J. KIRBY SIMON FOREIGN SERVICE TRUST  

GRANTS AWARDED IN 2005

The J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust is a charitable fund established in the memory of Kirby Simon, a Foreign Service Officer who died in 1995 while serving in Taiwan. The Trust is committed to expanding the opportunities for community service, professional fulfillment and personal well-being of Foreign Service Officers and Specialists and their families. The Trust has been funded with contributions from Kirby Simon's colleagues, friends and relatives and other persons interested in the purposes of the Trust. The Trustees are present or former members of the Foreign Service - State Department community and Kirby Simon's parents.

In the Fall of 2004, following the pattern established in the eight previous years, the Trust invited proposals for the support, in 2005, of projects initiated and carried out by Foreign Service personnel or members of their families, or by other U.S. Government employees stationed abroad.  In response to this invitation, the Trust received 62 proposals from applicants located in 38 countries.  The very modest size of the Trust permitted the funding of only 36 of the proposals – and, in many cases, at less than the requested levels. The 36 grants range in amount from $505 to $4327, for a total of $85,836; they support projects conducted in 29 countries.

The following pages describe the projects awarded grants in 2005.  (Material in quotation marks comes from the texts of the proposals received by the Trust.)

ALBANIA- ERSEKE: Materials and labor for construction of a community children’s playground – a project coordinated by Anna Gutierrez, Peace Corps Community Development Volunteer.

ALBANIA – KORCE REGION:Equipment and supplies for palliative care of cancer patients – a project administered by Sarah Weaver, Peace Corps Community Health Volunteer, and Sabina Malik, Peace Corps Community Development Volunteer.

For terminally ill cancer patients, “the interval between life and death is characterized by physical, emotional, and psychosocial distress.  It is exactly at this stage that patients and their families need the professional support of a multidisciplinary palliative care team.”  This need is especially acute in the Korce region of Albania, where a number of factors have conspired to increase the number of terminally ill cancer patients.  Unfortunately, since “palliative care is a relatively new concept … in Albania” and is unavailable locally, these patients “are at risk of suffering from social isolation …, while physical and psychological symptoms inhibit them from having an active life” or from dying peacefully at home in keeping with Albanian tradition.  The Korce Family Healthcare Association was founded to provide free “palliative care at home for terminally ill patients,” and Ms. Malik and Ms. Weaver volunteer their time toward three palliative activities:  an English program for nurses, a computer course for nurses, and operation of a day care center.  The Trust supports the purchase of equipment and supplies needed by the Association’s home palliative care teams.

ALBANIA – MAQUELLARE: Equipment and training to enable deployment of “airway management” techniques at a rural health center – a project administered by Gabriel Mosier, Peace Corps Health Education Volunteer.

Many of the caregivers at Albania’s rural hospitals lack training in emergency medicine, and particularly in dealing with respiratory failure, “a common aspect of emergency medicine that is often essential to the survival of emergency room patients.”  The Maqellare Health Center is “the primary medical facility for 14,000 people living in 22 surrounding villages.”  The nearest fully-equipped emergency room is 30 minutes away, a formidable distance in a place with heavy snows and no ambulance service.  Mr.  Mosier, a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), has therefore undertaken to teach CPR and airway management techniques to Health Center staff members.  Funds from the Trust have been used to purchase needed equipment, training materials and practice mannequins.

AZERBAIJAN – MASHTAGA REGION: Purchase and installation of new windows and doors for a building housing orphaned children – a project coordinated by Foreign Service Nationals at the Embassy:  Raida Agayeva, Dadash Alishov, Heydar Aslanov, Sadiyar Agayev, Afet Ibrahimova, Ilgar Jafarguluzade, and Sanan Hasanov.

As part of the recently launched “Embassy to Orphans” project, the Embassy community – led by the seven Foreign Service Nationals listed above – is assisting in the renovation of Smile Orphanage No. 21, located outside of Baku.  While the Azerbaijani Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare provides food for the eighty children in residence, it offers little additional financial support.  Having seen no capital improvements since the end of the Soviet era, the building’s windows are riddled with chinks, and its doors do not fully close.  Winter temperatures hover around freezing.  “Baku is the ‘City of Winds,’ so the chilly wind is blowing in this region every day….”  Despite the staff’s best efforts to ward off the cold by covering windows with cellophane, the children develop numerous illnesses.   Trust funds have supported the purchase and installation of new windows and doors throughout the building.

