of the capacities of the school. Students of all grades showed artistic numbers on hygiene and good care emphasizing the importance of a healthy environment in the prevention of illness.

Thanks to the collaboration of the donors who participated in the fundraising campaign, now, boys and girls of Carapeguá have new bathrooms. The female bathroom has two toilets in separate compartments and a lavatory, the male has a toilet, a urinal and a lavatory.

We recall that before the construction, the whole school had only one toilet for 200 students, teachers and administrative staff. This means that sanitation and hygiene were very poor.

Once again we want to thank to everyone and every organizations that relied on Global Infancia and supported this project, that today is a reality.

Association of Kigali Women in Sports visited the Mayor of Gisagara District of the Southern Province in the process of requesting Land for the women teams who were able to group themselves in Agricultural Cooperatives to improve their way of living and empower themselves economically.

AKWOS was promised by the local authorities a 5 hectare of land for the beginning and will increase as the need increases. The sports women identified the crop known as Cassava to be planted there as the soil is good for that crop. We know that Rwanda depends on Agriculture and most of women do the cultivation, then after the harvest men take over to sell the product convincing women that they are not aware of the market.

AKWOS was able to sensitize women that they can also take part in selling their products, join Saving and Credit Schemes and participate in the country development.

AKWOS trained women in sports to be the role model in sensitization of Nutrition. Women in the community believed that only well to do people take fruits and vegetables, so after the harvest they could sell off everything and leave nothing for their families, thus malnutrition was common.

AKWOS Staff insisted that the lack of Balanced diet leads to all sorts pf diseases, and spends all the profit rin paying hospital bills. the conclusion was that women sports took the decision of fighting malnutrition by eating away balanced diet to keep fit and healthy.

Dear donors, let us join hands to fight malnutrition and your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

At Julio Otoni´s Community Center the children are still learning new things and developing their skills.

 In art classes the children have created their own stories and scenarios by using models made of clay, each group of children were able to conjure up their own own world and share their stories with their companions. These stories included a football game, a pond with ducklings and a couple, a seabed,  a forest, a desert, a beach and these were just a few of the imaginative scenes.

During a painting class the children learned how to mix and make different colors by just using primary colours and as a result found a universe of new colours they could us within their beautiful designs.

Also in music lessons, they were busy learning rhythms and musical notes, they even made their own drums using bottles and cans and enjoyed playing these new percussion instruments with their hands and feet!

Jacqueline Lee is an InTheField Traveler with GlobalGiving who is visiting our partners’ projects throughout Southeast Asia. Her “Postcard” from the visit in Thailand:

Imagine being stuck in 1 place for your entire life – one community with the only way in or out controlled by authorities of another land. Imagine having no access to income generating activities outside of this compound. Imagine not having a country or state to claim and call home – from yours, you fled for your life and from violence. This is the situation of the refugees I met near Mae Sariang, Thailand.  On May 4, 2012 I visited the work of D.A.R.E. Network, which supports these communities with Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation and Education, and experienced the impact it has along with the facilities GlobalGiving supporters helped rebuild after the floods.

I met with staff of the DARE Network in Mae Sariang and after a wonderful tour of the office by Lawlaysay, Kiri and Det Sot took me to one of the refugee camps they work in – a Karen group camp to be specific. The Karen group is an ethnic group found throughout Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and other areas. This trek to the camp was a rough 2 hours through the mountains – a dangerous tarek during the rainy season, Det Sot told me. 

Along with the direct therapy and prevention work that DARE does, its staff also coordinates with other active NGO’s in the camps to ensure they were all meeting the needs of these communities that have little to no access outside of the camps unless emigrated to the “Third Countries” as they call them – the U.S., Canada, or Australia. I asked why is supporting the youth important, and the staff said because the youth are stuck in the camp and can get trapped using drugs and alcohol. DARE protects the youth and provides alternative activities like their “ultimate Frisbee tournaments”, holding educational groups before activities like ultimate Frisbee can begin. I asked what other types of activities the villagers and youth have access to, and the staff said none.

