Global Projects

Costa Rica

 

Carbon 1 is a small village two miles inland from Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.  There are about 300 inhabitants spread throughout a large area of approximately one square mile.

The current primary elementary school, which was built in 1983, receives partial aid from the Government as well as some of the parents of the students  There are approximately twenty children registered at the school who are between the ages of seven and thirteen.  There is only one teacher/principal, Maritza, who travels from Limon.    The present infrastructure includes a building that has two classrooms and a separate, smaller building, where kids have their meals. 

COSTA RICA

Women Like Us Foundation’s History at Carbon Elementary School

Peace through Yoga has repeatedly brought groups who volunteer at the school implementing items such as:

·      dental/fluoride treatments

·      painting classrooms/iron window grids and school sign

·      planting trees due to erosion

·      installing new water well and new roof

·      delivering school supplies and Spanish/English books

·      teaching English

·      giving yoga classes

·      taking children on field trips

·      providing sports activities and equipment

·      hosting holiday parties, including Valentine’s Day, Easter and Halloween

·      providing backpacks and soccer uniforms to all children

Uniforms and standardized books have been provided to all the children.   This will continue to be a priority as we maintain a relationship with the school.

Current Needs and Funding Projects:

·      $240 annual tuition for students to go to high school for one year.  This includes tuition, uniform, and books.

·      $140 for a bike for a student to get to school.  Currently they walk for miles and/or do not attend many days. 

·      $40 per child per year for uniform and school books

El Yue Women’s Center

The Women Like Us Foundation has recently formed a partnership with the Asociación de Familias Productoras El Yüe. El Yüe is a United Nations funded community center located in the small farming community of Carbon #1, Talamanca, Costa Rica. The center invites international student groups to come and stay to learn about Costa Rican culture and environment, offers a library to enrich the minds of the local community, and serves as a center for community dialogue to discuss problems around physical, environmental, and economic health.

Women Like Us Foundation has empowered Addison Demaree, a recent Loyola University graduate, to teach English, engage with the community to discover need, and to create a sponsorship program to aid the students in transportation and attending High School. She offers five English and two Yoga classes every week to the children and adults of the community, hoping to aid in increasing economic health and creating positive memories around learning.

·      English Teacher – salary is $600 a month

The English teacher’s responsibility also includes the library, reading to the children, managing book lending process, and implementing other unique activities such as art, sports, yoga, drama, etc. 

·      Library

The goal for the library is to have a minimum of 500 books by the fall of 2012.

Bookshelves and tubs for books have been purchased providing additional storage space in the library. 

·      Computers

One of our goals is to add computers and training in the library. 

Future potential projects:

·      Women’s revenue project

·      School van

·      Playground and/or a Preschool

·      Workshops, such as, women’s finance, child rearing, adolescent girls’ self image, etc.

 

 

 

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India

 

Ramana’s Garden:

Dr. Prabhavati Dwabha formed Ramana’s Garden Home for destitute children in Rishikesh, India approximately 13 years ago as a result of her spiritual practice on the banks of the River Ganga. After meeting the numerous homeless, destitute, and abused children, she decided to make them her life’s work. She has provided a growing number of children with education, nourishment, and a future where they had little or no hope. Prabha has also instituted programs to educate local villages in practices of proper sanitation, safe drinking water, and general health care.

 

 

Current Need:

 

·         $3000 to complete the last girls’ dormitory room and furnish with beds.  Donate on-line any amount to this cause. 

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Kenya

The N.A. Noel preschool came to life in 2001 when Nancy Noel, internationally-known artist, was walking through an impoverished fishing community on Rusinga Island, which sits in the Kenya part of Lake Victoria. She was looking for children to paint and came upon a small hut, 122 x 122. Inside this small area were sixty children and a teacher. She was taken with the enthusiasm of the students, many of which had been orphaned by AIDS. Nancy spent some time photographing these children, before the school's teacher,

Mrs. Tom, declared We would like to name our school after you because you are our first visitor.

Nancy has since been the sole supporter of this school, now named in her honor. The N.A. Noel preschool now has 239 students, several teachers, three classrooms and access to supplies and medical treatment. This area is disease stricken with a dense concentration of AIDS; conditions are harsh but Nancy has always found that, despite how much they lacked, they were still vibrant with laughter and kindness.