BELGIUM – BRUSSELS: Labor and supplies to build brick pathways at a farm that employs and houses mentally handicapped adults – a project undertaken by Camille Szramiak, daughter of the Commercial Counselor and the Local Employment Advisor at the Embassy.

“La Clarine is a small farm … which allows mentally handicapped people to come and care [for] and breed the animals of the farm and work in the greenhouses and in the numerous vegetable gardens.”  They also help prepare the food and take it to local markets. Several of La Clarine’sclients live on the premises, and a number of others come to the farm every day.  The goal of the project “is to help these mentally handicapped farmers integrate more easily into the local community and their surrounding environment and to become more self-sufficient.”  While the operation is highly successful, one impediment is occasioned by Brussels’ notoriously rainy weather.  “When it rains (which is often) the dirt pathways” connecting the farm buildings become slippery and dangerous, so that “for mentally handicapped farmers who are in wheelchairs [or who have other physical disabilities], access to most parts of the farm becomes impossible.”  Ms. Szramiak and her classmates at the International School of Brussels are replacing the dirt pathways with brick pathways.  Trust funds have been used to cover the labor and material costs.

BOTSWANA – MOKOLODI NATURE RESERVE: Purchase of a new slide projector and related equipment for the Reserve’s educational program – a project coordinated by Robert E. McColaugh, retired USAID Agricultural and Natural Resources Officer, and his wife, Doreen C. McColaugh.

Botswana is blessed with abundant and diverse wildlife, a resource that presents “tremendous potential … in terms of tourism income, job creation and social development.”  The country “has set aside over 40% of its land for National Parks and Wildlife Management Areas,” but the strategy’s long-term success will require that the citizens of Botswana, and especially its youth, “clearly understand this potential and subscribe to the protection and sustainable use of this valuable resource.”  To this end, the Mokolodi Nature Reserve has been established by the Mokolodi Wildlife Foundation, a group dedicated to environmental education and conservation.  The Reserve is “stocked with a variety of [indigenous] plant and animal species” and aims to become self-sustaining through its conference center, campsites, chalet accommodations and restaurant.  The Reserve’s special focus, however, is its Education Center, which hosts between 10,000 and 12,000 visitors per year, including school children, university students and adult environmental training groups.  With traffic like this, the Center needs “a heavy duty industrial strength 35 mm slide projector,” and a grant from the Trust has enabled the purchase and shipping of such a projector and related equipment.

BRAZIL – RECIFE: Computer for orphaned, abandoned, and especially impoverished children – a project undertaken by Marli G. Gray, spouse of Richard Gray, the Management/Economic Officer at the Consulate in Recife.

The Lar de Maria children’s center takes care of some of the neediest children in one of the poorest parts of Brazil.  Some have been orphaned or abandoned; and others come for day care because their families are too poor to care for them.  The children are fed and schooled by a group of volunteers from the local community, including Ms. Gray, and the same volunteers are committed to underwriting the ongoing costs of Internet access in order to “give these kids the incentive and the tools to learn … and believe in themselves and their future.”  The Trust’s grant has provided a new computer and the peripherals needed to facilitate Internet access.

BRAZIL – SAO PAULO: Supplies and equipment for renovation of an orphanage and youth center – a project administered by Jaimee M. Neal, Consular Assistant, and James P. Neal, Vice-Consul at the Consulate in Sao Paulo.

Of the 30 million inhabitants of the greater Sao Paulo area, an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 are street children – “victims of abandonment, violence, neglect or poor living conditions.”  Casa do Menor Santo Amaro, a refuge for some 150 street children, is one of “several small-scale, community-based organizations trying to address this problem.”  Forty children live full-time at the Casa, while the rest come during the day for meals and medical care, to benefit from a “true family environment,” and to take advantage of the vocational training that is offered.  Because the Casa is struggling economically, however, “the facilities have fallen into almost complete disrepair,” and some basic supplies are lacking.  Funds from the Trust are being used to assist the Neals – both volunteers at the Casa – to arrange for repairs in food preparation and service areas and for the purchase of furniture, raincoats and umbrellas, and school supplies.