Immediately upon entering the camp, you could see remnants of the flood’s impact on the community, but the strength of the inhabitants. Their homes were washed away and bridges were destroyed. After, the refugees returned from higher ground, rebuilt homes, fixed bridges and carried on.  The center had just finished its round of therapy and was on break until the next round of therapy began – along with the youth program since they were on holiday.

After, I met with the head of "Social Welfare" in the camp that explained there were about 18,000 refugees in the one camp alone. His role was to deal with fighting within the camp along with social conflict. He said although alcohol was not allowed, people still found ways to get it into the camp. He also explained he is volunteering at DARE. Why was it important to him? He said because at first there was pushback from users in the community, but now the users after receiving therapy receive jobs and are hired providing outlets to alcohol and drug use, not to mention income for their families. He went on to explain that now there were only 11 workers serving this large camp. He hoped there would be more DARE workers to make the camp “more strong”.  There is a saying there that “when using the bottle, you go straight to heaven” – demonstrating the importance of DARE’s presence within the camp along with its educational, awareness, and prevention work along with treatement.

 In addition to its facilities,  Lawlaysay explained to me the goal is to translate its process in a "training" manual that is the accumulation of over 12 years of work. DARE hopes to help people not only in the camps but also inside Burma and even in Karen/Burmese communities in the countries where the refugees have resettled, particularly the USA.

Final Report “Trees Cultivation To Lessen Impact of Global Warming”.

Since published this project on GlobalGiving, this project has got a budget of $ 11.255 from the donors. This money has been used to implement the project of several phases:

Phase 1 of this project was to plant trees in Bogor and its surroundings areas,

Phase 2 of this project was to plant trees in South Bandung and surrounding areas,

Phase 3 of this project was planted trees in Sleman and surrounding areas.

Project Objectives:

1. Counseling about climate change and the importance of conserving forests to maintain the balance of the universe.

2. trees planting areas that are less trees to logging are not responsible.

In the implementation of this project, the project has received a visit from GlobalGiving staff in 2010. During his visit he carried out the monitoring and evaluation program.

Budget constraints in this project so the project can not continued.

But if you still want to give your donation to the continuation of this project, you can contact us to puspemfoundation@puspem.or.id
Mr. Dedi said; tree planting program is very beneficial to our natural balance.
We are and people nature lovers and say thank you very much for all your helps so that this program can be carry out.  Also a big thanks to GlobalGiving team who have helped us in fundrising.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Thanks to you

With your help, KI has been able to recruit 10 young Muslim volunteers who are now busy working in the community with their respective Host Partner organizations. The volunteers, consisting of 7 Women and 3 Men, were selected from over 70 applicants in January this year. They then underwent 5 weeks of intensive training during February and March. To mark the beginning of their volunteering experience, a launching ceremony was held in Iligan City on March 14. The event was attended by family members of the volunteers, KI alumni volunteers, Host Partner organizations, KI Board of Trustees, and distinguished guests. The guests of honor were Ms Ria Go-Tian,  Project Officer, SGIDU program of the Australian Embassy, Manila  and Ms Laura Engel, Civil Peace Service Adviser, GIZ (German Development Service)

What is happening now?

Our volunteers are now sharing their skills and helping deprived communities across Mindanao. The areas of work include:  Psycho-Social help for victims of Typhoon “Sendong’ and armed conflict; managing a Sustainable Livelihood program; improving Muslim-Christian relations through reconciliation; Micro-finance and organizing communities in conflict affected areas.

You can find more about our volunteers on our website. We will profile the volunteers and their achievements in our reports over the coming months.

We know that women who can read and write have more self-confidence and have stronger families.  By the end of March, 128 Tharu women had completed the literacy classes in their own language. This is the first step to becoming literate in the national language and a huge step for these women.  

