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Poverty Alleviation Projects
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2006 Projects
January 2006
$2,630 was given to Daniel Levitis, a PhD candidate in the Zoology
Department of the University of California, to deliver 400 family-sized
bednets to protect the entire village of Herowana in Papua New Guinea
against mosquito borne diseases. A portion of the funds will also be used
to provide the villagers with necessary medicines including antibiotics and
malaria tablets. The thousand people of Herowana are organized into roughly
400 families. The public health apparatus in PNG was supposed to deliver
mosquito nets to Herowana last year but they are under-funded and
disorganized and now have no specific plan to get to Herowana. Meanwhile,
the World Health Organization has made family-sized mosquito nets available
in the provincial capital, Goroka, for 15 Kina, equivalent to $5. The
people of Herowana cannot afford $5 to buy their own nets and most have
never been to Goroka. Historically, Herowana was at the upper altitudinal
limit of mosquito borne diseases such as malaria. However, as surrounding
ecosystems have been altered by development, habitat destruction, and
climate change, mosquitoes have been moving up hill and bringing diseases
with them. Read more.
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February 2006
$2,780 was given to the Zatik Orphanage in Yerevan, Armenia to pay for 9
teachers to tutor students there for four months. Subjects covered include
Russian, English, math biology, physics, Armenian, and art. There are many
children in the Zatik Orphanage who are significantly behind in their
education, having been brought in from life on the streets. Also, there are
some children who want to have higher education after secondary school, but
need to have extra private educational training to be able to reach their
goals. Deteriorating economic and social conditions since the early 1990s
have had a disastrous effect on Armenia's prized educational system. More
than one-third of preschool institutions were lost between 1991 and 2000.
One-quarter of state and community extra-school institutions have
disappeared and enrollment there has dropped by nearly two-thirds. There
also has been a 40% decline in the number of professional technical
colleges. Publicly-funded education, though guaranteed in the Constitution,
has been termed "an illusion."
Read more.
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March 2006
$2,910 was given to Shan Orphan Support on the Thai / Burma border to
support their school-based health centers by providing teacher/nurse
training, medical and dental supplies, and personal hygiene items including
soap and shampoo. We also provided all the orphans with sandals for their
feet. The teacher/nurse will assume duties regarding simple health and
dental care for the kids in coordination with the village nurse.
Approximately 1,000 children (including 300 orphans) currently reside in
three different camps for internally displaced people along the border
between Thailand and the Shan State in Burma. Some of the children in these
camps are former child soldiers who fought to avenge their parents and have
since been disarmed and enrolled in school. Others are victims of violence
who saw their parents murdered and villages burned, and suffer from
posttraumatic stress disorders. Still others are victims of sexual
violence. The children are suffering from many common childhood illnesses
and hygiene issues that are exacerbated by lack of resources - sore
throats, earaches, fevers, coughs, septic wounds and scrapes, rashes,
cuts, and sprains. We"ll help provide the children with dozens of vital
medicines and supplies including penicillin, tetracycline, amoxicillin,
antifungal and antibacterial creams, vitamins, calamine lotion, rubbing
alcohol, bandages, etc. Many diseases (malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS)
require long-term treatments and are sensitive to reliable application of
medicine - lack of oversight is a serious problem. We"ll help ensure that
there is proper supervision of medical treatments so they can be applied
consistently.
Read more.
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April 2006
$3,060 was given to Hope Jackson to support a clinic in Los Talpetates, El
Salvador, a rural village of 1,500 people more than two hours from the
nearest city. It is the only independently run women's health clinic in the
country and has been run under the capable leadership of Josefa Mira since
it began operation in 1998. The clinic receives no government funding.
Without outside support, hundreds of the neediest in El Salvador will be
deprived of the health care they desperately require. With our support they
will be able to purchase much-needed medical supplies including: prenatal
vitamins, gauze pads and sponges, disposable syringes, sutures, umbilical
cord clamps, digital blood pressure monitors, fetal heartbeat monitors,
medicines for bronchial infection, pregnancy tests, and thermometers.
Additionally, our money will be used to re-cover the palm roof that covers
the porch and provides shade; buy new fans and window screens for the
birthing room; paint the inside walls of the clinic; buy file cabinets for
medical records, a typewriter, and midwifery resource books; and a sewing
machine to enable mothers to sew clothes and diapers for their children.
Read more.
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May 2006
$3,260 was given to Eleanore's Project to provide 11 disabled Jordanian
children with specially-fitted wheelchairs. It is estimated that 20 million
people worldwide need wheelchairs and do not have them; of those, 6-7
million are children with disabilities in poor countries. Traditionally,
children with disabilities in some countries have been considered a source
of tremendous shame for their parents. In rural areas, a child with a
disability, particularly a physical disability, still shames the honor of
the family. For children in particular, a properly sized wheelchair with
postural supports that can be adjusted as the child grows is more than just
mobility. It is a therapeutic tool that can help a child develop motor
control, increased tolerance for sitting, and improved functional use of
the hands. It can assist a child's eating, digestion and breathing. Proper
seating and positioning can limit or prevent orthopedic deformities and
pressure sores that result in loss of function, hospitalizations, surgeries
and even death. The problem, however, is that in developing countries there
is rarely access to chairs in children's sizes with specialized seating
systems. For a child with muscular imbalances, sitting in a folding
wheelchair that is too big and lacks proper hip, trunk, back and head
support can actually increase his or her physical problems.
Read more.
