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Kenya Keys

Kenya Keys unlocks the potential of students in impoverished Kenyan communities, raising awareness and bridging cultures to provide education, mentorship, leadership development and girl empowerment opportunities. In the rural Kinango District of Kenya there are many obstacles to education, but there is one organization working hard to remove those barriers for as many young Kenyans as possible. That group is Kenya Keys and its purpose is to unlock the enormous potential of young people in Kenya. Kenya Keys is a vibrant demonstration that one person really can make a big difference. In June 2005, Rinda Hayes and her daughter traveled to the remote village of Bahakwenu in the impoverished Kinango District in Kenya. Rinda was stunned by the extreme poverty she found in Bahakwenu. She was also inspired by the tenacity of the children in the village, who longed to get an education. She had never observed such a single-minded desire to learn. Perhaps no Kenyan impressed Rinda more than Joseph Mwengea, the Headmaster of Bahakwenu Primary School. Joseph is an intelligent and driven man and a determined advocate for his students. As he and Rinda met together during her first visit to his village, he pleaded with her to help him help the students of Bahakwenu. He watched bright and capable students leave primary school with little or no hope of attending secondary school due to their inability to pay the required fees. After her visit, Rinda was determined to share her stories of this community and the people who had so impressed her with her friends in the United States. She believed she could find caring American individuals and families that would be able to provide financial support for top Kenyan students, enabling these students to complete a secondary education. The Kenya Keys sponsorship program began with 14 students. Five years later it became the nonprofit organization of Kenya Keys. Kenya Keys has supported hundreds of students - to secondary school and now into college and university. And that's not all. Kenya Keys' work has expanded to include multiple worthwhile related programs. Kenya Keys works with local communities to improve educational infrastructure and resources, such as libraries, dormitories, classrooms, desks, and more. The Kenya Keys Boards of Directors (one in the U.S. and one in Kenya) also provide financial and other support to grassroots organizations run by local Kenyan community leaders and councils. Each of these components of Kenya Keys' efforts in rural Kenya is described more fully in the following section. Everything Kenya Keys does is guided by its founding principles: First, education is the primary key to unlocking potential, both for the individual and for the community. Second, cultural awareness and exchange is vital and enriching for all participants. We live in an increasingly connected world, and exposure to new cultures and ideas is key to creating understanding and appreciation for one's own culture and for the cultures of others. Third, opportunities, not handouts, are what make a lasting difference. There should be no giving of things that run out or wear out. Giving such things only increases dependency, invites discontent, and isolates the givers from the receivers. Instead, giving should empower the receiver and provide an enduring benefit. Fourth: volunteerism is fundamental to the success of an organization. Nonprofit groups run by volunteers remain strong and dynamic. Volunteerism also connects global citizens in a meaningful way. Fifth, education provides the best defense against the ranges of poverty and hopelessness, and is the greatest catalyst for change and growth. Sixth, all critical decisions should be made by local leaders and councils. Local leaders and community members know their own needs and circumstances far better than any outsider, however well-intentioned. Allowing local people to make key decisions gives them vital ownership and accountability. It also provides the opportunity for these individuals to develop crucial leadership skills. Kenyans will always find the best solutions to the deep-seated challenges in their communities. Finally, education and the development of leadership skills in today's youth is critical to building the future leaders of Kenya.

Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!)

The Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!) was established in 2008 to help rural populations in the developing world prepare for water, food, and fuel shortages resulting from the impact of climate change on their communities. CREATE! operates on the principle that all people have a right to water, food, shelter, energy, and the means to earn a living. We work with village populations to meet these needs through a culturally respectful, participatory process grounded in our belief that people must have a stake in their development and contribute towards solving their own problems. The cooperative groups in our beneficiary villages have already demonstrated the validity of this approach. CREATE! currently operates in Senegal. Senegal is representative of many Sub-Saharan African countries that are hardest hit by the increasingly disastrous effects of global climate change. CREATE! responds to the inter-connected crises generated by climate change with strategies that decrease dependence on fossil fuels, conserve natural resources, and increase the use of appropriate technologies. Our programs produce sustainable, human needs-based development at the village level while forging resilient and vibrant communities across rural Senegal. CREATE! seeks to face these challenges and assist rural Senegalese residents with small-scale, accessible, and "appropriate" technologies - technologies that are adapted to, and fit, their local conditions - and with human needs-based strategies that can both better their lives and build their capacity to meet these inter-connected challenges. CREATE! works in six villages in two regions of Senegal. One region is in the rural north of Senegal, centered around Linguere in the Louga Region, where CREATE! implements programs in the village of Ouarkhokh. The other region is in the central-west of Senegal, centered around Gossas in the Fatick Region. CREATE! implements program activities in five villages in this region. The total beneficiary population of the six villages is approximately 12,000 people, comprised of both agricultural and pastoral peoples. The average per capita annual income of the population in these villages is approximately $350 a year. In each of these villages, CREATE! staff work closely with local and traditional authorities, including village chiefs and imams, in addition to other community leaders, families, and public schools. CREATE! values the expertise and input of community members and strives to incorporate their knowledge and participation into each stage of our programs. As a registered NGO in Senegal, CREATE! works with government officials from the regional office of the Department of Water and Forestry. CREATE! also respects the Senegalese government's strategic development goals for rural communities. Although CREATE!'s administrative office is located in the United States, CREATE! relies on local Senegalese staff and volunteers to plan and implement successful development interventions. Barry Wheeler, CREATE! Founder and Executive Director, has spent the past 27 years working to alleviate suffering and to provide basic human needs for rural villagers, displaced persons, and refugees in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. After serving in the Peace Corps for six years as an Improved Cook Stove and Appropriate Technology volunteer, trainer, and technical advisor in Togo, Barry earned a Master's degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University. Barry has served as Country Director for the American Refugee Committee's programs in Uganda, Sudan, and Rwanda; as a consultant for UNICEF and UNHCR; and as a team leader and training coordinator in local capacity building, renewable and appropriate technology, and sustainable rural development. CREATE! Chief Operations Officer Louise Ruhr has more than 30 years of private sector and nonprofit management experience and has spent the past eight years working with international NGOs, including the American Refugee Committee, to support women's cooperative groups in Rwanda and Senegal. CREATE! Country Director Omar Ndiaye Seck oversees program activities and conducts site visits in CREATE! communities. He also manages CREATE!'s finances and staff in Senegal. Omar closely collaborates with local and traditional authorities, community volunteers, and CREATE! staff to achieve both organizational and village goals.

Seeds for a Future

Perched atop the buried pre-classic Maya city of Chocola, the village of Chocola on the back slopes of the volcanoes that form Lake Atitlan, is poverty stricken yet poised to become a model of cultural celebration and self-sufficiency. What it needs most is leadership training and technical support to develop its potential for diversified agriculture, archeological-tourism, health care for its families and education for its children. In its simplest terms, the mission of Seeds for a Future is to help this impoverished community plan and achieve prosperity based on balanced development principles that protect cultural tradition, the natural environment and preserve the Mayan and post-colonial history of the town. Seeds for a Future traces its roots to the period from 2003 through 2006 when many Earthwatch Institute volunteers came to Chocola to work on the archaeological site, which was then being excavated under license from the Guatemalan government. The volunteers embraced being associated with an important archaeological endeavor and learned about the vast pre-Classic Maya city that may hold keys to the early development of Mayan language, system of time and other fundamental cultural practices. At the same time, many of us fell in love with the community, its families and children and the fabulous, healthy mountain environment. As a result, groups of volunteers organized to help a community struggling with terrible poverty and deprivation to find a way to prosperity without destroying their way of life or the delicate balance of their natural environment. A vision emerged among a core of volunteers, Guatemalan visionaries and local leaders in which Chocola is seen as lifting itself into a more healthy and prosperous community based on its historic farming skills, adding value to its coffee, vegetable and cacao producers and through community cooperative action. In the future, there is great promise for the development of Chocola as a tourist destination based on archaeo-tourism; conservation of the natural resources in which the community is embedded and conservation of one of the first and greatest coffee processing plants (beneficios) established during the 1890s. But we also discovered in the early years that before Chocola could begin to realize its potential, the people needed training in identifying their own vision for the future, learning to work together and acquiring the technical skills needed for success. Overcoming 500 years of economic and social servitude is not easily done, but real progress is being made and our program has been recognized as ground-breaking, by the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and others. Four operating principles guide the work we do: We provide information and technical assistance to the people of Chocola to help them evaluate new opportunities and to plan. We provide direct funding and other forms of support for community requests for assistance on specific projects. These requests must come through Chocola leadership and must demonstrate sustainability and a willingness and capability of the community to provide part of the needed resources. All programs must aim at achieving self-sufficiency. We will help with programs that governmental agencies believe may be of value, provided that they too meet the same test as is noted for the community above. All such requests must be consistent with our mission to help the people and do no harm to either the Maya archaeological site or to the 1890 Coffee Finca site. In all of our programs we try to ensure that the participants become more engaged in the social and civil fabric, that they gain self confidence in their ability to change their own future for the better, and that we provide knowledge and coaching for a sufficient period of time that their activities and new ideas become self-sustaining in the community.