In tandem with the literacy program, our project also extended into sustainable livelihoods.  We were able to provide sixty Tharu families with a baby goat or piglet to breed and eventually to sell for additional income for their families.  Every family has agreed to donate the first offspring to another family in their village.   We would love to expand this component of the project.

To work towards financial stability for families, seven villages formed women led finance groups. The 250 women in these groups have made an impact on not only individual families but on each village. We provide training for these women to learn, save and give loans within their group - $2000 to date.  This has strengthened an environment where community members work together to make their villages a better place.

One village concluded that they needed their own community centre for their literacy classes, as well as a library and a meeting place accessible to the entire village.  A community effort has been organized to clear the land, make mud bricks and build the walls. They are asking for help to buy tin sheets for the roof. Ideally we would like to not only provide the roof, but help them and five other groups buy books for their library.

Your previous support to these Tharu women helped them embrace new ideas, develop new skills and increase their confidence and ability to tackle many hardships. Our next phase consists of the following:

• Purchasing books - $200 per group 
• Buying tin sheets for the roof of their self-built community center - $500
• Buying baby goats and piglets - $45 per animal

Your part in the project has made a huge difference for these families and communities.  This has provided essential tools for grassroots capacity building initiatives.  Thank you.   

Please consider passing on this opportunity to build a better future for these Tharu women, their families and communities to others you know.

Hello GlobalGivers!

For this month’s project report for the GlobalGiving Relief Fund for Haiti Earthquake, we would like to feature one of the organizations that the fund supports: Lambi Fund of Haiti. Established in 1994, the Lambi Fund has offices in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and in Washington, DC, USA, and supports “peasant-led community organizations” working in the fields of sustainable development, non-violence, and gender equality. Many of the Lambi Fund’s projects provide capital for community associations to plant seedlings, establish coffee, sugarcane, or livestock farms, invest in more efficient farming technology, and purchase or restore grain mills to produce high quality ground corn and millet.

One of the Lambi Fund of Haiti’s new projects will be supporting the Youth Association of Sel (AJS) as it builds a grain storage facility and starts a microcredit fund. These twin efforts are designed to respond to two needs within the community of Sel, Haiti. The first need is for affordable high-quality grain and seeds for farmers. The second need is for access to credit at a low interest rate so that local farmers can purchase the seeds and equipment necessary for self-sustaining farms. The Lambi Fund will provide training for the community members in project management and grain storage so that participants can manage their resources themselves. As farmers gain access to better farming supplies, their businesses will become stronger. Loan repayments will be reinvested in the community, providing wider access to credit for the residents of Sel. Ultimately, improved access to credit and resources should revitalize agriculture and generate employment in the area, so that the residents of Sel can kickstart their own businesses and build a stronger Haiti.

The Lambi Fund of Haiti has many projects, of which this partnership is only one. Thank you again for your generous donation to the GlobalGiving Relief Fund for Haiti Earthquake, which supports the people of Haiti and the work of GlobalGiving partner organizations such as The Lambi Fund of Haiti.

The Hunger Crisis in the Horn of Africa continues. The general food security situation has stabilized and is improving in most areas of Ethiopia due to the arrival in the markets of crops from the meher (October-February) harvest, the impact of the overall good deyr/hagaya (October-December) rains on water availability and livestock conditions, and the continuing distribution of relief food.

However, worsening water shortages continue to be reported in parts of Ethiopia, with an estimated 690,000 people in need of emergency water assistance. Over the past week, water trucking requirements increased by 37 trucks.

Risk of a poor April-June rainy season remains in Somalia, and people in southern regions continue to be vulnerable to both price and rainfall shocks following the devastating effects of the recent food crisis. As a result, large numbers of people are likely to remain in crisis until the August 2012 harvest, with numbers likely to increase starting in May in Juba, Shabelle and Bay regions, when the benefit of the current harvest will be reduced.

 Save the Children has been supporting treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition at the OTP (Outpatient Therapeutic Program), school feeding programs, training of cook volunteers, rehabilitation of health posts, screening of children for malnutrition and training on malnutrition by the nutrition team.