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June 2006
$3,260 was given to Imani House for their clinic and educational operations
in Liberia to provide: medicines for the clinic; materials for the sewing
class and a sewing machine; a one year's stipend for the clinic nurse;
stationary and clinic charts; and gas, tires and transportation costs for
their vehicle. The more than three million inhabitants of the West African
nation of Liberia, still emerging from 14 years of civil war, face numerous
serious challenges. Life expectancy is just about 40 years old; half the
adult population is illiterate; and 39% of the population is
undernourished. Our grant will enable Ms. Iderabdullah to acquire
chloroquine injections to fight malaria, baby liquids and tablets,
paracetamol, antihistamines, needles, syringes, antispasmodics,
hypertension medication, thermometers, gauze, bandages, antiseptics, pain
killers, dental supplies, birthing kits, and water proof bedding supplies.
Additionally, twenty women are already registered in the sewing class.
During the civil war, the offices were looted and all the sewing machines
were lost. Three of them have been replaced and one more is needed. The
women use their newly-learned sewing skills to design and produce clothing
to wear and to sell. For some, it will be the only source of income for
their families. Read more.
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July 2006
$3,230 was given to El Porvenir to construct 19 latrines in the La Pita
community of Nicaragua. The community of La Pita is a rural village located
26 kilometers southeast of the municipality of Ciudad Dario, specifically
in the district of Hispangual, in Nicaragua. There are 20 families there
with 89 people in them, and 19 houses in the village (two families share
one house). Most of the homes are of adobe, clay, or scrap lumber, and a
few are made of local brick. Our grant will fund the bricks, cement,
sand, precast floors and seats, zinc for the roof, nails, pipes, hinges,
wood, hasp locks, tools, and staff time including hygiene workshops. The
members of the community are all ready to provide the voluntary labor for
the project, such as in digging the latrine holes and constructing their
own family latrine. Without latrines there is a serious risk of
proliferation of vector insects such as flies and consequently there are
epidemics of diarrhea or even more serious diseases such as cholera and
parasitosis. The most affected are small children-two million children
die globally each year from diarrhea and the resultant dehydration and
malnutrition. Read more.
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August 2006
$3,300 was given to the World Hope Foundation in Nigeria to provide 197
children at a nursery and primary school operating at the entrance to the
Destitute Refugee Camp, run by the Salvation Army, with uniforms,
notebooks, pens and pencils, drawing books, rulers, and other school
supplies-enough to last a full year. These supplies will go a long way
toward fulfilling their educational needs. As students will start their
studies again in the first week of September, this grant is particularly
timely. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, but also ranks among
the world's poorest, ranking at 158 (out of 177) on the United Nations
Human Development Index. Life expectancy in the country is 43 years old
and average per capita income is less than $3 a day. The vast majority of
Nigerians, however, earn far less than that. Read more.
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September 2006
$3,280 was given to OuagaNet to provide medicines and first aid kits to
the community of Napone in Burkina Faso. The medicine will be made
available to the poor villagers and students of Napone free of charge by
OuagaNet's healthcare community volunteers. Our grant will fund the
acquisition of the medical supplies, their delivery to the village,
expenses of a nurse to oversee the administering of the medicines, and
community volunteers' involvement in the distribution process. With our
grant, OuagaNet will be purchasing first aid kits that contain
indispensable tools for treating cuts and wounds: antibacterial bandages,
sterile gauze pads, wound closure strips, antiseptic towelettes,
antibiotic ointment packets, burn cream ointments, alcohol prep pads, and
a first aid instruction guide. There will also be some ibuprofen, antacid,
and non-aspirin tablets. The kits are crucial for treating the wounds and
cuts that are common problems with villagers involved with farming
activities and the students in the elementary school. Read more.
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October 2006
$3,300 was given to the village of of Kisala-Ngoma to build a school. Any
excess funds will be used to purchase a proper blackboard, books, and other
supplies. Our grant will allow for the purchase of 150 corrugated iron
roofing sheets, nails, iron bars, cement, and materials transport. The
remainder of materials and labor for school construction will be provided
by members of the community. In fact, the villagers have already begun
making the bricks. In this large village, there are 3 sub-villages with
532 men, 575 women, 496 boys, 541 girls, and 210 other workers residing
there. These workers are mostly employed as rubber-tappers in the local
rubber plantation. There are many illiterate people in the village and
those that surround it. Many children are not able to receive an education
because of the large distance between their villages and the closest
schools. If children receive an education at all, it is often ended after
just a few years. Read more.
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November 2006
$3,340 was given to Maranatha Mission to start a micro-finance project in
the Rumonge Commune of Bururi Province in Burundi to build the capacity of
local farmers to engage in small business activities related to processing
and selling palm oil and related products such as soaps for personal and
household use. As a result of our grant, 100 peasant farmers who have their
own community palm oil farm will be able to reap substantive profits from
their plantations. This grant will be used to purchase a 400 liter tank to
boil the palm seeds; two motors to crush them; two pestles; a generator and
a press; seven barrels; plastic sheeting on which to dry the seeds before
grinding; five buckets; two wheelbarrows; tables and molds for making
soaps; and a scale. Further, we will support a supervisor and two workers
to oversee the project and train the farmers. This will improve
opportunities for economic growth for their families and the community in
general. It will mean more money for food and schooling and other
essentials they currently lack. It will mean hope for the future.
Read more.
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December 2006
$3,340 was given to the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre to build an
Interpretive Centre and Community Garden, which will be a place for the
community to discuss traditional knowledge, sell crafts to tourists,
document useful information about indigenous plants, and teach future
generations about survival in the forest. Our funds will provide plywood
for the ceiling, window frames, glass windows, door frames and doors,
interior wooden walls, wooden planks for steps, paint for ceiling and
walls, wire mesh for the ceiling, nails, fuel for the generator to cut the
planks, shelves for material display, and cabinets for storage.
Read more.
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2007 Projects
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