INDIA
People First Educational Trust: Bihar, India
People First educates the poorest of the poor children in the villages of Bihar by creating and operating schools in areas where children did not have access to education. People First works closely with the parents and the community and now educates nearly 1000 children through a network of village schools. People First also imparts basic computer training to the students and run a Vocational Training College to teach driving, carpentry and bricklaying skills to the youth. Recently they established the Gaya Rescue Center to educate and rehabilitate children who were abandoned at the Gaya Railway Station.
Nari Jagran Manch: Bihar, India
Nari Jagran Manch (Forum for the Awakening of Women) provides microcredit loans to poor and largely illiterate rural women in Bihar so that they can earn their livelihoods. Women are organized into Self Help Groups of 10 with a common bank account. The loans are given at low interest rates and have freed them from the trap of village money lenders. NJM also educates women about population control methods, health and sanitation issues, organic farming techniques and the rights of the girl child. NJM has also invested in the education of low-caste girls by opening a school in the village of Mothiachak.
Melghat Mitra: Maharashtra, India
Melghat Mitra (Friends of Melghat) works in 20 remote villages of the forested region of Melghat where infant deaths are common due to diseases and malnourishment. For the last three years, Melghat Mitra has instituted a campaign to save every child from dying. Volunteers educate and train the villagers about basic healthcare and sanitation, supplementary nutrition and sustainable agricultural practices. The volunteers also set up primary education centers to advance literacy among children. This project is Championed by Ranjit Deshmukh who resides in Arcata, CA. Other active volunteer for the project is Harvey Toub who resides in Atlanta, GA, and is working with the Melghat Mitra team in India on water projects.
Smaraami Foundation: Hyderabad, India
Smaraami Foundation was founded on the belief that every child has a right to lead a healthy life irrespective of their economic status. The Foundation has partnered with the Niloufer Hospital in Hyderabad to afford quality healthcare for underpriviledged children by providing free lab services to patients, advanced clinical testing capabilities for life threatening diseases, epidemic screening facilities and access to quality neo-natal and pediatric intensive care, among others. In 2007, Smaraami established a 24-hour emergency lab services at Niloufer, among other services, that reduced the hospital infant mortality rate by 20%. This project is Championed by Kavitha Earneni who resides in Foster City, CA.
UPAKAR Educational Society: Dindigul, India
UPAKAR stand for Uplifting Poor and Abandoned Kids from Atrocity and Risk. The project was founded to educate and rehabilitate victimized children, especially orphaned, handicapped and street children and those who are affected by the exploitative practice of child labor. Currently the UPAKAR team is working on a project that will create a home for orphaned children at a coconut grove. The yield of the coconuts will provide a source of income for the project to sustain itself.
Helen Keller Institute for the Visually Impaired: Kerala, India
The Helen Keller Institute in Kerala, southern India, rehabilitates visually challenged people, especially women, who are often considered social outcasts. The Vocational Training Center helps the residents to become productive members of the community by teaching specific skills such as tailoring, typewriting and manufacturing mats. The project is Championed by Balan Menon who grew up in Kerala and now resides in Chicago.
Rural Education for Development Society (REDS): Karnataka, India
Rural Education for Development Society (REDS) works among the underprivileged Dalit children and families of Karnataka, India, to improve education and health standards, promote women's leadership and empower the mechanisms of internal governance of the community. People from Dalit communities are discriminated in many parts of the country and poverty continues to plague them. The literacy rate is less than 35%.
Many of their homes are non-electrified, illuminated only with kerosene lamps that provide poor quality lighting. REDS has partnered with D.Light Design in Mountain View, CA, to improve the quality of life of people in non-electrified households. The project aims to provide higher quality lighting, resulting in improved education standards of poor children, more efficient domestic activities and reduced health hazards from harmful CO2 emitted by kerosene lamps. This project is Championed by Sam Goldman in Mountain View, CA, and Ranjit Deshmukh in Arcata, CA. To learn more about REDS, click here.
Nirvanavan Foundation: Alwar District, India
The Nirvanavan Foundation is a grassroots organization working in the remote areas of Alwar district of Rajasthan on educational, ecological and social issues. The Foundation is working with the children of the 'Nat and Kanjar' community who are traditionally into prostitution. The Foundation is now running eight primary schools in the villages at highest risk and have plans to open the remaining two, firmly establishing 10 schools as centers of learning.
The children of the Nat and Kanjar community are eager to learn like any other children in the world. The Foundation seeks to provide them with basic education so that they are able to find alternative livelihood opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives. The project is Championed by Halim Ina in Cleveland.
Zakat Foundation of India: New Delhi, India
The Zakat Foundation of India offers social services to those who are marginalized and affected by injustices in New Delhi and the state of Uttar Pradesh. These include microfinance, free clinics, mobile dispensaries, stipends for widows and scholarships for students facing economic hardships, among others. The Foundation also runs the Happy Home Orphanage that shelters, educates and cares for children who were orphaned by the Gujarat riots in 2002 and the tsunami in South India in 2004.
TIMORE LESTE
Familia HOPE Orphanage: Gleno, Timor Leste
Familia HOPE Orphanage cares for orphaned children in Timor Leste, one of the world's newest countries. After Timor Leste's successful vote for independence from Indonesia, many children lost both parents during a series of brutal uprisings in September 1999. Hope provides a safe and loving environment, nutrition and education for children who are orphaned and living in poverty. The project is Championed by Jean Olson who resides in Santa Cruz, California. Learn more about Jean and her efforts to serve the project.
THAILAND
Orphaned Burmese Children's Home: Thailand
Pao National Development Organization (PNDO) works with ethnic communities on the Thai-Burmese border that have fled the repressive conditions in their villages in Burma. Their primary focus is to stabilize children who have been displaced by the conflict in Burma and to advance medical, educational and cultural support to them. PNDO supports nearly 25 schools and 30 rural projects, emphasizing basic educational skills as well as providing vocational and agricultural training.
This project is Championed by Jace Hobbs who resides in Hawaii and has traveled frequently to Thailand to support PNDO in their efforts to educate refugee children and protect them from child slavery. He is spearheading an initiative called Orphaned Burmese Children's Home. Many of the migrant Burmese children do not have quality educational opportunities and their fundamental needs are often not met. Thus far, the project has been able to provide educational tools, blankets, clothing and toys to over 250 children at the Pang Kham School and the Mai Leng Nursery. Currently, PNDO, with Jace's support, is building a toy factory that will produce teaching aids, playground equipment and toys for the children.