In the refugee camps, activities in child protection include reunification of children with their relatives, raising of awareness through tea-talk meetings and house to house visits were done to create awareness to parents about the rights of children in general and the reporting mechanism on child abuses within the camp. Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) teams also traveled to refugee camps to discuss how to collaborate with other FTR teams and help return more lost children to their relatives.

Educational activities included general supervision to ensure good attendance, water supply, hygiene and sanitation and child protection was done in the Dolo Ado camps, rehabilitation of water, shade and latrines, training of cooks on child protection and proper food handling management. 

To help families feed their children, we distributed fresh food vouchers as well as supported livestock vaccination and deworming.

One of the most important parts of the VE volunteer experience is the orientation week. It gives ‘newbies’ a chance to learn more about the work they will be doing, settle into life in Santiago and have fun getting to know not just the other people in their class, but the whole VE team.

Our may class of new volunteers has just arrived so they spent the last week learning all about VE Global and the mission, vision and values that drive our work.  This includes trainings from local professionals on the child protection system in Chile, learning about Chile’s recent history with trips to historical sites such as Parque por la Paz, as well as getting tips on chilenismos, local food and social customs which will help them make the most of their time in the city.

Of course, the most important part of orientation is learning about the work they will carry out as a volunteer, how to successfully create and run workshops, provide the most help and support to the institutions and build strong relationships with the children we serve. Good luck to the new volunteers as they settle into their first week of work! 

Thank you for all your support for project Training and Supplies for Health Workers in Nepal. This is our final report for this project.

With the support of donors like you, we have been able to accomplish:

• Delivering lifesaving care to mothers and their children, even when doctors and  nurses are out of reach.   
• Training and equipping community health workers to save children’s lives through basic care like prenatal and postnatal checkups, delivering antibiotics, and breastfeeding counseling. 
• Fighting pneumonia and diarrhea which are rarely fatal in countries like the United States, and they don’t need to be in Nepal either. 

We have been able to fund this project ahead of schedule due in part to Charlie Wittmack is an attorney, husband and father from Des Moines, Iowa who founded The World Tri to pursue his dreams of adventure.  He trained 15 years before jumping into the frigid waters of England’s Thames River and beginning his 10,000 mile journey across Europe and Asia. He capped off the adventure by summiting Mt. Everest and dedicating his efforts to the children of Nepal.

Only 5,393 people have ever climbed Everest, but every year in Nepal, 37,000 newborns and children die of largely preventable causes.  To help slash these numbers, Charlie teamed up with Save the Children to raise money for lifesaving programs.   

The good news is, Nepal has already passed the halfway mark in the race to end child deaths.  Deploying community health workers has been key to  dramatic  reductions in child mortality, but many rural and isolated communities have yet to benefit. 

Thank you again for your support. Please consider supporting one of Save the Children's other projects. You can find a complete list of our active projects here: https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/832/save-the-children-federation/.

The Tabitha clinic, founded with just $26 has now expanded their reproductive health, the maternal and child health services, and has now designed a program to foster male involvement in family planning. CFK and the Kibera community are now also delighted to inform you that following your generous support, the Tabitha Clinic that serves 55,000 annually will now open on Saturdays. Previously, the clinic operated on Monday to Fridays only, from 8am to 5 pm. This comes as a grand need of the vulnerable Kibera slum dwellers. Carolina for Kibera remains thankful to our supporters. We welcome you to send in your ideas on how we can increase our impact and outreach as we plan to stretch our services to 24 hours daily.

On April 26, I met with SouLy from SEDA in Vientiane, Lao to visit one of the schools in Ban Phao (or Phao village) that received funding for renovation. Everyone at the school knew SouLy and greeted her upon arrival. She had been working with this specific school and village for some time.

