Labor Day Konbit - Clercine Street Cleanup

May 10, 2012

Haiti Communitere, Haiti

May 1st is Labor Day in Haiti, and to mark the day a local group based out of HC’s neighborhood, Clercine, organized a konbit (the Creole word “konbit” can be defined as a coming together of individuals in an effort towards a common goal) to clean up the streets there and in surrounding areas. The group, called Coordination Nationale pour L’Intégration et le Développement des Femmes (CONIDEF), and dozens of community members worked together all day on Clercine 8 where giant potholes were being filled, trash was picked up, and streetlights were being installed. Some of the shovels and wheelbarrows used were borrowed from HC, and the money to purchase the streetlights came from a local church and several other groups. It was a perfect example of the positive change...

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Trainings at HC

May 10, 2012

Haiti Communitere, Haiti

One of the reasons HC exists is to provide a space for Haitians to come and work on projects for their community, but we also use every available opportunity to train Haitians in a new skill. As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” In recent months, HC projects have evolved into trainings simply because of Haitians’ eagerness to learn. Our Eiffel Tower project taught three people from Cite Soleil how to weld, and now those same three guys are working with Lorin Symington of ASTRA, learning how to build solar cook stoves. They have been coming to HC every day for the past few weeks to continue working on...

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A brief history of our Student Laundry

May 10, 2012

Voluntario Global, Argentina

Role models of the future, Voluntario Global helps students overcome adversity to form a local cooperative, bringing a positive message to locals of a brighter future. Since Voluntario Global began more than 6 years ago, the organization has prioritized the training and education of Argentinean youth to help them prepare and gain experience for the future. In line with this approach, Voluntario Global has supported the Laundry Project, a student-run cooperative employing nine young people. The majority are from the most impoverished families in Villa Fátima (Barrio de Soldati), Buenos Aires, Argentina. In poor neighborhoods such as Villa Fátima only 10% of young people continue with their studies after secondary school. Instead of studying, many are obligated to support their families...

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Omprakash Partner Sustainability Grant: Second official report

May 10, 2012

Voluntario Global, Argentina

Not everyhting always goes as we had planned. But this time, everything is going according to the plan. It is hard work but we are very happy that the laundry cooperative grows and gives new jobs.In our last report, we told you about the new machine donated by Omprakash foundation through their Sustainability Grant, had just arrived.The Laundry Project is run by a group of young people, aged between 18 and 25 years. They come to work every day to develop a culture of cooperation and shared responsibilities.Updating information:With 3 machines (one of them donated) and 2 dryers, there were 8 people working in February and we have now, 9 workers and a worker number 10 will be training during May.We were able to increase not only the number of...

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School Building Plan

May 10, 2012

Dynamic Hands Youth International, Ghana

 docs.google.com/a/omprakash.org/viewer Please see this link to the plans for our new school.  We have included a budget and building plan.  We need volunteers to help us build this school.

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Ready to Respond in 2012

May 10, 2012

European Disaster Volunteers, United Kingdom

As we continue to support our English and Scholarship Programmes in Haiti, we are also turning out attention to the future. Since leaving Haiti, EDV’s leadership has been focusing on internal capacity building by raising funds, developing a marketing strategy and business plan, and forging new partnerships in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. This work has one goal: to grow our charity so that we can respond when and where we’re needed in 2012. We aim to not only duplicate our successes in Haiti, where we recruited 190 volunteers, raised £137,000 ($221,492), and completed 20 projects changed the lives of more than 3,000 survivors, but to exceed our Haiti accomplishments.We don’t yet know when or where we’re going – this will depend on where and...

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Project Report for April - What We Do at PSF :)

May 08, 2012

Pisco Sin Fronteras, Peru

Pisco Sin Fronteras – April Projects Report   Modular Home (Espinoza)On 25th April a project was started to build a modular house inside the shell of an existing building that had collapsed during the 2007 earthquake. The shell comprised of two side walls, a back wall that housed a small room (used to sleep seven members of the family) and a front shell made of scrap wood and plastic. The modular would be three sided with one side utilising an existing wall, and be approximately 8m x 4m, with two internal rooms.Initial clearing of the site was conducted and a new concrete floor overlaid on the existing area to build a solid foundation. A few issued arose with the delivery of aggregate that resulted in a delay to the completion of...

Painting educational tables for a local school group

Building platforms, ladders , slides and tunnels at Plaza del Parque

Children's playground is underway

Kids enjoying the new see-saw at Plaza del Parque

Plaza del Parque community park started in March

Early days at earth bags

Earth bag community centre getting close to completion

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May 08, 2012

Rainbow Academy, India

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Rikke Olsen, volunteer in a kindergarten: “I will never forget those hugs…”

May 07, 2012

Voluntario Global, Argentina

 Name: Rikke OlsenNationality: DanishOccupation: Student.Volunteering period: 8 weeks (7 weeks)Mail: rikkelala_12@hotmail.comWhat made you want to apply to volunteer and in particular for the kindergarten?I wanted to have a holiday where I could dedicate my time to doing something for others, and to understand how everything works in jobs in Argentina. I choose the kindergarten because I have little knowledge of Spanish and I know the children of kindergarten have support from their families, and so I wouldn’t be too heart broken when I left.How would you describe the project and your job and tasks?The project works like a normal kindergarten. The idea is to help the parents during the day, so they can go to work while their kids are being looked after. I had to help the teachers/señoras to...

Volunteering in a Kindergarten

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Recap of Kids Classes- January-March 2012

May 07, 2012

Abriendo Mentes, Costa Rica

 First session break has commenced, giving us a chance to reflect on the past couple months and how much we have accomplished in our first session. Between the everyday classes, the field trips, and the special visitors, we have learned quite a lot! In Potrero the new school year begins in January, so we went back to the basics. The kinder class started with A, learned words from a new letter of the alphabet each week, and got all the way to I. The main themes of this session for the 1st – 6th graders were introductions, calendars, weather, classroom phrases, and the importance of learning English.One of my favorite activities for learning introductions was making paper bag puppets. As with anyone learning a new language, our kids are quite...

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