BURUNDI – BUJUMBURA: Purchase of a copy machine for a local school serving orphaned children – a project undertaken by Judes E. Stellingwerf, Management Officer of the Embassy.

Burundi has long had a significant population of homeless children, both those truly orphaned and those whose “families were unable to meet [their] most basic needs.”  In 1993, they were joined by the victims of a civil war “during which a large number of children were killed or wounded and many others orphaned and traumatized.”  The Holy Mary Mother of Mercy Home is one institution that has stepped up to meet the need.  It provides 70 orphans “with basic needs such as food, housing, clothes … and medical care,” provides support to community families who are willing to take orphans into their own homes, and operates a school that serves both the orphans and low-income students from the larger community.  “The school’s biggest need at the moment is providing educational materials,” because purchasing books from a local printer is prohibitively costly.  A grant from the Trust has enabled the purchase of a copy printer so that materials can be less expensively produced.

CAMBODIA – KAMPONG CHNANG PROVINCE: Books and furnishings to create a library at a local school – a project coordinated by Gregory E. Buford, spouse of Dana R. Williams, Supervisory General Services Officer at the Embassy.

“The need for interesting, non-political and age-appropriate reading materials is one that crosses all cultures and income levels.” Unfortunately, a number of children in Cambodia – indeed, in many parts of the world – have no opportunity “to read books solely for pleasure” and to cultivate “an interest in reading, acquisition of knowledge and the use of the imagination....”  Mr. Buford, with the aid of volunteers from Cambodia’s US Embassy Employee Charity (comprising locally hired US government employees), is selecting appropriate titles, acquiring over 300 books and creating a small library space in one school.  Funds from the Trust are being used to purchase books, reading desks, tables, bookshelves, and other needed supplies.

CAMBODIA – SEVERAL RURAL VILLAGES: Labor, materials, and manual pumps for water wells to be dug in 12 drought-stricken rural villages – a project also coordinated by Gregory Buford, spouse of Dana R. Williams, Supervisory General Services Officer at the Embassy.

Cambodia is a country with “a high water table yet little surface water.”  As a result, “many villages are almost entirely without access to clean water for washing, cleaning and cooking” during the  six-month dry season.  In concert with the US Embassy Employee Charity, Mr. Buford is coordinating the digging of wells roughly 30 meters deep, and the installation of manual pumps, in 12 especially drought-stricken villages.  Local volunteers are donating “the small amount of land necessary to create the wells” and “agree to allow free access … for all villagers.”  A grant from the Trust covers the cost of cost of labor, materials, and manual pumps.

CHILE – MALLOCO: Labor and materials to create a playground at a shelter for abandoned and abused children – a project coordinated by Monica Alcalde, Public Affairs Specialist, and Carolyn Turpin, Foreign Service Officer at the Embassy, and Jonathan Blodgett, Ms. Turpin’s spouse and editor of the Embassy newsletter.

The eighty residents of Hogar Koinomadelfia, a modest shelter comprising rough wooden houses surrounding a bare yard, have been deprived of their childhoods.  Suffering the compounded effects of poverty, abandonment and physical, psychological or sexual abuse, they are “from very poor families and humble backgrounds,” and “many are in legal limbo due to the legal system surrounding abuse and abandonment cases of children.”  The Chilean government covers the costs of basic education and health care for these children, but there are insufficient funds to meet the recreational needs “that are so important in the healing process of the[ir] psychological wounds.” To meet these needs, Hogar Koinomadelfia is transforming its center yard into a park-like environment where children can go to play and work together.  The shelter is purchasing grass and plantings, which the children will help to maintain with training from Ms. Alcalde, Ms. Turpin and Mr. Blodgett.  A grant from the Trust supports the purchase and installation of swing sets, slides, seesaws, a jungle gym, and a table hockey game.

CHILE – SANTIAGO: Equipment and supplies for a communal kitchen at a community center – a project coordinated by Carolyn Turpin, Foreign Service Officer at the Embassy, Jonathan Blodgett, Ms. Turpin’s spouse and editor of the Embassy newsletter, and Monica Alcalde, Public Affairs Specialist at the Embassy.

