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Host Organizations, 2005-2006
Homeland, Battambang, Cambodia
Widespread economic hardship and HIV/AIDS have had profound effects on the well-being of Cambodian children. According to Homeland's 2002 Annual Report, the organization's purpose is "to improve the standard of living and well-being of vulnerable children by providing a safe and secure environment, educational opportunities, vocational training and the possibility of family reunification or placement." In addition to housing vulnerable children at the Homeland Center, the organization provides educational programs, health care services, and income-generation opportunities to children and families who live in the streets, as well as families affected by HIV/AIDS. In addition, Homeland seeks to reintegrate into the community children who have been orphaned or dislocated from their families.
GRAVIS, Jodhpur, India
Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti (GRAVIS), or Center of People's Science for Rural Development, works with the poor of the desert to reconstruct rural communities and give villagers ownership and control over their future. GRAVIS focuses its efforts on the restoration of dwindling natural resources and the empowerment of marginalized groups. GRAVIS activities promote water security, drought relief, agriculture, watershed development, health, education, and empowerment initiatives for subpopulations in India.
Reach Out Mbuya Parish HIV/AIDS Initiative, Kampala, Uganda
Reach Out is a faith-based organisation under Our Lady of Africa Church Mbuya, Kampala. Initiated by a physician working in collaboration with the parish priest of Mbuya in May 2001 with 14 clients, the organization now cares for over 1700 clients (May 2005). Its holistic model of care provides medical care, social, economic, spiritual and emotional support to poor people in Mbuya Parish living with HIV/AIDS.
Legal Resources Centre’s Women’s Rights Project, Durban, South Africa
More than a decade after the advent of democracy in South Africa, women continue struggling to achieve the rights set forth in South Africa’s Constitution. The Women’s Rights Project offers legal representation and advice to women who cannot afford such services. The Project has made a concerted effort to protect the rights of women who are subjected to violence, but also focuses on a wide range of issues to overcome gender discrimination.
Women on Farms, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Women on Farms builds the capacity of women to serve as leaders and agents of change. Based on the belief that self-organization will counteract the marginalization, abuse and vulnerability women experience, Women on Farms helps women secure employment, land and housing. Historically, the project provided legal support for individuals suffering human rights violations. Women on Farms currently helps farm workers organize through a variety to training programs.
AGROS Foundation, Cotzal, Guatemala
The Agros Foundation is a Seattle-based, non-profit organization that works with poor, landless farmers in Central America and Mexico. Since 1982, Agros has helped families in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Chiapa, Mexico. Agros extends loans for the purchase of farmland and assists farmers in the application of sustainable agricultural practices. Through land ownership, Agros believes that poor, rural families can attain self-sufficiency and pass these values and resources on to future generations.
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Host Organizations, 2004-2005
KICOSHEP, Nairobi, Kenya
KICOSHEP, Kibera Integrated Community Self-Help Programme, is a community-based organization that focuses on issues surrounding HIV/AIDS in Kibera, a densely-populated, low-income community. The growing concern regarding the overwhelming burden developing as a result of the AIDS pandemic shaped KICOSHEP’s Vision and Mission. Activities include: creating awareness about the effect of HIV/AIDS to the individual, the family, the community and the nation, enabling communities to care for family members living with HIV/AIDS within the home environment, and supporting people who are affected, especially women and youths, by providing them with starting capital and business training, which allows them to initiate an income generating activity.
KWIECO, Moshi, Tanzania
KWIECO (Kilimanjaro Women's Information Exchance and Consultancy Company) is the only provider of legal services for women in this region of Tanzania. Their broad objective is to improve the position of women in society by educating them and disseminating information on women and development issues, including advice on legal, health, social, and economic issues and how they affect women's lives. It seeks to create awareness of women about their oppressed and inferior position in society and the need for them to take positive steps.
Freedom Foundation, Bangalore, India
Freedom Foundation, was founded in 1992 as a residential treatment and rehabilitation center for substance abusers. In the mid-1990s, the organization created an additional, residential care program for PLWHA. Freedom Foundation's founders are both psychotherapists, and psychosocial programming remains central to Freedom Foundation's work. Other activities include medical care and income-generating activities for PLWHA and community awareness-raising about HIV/AIDS. Freedom Foundation currently operates HIV/AIDS and "De-addiction" Centers in Hyderabad and Bangalore, and an HIV/AIDS Center in Bellary.