Center for Health & Learning

Our Vision: To serve as the nation's catalyst, inspiring optimal health for all. Our Mission: To build a foundation for healthy communities, through educational resources, professional development and practice improvement, research, policy development, evaluation, and consult. Our Guiding Principles: *Equity and Access *Evidence and Outcomes-based Practice *Innovation *Collaboration *Community-oriented Our Goals & Activities In our endeavor to achieve systemic and sustainable change through education, policy and environmental strategies, we: *Offer regional trainings and technical assistance through grant funding from federal, state and private agencies *Provide site-based trainings and technical assistance on request from school districts and community organizations *Develop online programs, student learning modules and curricula *Assist with professional licensure, CEU and graduate-level credit *Create strategic partnerships with other non-profit organizations and school systems CHL is an outgrowth of an initiative by the Center for Disease Control's Division of Adolescent and School Health to build local capacity for school and community health promotion through training centers that foster and deliver high-quality professional development and practice improvement initiatives. We have substantial experience designing and delivering projects, conferences and professional development opportunities. From instruction and technical assistance to research and report writing, curricula creation and evaluation resources, CHL has served over 20,000 professionals and community members, delivered services for more than 100 projects and developed and promoted numerous local and statewide comprehensive and coordinated strategic health initiatives. CHL has the following current programs and projects: 1. Suicide Prevention- * CHL supports state-wide suicide prevention efforts through the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center, a public/private partnership which seeks to foster a sustainable approach to suicide prevention in Vermont. *CHL manages the VT Suicide Prevention Coalition consisting of representatives from public health, education, state agencies, advocacy groups, youth, mental health services, and survivors. *CHL manages, develops and oversees state-wide suicide prevention trainings including Gatekeeper Training, a Zero Suicide Practice Institute and the Collaborative Assessment for the Management of Suicidality (CAMS) trainings; *CHL coordinates the VT Gun Shop Project in collaboration with the VT Department of Mental Health. *CHL implements the Zero Suicide approach in Vermont and coordinates Zero Suicide Pilot Projects. *CHL and the VT Suicide Prevention Center coordinate the annual Vermont Suicide Prevention Symposium, a cross-agency statewide event that brings together professionals across all sectors for a day of learning from national experts on critical topics and skills in suicide prevention, treatment, and recovery. 2. Prevention Training and Workforce Development - CHL coordinates and implements Substance Abuse Disorder prevention trainings and workforce development activities for the Vermont Department of Health/Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs for Regional Prevention Partnership professional staff. 3. Annual Symposia and Conferences: In addition to the Suicide Prevention Symposium, our cornerstone event, CHL assists with the coordination of annual Symposia and Conferences for various partners including the following events: o 4th Annual College Symposium on Substance Use o Community Solutions to the Opiate Issues Facing Vermonters for the VT Department of Health o Substance Abuse Workforce Development Conference for the VT Department of Health. 4. CHL Proprietary and Fee for Service: CHL has several proprietary programs developed and implemented by the organization: *Umatter Suicide Prevention for Schools and Umatter for Staff and Family Awareness -CHL developed this best practice training for school and community settings. *Umatter for Youth and Young Adults Mental Health Wellness Promotion and Community Action--CHL is moving the focus on mental health "upstream" from intervention and crisis to promotion and prevention (self-care, coping and communication skills, etc.). *Community / School District Trainings--CHL provides professional development, technical assistance and support for the implementation of coordinated approaches to school health, and conducts training on mental health, suicide prevention and alcohol, tobacco, sexual health and other critical health topics. *Family Engagement- CHL is building an initiative to promote effective practices for Family Engagement - an emerging interest across sectors