Las Turbinas, a community on the outskirts of Santiago, is “home to 300 families living in extreme poverty … in a group of lean-to shacks with no floor, no electricity, and no water.” A small chapel has become the de facto community center, “serv[ing] as a gathering point” for the residents of Las Turbinas because “it is the only place they can go to get dry and warm in the winter.”  Communal meals are prepared “over a single-burner butane stove,” and priests, mothers, and other volunteers organize art and other workshops for the express purpose of getting children off the streets.  The project, undertaken by Ms Turpin, Mr. Blodgett, and Ms. Alcalde, comprises two parts: transforming one room into a kitchen – for a job training workshop – and furnishing another room with tables and chairs for children to use when doing art projects and completing their homework.  Funds from the Trust are being used to purchase and install a sink, stove, and refrigerator, as well as tables and chairs, space heaters, and a storage cabinet.

COLOMBIA – BOGOTÁ: Nutritional lunches for especially disadvantaged children at a school operated by the Franciscan Order of Nuns – a project organized by Deborah J. Fairman, Immigrant Visa Chief, and Julie Vibul and Bernadette Meehan, all at the Consulate in Bogotá.

Colombia is a country struggling with many challenges: the lingering effects of a 40-year civil war, a large population of internally displaced people, widespread poverty, a high crime rate, and double-digit unemployment.   While the recently elected government has begun to change things for the better, its massive increase in security-related spending has been at the expense of social programs.  “One of the groups most adversely affected by these cuts is Colombia’s children,” especially those in the slums of Bogotá, who “learn to survive day-to-day, with no expectation of daily meals, and no hope of obtaining a formal education.”  In this environment, the Colegio San Francisco de Asisi is an oasis of hope for 374 children drawn from the poorest families in the city, and consular employees (both Americans and Foreign Service Nationals) have for several years been working with the school to provide recreational activities.  “There is no greater sound than the cheers we hear when the buses arrive for our visits.” On a recent trip to the school, however, the project coordinators learned that the Colombian government had ended funding for the daily lunch program, leaving the school’s already-underfed children even more malnourished.  Ms. Fairman, Ms. Vibul, and Ms. Meehan have arranged for nutritious lunches for 26 of the Colegio’s most undernourished students with funding from the Trust.

COSTA RICA – GUARARI: School supplies for an English-language class at a center for young mothers – a project undertaken by Janae Cooley, Political Officer at the Embassy.

The “Mothering Project” provides teenage mothers in one of San Jose’s poorest suburbs with “a place to go when their daily struggle for survival overwhelms them,” and offers “free classes in maternity health care, cooking, and handicrafts,”  as well as clothes and food.  As a natural outgrowth of these efforts, some of the girls recently requested an English-language class to help equip them for jobs in Cost Rica’s tourism-based economy.  Ms. Cooley teaches a class of from four to ten students every week, and a grant from the Fund is being used to purchase teaching materials and classroom supplies.

EGYPT – CAIRO: Animal shelter improvements to facilitate educational programs and to treat larger working animals – a project initiated by Carla Higgins, Information Resource Officer at the Embassy.

The humane treatment of animals is not merely a matter of instinct; it depends upon knowledge, information, and resources as well.  Ms. Higgins has created a program based at the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends (ESAF) “to educate Egyptians … about the humane treatment of animals, and how Egyptians benefit from improving the quality of life for the animals they co-exist with (and depend on).”  The first, urban-focused part of the program seeks to train pet shop staff and owners, and through them their clients, by offering hands-on classes, distributing literature through the shops, and offering “cages on loan.”  The second part of the program looks to the outskirts of Cairo, where large animals are used for work, transportation, and food.  The ESAF disseminates information to owners (particularly donkey owners), arranges programs at local schools, and offers low-cost veterinary care.  A grant from the Trust is being used to create a meeting space and facilities for large-animal care at the group’s shelter, and to build appropriate cages for the “cages on loan” project.

ESTONIA – VOKA: New beds for an orphanage – a project organized by Paul O. Mayer, Consular at the Embassy.

Although Estonia has made remarkable strides since regaining its independence in 1991, achieving “a vibrant democracy and an expanding economy,” it is still “one of the poorest EU member states.”  Unemployment is especially severe in the ethnically-Russian northeastern part of the country, as are the concomitant ills of alcoholism, drug abuse, and orphaned and abandoned children.  Embassy staff and family members have forged a relationship with the Voka Children’s Home, the poorest of several orphanages in the region, by providing recreational opportunities and needed supplies and performing light maintenance work.  They recently learned that some of the children “are outgrowing their beds,” and, with Mr. Mayer in charge, have arranged to procure and install several larger beds.  The Trust is funding the purchase and delivery of the beds.

