Olga Murray, founder and President of NYOF, spends about half of each year in Kathmandu working with NYOF’s Nepalese staff. Because Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, one dollar can make a big difference in some child’s life. Many of the children served are street kids, orphaned or abandoned, in this country of 26 million people.

NYOF’s Indentured Daughters Program rescues girls whose families have sold them into virtual slavery. For only $100, NYOF gives each family a piglet or goat as compensation for the girl’s wages and enables her to go to school, probably for the first time in her life.

Only 42% of girls are able to read or write in Nepal, and the culture makes it difficult for women to assert their basic human rights and receive health care and a decent education. According to UNICEF, half of all Nepalese children under the age of five who do survive are malnourished - a preventable condition. 51% of the population in Nepal is under 18 years of age.

Other NYOF programs include:

* Supporting two Kathmandu homes for children who have never known safety and security.

* Schools and Scholarships.

* Nutritional Rehabilitation Homes restore the health of malnourished children, while teaching their mothers about nutrition and child care.

* Counseling center for children and young adults, and special scholarships for girls of the ‘untouchable’ caste.

* Random acts of kindness to the children of Nepal.

More information on donation opportunities and program details can be found on their website.

374 students from 50 nations will be studying at the East-West Center this fall. Educational programs and exchanges help current and future leaders develop a deep understanding of the Asia Pacific Region. The Center has a global network of more than 55,000 alumni and 600 partner organizations.

About half of the Center’s budget comes from the U.S. Congress and the remaining financial support comes from individuals, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, alumni and other sources.

The center conducts research on many issues of significance to the region, provides educational programs, seminars for policymakers, professionals and scholars, organizes outreach activities to the public, provides scholarships and other services.

Research studies are organized into four areas:
1. Economics
2. Environmental Change, Vulnerability and Governance
3. Politics, Governance and Security
4. Population and Health

East-West Center computer software models for the spread of HIV/AIDS have been used by national health programs to analyze their HIV epidemics and develop effective policy responses.

NASA awarded over $800,000 in grant funding for research to determine the effects of the explosive expansion of rubber cultivation in Montane Mailand South Asia (Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China’s Yunnan Province) on regional water and carbon dynamics.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Integrated Data and Environmental Applications Center has been launched to gather data, educate, research and support programs regarding the oceans, climate and ecosystems in the Pacific island communities.

Another of the specific programs is the Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP). The founding mission of PIDP is to assist Pacific islands leaders in advancing their collective efforts to achieve and sustain equitable social and economic development consistent with the goals of the people of the Pacific islands.

Members of the PIDP come from the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

A particular research project is the Islands of Globalization project, conducted in partnership with the Center for Pacific Islands Studies. The research project looks at the effects of globalization from the perspective of small island societies.

PIDP is also working in partnership with the United Nations on the Reinventing Government Project that focuses on understanding good practicies and innovative approaches to reinventing government in the Pacific region.

The goals of ICT include securing humanitarian and development assistance for Tibetans, advocating for Tibetans imprisoned for political or religious beliefs, monitors and reports on human rights, working with governments to develop programs to help Tibetans, mobilizing the international community, promoting self-determination for the Tibetan people through negotiations between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama.

ICT projects include:

* Conduct fact-finding missions to Tibet, India and Nepal.
* Testify before the USA Congress, U.N. and other international bodies.
* Network with exiled Chinese democracy and overseas Chinese organizations.
* Promote news coverage of Tibetan issues.
* Send out Action Alerts.
* Publish newsletters.
* Speak to academic, civic and community groups.

ICT’s bi-monthly Tibet Press Watch publication is distributed to all prominent organizations and individuals who are engaged in work on Tibet.

Additional information on their programs and activities, including donation opportunities, are available on their website.

Founded by Dr. R.B. Johnson, MD, in 1993, the staff and volunteers of the AHAC foundation are all volunteers. The programs help children who are underprivileged by virtue of physical or mental disability, poverty or absence of family.

Some of the projects include:

* Kids in School Program - Provides financial assistance to children who otherwise would not be able to attend school. Hundreds of children have applied for sponsorship. $5 per month provides on child with schooling, lunches and supplies for one month.

* Hearing Aid Program - $60 per child per year includes testing, hearing aid and batteries.

* Safe Water Program - AHAC works in the Mekong Delta area to finance the construction of safe water wells and water filtering systems for schools and public facilities.

Other special programs involve wheel chairs, heart operations, cataract removal, building classrooms, building playgrounds, building a school for handicapped children, and providing food, clothing and financial aid to victims of natural disasters.

Information on donating or other program details can be found on their website.

Husk Power Systems (HPS) has set up its service in two villages in Bihar, India and will expand to 20 villages in 2008, 100 villages in 2009, and 2,500 villages by the year 2013. The power supply and distribution system uses 35-100kW mini power-plants in villages of 200 to 500 households, and offers electricity as a pay-for-use service.

There are 480 million Indians with no access to electricity. “Our relatives still do not have electricity. We wanted to give back to those areas”, says Manoj Sinha of HPS.

Gyanesh Pandey left an engineering career in California to manage the HPS projects in India.

The technology gasifies rice husks to produce electricity, waste ash that can be used in the manufacture of cement, and a reduction in carbon emissions.

The rice husk generators should break even in about 2.5 years, and would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 200 tons per year per village.

