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Improving the quality of life of the most vulnerable groups of society (elderly, people with disabilities, women) through providing basic necessities and medical, social and spiritual assistance. Neoumanist Association provides residential care, home visits and day treatment to over one hundred elderly in the district of Straseni in the Republic of Moldova. Our beneficiaries are typically impoverished, vulnerable, and without family support and many of them are chronically ill and homebound. The Neoumanist Association serves the most vulnerable groups in the community (especialy the elderly and disabled) with the following goals: to improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable groups in Moldova, to help the community respect and value humanity, to help people attain harmony and a decent standard of living. The "Neoumanist" Association for Education is a NGO (non-governmental organization) that was registered in the Republic of Moldova in November 2000 by the Ministry of Justice. Since 2003 AE Neoumanist has established four major projects: 1. Rasarit Day Care Centre in the rural town of Straseni, in 2003 2. Spectru Home for senior citizens in the rural town of Straseni, in 2005 3. Home Care serving the outlying villages of Straseni district, in 2007 4. Mobile Meals for the neediest elderly, in 2012. Each of these projects provides high quality services and assistance to socially vulnerable elderly people in Straseni and Straseni district. The basic features characterizing the target group are: 1. Compromised psychological health as a result of untreated depression, feelings of despair and hopelessness, and lack of social interaction and loneliness; gender and ethnic discrimination. 2. Malnutrition caused by insufficient income with the attendant inability to purchase nutritious, high-caloric foods, as well as the great difficulty of obtaining and preparing food because of physical disability or other deficiencies; 3. Unsanitary living conditions resulting, again, from insufficient income to purchase cleaning and hygiene supplies and the difficulty of obtaining and utilizing these supplies because of physical disability or other deficiencies. Neoumanist Association understands that, in order to truly help seniors live rich and full lives, we must assist them in satisfying their basic needs before they can attend to issues of justice, equality, and fairness. Through the provision of socio -medical services and supplementary social activities to disadvantaged seniors, Neoumanist strives to promote social and gender equity in Moldova. A person living in extreme poverty, without adequate food or shelter, cannot effectively participate in civil society. Through meeting those basic needs, we enable them to become, in time, more engaged and vocal participants within their communities.
Currently Ubeci serves approximately 600 children, many who live on the streets of Quito, with an educational break during the day, at six different markets. Each day staff and volunteers get on a bus and go to a market, carrying canopies, mats, toys, school supplies and sports equipment; and set up an area to provide educational, social and recreational services. The market children are often required to spend up to 12 hours a day in a stall at the market helping bag produce and keeping the stall clean. Due to a lack of ability to earn adequate wages in the market to pay for basic needs, children often work so enough money can be earned to survive. Children first wash their hands with soap and water, both from necessity and to learn basic hygiene. Children between the ages of 1 and 17 engage in various activities each day, sometimes with younger siblings in attendance, because a 5 year old will be responsible for caring for a one or two year old sibling. Volunteers and staff assume responsibility for the young sibling while the older child participates in the program. Children are provided with educational toys, such as legos, puppets, etc., and are encouraged to play with others. Play allows children to develop creativity and imagination while developing physical, cognitive, and emotional strengths. Play is essential to developing social and emotional ties, and allow children who have been working to once again be a child. Older children will receive help with homework if attending school or have the opportunity to draw or read. Next. children are divided into three age groups in order to engage in appropriate learning activities. Younger children can engage in coloring a worksheet that may describe various objects, feelings, or activities which is then incorporated into a lesson which helps the young children gain a better understanding of basic elements of math, hygiene, health, language, self-respect and self-awareness. Worksheets and activities are more challenging for the older groups of children. All activities employ fun as a way to build interest, maintain interest and focus and increase success. After sitting, they are often in need of movement at this point, which is offered in the form of organized, cooperative, and fun games and activities. Children may engage in a three legged race, play different versions of tag, or a game of soccer. Organized games teach important life lessons from play that is often missing from work in the market. Children engage in a song that involves movement and another lesson often in relation to self-awareness and positive self-concept. Children are then allowed to choose an activity or receive additional help with school work. Many children are able to walk from their parents stall to the program on their own. However, others are picked by staff at their parents stall at the beginning of the program and then are returned to the stall after the program ends, a short but important form of transportation, to help all the children in the market participate. Goals of the Play Do and Learn Program Provide street children and at-risk children with a needed break from working in the stall and/or having to provide care for a younger sibling. Provide educational services to children who are either not in school or have limited school, to augment their learning and promote the importance