GHANA – ACCRA: Appliances and a water tank for a home sheltering orphaned and abandoned children – a project coordinated by Christina M. Bluhm, spouse of Nathan M. Bluhm, Refugee Coordinator at the Embassy.

Kinder Paradise, an orphanage, was founded by Silke Roesner, a committed individual who manages to care for her 62 charges with only private contributions and limited NGO assistance.  It has become clear to Ms. Roesner and Ms. Bluhm, an orphanage volunteer, that procuring a freezer, refrigerator, gas stove/oven, and water tank will allow the orphanage to “take advantage of sales of food items by making bulk acquisitions and preserving the food despite Ghana’s hot climate,” to “prepare meals more easily for the growing number of children at the home,” and to have at least minimal water on hand “regardless of the vagaries of municipal services.”  A Trust grant supports the purchase of this equipment.

GHANA – MEDIE, GREATER ACCRA REGION: Materials and labor for construction of sanitary facilities and the introduction of piped water at an elementary school – a project coordinated by Dr. Pradeep K. Goel, Reproductive & Child Health Advisor at the Embassy.

Although “access to quality education, a backbone for social and economic development, still eludes many Ghanaian children,” some communities are struggling to meet this need by establishing schools supported through local volunteerism and financial contributions.  One such school lies about 20 kilometers outside of Accra.  Begun by local residents in 2000, it “has since grown to serve 125 children” from several villages.  This success, however, has presented a new challenge. Good sanitation is especially important with such a high concentration of children and teachers, but the school lacks adequate facilities and access to piped water.  “Residents typically rely on dug wells for water,” and “knowledge about good sanitation practices is low.”  With Dr. Goel serving as project manager, funds from the Trust will be used to build two bathrooms for the children, and to install “a tapped water supply using an overhead tank and electric water pump.”  In addition, “parents of the children and other community members have agreed to provide volunteer labor for painting and decorating the newly constructed structures with health messages and pictures.”  These efforts will be accompanied by a “behavior change campaign” targeted at both students and their families.

IRAQ – KIRKUK: Equipment for a computer lab at an all-female school – a project coordinated by Deborah S. Hart, Foreign Service Officer, Aram Sabir Hawaiz, Political Affairs Assistant, and Mohamed Ali Papa, Public Affairs Assistant, all at the Embassy office in Kirkuk.

“Wars and years of sanctions have devastated the infrastructure” of the northern city of Kirkuk, including the multi-ethnic neighborhood of Arafa.  Ms. Hart, Mr. Hawaiz, and Mr. Papa have established a computer lab in an all-female school situated in this neighborhood, with the purpose of “encourag[ing] the Iraqi young girls to participate in democratic, political and educational process[es] in Iraq.”  Funds from the Trust are being used to procure computers and software, tables, chairs, and other furnishings for the classroom.

ISRAEL – JERUSALEM: Supplies for an inter-cultural summer camp – a project initiated and administered by Amy Schedlbauer, Economic Section Chief at the Consular General, and her sister, Jennifer Schedlbauer.

Cultural diversity is a key value in any community, but perhaps especially so in the Middle East.  That awareness, coupled with a desire to provide academic enrichment, led the  Schedlbauer sisters to design and lead a two-week summer camp for the children of Palestinian, Israeli, and American staff members at the Consulate.  By sharing activities ranging from journal writing to art and science projects to games, children can expand their cultural horizons as well as their academic abilities.  The camp ends with a family picnic at which campers can display their work and parents “celebrate their cultural heritage by sharing a dish for the picnic.”  A grant from the Trust has funded the purchase of teaching and recreational supplies and snacks.

JAPAN – TOKYO: Equipment and supplies to renovate and improve a food bank warehouse – a project coordinated by Gay Moore Fantozzi, spouse of Daniel T. Fantozzi,  Economic Counselor, and Joel N. Fishl, Commercial Attache at the Embassy.