This village's income generation is mainly from rice production, cassava, vegetables, and potatoes. The town consists of mostly farmers supplying these items to cities. In this town, there is an elementary and middle school but no high school - the children have to go to the next town for high school.

Walking around, I could hear laughter see kids playing and teachers congregating. A horn was blown, and the kids were being called back to class. These classrooms were no longer held in huts, but in solid structures allowing the children to study and learn in a sturdy and safe environment. 

I sat with two of the students who spoke to me about SEDA and the volunteers SEDA brought through to teach – they said they learned a lot of things like English, numbers, months, fruit, and conversation in English. One girl even said her favorite subject was English because it helped her to understand others that speak it. The teachers were happy to sit and speak with us also sharing their needs now with us - the school now needed science equipment to turn theory into practice, books, a library and computers.

I would like to thank SEDA and SouLy for her support and hospitality in accompanying me to visit this school and experience how GlobalGiving funds were used.

35,000.

That’s how many indigenous children and villagers now have safe, disease-free water from ONE HUNDRED rain-catchment systems we’ve installed in remote indigenous areas where many have died from bad water.

Thousands are in villages in the remote islands of the Bocas del Toro archipelago  -- a major indigenous area of Panama.  Other thousands are in remote, hard-to-reach hill villages where death rates for infants and children ages 1-4 are tragically high.

Michelle, a Peace Corps volunteer leaving after two years of service, said “I’ve been to too many infant funerals.”

If you drank bad water and got sick, you could go to the doctor.  But what can indigenous children in remote villages do?  They suffer prolonged, chronic sickness.

The same rain that creates polluted puddles thirsty kids drink from, can bring life and health if caught in one of our
rain catchment tanks. (See photos below)

 The rainy season down here starts soon. We’re in a race against time to get rain catchment tanks installed for schools and villages whose only water is from puddles or polluted holes in the ground 

You can help win this race against time.

About us:
We’re all volunteers. No one receives a salary or compensation. Your donations go to provide safe water for indigenous children.

-        Joe Bass

Global Medic Force's Chair and CEO, Dr. Marie Charles, was recently given the honor of speaking at the Royal Geographical Society's 21st Century Challenges Series on Global Health.  Dr. Charles discussed how the lack of primary healthcare delivery platforms denies access to care for over 5 billion people globally and offered sustainable and workable solutions that are not based on charity.  The anecdote of the "village of the pigs" (in middle of the talk) is worth waiting for as it is THE metaphor for equitable access to healthcare in emerging nations today.....

The talk is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BcwCuJixyc

A related interview with Dr. Charles about global healthcare is also available on BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cv91p/Excess_Baggage_Medics_abroad_The_Oscars/

Enjoy!

Our team is gratefully thanking our donors who continue to support us in our program. Since March 2012, we have taught 20 women how to read, write, and calculate. These women study from Monday to Thursday 1-3Pm. We are about to finish the first term in the end of this May. Students are able to read all alphabets and write simple sentences. Our students’ ages range from 16-55.

Uwajeneza Adelphine, a 23 years old student in our program does selling vegetables on the street. She added that the reason why she decided to join this program is that she was willing to exercise her rights and be independent in her daily life. She told us that she faces challenges in giving the exact balance to her customers, and she is even not able to keep her secrets because she always asks others to read her messages for her. She said:”one day I was appointed to be a leader in our community, and because I knew that I did not know how to read I immediately denied… usually, my young sister is the one who manages my bank account, and I want to study hard and be able to control it myself”.

We are glad that the local authorities have allowed us to use the classroom for free, because they realized that our project is bringing a good change in the welfare of a woman in our community. This was among the big challenges our team had. The donations we got from Global Giving helped us to buy the start up costs for the first term.

To raise the monthly operating cost is still a problem for our team. To date, the major challenge we still have is that teachers are still working unpaid. Another problem is that we still rent some costumes of the dancers from the troop that support in fundraising through its performances.

