Irene is a student in Educate!’s Socially Responsible Leadership Course that focuses on the entrepreneurial and leadership skills students need to find solutions to poverty, violence, disease and environmental degradation. Educate! trains teachers who become mentors to their students (like Irene), building powerful relationships that give youth the confidence to lead change. The mentor also facilitates the Educate! Social Entrepreneurship Club that gives students like Irene practical business skills while aiming to solve a community need. The amount requested covers the cost of training, salary and transportation for the Educate! mentor, as well as all materials/handouts/textbooks provided in the Socially Responsible Leadership Course. Irene has an infectious smile and it is easy to think of her as not serious at first glance. That is until you are told she is the head prefect at her school. As you wonder how she got there, her teachers tell you she is the most focused and pragmat...
I began attending school when I was nine and have always had excellent grades. After finishing elementary school, I achieved the highest score on the middle school entrance exam within the entire Yan Yuan County. As a result, I was accepted into the most highly-ranked middle school, Yan Yuan Middle School. Unfortunately, it was very expensive for me to attend Yan Yuan Middle School, as I had to pay for room and board throughout the week since the school was very far from my home. As a result, I transferred to Mei Yu Middle School so that I could reduce costs by living at home on the weekends. While I used to want to be a professional ping pong player, a lecture from one of my teachers made me realize that I could give back more to my village by becoming a teacher. In addition to giving back to my village, I hope to earn enough money to be able to take care of my parents so that their bodies can rest. (Translated from Yongsong’s autobiographical sketch)
Lack of education in the rural villages lead to systemic poverty. The lack of education is due to the fact that teachers do not have adequate training to provide high quality education to its students. The program breaks the cycle. In providing teachers with adequate training, it can help decrease the gap in education between the cities and rural villages. Plan: 1. Every year from March to May, September to November, with the help of Givology and local partners, we will send passionate, local village education teachers to designated teaching locations. The focus is on organized training for English and Art teachers, two curriculums that lack support and exploration. 2. The purpose of the training is to develop and increase the teacher’s professional and teaching abilities and also encourage interactions among the teachers. 3. By starting to provide training to the local teachers, they can share their skills and talents with other fellow teachers; the goals and objectives of the pr...
An earthquake registering over 7.0 on the Magnitude scale has devastated the country of Haiti. Almost 100% of the schools in the earthquake zone have been damaged or destroyed. Due to the instability of all the buildings, the Haitian students are without schools and many of them have been left homeless, forced to live outside. Almost every Haitian citizen has been affected by this tragedy. Many of the families in La Valle have lost loved ones. A large number of those dead have been children attending schools in Port Au Prince or the surrounding area. Due to the overwhelming numbers of dead buried in mass graves, many of these families will never know what has happened to their children. This project will be dedicated to the rebuilding and repairing of the schools in the La Valle/Jacmel region of Haiti in order to provide hope for Haiti’s future. [The project profile picture shows the high school before the earthquake.]
Few words can express the depth of our concern and sadness for all the communities and families affected by the earthquake in Haiti.
We're doing our best to support the work of our partner, La Valle Community. As lines of communication have been down, it may take a few weeks to receive updates about the status of the students. When we hear back, we will post all updates to our site immediately.
A general update from Anne, our main point of contact: “Our program partners in La Valle, Antonica and Theodore, have been contacted and are safe. Due to the collapsing of many homes and the continued aftershocks, everyone in the town is forced to sleep outside. The weather is cooler in the mountains, so the young and old are in need of tents, blankets, and food supplies. Many of the families have lost children when their schools collapsed in Port Au Prince. The estimates now are that every school in Port Au Prince has been destroyed. Now more than ever, the Haitian community needs our support. We are hearing that relief aid is slow to reach all the communities in need, but that all of the Haitian people are banding together to support their neighbors”
Our team is committed to helping as much as we can and mobilizing our local and online community to raise funding and much needed supplies. With Haiti struggling to effectively deliver the massive influx of aid, we intend to take precaution to make sure that the funding we raise end up helping those who need it the most.
Join our Holiday Giving Team to start the new year with Givology spirit! For 15 minutes throughout 5 days (within the month), we want to see how fully engaged you can be - blogging, suggesting creative ideas and initiatives, directly writing to students!
The past week has yielded record-breaking donor activity, as many new projects have become fully funded. However, we also want to remind you of our other projects, including Teacher and Training projects by one of our newer partners, Sheed Society in Pakistan.
Sheed Society was a tiny NGO when first founded in 1995. It was established to address the lack of education and to create HIV/AIDS awareness among the prostitutes and their children living shunned and oppressed in Pakistan.
Sheed also recently made a special Givology video slideshow, depicting some of the students they work with (below)
La Vallee is a village located in the southeastern part of Haiti. The current challenges for La Vallee are many. The recent storms of 2008 have all but destroyed many of their sources of income, including mango and avocado trees and many small gardens. In 1976, the people of La Vallee organized to form a cooperative organization called "Coude a Coude pour le Development de La Vallee" (CODEVA). CODEVA was established to help focus and direct the development of La Vallee. One of the most important issues facing the parents of La Valle, besides access to clean water and food for their children, is the ability to pay for their children’s education. Givology has entered into a partnership with the community to support student scholarships.
2) Emmaus Road Foundation Releases its Annual Report
Givology is delighted to support the work of Emmaus Road Foundation and congratulate our partner for its many achievements in 2009 in enabling and empowering communities throughout Colombia.
Struggling to find the perfect present for your friends and family? Givology Gift Certificates are a gift that keeps on giving. Givology gift certificates are tax-deductible, easily customizable with festive holiday templates, and most importantly, can change lives of talented students around the world.
Take our Annual Holiday Challenge!
Between December 15th and January 31st, you can register and participate in this challenge by joining our Giving Team. By spending 15 minutes for 5 days supporting Givology, you'll be eligible for some fantastic rewards that make a difference! Click here to learn more about the challenge, join, and invite friends to participate!