Even in prosperous nations, people go hungry.  “It is estimated that more than 240,000 people in Japan lack … access to safe, nutritious food through socially acceptable channels.”  Unfortunately, “the Japanese do not have a history of volunteering” assistance to those who are less fortunate. Thus, Second Harvest Japan, as the country’s first food bank, has a two-fold mission: to collect and distribute food donations and “to plant the seeds of volunteerism in Japan.”  The second of these goals is furthered by the volunteer activities of Ms. Fantozzi, Mr. Fishl and other Embassy personnel who work at the food bank.  The first of these goals is being hampered by the fact that Second Harvest Japan’s small warehouse lacks equipment for storing and handling large amounts of food more safely and efficiently.  Funds from the Trust support the purchase of this equipment.

LITHUANIA – VILNIUS AREA:A day trip for residents of a children’s home in a remote area outside the city – a project planned and organized by Trevor W. Boyd, Second Secretary at the Embassy, in cooperation with Irena Volkovaite, the Embassy’s Lithuanian language teacher.

MEXICO – MONTERREY: Computers and transportation for life-skills training in an orphanage – a project administered by Ginger Kopp, Community Liaison Officer at the Consulate.

Back2Back is a non-profit organization that works with orphanages in the Monterrey area, offering “resources … construction, relational support, [and] emotional and educational support” in order to “provid[e] a path for a hopeful future to children who have been abused and abandoned….”  Back2Back has piloted a program that places 15 year-olds in a family setting and offers them a high-school and university education.  “This opportunity is something that these children have only dreamed of,” but they are generally ill-equipped to take advantage of it, both academically and socially.  “Many struggle tremendously through the first few years, while others depart from the opportunity due to the overwhelming difficulty.”  Ms. Kopp has tackled this problem by creating a tutoring and enrichment curriculum for orphanage children in the year before they make the transition to Back2Back’s pilot program.  A grant from the Trust supports the purchase of computers and software, as well as needed transportation.

MEXICO – TIJUANA: Books, kitchen equipment, and medical care for homeless children – a project undertaken by Vice Consuls Robert C. Bronk, Elisa Greene, Gene Harrel, Ari Nathan, Jacquelyn Rosholt, and William Schmitt, and by General Services Officer Jason Craig, all at the Consulate General.

The border city of Tijuana is “experiencing explosive growth” as a result of NAFTA-driven economic changes.  This growth “has far outstripped the city’s ability to provide housing and basic services,” and crime and poverty have increased concomitantly. Nueva Esperanza Hogar de Ninos is a “temporary home for young children whose mothers are in a transitional state, either out of work or trying to recover from substance abuse,” and its goal is to provide “a safe and educational environment” while looking forward to the day when its charges can be reunited with their mothers.  Nueva Esperanza receives no government support and subsists thanks to the assistance of a church in California and “sporadic donations of food.”  Consular staff members have begun to “provide an ongoing, supportive relationship that will serve as a safety net for the orphanage”; their services include medical and educational assistance and building repairs and improvements.  The Trust’s grant covers the costs of kitchen equipment and of basic medical care and books for the children.

MOROCCO – RABAT: Materials and labor for kitchen renovations at an atelier serving the physically disabled – a project administered by Pamela McDonald, spouse of Commander Christopher McDonald, Naval Attaché, and Beth Koplovsky, Community Liaison Officer, both at the Embassy.

The Hassan II Foundation for the Handicapped, founded through the patronage of the late king of Morocco, enables “young physically challenged persons [to learn] a craft that they c[an] use to support themselves.”  “One has only to see the number of disabled people begging on the street corners … to realize how important [such] programs are and how desperately they are needed, not only by the individuals they serve but also by the whole fabric of the community.”  Through a series of ateliers (apprenticing workshops) in Marrakech and Rabat, the Foundation “provide[s] … in-depth training to its clients,” offers tutoring in literacy, language, and computers, provides medical services, and “produce[s] products … to support its programs.” Unfortunately, the Foundation has fallen on hard times since Hassan II’s death in 1999, and the atelier in Rabat lacks a functioning kitchen.  “Most of the handicapped participants are forced to scrounge for food at lunch, which is often provided by neighbors as an act of charity, and to eat outside regardless of the weather.”  A grant from the Trust is being used to purchase and install a working stove and refrigerator, and to renovate and furnish the kitchen space.

SOUTH ARRICA – PRETORIA: New beds and bedding for a child care center–a project administered by the Hearts & Hands Committee of the Embassy.