Our plan this year is to:

• Teach the women about their rights, and encourage them to send their daughters to school, open their own bank account in order to be able to save, to have self esteem and participate in the decision making levels in the community, and have legal marriage so that a child and the mother can have right to access the family property.
• Teach them about business skills in the last term which will help them to raise income in their families.
• Mobilize them to join cooperatives which will help them to combine their efforts with others and have sustainable development.
• Encourage the young students in our program to join public school so that they can be able to continue their studies up to secondary school as soon as they graduate from our program.

What do you think about our plan? Don’t you think that an illiterate woman is exposed to miss different opportunities?

Thank you very much!

All the best,

Baguma Innocent

Dear Donors and supporters,

Greetings from IDEA !

We are thankful for your donation and support for our project . Your sponsored  children are enjoying  their long summer holidays . Some of them have gone to their native village to spend time with their relatives . But there are many children who are not lucky enough to go out of Pune  as their parents can’t afford or their presence is  required in Pune to assist their parents in their work during holidays. Still there are some children who undertake some part time job during summer vacation to meet part of their educational expenses during  the next academic year.

We, at IDEA organise many summer time activities for children- creative workshops, art & craft workshop, exposure visits etc to create opportunities for such children while we are also busy with the preparations for  aid distribution for the next academic year for the children.

Here is a brief report on the summer time activities for the children.

Three day workshop for children in the age group 14 years and above.

• Career Guidance  sessions  through poster display.  The sessions started with a SWOT (Strength, weaknesses, opportunities and Threats) analysis and focused on goal setting. Information of different streams and vocational courses was explained.
• Preventive counseling on Addiction

An informative & interactive session on the harmful effects of addiction was conducted for the adolescents by an expert from a well known de-addiction center. The session included a slides show on the hazards of Addiction; the ill effects on physical and psychological health and one’s family were discussed.  He explained how to help the addicted person to wean him away from the vices. Students got an opportunity to clear their doubts on many related aspects.

• Paper Quelling Activity

The art of Paper quelling was taught to the children. It gave children an opportunity to engage in creativity. The Art needs a lot of concentration and patience. Children learned to make greeting cards with intricate designs of this art.

Activities for children in the age group 10  to 14 years  

• Story reading and listening

World Book day was celebrated on 5^th March 2012 in study centres .The teachers gave information on  the different types of books like-children’s story books, novels, Informative books, text books, historical, mythological, detective books etc. What aspects the students should see before reading books was explained to them like the title of the book, author, edition, price, publication, contents, preface, cover  and back page, other books of same author or publication etc. Children read the books and wrote “Autobiography of a Book” with full of imagination. Library and book reading in groups are activities held on regular basis during holidays. The teacher reads different moral stories to them.

• Skit making and presentation

As a part of the Employee engagement program of  Tetra Pak an one day fun filled and informative session on  skit making & presentation was held for the children in the age group 10 to 14 years.

 33 selected children from  four  study centers got an opportunity to interact and  learn from  talented employees from Tetra Pak. They  guided the children in planning , preparing and presenting skits  on important  issues like healthy living , dental awareness, de-addiction and environmental protection etc.  The employees complemented the children for their talents and creativeness  & encouraged them to be responsible citizens .All the participants received gifts and snacks packets too from Tetra Pak. 

 This program was organised with the help of  iVolunteer –one of our supporting partner NGO.   

 Summer camp for the tiny tots in the age group 6 to 10 years  

• Art and craft activity

Different things like craving soap blocks in beautiful designs, paper house, drawing, puppets, masks etc are  some of the activities included in the workshop. Children are enjoying the activity.

• Playing Educational games

Children are also getting opportunity to attend the center on a regular basis to play different educational games like puzzles, chess, spell well, number games etc.   

Dear donors, this update is incomplete without expressing our sincere thanks to you for supporting this project. On 13^th June , Global Giving has planned for a ‘ Bonus Day’ . We request you to make a small donation on 13^th June; your donations made of this day will help us to get a matching grant from Global Giving !!!