of learning. Foster a positive self-concept in at-risk/street children who have experienced many challenges including various forms of discrimination including gender and class; lack of basic necessities: food, shelter, health care, clothing and education and a time and place to be a child. Provide an opportunity for parents to see and understand the value of education, many who have not had the opportunity for school, in a manner that provides an step between full time school and working full time in the market. Provide support so that children are able to enroll in and stay in school, so they have more and better options for earning a livable wage. Offer girls, who often have less options than boys in Ecuador, a more level playing field in terms of self-concept, educational opportunities and the ability to be more self-sufficient. Program Accomplishments Approximately of all the school age children in the Play Do and Learn program enroll in school and stay in school during the year due largely to the services provided before school age and ongoing support once enrolled in school. Services have been increased over the years so that over 600 children in 6 different markets receive program services. Due to the strength of the program and support from around the world, the program has survived for 20 years. Have employed three direct service providers whose energy and dedication to the program is evidenced by working long hours in the markets of Quito, regardless of conditions, and always placing the needs of the children first. Have developed and nurtured a relationship with IVHQ, which results in over 250 volunteers a year spending between two and twelve weeks a year, providing 15,000 hours of service per year at a value of a donation of $300,000 per year, keeping operating expenses to $60,000 per year. Have developed the local support and partnership with the best university in Ecuador, The Universidad of San Francisco who provides, student interns and materials for student supply kits each year. Christmas Campaign: Each December students in the Play, Do, Learn Program receive a gift from Ubeci consisting of food (such as candy, juice, cakes, sandwiches, etc.) and clothing. Children participating in the program often are unable to celebrate Christmas as many children around the world, due to lack of resources to obtain basic day-to-day living necessities. The total value of the food and clothing given to each child is approximately $15.00. School Supplies: In October, each child who participates in the Play Do and Learn Program will receive a kit of student supplies, which includes notebooks, pencils, pens, colored pencils, crayons, erasers and glue. The value of each kit is approximately $12.00. The kits are distributed to the child and parent.
Our mission is to provide outstanding education and leadership opportunities to women and youth. Leymah Gbowee is best known as the extraordinary woman who launched a powerful movement of thousands of women-from 16 different ethnic groups, across religious divides-to end Liberia's bloody civil war. Back in 1999, when the country, after a brief period of calm, was thrown once again into chaos, when women and children faced unprecedented levels of cruelty and displacement, when a quarter of a million people died and many more fled, and when the economic, political and educational systems threatened to completely collapse, the network of Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace took matters into their own hands. Boldly, the women marched in the streets; clamored for the deployment of foreign peacekeepers; demanded a ceasefire; spoke passionately in public forums; held pray-ins, sit-ins and a sex strike; demanded the resumption of peace talks when they stalled; and blockaded the peace talks with their bodies, forcing warlords to negotiate. With those actions, the women achieved the impossible without a single shot. They ended Liberia's civil war, deposing the nation's notorious leader Charles Taylor, ushering in a hopeful new period of democratic self-governance, and paving the way for the election of Liberia-and Africa's-first female president. But that was not the end of the story; in fact, it was the beginning. As history attests, peace is not a moment; it is a process. Building a lasting peace demands recognizing the importance of the empowerment and participation of women; that, in turn, demands ensuring that women and girls have access to education for life and leadership. It has been and remains the dream of Leymah Gbowee- awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work in ending Liberia's civil war-to see women and girls empowered in Liberia, throughout West Africa, and worldwide to realize their own dreams and work confidently towards humanity's shared dream of peace and security. She believes that journey to sustainable peace must begin with girls' education. A major step towards achieving that goal came in 2012 when Gbowee founded the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa in Liberia. With offices in the capital city, Monrovia, GPFA is Liberia's leading grassroots, community-based organization dedicated to building sustainable peace in that country and throughout West Africa. It is focused on girls' education, women's empowerment, sustaining the peace, and ensuring security that goes beyond freedom from violence and war to encompass all aspects of human security-for food, health, environmental, personal, political and community security. In the short years since Leymah Gbowee founded the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa in Liberia, we have seen how eager Liberia's girls are to take advantage of the opportunity to follow their own dreams and help to make the dreams of their families and their communities come true. Today, GPFA is the leading grassroots, community-based organization in Liberia dedicated to building sustainable peace, increasing access to education for women and girls and supporting their full and active participation in the economic, social and political life of the country. GPFA achieves its goals through a comprehensive program of scholarships, mentoring, internships, leadership development and community-building activities.
