AGNT is cultivating a Season dedicated to promoting the heart of global healing: Humane Service. As one of four Seasons for Peace and Nonviolence, this is the second year for S.H.S. and we will continue to develop its structure and content. The programs below represent the current focus of our efforts. We welcome your suggestions and assure you that your participation in Season for Humane Service programs will contribute to a "world of good."
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Programs and Resources
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Ripples International
Meru, Kenya
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The AIDS epidemic in Africa has affected the lives of millions. An affected population that is often overlooked are the children left as orphans if their parents succumb to the deadly virus. Ripples International, run by Mercy Chidi, provides a home for these orphaned children (New Start Center) and a source of anti-retroviral drugs for those children afflicted by HIV.
A four-wheel-drive vehicle donated by MILE HI CHRCH Colorado is taking a nurse, a clinical officer, community health worker, counselor and a cooler full of life-saving medication to remote rural villages of Meru Kenya, where they will call on children and families affected by HIV/AIDS and offer treatment for opportunistic infections (OI).
A report from the New Start Center:
We started the year with 37 children and progressively received 6 children this year. We initiate the first income generating activity of rearing broilers which was very successful. Engagement of volunteers in the home to assist in taking care of the children. This eased the work at the home and more importantly brought awareness to the community. NSC has been able to successfully engage eighteen staffs on a six months contract basis in the different job role.
Challenges:
The number of children being abandoned is still high hence a call to do more community sensitization on children rights. Few people have shown interest in either fostering or adopting a child. This is attributed to the fact that many people still hold to cultural beliefs and systems.
The centre takes care of children up to the age of 3 years. We are faced with a great challenge of getting homes where we can transfer the children who have turned 3 years.
Kenya being in the tropic region, malaria is still a challenge since an infection to one child could translate to all being infected. We continued to experience challenges of drying clothes and other linen because the centre had only one drier and its capacity is quite small.
For more information about the program, visit: www.ripplesintl.org
To donate by credit card or electronic check, click here
VIEW STUDY GUIDE RESOURCES FOR ORPHAN CRISIS IN AFRICA
Sarvodaya Sustainable Development
Sri Lanka
The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement is the largest people's organization in Sri Lanka. Sarvodaya is Sanskrit for 'Awakening of All' and Shramadana means to donate effort. It began in one village and has grown to more than 15,000.
After the destruction brought by the 2004 tsunamis, the Sarvodaya Grassroots movement, founded by Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, sought to rebuild the country from a foudation of peace, education, and sustainability. The Vishva Niketan community programmes in the villages and institutions of selected districts operate in five stages: Mind-body centred personality development, Development of life skills, Education for life, Sustainable social development, and Spiritual development. The environment, food, water, housing, health, education, spiritual and cultural needs, transport facilities, communication, and power are the ten basic human needs identified by Sarvodaya. Upon reaching the fifth stage the Meth Sith Sambediyo will identify one of these ten basic human needs that is crucial to the well-being of all the villagers (eg. solar energy system, a pre-school building, latrines etc.) and submit a proposal to Vishva Niketan for assistance to satisfy that particular need. In collaboration with the Social Empowerment Division of Sarvodaya Sangamaya, Vishva Niketan will provide Meth Sith Sambediyo with material assistance to meet these basic needs.
VIEW STUDY GUIDE RESOURCES FOR SARVODAYA
Status: Critical
Sarvodaya is also involved in emergency aid for thousands of displaced people due to the current crisis in Sri Lanka. Click here to read a letter from Sarvodaya and learn how you can help.
Donations can be made through PayPal or wire transfer: www.sarvodaya.org/donate
Or you can mail a check to:
Sarvodaya Headquarters
No 98, Rawatawatta Road,
Moratuwa , Sri Lanka
Ravi Foundation Response Program
Pakistan
On April 28th the government of Pakistan began military operations against the Taliban in the Malakand Division. According to the UN over three million people have been already been displaced.The displaced people have been moved to makeshifts and school buildings. Education has already been stopped in schools in the neighboring cities of the troubled areas. It has become very difficult for the government, UN, World Food Program and others to look after the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The government has appealed civil society organizations to come forward and help.
Ravi Foundation collection campaign
Ravi Foundation has local contacts in the Sawabi and Mardan districts where these displaced people have been setlled. A team has been set up to launch relief collection camps. Students in Toba Tek Singh, especially young girls,are visiting house to house and setting up camps to collect the funds. Different groups and political parties have also contributed. Ravi Foundation has planned to organize youth talent shows like cultraul shows, exhibition of old currecny and coins, postages etc. to raise funds for IDPs.
An Urgent appeal is made with International Friends of Ravi Foundation under the following objectives:
Objectives of the Appeal :To provide adequate food and commodities to 1000 IDP families.
ACTIVITIES
PROJECT OUTCOMES:
The campaign will help the IDPs to survive, having safe food and hygiene practices and better health in the camps under harsh conditions and hot weather.
NEEDS
Food Items: Beans, biscuits, flour/, lentils, milk powder, rice, sugar and tea
Personal care/washing products: Basic Medicines, soap and washing detergent, is washing tubs, water purification tablets. Bedding, Clothing and House Hold Items: Clothes (Stitched and unstitched), cooking utensils, mattresses, stoves, water coolers
Ravi Foundation has planned to support schools where IDPs are shifted, including 500 families in both the areas of Sawabi and Mardan districts. ( Non troubled areas). Rs. 6000 is required for each family to provide them the above mentioned need.
Official Website: http://sites.google.com/site/ravifoundation
If you can help, please contact span@agnt.org or send a check to:
AGNT
220 Santa Anita Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
AGNT will send all funds directly to Ravi Foundation.