SRI LANKA – TSUNAMI DISASTER ZONE: Printed educational handouts to reduce the number of victims of dog bites, a project undertaken by Robert G. Blumberg, spouse of Andrea Yates,  USAID Program Officer at the Embassy.

The tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004 precipitated not one disaster but many, rendering homeless not only hundreds of thousands of people but also an unknowable number of animals.  The resulting crisis in animal welfare is of grave concern for both humanitarian and health reasons.  “For some people, their pets were all that were left of their families.  For children, pets played an important role in trauma recovery.”  Even more urgently, many of the stray dogs carry rabies – a particular problem in Sri Lanka.  Ninety human cases were reported in 2003, and the resulting public anxiety has strained government resources as people who are bitten – nearly 200 a day by one account – almost invariably require expensive anti-rabies serum.  Sri Lanka Tsunami People-Animal Welfare Coalition, a small group founded by Mr. Blumberg, organized the vaccination of over 12,000 dogs in the disaster zones and helped to ward off several mass exterminations planned by the authorities.  The Coalition’s next goal is to reduce the number of dog bites by teaching the public – and especially children – on how to avoid provoking such incidents.  To that end, it is producing a simple graphic handout, in English and both local languages, to be distributed in refugee camps and villages and through schools.  A grant from the Trust is funding the translation, graphics development, and printing costs of 200,000 color handouts.

SURINAME – PARAMARIBO: Walkers for students at a school for the physically disabled children – a project coordinated by Carrie O’Neill, Consular Associate at the Embassy.

“The Mytyl School is the only elementary school for physically handicapped children in Suriname.”  In preparation for a campaign to increase its profile with the public, the school has been working to renovate and improve its facilities.  While the government pays the salaries of school personnel, “all other expenses must be covered by donations.”  One of the school’s most urgent priorities has been to make modern, reliable and easily-maneuvered walkers available to its students, and to replace old units that are in dangerous condition.  A grant from the Trust is being used to purchase 10 new walkers, which will help students “become more mobile and increase their independent movement.”

SWAZILAND – NTONDOZI: Equipment and materials for repairs and improvements to a school for orphans – a project administered by Nelda Villines, Office Manager for the Ambassador, and her husband, Mwana Bermudes.

Like so many other countries in Africa, Swaziland is struggling with “the escalating problem of orphans” due to a devastatingly high HIV/AIDS infection rate (almost 35 percent) and growing poverty.  The Ntondozi Youth Association “is an affiliation of young people” who, “with very little means, decided to do something” by constructing a building “to serve as a school and care center for the local orphans and vulnerable children.”  Although the building still lacks windows, doors, and concrete floors, as well as basic furniture and equipment, 60 students are already being taught there.  Trust funds are being used to cover the costs of materials and labor to complete the necessary excavation, concrete, carpentry and painting work, with Mr. Bermudes acting as volunteer general contractor.

THE GAMBIA – BANJUL: Supplies to refurbish a classroom at one of the largest Gambian schools – a project coordinated by Adela Renna, Community Liaison Officer at the Embassy.

Believing that early education is a potent tool in the battle against poverty, ten members of the Embassy community have “adopted” a school in The Gambia, one of the poorest countries in Africa.  Participants hope to offer literacy tutoring and establish other programs, but the most immediate objective is to repair the building itself.  To that end, they are refurbishing one especially dilapidated classroom, in the hope that their example will elicit sponsorship and volunteer support for the larger effort.  A grant from the Trust covers the costs of masonry and carpentry supplies, as well as some skilled labor.

UGANDA –IGANGA DISTRICT: Livestock and related supplies to create a pilot program for raising goats and chickens as a source of food and income – a project coordinated by Luwangwa Francis, Local Government Advisor to the USAID Mission, and Elzadia Washington, USAID Deputy Mission Director, both at the Embassy.

“Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world and suffers from major problems in the health care system,” particularly with respect to HIV/AIDS.  More than half of the 70,000 people infected with the virus every year are women, “many of them widows and heads of households,” and the number of orphaned children has risen dramatically.  This project seeks to assist a group of HIV/AIDS widows and orphans in “establish[ing] an income-generating project to enhance [their] incomes and improve their nutritional status.”  Mr. Luwangwa and Ms. Washington, with the guidance of two other USAID staff members, Sudi Bamulesewa and Andrea Kyambadde, will work with a local group, the “Kilikumwino Orphans and Widows Effort,” to lease and clear five acres of land, procure goats and chickens, and build the structures necessary to raise them.  A Trust grant defrays the project expenses.  When the project is fully operational, it will generate roughly $1,000 in annual income and significantly enhance the nutritional status of participating families.