Perched atop the buried pre-classic Maya city of Chocola, the village of Chocola on the back slopes of the volcanoes that form Lake Atitlan, is poverty stricken yet poised to become a model of cultural celebration and self-sufficiency. What it needs most is leadership training and technical support to develop its potential for diversified agriculture, archeological-tourism, health care for its families and education for its children. In its simplest terms, the mission of Seeds for a Future is to help this impoverished community plan and achieve prosperity based on balanced development principles that protect cultural tradition, the natural environment and preserve the Mayan and post-colonial history of the town. Seeds for a Future traces its roots to the period from 2003 through 2006 when many Earthwatch Institute volunteers came to Chocola to work on the archaeological site, which was then being excavated under license from the Guatemalan government. The volunteers embraced being associated with an important archaeological endeavor and learned about the vast pre-Classic Maya city that may hold keys to the early development of Mayan language, system of time and other fundamental cultural practices. At the same time, many of us fell in love with the community, its families and children and the fabulous, healthy mountain environment. As a result, groups of volunteers organized to help a community struggling with terrible poverty and deprivation to find a way to prosperity without destroying their way of life or the delicate balance of their natural environment. A vision emerged among a core of volunteers, Guatemalan visionaries and local leaders in which Chocola is seen as lifting itself into a more healthy and prosperous community based on its historic farming skills, adding value to its coffee, vegetable and cacao producers and through community cooperative action. In the future, there is great promise for the development of Chocola as a tourist destination based on archaeo-tourism; conservation of the natural resources in which the community is embedded and conservation of one of the first and greatest coffee processing plants (beneficios) established during the 1890s. But we also discovered in the early years that before Chocola could begin to realize its potential, the people needed training in identifying their own vision for the future, learning to work together and acquiring the technical skills needed for success. Overcoming 500 years of economic and social servitude is not easily done, but real progress is being made and our program has been recognized as ground-breaking, by the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and others. Four operating principles guide the work we do: We provide information and technical assistance to the people of Chocola to help them evaluate new opportunities and to plan. We provide direct funding and other forms of support for community requests for assistance on specific projects. These requests must come through Chocola leadership and must demonstrate sustainability and a willingness and capability of the community to provide part of the needed resources. All programs must aim at achieving self-sufficiency. We will help with programs that governmental agencies believe may be of value, provided that they too meet the same test as is noted for the community above. All such requests must be consistent with our mission to help the people and do no harm to either the Maya archaeological site or to the 1890 Coffee Finca site. In all of our programs we try to ensure that the participants become more engaged in the social and civil fabric, that they gain self confidence in their ability to change their own future for the better, and that we provide knowledge and coaching for a sufficient period of time that their activities and new ideas become self-sustaining in the community.
Mission Appalled by the stark reality of 31 million orphans in India and shocked by the condition of institutions housing them, a few like- minded individuals got together to take serious action. This obsession was the seed which sprouted as Udayan Care, - which was registered in 1994, as a Public Charitable Trust. While our first initiative was the Udayan Ghar programme for orphaned and abandoned children, we gradually worked towards ensuring higher education for girls through the Udayan Shalini Fellowship. In 2004, Udayan Care also initiated an Outreach programme for children affected by HIV, as well as the Udayan Information and Technology Centres to improve employability of under-served communities. We began with a thorough research on existing models for children in need of care & protection and opportunities that existed for young girls, women and disadvantaged youth. What our research threw up was an eye-opener and a driving force for us to develop innovative models across all our initiatives. Needless to say, the journey had many hurdles but it is Udayan Care's dynamism that has sustained it and enabled us to expand our intervention. Our Vision: "To Regenerate the Rhythm of Life of the Disadvantaged." Our Mission: "A nurturing home for every orphaned child; an opportunity for higher education for every girl and for every adult, the dignity of self-reliance and the desire to give back to society". Our Theory of Change - "There are millions of orphaned and abandoned children in India; in addition, girls from weaker sections of society do not get an equal opportunity to continue their education; professional skills and attitude are lacking among disadvantaged communities to become economically self reliant. Udayan Care provides homes to orphaned children while also giving girls financial and development support to continue higher education, and communities to train themselves in vocations, by engaging socially committed individuals, who provide a transformative, nurturing and mentoring environment, to help them realize their full potential." In 24 years, we have served more than 21000 people in 16 cities and advocate for children's rights in alignment with the Indian Constitution, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Strategic Objectives in line with Mission and vision: 1. Provide protection and holistic growth to children in difficult circumstances. 2. Increase professional skills and employability of financially and socially disadvantaged communities. 3. Establish dynamic processes/models of Care and Protection. 4. Influence Policy Reform and decision making processes. 5. Promote Voluntarism to engage in Child Care and Development processes 6. Work towards inculcating a new world view and practice towards children in vulnerable situations 7. Develop a structured research and documentation process that can be shared with other stakeholders at national and international levels. 8. Organize adequate resources for all the programs, maintain the financial health of the organization and ensure that we work effectively as well as be cost effective. Vision 2020: 1. Set up and sustain 21 Udayan Ghars to reach out to 600 children for long-term care and support. 2. Aftercare: Sustain and develop further a very effective Aftercare programme and 'continuum of Care' for our children and youth. 3. Support 7,400 Udayan Shalini Fellows in 19 chapters. 4. Develop and sustain 16 Information Technology and Skill Centres to enhance employability and knowledge under-served communities. 5. Acquire adequate number of Mentor Parents for Udayan Ghars and Mentors for Udayan Shalini Fellowships in keeping with expansion. 6. Involve more interns from prestigious universities and experienced corporate volunteers. 7. Set up a Resource Centre for training of Caregivers & roll out Advocacy Programmes on Child Rights, particularly for those in alternative care. 8. Promote the replication of Standard Operating Procedures derived from Udayan Care's best practices for sharing with other similar NGOs and for application across all Udayan Care programmes.