Mozaik Community Development Foundation, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mozaik (formerly NGO Development Foundation) is BiH registered non-governmental,non-profit, non-partisan, secular and independent Foundation with head office in Sarajevo. Their missioncenters around building social cohesion - a state of harmonious and productive social relations where community members, irrespective of differences in ethnicity or social and economic status, share common values and goals, have a sense of mutual commitment and belonging to the community, a sense of solidarity, responsibility and mutual recognition, and participate in activities for the common good.
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Host Organizations, 2003-2004
KIWAKKUKI, Moshi, Tanzania
"KIWAKKUKI (the Swahili Acronym for "Women Against AIDS in Kilimanjaro") was founded in 1990 by local women seeking to combat the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS on their community. KIWAKKUKI has grown from a small group of individuals to a network of hundreds of members and volunteers working throughout the Kilimanjaro region. KIWAKKUKI's activities include the operation of an AIDS community information center in Moshi, Tanzania; community HIV/AIDS education activities; material support and home visits by trained volunteers to HIV-positive individuals, their families, and orphaned children; and skills-training and income-generating activities for people affected by AIDS."
Seva Mandir, Udaipur, India
"Seva Mandir is a non-government voluntary organisation working on rural and tribal development issues in and around Udaipur district, in the southern part of Rajasthan (western India). It has a presence in over 500 villages, and its work focuses on (1) strengthening sustainable livelihoods of village communities, (2) capacity building to achieve well-being in terms of health, education, and gender equal relations, and (3) creating autonomous village level institutions and supporting organic leadership." Seva Mandir was founded in 1966. (quoted from the Seva Mandir Homepage: www.sevamandir.org).
Homeland, Battambang, Cambodia
Widespread economic hardship and HIV/AIDS have had profound effects on the well-being of Cambodian children. According to Homeland's 2002 Annual Report, the organization's purpose is "to improve the standard of living and well-being of vulnerable children by providing a safe and secure environment, educational opportunities, vocational training and the possibility of family reunification or placement." In addition to housing vulnerable children at the Homeland Center, the organization provides educational programs, health care services, and income-generation opportunities to children and families who live in the streets, as well as families affected by HIV/AIDS. In addition, Homeland seeks to reintegrate into the community children who have been orphaned or dislocated from their families.
Sahara House, India
Sahara House was founded in 1978 as a residential treatment center for substance abusers. In the 1990s, Sahara House expanded its programming to include a wide range of services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Currently, Sahara House operates homes for recovering substance abusers and PLWHA, a referral service for clients not living in the centers, and prevention and awareness activities in disadvantaged communities. While the majority of Sahara House's operations are in Delhi, the organization also has projects in Pune, Mumbai (Bombay), and Manipur State.
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Host Organizations, 2002-2003
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China
Headquartered in Shanghai, China, SMIC is a prominent player in China's rapidly emerging high-tech sector. As part of its community outreach activities, SMIC has provided significant funding to "Project Hope: Friends of Grace," an initiative focused on decreasing the primary school dropout rate and improving infrastructure for primary education in rural areas. Since 1996, Project Hope: Friends of Grace has built "Hope schools" in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Gansu Provinces. The project also provides training to Hope school teachers at SMIC's Shanghai headquarters, and eventually hopes to initiate income-generating projects for residents of the communities in which Hope schools have been built.
Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo (UFES), Brazil
UFES is home to one of Brazil's most prominent researchers in the field of infectious diseases, Dr. Reynaldo Dietze. Hart Fellow Neil Gupta is working with Dr. Dietze to critically examine the DOTS treatment regimen for tuberculosis. DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course), is widely used throughout the developing world to provide cost-effective treatment to tuberculosis patients. The study on which Neil is working will inform efforts to develop equally effective, but less costly alternatives to the DOTS regimen.
Centro de Estudos de Promoção em Alternativas de Saúde (CEPAS), Brazil
CEPAS (the Portguguese acronym for "Center for Promoting and Studying Health Alternatives") is a non-governmental organization that promotes a broadly-defined vision of better community health. According to CEPAS' mission statement, CEPAS views health as "not only the absence of disease, but as complete social, economic and mental welfare." CEPAS operates a community clinic in Loteamento Laranjeiras and offers a variety of career-skills training courses at an adjacent teaching facility.