VIEW STUDY GUIDE RESOURCES FOR PAKISTAN RELIEF EFFORT
Noah's Wish
Saving Animals in Disaster
About:
Noah's Wish came into existence in 2002, not to duplicate existing efforts to help animals during disasters, but to expand on what was already in place. Too often, efforts to help animals during life threatening situations have been gravely inadequate. We recognize that animals need and deserve an organized, consistent and professionally managed national disaster relief program. They will, otherwise, continue to pay for human indifference with their lives. How animals are managed during disasters is to implement well thought out, field tested policies and procedures that are practiced in all disasters. Relief efforts for people are managed this way and we feel they should be for animals too.
We are not involved in any other animal welfare issues. It's not that we aren’t concerned about all the ways animals are abused or exploited, but there are a multitude of national and local animal welfare organizations who are tackling the issues that adversely affect animals.
Mission:
The singular mission of Noah's Wish is to save animals during disasters with our rescue and recovery services and to mitigate the impact of disasters on animals through our educational outreach programs.
Vision:
An increasing number of animals will be saved as Noah's Wish expands its education, networking and disaster response services across the United States, Canada and in other select international settings. This will be accomplished by:
* Educating and preparing individuals, communities and organizations to mitigate the impact of disasters on animals.
* Recruiting, training and maintaining a committed team of volunteers and staff.
* Developing collaborative working relationships with emergency response agencies and animal welfare organizations.
* Continuing to provide the highest standard of disaster response services.
To donate, visit: www.noahswish.info/Donations.html
To volunteer in the US or Canada, find out more here
Tibetan Youth Excellance College Fund
TIBETANS IN THE UNITED STATES
The very first Tibetans to arrive in the United States came in the early 1950's and was followed by a very small trickle of individuals who came on an individual basis. The only "groups" that arrived during this period were a handful of scholars who came to the University of Washington, in Seattle, and a dozen or so Tibetans who came to work as lumberjacks in Maine, both in the mid 1960's. By the end of the 1980's there was a grand total of approximately 500 Tibetans in the United States.
In 1990, the U.S. Congress, in a special bill allowing 80,000 Polish refugees to emigrate to the U.S., set aside 1,000 visas out of this total for Tibetan refugees from India and Nepal. Within the next year the first of 1,000 Tibetan immigrants stated to arrive, and since they were not officially designated "refugees" by the State Department, had no access to any governmental support but depended on self-organized "Tibetan Resettlement Committees" that provided them with temporary homes and jobs.
Within the next ten years they were joined by family members from India, Nepal and Tibet; and total population of the Tibetan-American community probably exceeds 10,000.
COLLEGE BOUND
The children of these new immigrants and the second generation of Tibetan-Americans have now started to graduate from high school and are attending colleges and universities. There are over 200 of these young Tibetans attending college.
As children of immigrants, many at modest low paying non-professional jobs, are in need of scholarship assistance. Each of the approximately 20 Tibetan-American community organizations, like the Tibetan Association of Northern California, are trying to help their children with a community driven scholarship programs. These programs make a huge difference to the students and their families, but more support is needed to help these youths achieve their dream of attending college.
To contribute, please contact span@agnt.org or send a check to:
AGNT
220 Santa Anita Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
VIEW STUDY GUIDE RESOURCES FOR TIBET
Durban University Peace Chair
South Africa
Ela Gandhi and the Gandhi Development Trust are working to establish a Peace Chair and programs at the International Centre On Nonviolence(ICON) at the Durban University of Technology. The Chair will assist with the development of accredited course work in areas such as:
Training for trainers
Experiential, interactive learning approaches (popular education)
How intergenerational relationships and mutual mentoring can help young peacemakers
How to integrate spirituality and social change
Training on human rights, diversity, mediation and negotiation techniques, emotional control mechanisms and issues of justice, forgiveness and reconciliation together with courses for skills development on the functioning of nongovernmental community based organisations.
ICON will establish a Knowledge Centre where local and international scholars will have access to a rich collection of books, articles and information on a variety of subjects such as:
Nonviolence and literature on Mahatma Gandhi, Chief Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu as well as other leaders who promoted peace and nonviolence
Information on global concerns such as food security, water and conservation
Information on other issues of interest such as economic philosophies, and current historic and philosophical texts
Information on various visions of how poverty may be eradicated.
MORE ABOUT ELA GANDHI AND THE GANDHI DEVELOPMENT TRUST
Peace of the World International
Malawi, East Africa
According to the W.H.O., Malawi is one of the seven sub-sahara countries where the proportion of children orphaned is very high. Others are Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Burundi, and the kingdom of Swaziland. This is a result of HIV/AIDS pandemic. This pandemic has resulted in the death of productive people in our society regardless of age, race, religion, etc. We have, for sure, a very big task ahead of us to address the dangers of this deadly disease in order to mitigate its impact among the societies.
Established in 2007, this satelitte branch of POWI caters to a wide catchment area which is sorrounded by six neighbouring villages. They have plans to extend their services beyond that as long as the resources will be made available. In the near future, they have an intention of looking at the growing demand to provide assistance to orphans, HIV/Aids patients, widows, the disabled and others who are in need.
Current activities include:
-Teaching and feeding orphans and vulnerable children at the nursery school[under 5yrs]
-Providing home-based care to the chronically ill
-HIV/AIDS counselling and educate the public about the disease and ways of preventing it
-Providing food, clothing, etc. to the orphans and other vulnerable groups
-Empowering orphans through education and vocational skills.
-Establishing Nonviolence programs and trainings throughout the region and country
To contribute, please contact Dr. Sophia Crocheron at: peaceowifounder@gmail.com
For more information and to view reports, follow these links:
www.peaceoftheworld.org/Malawi.html
www.peaceoftheworld.org/A-Season-in-Malawi.html