The Ombetja Yehinga Organisation(OYO) is a Namibian Trust (T109/09) that uses the Arts to create social awareness. All our projects have an Art component (dance, drama, films, publications), all address a social issue (including HIV, teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence, anti-bullying). Most of our projects are in school but we also work with offenders in correctional facilities. OYO believes that children and teenagers need to be reached more than once (to reinforce messages), using exciting mediums (to stimulate their attention) with simple, yet strong messages (to impact on their attitudes and behaviours). OYO suggests interventions to start a dialogue with the schools (whereby schools are recipient of an activity), followed by interventions at school level (under the form of a campaign where schools have to take a stand and become actively involved in the process). OYO believes that children and teenagers have the answer. All we need is to unlock their creativity. Among others, OYO has: Created the OYO dance troupe. This is the first and currently only troupe in Namibia employing dancers as performers. The troupe has reached over 200,000 children in schools so far, performing a vast repertoire. Produced various DVDs. Most DVDs are used in schools during evening sessions with learners, triggering discussion and challenging norms. 'Salute' is the first DVD produced in Namibian Correctional Facilities with inmates, telling their stories. Other DVDs include 'Kukuri' on child marriage, 'pap and milk' on sugar daddies (inter-generational sex) and the mini-series 'my best interest' on children's rights. OYO has worked with numerous out-of-school youth groups in many parts of the country, produced various drama and photographic exhibititons (including 'the caring Namibian man' and 'still life') and supported various school clubs and girls' camps. OYO uses the Arts because the Arts don't appeal to your intellect but to your feelings. It makes you feel and once you feel, you start reflecting. Programs appealing to your intellect provide you with knowledge, but the Arts, appealing to your feelings, impact your choices and subsequently influence your attitude and behavior. Some of our projects include: The San matter project: The rationale for San Matter Phase I was that only 67 percent of San children in the country enroll in school. And only 1 percent of those children complete secondary school. (OSISA Group report "Rethinking Indigenous Education,"). One of the reasons for the high drop out of San children from the education sector is linked to cultural bullying in schools. Since 2016 OYO implements an anti-cultural bullying project in twenty four schools across two regions of Namibia. Activities include intervention by the OYO dance troupe, training of the local out-of-school youth group, implementation of San girls camps, organisation of the San School friendly competition once every second year. Over 88% of the San children involved in the project have re-enrolled in schools in 2019. The growing strong in the Karas region: Since 2006, OYO has been supporting various youth groups, training them in the arts of drama, dance and songs and creating shows of social significance with them. In 2008, OYO established its OYO dance troupe. OYO is now developing packages involving both the dance troupe and youth groups working on the same issue from two different angles and visiting the same schools to reinforce messages. The 'In and out' project: this is project to work with inmates (called offenders in Namibia) in correctional facilities on issues around HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health. In a country where sodomy is still criminalised, offenders do not have access to condoms. Together with offenders OYO works towards addressing their needs, wants and fears and encourages them to know their status. Over 600 inmates have been tested as part of the project. "OYO's application of the performing and visual arts in a highly participatory and learner centred pedagogy represents a model of excellence and best practice." Hon. Nangola Mbumba MP, then Minister for Education, September 2009 (now Vice President of the Republic of Namibia)
Breakthrough is a unique global human rights organization and a recognized pioneer of innovative social change. Working out of centers in the U.S. and India, we create game-changing pop culture and multimedia campaigns - including video games and music videos - that bring human rights issues and values into the mainstream, making them real, relevant, and urgent to individuals and communities worldwide. Our in-depth trainings with young people, government officials, and community groups have ignited new generations of leaders to act for local and global human rights. Our most internationally-lauded program to date, Bell Bajao ("Ring the Bell"), calls on men worldwide to take concrete action to challenge violence against women and challenges them to take a stand against domestic violence. Together with emerging campaigns challenging early marriage and gender biased sex-selective elimination, our current initiatives seek to build a culture in which women's human rights thrive, enabling us all to be safe in our homes and limitless in our ambitions. Vision: A world where violence and discrimination against women and girls is unacceptable. Where all individuals and communities live with dignity, equality