Lawyers for Justice in Libya

LFJL is a non-governmental organisation and charity, incorporated for the public benefit in order to defend and promote human rights in Libya. LFJL was established in response to the 17 February 2011 uprising in Libya. We exist, work for, and are passionate about the promotion of justice, human rights, and democracy in Libya. We seek to promote and nurture the legal profession and civil society in Libya. LFJL's growing team works between Tripoli and London. We speak seven languages, are qualified in seven jurisdictions, and are graduates from the University of Oxford, the Sorbonne, the School of Oriental and African Studies and Stanford University. Our team has expertise in international human rights law; the law of armed conflict and humanitarian law; international criminal law and tribunals; international arbitration; transitional justice; finance law; and oil, gas and environmental law. We maintain a growing network of talented Libyan lawyers and activists, currently in excess of 70 individuals and organisations, who work on the ground across all regions in Libya. We also work closely with the Coalition of Libyan Human Rights Organisations (the Coalition), which we brought together in order to share knowledge and engage in joint international advocacy activities. Together we were the first Libyan civil society organisations to participate in Libya's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council. We regularly work with national, regional and international stakeholders, including the International Criminal Court; the International Committee of the Red Cross; the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; the United Nations Support Mission in Libya; REDRESS; Amnesty International; Article 19; Human Rights Watch; and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). Our core values are independence and integrity and we strive for excellence in all areas of our work. We conduct our activities with compassion and understanding, seeing the survivors of human rights abuses that we work with as individuals, not causes. We advocate our positions with independence from interference which would otherwise prejudice our core values and our credibility. Our programmes are: Transitional Justice LFJL's Transitional Justice Programme seeks to carry out activities that ensure that victims of human rights abuses realise their right to know the truth, see those responsible held to account, and receive adequate reparations. It is based on the understanding that without these rights of victims to truth, accountability and redress being achieved, peaceful coexistence between communities in Libya will be unable to take root. The Transitional Justice Programme works with actors in Libya to document a broad range of human rights violations, including human rights abuses that took place during the 2011 uprising and the ongoing human rights violations against migrants. The programme ensures that these documents are stored securely so that they may be used as evidence in future truth, reconciliation and accountability efforts. The programme also seeks to create space for discussions and debates not currently being had regarding transitional justice issues such as those related to the right to reconciliation of communities perceived as being 'against' the uprising who are currently severely marginalised. We also advocate for the implementation of laws and policies that support a transitional justice mechanism that is objective, nonpolitical and inclusive of all groups and communities in Libya. Legal Reform Key aspects of Libya's legal system need urgent reform to ensure conformity with international human rights standards. Laws that threaten human rights including the right to non-discrimination, freedom from torture and ill-treatment, freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial remain in place. Laws issued since 2011 have frequently failed to provide adequate protection for prevalent human rights concerns. The Legal Reform Programme addresses such weaknesses and gaps in Libyan law by supporting in-depth research and analysis of Libya's legal system in order to promote compliance with international human rights standards. It aims to raise awareness of legal issues currently affecting human rights in Libya and works to effect change to draft legislation dealing with human rights concerns. The programme also works to ensure that Libya has ratified key international human rights treaties and implemented them at the domestic level. Strategic Litigation Litigation is one of the key ways that LFJL is able to use its legal expertise to assist those who have suffered human rights violations, and in doing so seeks to prevent such violations occurring again in the future by bringing an end to the current climate of impunity. Litigation can provide avenues for redress, rehabilitation and reparations for survivors of human rights abuses and hold those responsible to account. LFJL uses litigation to pursue significant changes to the law, policy and public opinion, so that stronger human rights protections will become established in Libya. The Strategic Litigation Programme works with lawyers from across Libya to document, monitor and report on violations and abuses among them are against migrants, internally displaced persons, minorities and on the basis of gender. LFJL also assists them in undertaking their own domestic, regional and international human rights litigation. As the judiciary in Libya currently faces challenges and severe restrictions to its ability to consider human rights cases, the programme seeks to challenge impunity for rights violations through international human rights mechanisms. LFJL has built cases to litigate before regional and international mechanisms. LFJL has brought cases to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights related to torture and ill-treatment and to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. LFJL's litigation activities also aim to support the International Criminal Court's investigations, with a current focus on abuses against migrants in Libya. While building a case, LFJL provides legal support and referrals to other services such as health services to survivors suffering from physical and mental harm. Advocacy The Advocacy Programme works to ensure that core human rights concerns are a priority consideration during the decision making processes of domestic, regional and international institutions. Without such engagement there is a risk that temporary solutions to systemic problems devalue human rights and undermine much needed efforts towards accountability for violations. LFJL currently advocates in key capitals around the world and before the UN Human Rights Council, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Assembly of State Parties to the International Criminal Court to inform activities and mandates related to Libya. As well as undertaking its own advocacy, the Advocacy Programme empowers national NGOs so that they may also engage in such forums and pursue joint advocacy targets. Under this programme, LFJL brought together and trained Libya's first human rights coalition to carry out advocacy at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Human Rights Education The Human Rights Education Programme addresses the lack of public awareness of human rights principles and the value they offer. It also attempts to tackle key issues that are linked to the widespread culture of accepting human rights violations including torture and ill-treatment and discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity and gender at the societal level. In addition to engaging the public on human rights issues, the Human Rights Education Programme seeks to develop the skillset of Libya's activists and lawyers currently collaborating with LFJL's programmes through high level training events including on documentation, monitoring and reporting. To date, LFJL has trained over 150 lawyers, activists, journalists, judges and medical professionals that are actively engaged in advancing human rights. The programmes also seeks to engender the next generation of human rights activists by actively engaging Libya's youth in discussions and capacity building concerning the importance of human rights, notably through launching a summer school and by developing a national human rights curriculum to be implemented across Libya's schools.