Husk Power Systems won the 2008 Social Innovation Award from the University of Texas RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service.

An incredible list of participating institutions include:
- The Julliard School (New York)
- Royal Academy of Music (London)
- Ludwig Van Beethoven Institute at the University of Music and Performing Arts (Vienna)
- Shangahi Conservatory (China)
- Universitat Mozarteum Salzburg (Austria)
- Sibelius Academy - Helsinki
- Franz Liszt Academy of Music - Budapest
- Korean National University of the Arts
- Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Australia)
- Yale School of Music (USA)
- Central Conservatory of Music (China)

“Here future artists from around the globe will gather and create ‘musical bridges’, learning about each other’s musical traditions while discovering shared values and aspirations” stated Robert Blocker, Yale School of Music Dean.

The concert halls will be filled with concerts, lectures and classes for 2 weeks prior to the Olympics.

The conservatories will present a series of programs in venues such as the Beijing Central Conservatory, the Forbidden City Concert Hall and the National Center for the Performing Arts.

Performing concerts will often showcase their national musical heritage.

For the grand finale on July 24, students from Yale and Beijing’s Central Conservatory will jointly perform Mahler’s Second Symphony (’Resurrection’). Two alumnae of Yale Opera, Heather Buck and Mary Phillips, currently singing at the Metropolitan Opera, will be soloists. Yongyan Hu, the artistic director of the Central Conservatory student orchestra and a former student of the Yale School of Music, will conduct.

Donors can choose to give to:

Hosted Funds - select from a variety of hosted funds.

Asia Foundation - The founder of Give2Asia and a leading public charity working in the Asia-Pacific region.

Greatest Needs - Fund an entire project that has been identified as a compelling project.

Disaster Recovery - Support short and long term disaster recovery efforts.

Focus Funds - Support one of the Focus Funds that support specific priorities.

Friends of Give2Asia - Support Give2Asia’s work in Asia.

In addition to specific donation opportunities above, Give2Asia offers services for grantmaking (supporting local charities), consulting (leveraging Give2Asia’s resources), and fundraising (pooling funds from your donor community for grantmaking to Asia).

Additional information can be found on their website. 

RSO has funded about 1,000 micro-loans (typically $20-$100) to leprosy-affected recipients. A permanent school and children’s village is being built in phases, with full completion expected by 2010.  The completed school will ultimately enroll 800, and 300 boys and girls will be housed in two boarding hostels. Another 150 children are currently given educational support in the colonies.

Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) is curable. If caught early enough, Leprosy can be stopped before it ravages a body. Children in RSO care seldom show signs of the disease, which is not highly contagious. But it is very difficult for the residents of the leprosy colonies to break the social stigmas and escape the often horrible conditions of the leprosy colonies.

The government of India is also undertaking many programs to support the leprosy-affected, and has officially recognized the work of Rising Star Outreach.

RSO’s work focuses on 3 basic initiatives:

1) Instilling pride in their heritage, and teaching and training the Indian children to become productive members of society.

2) Providing micro-loans for small businesses, and funding for structural improvements that encourage independence.
Padma Venkataraman, the daughter of India’s former president, who already was working on micro-finance projects in Leprosy colonies, has partnered with RSO in providing loans to those afflicted with Leprosy. More than 3,000 loans to over 1,000 residents have been made since the program began. For the leprosy colonies, projects are undertaken for clean water, sanitation, wells, construction and other improvements.

3) Providing medical care.
A RSO Mobile Medical Unit travels to the colonies and provides screening, medicines, wound and ulcer care, and treatment for other ailments such as TB, typhoid fever and diabetes. A second mobile medical unit is being added and a permanent clinic is also being built.

Supporters of Rising Star Outreach can sponsor a child for $30/month, send one time donations, or volunteer. Information on all their activities can be found on their website.

India may have 18 million street children. According to a UNICEF study, nearly 20% of the children 6-14 years old in India have no access to primary education, and less than 45% receive proper immunizations. About half do not get enough food everyday.

Vibha is a Sanskrit word that means “inner radiance” or “brightness”, and is often used in the context of a child.

All Vibha projects are targeted towards children. Focus areas of projects are:

1. Education: Pre-primary schools, child care centers to ease burden on parents, starting primary education centers, bridge schools to help out of school kids catch-up to in-school kids, providing tuition, school fees, uniforms and funding for additional teachers and equipment.

2. Vocational Training: Tailoring, embroidery, mechanical work and other skills are taught to help children break the cycle of poverty.

3. Care for physically and/or mentally challenged children: Providing trained teachers for kids with special needs, and educating communities about the special needs of these children.

4. Rescue and rehabilitation of children in vulnerable conditions: Providing shelters, education and vocational training for vulnerable groups of children, such as bonded child laborers.

Information on volunteering or donating can be found on their website.

A special donation fund and program for relief efforts for the victims of the recent Cyclone Nargis has now been established.

Burma Lifeline provides basic medical care through border clinics, construction of shelters, educational support for schools, student lunch program at schools, computer education, emergency relief (food, water, blankets).

Hundreds of Karen refugees from Burma have resettled in U.S. cities and are hoping for the situation to improve in their home country.

Inge and Tad Sargent have been assisting the refugees in Burma since 1995. Inge Sargent live in Burma in the 1950’s and wrote Twilight Over Burma, a book about her life in Burma.

Information on their operations and donation opportunities are available on their website.