and justice. Mission: Our mission is to prevent violence against women and girls by transforming the norms and cultures that enable it. We carry out this mission by building a critical mass of change agents worldwide-the Breakthrough Generation-whose bold collective action will deliver irreversible impact on the issue of our time. Breakthrough is unique in its strategy - that of combining a sophisticated media campaign with grass-roots community mobilization efforts - to bring issues of human rights to mainstream audiences. Our five-pronged approach seeks to prevent and combat violence against women and effect behavior change by focusing on changing hearts, minds and actions of individuals and other actors to create social change and bring human rights home. For Breakthrough, 'individuals and other actors' could include a corporate entity, a non-governmental organization, state or other community actors, in addition to people who are agents of social change. How we Breakthrough? Breakthrough has a five-pronged approach through which we work towards our vision. These five strategies are highly integrated and should be understood as connected to one another at multiple levels. Breakthrough, in partnership with others, engages large audiences, particularly youth, through the power of attractive, persuasive and cutting edge media, popular culture and arts. We combine this use of media with on the ground and virtual community mobilization. Breakthrough then makes this approach and the lessons learned available to others. By doing this we catalyze broad public engagement, change social norms, and influence the public agenda. Breakthrough's five pronged strategy includes: 1. Create Public Dialogue through media, popular culture and varied forms of cultural expression - Breakthrough makes uses media, arts and culture to transform hearts, minds and actions. This includes the complete range of cultural expression from video to twitter to poetry to street theater. Breakthrough's 360-degree media campaign comprises of television and radio spots, print media, video vans, digital and social media like websites, blogs, facebook and twitter and mobile phones. Pro-bono partnerships with major advertising agencies to develop the campaign and with the government agencies to disseminate campaigns further leverage mainstream resources and create new audiences and stakeholders to support the issue. 2. Leadership Development - Breakthrough combines its mainstream communication and messaging strategy with leadership facilitation. It trains people from varied and diverse backgrounds and communities (such as youth from marginalized backgrounds, local leaders and opinion makers, service providers, staff of government agencies, teachers, health workers) to convey knowledge, share ideas and to reshape individual and community attitudes to VAW. The more intensive work done on the ground brings in new partners and gives depth to the media messages. Breakthrough, through its Rights Advocacy (RA) Training Program strengthens the ability of youth, community leaders and non-profit groups to become effective change agents in their own domains and enable individuals to act as human rights promoters and defenders. 3. Mobilize Communities, both on the ground and virtually - Breakthrough, along with trained Community Based Organizations/ NGOs /Stakeholders / Gatekeepers, undertakes community mobilization against VAW. The rights-based training attempts to change the attitudes and behaviour of the trainee and equip them to mobilize their communities to respect women and prevent and combat violence. Mobilization could include shifting mindsets, building awareness in communities, transforming individuals and other actors into advocates to take action to prevent abuse or demand redress for a violation, or advocating for policy changes to facilitate the promotion of peaceful and just societies. Breakthrough's edutainment tools and media messages are shared by the trained Rights Advocates at various community events and forums. Online community mobilization activities include micro campaigns, blogs, tweets etc, encouraging greater public participation, especially among youth. 4. Catalyze Partnerships across sectors and constituencies - Breakthrough partners with a wide range of individuals, entities and other actors to affect large-scale reach and impact, as well as leverage creative talent and critical thinking. Partnerships are strategic and
Creatively providing resources to communities affected by Youth Homicide, Suicide, and Mental Health Illnesses.
To change the conversation around child abuse and neglect from being seen as solely a social and legal issue to also being seen as a mental health, public health and physical health one as well.
To provide mental health counseling and education to people who have experienced Trauma, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety and Suicidal ideation.
To improve the well-being of Cambodian people with psychosocial and mental health problems, thereby increasing their ability to function effectively within their work, family and community lives.
The Elizabeth Stone House partners with adult and child survivors of domestic violence and related trauma – mental illness, housing instability and substance misuse – to achieve safety, stability, and overall wellbeing, thereby contributing to the strength, resiliency, and health of the community we serve