Helping Rhinos USA

Helping Rhinos USA is dedicated to leading conservation and education initiatives that will ensure the long-term survival of rhino and other endangered wildlife in their natural habitat. Helping Rhinos USA accomplishes this through the following activities: In collaboration with our partner company, Helping Rhinos UK, our work engages with local communities, directly linking wildlife conservation and local economies through fundraising: accepting donations on our website, personal solicitations through local fundraising events, foundation grant solicitations, and government grant solicitations. Nearly all money raised will further field conservation actions where rhinos are most threatened. We stimulate support for rhino conservation across North America by initiating educational initiatives that highlight the importance of conserving rhino and other endangered species. We work with local communities where rhino live to emphasize the benefits that can be derived from a sustainable co-existence between man and wildlife. We work directly with local conservation organizations to rescue and protect rhino in their natural habitat by delivering tangible results in anti-poaching and habitat preservation.

IDEA4Africa, Ltd

To inspire and equip young entrepreneurs to develop social and economic value for their communities and for the world.

Global Changemakers Association

Global Changemakers works to an unshakable mission of supporting young people to create a positive change towards a more just, fair and sustainable world. We do this through skills development, capacity building, mentoring and grants.

Women's Health Specialists

We have a vision: A world where women control their own bodies, reproduction and sexuality. The Feminist Women's Health Center / Women's Health Specialists is dedicated to providing women-controlled health care and advocating for all options for all women. Only with dignity and freedom of choice can women achieve their full potential.

Foundation for Community Development and Empowerment

FCDE leverages the knowledge, funds and direct personal support of global donors to empower communities to maximize economic, social and environmental opportunities, thereby reducing poverty and injustice.FCDE works to identify impoverished regions that have the drive, desire and basic tools to make positive, lasting change within their communities. By providing technical training, appropriate short-term personnel and seed funds, FCDE will becomes a partner and catalyst in making long-term positive changes within our host communities.

THE BLINDNESS FOUNDATION

THE BLINDNESS FOUNDATION works in Burma/Myanmar,Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines & Thailand. Our mission is: "HELP US,HELP OTHERS, HELP THEMSELVES" -working with local eye Doctors in these SE Asian countries to help prevent & cure blindness. This is achieved through education, training and mission supply for outreach cataract surgery programs to the rural & urban poor . To date for example we have over the last two decades, contributed lens implants that have been implanted in over 65,000 patients' eyes to help them see again -curing their blindness. Ongoing training and education, upgrades the knowledge and skill -sets of young Eye Doctors in training so that they can treat their own people better, without reliance on outside Ophthalmologists. This builds their health care systems closer to modern world standards. We respond to specific requests for assistance in placing young Eye Doctors in residency & Fellowship programs out of country , Also supply of anti-fungals for the Burmese fishermen with corneal infections after the Nargis Cyclone hit the Irawaddy delta region of Myanmar. Our goal is sustainable self-sufficiency for eye care in these developing nations. We have annual missions that incorporate training & lectures at university based teaching hospitals where possible to assist their development. During these missions we process requests for equipment, traing and supplies and coordinate with industry in the US to raise supplies. Your funding helps develop the third world and truly ,you do ,indeed, "make a difference" Thank You, CHRISTOPHER LYON, MD PhD Director THE BLINDNESS FOUNDATION

Bicycles for Humanity Colorado

Our mission is simple: to change the world two wheels at a time. Bicycles for Humanity - Colorado was formed by Josh Pace, Rodd Granger, and Keenan Gates in September of 2007 to begin to form a bridge of community sharing between the front range of Colorado and healthcare workers serving those in need in Africa. We were inspired by the ability to marry personal interests and the desire to help those most marginalized in society.