Project Description

For too long, Colombia’s good people have been overshadowed by the stories of cartel and terrorist groups. This reputation has prevented others from bringing aid to a small, but desperate population. On our last trip there, we met a woman entrepreneur that has been volunteering her knitting skills to help poor artisans in desolate villages. She asked for our help, and we created project "Promising Growth" or "Asi Crecemos" ("how we grow" in Spanish). Our mission is to help create economic opportunities for these Colombian artisans so that they can support their families. In addition to purchasing and marketing their handmade products in America, we assist them in becoming economically self sufficient through product training, technical assistance and market access. We are working with a single village now (about 60 families) and hope to bring them out of poverty level within 12 months. We started this in January, are self-funded, and manage our business using fair trade guidelines. We hope to get fair trade certified by the end of the year. Every purchase helps to create jobs and gives families a higher quality, and much more fulfilling, standard of living through their craft. Learn more at http://www.PromisingGrowth.com or email us at [edited by DS staff]

Project Description

After traveling to several different Latin American countries and studying about developing nations in school, I started to learn and see for the first time what exactly is extreme poverty. And the one thing I've learned is that education is a key to ending it-- and in these developing nations I have met some of the kids most thirsty for education yet lacking the resources to get it. I would like to collect educational tools such as books, school supplies, ect. and distribute them to these places I have seen and these kids I have met that have changed my life. I have already started collecting books, however this grant would greatly help me get my project moving.

Project Description

The People Could Fly Project is a documentary arts project focusing on the dreams of young people across the African Diaspora. It follows the adventures of five sisters, ages of 7 to 21 as they travel across the US, Africa, and South America talking to young people about their dreams and visions for themselves and the world. Their work will culminate in a docu-narrative film about the journey.

As the daughters of an airline employee they've been able to fly many places, but felt it was imperative to share their experiences with others and to talk and engage with young people around the world about the power of their own dreams, their own abilities to make them reality, and thus their own ability to fly.

They have traveled to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Jena, LA, Connecticut, Detroit, Virginia, Nashville, TN; Washington, DC; and Mississippi talking, filming, photographing, and interviewing people of all ages about their dreams and are on the way to many other places.

They were inspired by a folktale told in the Americas about Africans enslaved who sprout wings and fly away. The story is found in children's book author Virginia Hamilton's "The People Could Fly".

The online segment of our journey with photos, video clips, and writing can be found at

thepeoplecouldfly.blogspot.com

Thanks!

Project Description

Engineers Without Borders Johns Hopkins Chapter (EWB-JHU)-Ecuador Project is under Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA), which is a non-profit humanitarian organization for the amelioration of the quality of life through implementation of sustainable projects throughout the world. Projects include water sanitation, construction, ramp construction, and others. Through collaboration, these projects create cultural unity between students, communities, and nations. The EWB-Ecuador Project is composed of undergraduate engineering and non-engineering students at the Johns Hopkins University with guidance provided by a graduate student, faculty mentor, professional partner, and the national branch of EWB.

The community of Santa Rosa de Ayora, Ecuador is located twenty minutes outside the nearest town Cayambe and about one hour away from Quito, the capital of Ecuador, by vehicle. Main modes of income for the families who live in this community are working on farms and/or traveling to the capital to seek employment. Since typically, both parents as well as older children must work to maintain livelihood for their families, the younger children of the community are left unattended in their homes. A children’s nursery in this community would benefit both the working members of the families and the young children.

No efforts have previously been made to address the unattended children issue because the community has neither adequate labor force nor the necessary funding to design, build, and provide for a nursery. The goal of the project is to increase safety and education of the children in this community by building a nursery so that an appointed, responsible adult can watch over the children while others are away.

An assessment trip of the community has been undertaken in January 2007 (the Assessment Trip Report has been included). During the trip, three students, one project leader, one native of the country, and one public health student, along with a professional partner, traveled to the community and conducted an initial ground survey and community analysis. During the trip, questions about the community as well as the necessary components for the design of the nursery were answered. With a planned implementation in May 2008 and August 2008, the Ecuador Team is currently working with professional engineers in both the US and Ecuador to design a safe and sustainable nursery from the data collected during the assessment trip. We have been continuously practicing construction techniques, learning other engineering techniques, and studying the community and its culture in preparation for the project implementation.

Our goal is the establishment of long-term ties with the community by building a sustainable nursery. Although the implementation will take place this summer and next winter, we will continue communication with the community through an established liaison even after the completion of the structure. For the project to be sustainable, we will monitor the nursery and assess the progress of the community as well as provide further technical guidance and education as needed to the community.

With the creation of the nursery, the immediate impacts that are expected are an increase in the safety and education level of the children as well as an increased sense of unity in the community. The nursery will also help the economy of the community by increasing its productivity level by allowing the adults to work on the farms or in the city. We expect the community to establish ownership over the nursery, and an analysis will be made post-implementation to ensure the sustainability of the building both economically and technically.

Not only will the building be used as a nursery during the day, but it will also be utilized as a community center in the evenings. This will bring about a sense of unity and prospects for education for all members of the community. The community has also expressed a desire for the expansion of the building with a second floor, which would house medical facilities, which the community currently lacks.

With a joint effort from students in the School of Public Health (Johns Hopkins University), the health impact of the project will be determined with an analysis of the community after the implementation of the nursery.

With the continued interaction and communication between the EWB-Ecuador group and the members in the community, a sense of respect, understanding, and unity among the community members and also between the two groups will develop due to the establishment of a sound, long-term relationship. We hope to provide the groundwork from which novel ideas can develop, thus heightening progress and decreasing poverty in the area.

We have various support from both outside and within the university. Our professional mentor, John Malinowski, is a full time Civil/Structural Engineer at Wilbur Smith Associates, and he is committed to providing civil/structural engineering expertise in guiding the Ecuador Project in designing the nursery. Dr. Ball, the faculty adviser for this project, has provided and will continue to provide guidance and support as the project progresses. A member of our group is also from Ecuador and her family has close ties with the community; therefore, community connections have already been built and the site for the nursery has been selected. Since EWB is an organization at the local as well as the national level, professional and technical aid can be sought within the organization itself. The Johns Hopkins University has also shown its support by making the commitment to match whatever funds that the student members of the project raise.

Project Description

On October 1st of this year I am volunteering in the Andean Highlands of Ecuador in South America. I am traveling with a wonderful organization called Global Crossroad. Check them out at www.globalcrossroad.com I will be aiding in the daily cleaning, feeding, tutoring, and playing with orphaned and disabled children in a local orphange. So many children each year are born into this world with parents who either cannot take care of them or die from disease. There is an over abundance of these children in South America, and I would like to be as of much help as I can. I am relying heavily on donations from friends and family so if there is anyone who would like to volunteer with me or donate to my cause please contact me, [edited out by DS staff]. I also welcome you to check out my myspace page www.myspace.com/hebbah4peaceThank you