KIWAKKUKI, Tanzania
KIWAKKUKI (the Swahili Acronym for "Women Against AIDS in Kilimanjaro") was founded in 1990 by local women seeking to combat the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS on their community. KIWAKKUKI has grown from a small group of individuals to a network of hundreds of members and volunteers working throughout the Kilimanjaro region. KIWAKKUKI's activities include the operation of an AIDS community information center in Moshi, Tanzania; community HIV/AIDS education activities; material support and home visits by trained volunteers to HIV-positive individuals, their families, and orphaned children; and skills-training and income-generating activities for people affected by AIDS.
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Host Organizations, 2001-2002
Save the Children, USA, Nepal
Save the Children, USA (Save-US) promotes locally appropriate programs in education, health care, environmentally sound agriculture, and economic productivity to make lasting changes in the lives of children in need. Save-US operates programs in 19 US States and 45 developing countries around the world. In Nepal, Save-US focuses on a variety of issues, including maternal and child health, primary education, literacy training and microenterprise programs for adult women, and capacity-building for governmental and non-governmental agencies working in rural areas.
Western Cape Foundation for Community Work (FCW), Cape Town, South Africa
FCW describes itself as "a non-government community development and resource organization promoting the total development of the child." The organization provides training and support to community-based initiatives that promote holistic early childhood development. Twenty-two community "educare" centers affiliated with FCW operate throughout South Africa's Western Cape Province. Through its "Family-in-Focus" Program (FIF), FCW field workers visit homes of parents in disadvantaged neighborhoods to help them provide their children the experiences and resources necessary for healthy development.
International Rescue Committee (IRC), Rwanda
IRC began working in Rwanda soon after that country's 1994 genocide. According to IRC-Rwanda's website, "the IRC works closely with the community and government to assist in rehabilitating and building water and sanitation systems; providing micro-enterprise loans; reunifying and reintegrating families; promoting youth development; enhancing civic society through good governance; developing and implementing a child survival health program; and protecting and ensuring the well-being of vulnerable children. Through a central office in Kigali and three worldwide offices, IRC has been able to help over two million Rwandans."
Unidad de Capacitación y Investigación para la Participación (UCIEP), Mexico
UCIEP, a non-governmental organization founded in 1987, seeks to advance the social development and well-being of indigenous, rural communities through activities centered on the participation of women and children. Current UCIEP programs focus on reproductive health education and skills training for women, early childhood development, nutrition, children's literacy, and women's and children's rights education.
Christian Children's Fund (CCF), Kenya
CCF has been active in Kenya since 1960. Its projects in Kenya cross multiple sectors, including education, health and nutrition, and income generation. Program foci include primary health care, provision of clean water, supplementary feeding for undernourished children, subsidies for school fees, school renovations, adult education programs, microenterprise training, and training in sustainable farming practices.
International Rescue Committee, Azerbaijan
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, violent conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh displaced some 800,000 people. While the fighting has ceased, a long-term solution to the dispute has not emerged. As a result, hundreds of thousands of persons remain displaced within Azerbaijan. IRC has been working in Azerbaijan since 1993, and now operates programs in fourteen of the country's regions. IRC assists Azerbaijanis to create their own community-based development and aid organizations, focused on such issues as infrastructure rehabilitation, education, microcredit, agricultural production, and health services. Training and technical support are provided by IRC to these grassroots initiatives.
Rural Family Support Organisation (RuFamSO), Jamaica
RuFamSO, a non-governmental organization headquartered in Clarendon, Jamaica, seeks to improve the well-being of Jamaica's children and families. RuFamSO seeks to prevent teen-age pregnancy through education and attitude change programs targeting both young men and young women. In addition, RuFamSO provides support to teen-age mothers, such as marketable skills and literacy training, and trains day-care providers working with poor populations in rural areas.
Associação Criança Familia e Desenvolvimento (CFD), Mozambique
From the late 1970s through the late 1980s, Mozambique's civil war devastated the country and left thousands of children separated from their families. After hostilities abated in the late 1980s, Save the Children's "Children & War" program reunited children with their families and provided a variety of services to meet the needs of these children. To ensure that support continued for these services over the long term, the Children and War Program became an independent non-government organization called Associação Criança Familia e Desenvolvimento (Children, Family and Development Association) in 1995. CFD mobilizes community support for escolinhas (schools created in collaboration with community groups), provides assistance to leaders of community-led youth skills training programs, and supports caregivers and parent committees in Mozambican communities. The organization is a leader within Mozambican civil society in organizing action around child and adolescent issues.
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