Nancy is thrilled that the N.A. Noel Preschool is the founding chapter of the Women Like Us Foundation. Throughout the years, the main building at the school has deteriorated and a new facility for classrooms is desperately needed, this is the present goal. Consider this very worthy project; it is a huge benefit to the children and the community.

Current needs:
Annual school tuition: $50.00 per child
Building supplies for new preschool building

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Serbia

 

Lives are Still Shattered.

Years of conflict have left tens of thousands of people—especially orphans, infants, children and people with disabilities—suffering. The new democratic government of Serbia is working vigorously to improve the lives of these helpless victims. However, they are still in need of basic medical supplies, food and other necessities.

Even though Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princesses Katherine of Serbia lived for many years in exile, Princess Katherine always had her country in her heart. During those difficult years, she provided a large amount of humanitarian aid, which was distributed throughout the former Yugoslavia.  

The Princess has an immense concern for people in need:  children, the elderly, and refugees in particular.   Due to this concern, the former Federal Ministry of Health and Serbian Ministry of Health appointed Her Royal Highness as the Coordinator for Humanitarian Help. 

It was natural for Their Royal Highnesses’ humanitarian activities to expand once they returned to the Royal Palace in Belgrade in July, 2001.  At the beginning of August 2001, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Katherine Humanitarian Foundation was established in Belgrade with the task to continue and increase humanitarian activities. 

Women Like Us Foundation has been working with Her Royal Highness Princess Katherine for many years.  We are committed to supporting her, a woman truly like us, who wants to make a difference.  

Our goal is to help with nurturing children without parents or parental care in Belgrade.   Many children require shelter in either an orphanage or institution. We are seeking to address the emotional, physical, medical, recreational and educational needs of these children.

Consider donating:

$100+ - Nurturing Children Project in Serbian Orphanage

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Uganda

 

 

Our global project in Uganda is a birthing center in the a rural area that has limited to access to medical care. The center  improves the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of communities impacted by war, poverty and HIV/AIDS in Uganda.  

Birthing Center

This community project was made with natural building materials and provides a safe place for women to receive care and birth their babies in an empowering, home-like environment where they receive nutritious food from the garden and continual support. It also provides space to hold workshops with local midwives and Traditional Birth Attendants and gives the women in the income-generating group a place to meet and work.

Currently the women in the community have no health center or access to medical support when complications arise during the birth process. By the time they make their way on the back of a bumpy motorcycle ride to the closest clinic, it is often too late. Our goal is to lower maternal and infant mortality rates, reduce HIV/AIDS transmission rates from mother to child, and improve birth outcomes. We will strive to give educational access to Traditional Birth Attendants and provide a safe and empowering place for women to welcome their babies into the world. In addition, it will provide employment opportunities for the local community.

Natalie Angell, co-founder and Executive Director of Shanti Uganda, is following her path towards holistic midwifery.   Natalie has a deep respect for grassroots women’s movements and their ability to both heal and empower communities throughout the world.     

Birth Kits

The Uganda birth kits decrease the risk of infection and bleeding for both mother and baby. They are filled with the basic supplies a woman needs to have her baby with safety and health in mind and are used by the birthing women at Bishop Asili Clinic in Kasana. They include a reusable menstrual pad from Lunapads and can be purchased with a donation of $15 each.

Each birth kit will contain:

• 1 pair of sterile exam gloves
• 1 umbilical cord tie
• 1 sterile disposable scalpel (for cutting cord)
• 2 blue chux pads
• 2 disposable towels
• 2 packages of sterile gauze pads
• 1 sterile bulb syringe
• 1 plastic bag for placenta
• 1 waterproof sheet
• 2 packages of lubricant gel
• 4 alcohol prep pads
• 1 reusable pad and liner

 

Family Planning Program - $3800

We want to help with a family planning program this next year.  The Birthing Center already provides family planning counseling, but does not have the funds to provide birth control, condoms and other family planning services. The goal is to make an effort to reduce family size in the surrounding area. This would cover the cost of family planning for 250 women and teen girls for 1 year.

Consider Donating:

·         $15 – per birthing kit (how many babies would you like to help bring into the world?)

·         $100+ - Family Planning Program

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