URUGUAY – SAN LUIS AREA: A used bus to help create and sustain a regional softball league for young people – a project coordinated by Donald Boyle, spouse of  Theresa Boyle, Area Director of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Brian Shanley, Operations Assistant in the Defense Attaché Office at the Embassy.

Aldo Comastri and Matilde Sanchez, a Uruguayan couple, have hit upon a promising antidote to the drugs and street crime that too often claim young people in the county’s smaller towns – softball.  Starting in their own town of San Luis, they have enlisted the participation of local youth, girls as well as boys, aged 6 through 17.  And with softball has come an opportunity to instill the life skills demanded by the game: “discipline, respect for themselves as well as others, teamwork and a sense of personal pride,” all of which are “in very short supply in these small towns.”  The next goal, and the focus of this project – for which Mr. Boyle and Mr. Shanley are providing organizational and coaching assistance –  is to develop an officially recognized league of eight to ten teams in surrounding towns.  With official teams in place, the young people will be able to receive such support services as hot meals, school tutoring, and counseling.  A grant from the Trust has enabled Mr. Comastri and Ms. Sanchez to purchase a used bus to transport their own team and to visit other towns for the purpose of developing other teams and programs.

VENEZUELA – CARACAS: Braille equipment and prescription eyeglasses at a school for visually impaired children – a project undertaken by Helping Hands, a “charity action committee” under the American Embassy Employees Association of Venezuela.

Building on a partnership forged in part through a 2004 grant from the Trust, the 15 members of Helping Hands – Embassy staff and family members – are expanding their  involvement with La Unidad Educative Bolivariana de Especial “Mevorah Florentin,” a school for visually impaired children.  While Mevorah Florentin is a public school, it receives only sporadic governmental support.  Those funds, together with the minimal fee charged families who are able to pay, must be devoted to the school’s basic operations.  In 2004, funds from the Trust enabled Helping Hands to equip each classroom with “desk slates and Braille writing frames, algebra frames and standard styluses, folding canes, and other materials such as Braille blocks, games, and instructional aids.”  The 2005 Trust grant is being used to purchase individual Braille desk slates and to establish a fund “for the purchase of prescription eyeglasses for those students who do not have resources available to purchase them.”

ZAMBIA – LUSAKA: Water well and hand pump for a “day orphanage” – a project undertaken by Sandra Patterson, spouse of Alan Patterson, Chief of the Regional Affairs Office, and Judith Morris, Community Liaison Officer, both at the Embassy, and Cune Bednar, spouse of James Bednar, the USAID Director.

Zambia is a country devastated by HIV/AIDS.  “Not only is this tragic virus robbing this nation of its adult population, it is also … creating an entire generation of orphans.”  The families of many of these children are already so poor, and so ravaged by the virus and other diseases, that they “cannot assume responsibility for another mouth to feed.”  A partial solution is the creation of “day orphanages” like the one run by the HEAL Project, a group of people who are themselves HIV-positive.  Situated in one of the poorest areas of the capital, the HEAL day orphanage offers food, medical care, recreation and education to 60 orphans, thus “mak[ing] it possible for members of the community to provide a home for these kids” and preventing them from becoming unwanted burdens.  Of HEAL’s many needs, perhaps the most pressing is access to clean water, given the compromised immune systems of the caretakers and many of the children.  Yet they “must walk 8 miles to pay for water they collect at the nearest well.”  Accordingly, Ms. Patterson, Ms. Morris and Ms. Bednar have arranged for and are supervising the drilling of a bore hole/well and installation of a hand pump, which will improve sanitation, allow for irrigation of the vegetable garden, and generate a modest income from the small well-usage fees that are a common practice in this country.  A Trust grant defrays equipment and installation costs.

ZIMBABWE – HARARE: Supplies for an art and income-generating program for street children and youth – a project initiated by Brendan Buzzard, son of Candace Buzzard, USAID Agricultural Development Officer.

By some estimates, there are 5,000 children and teen-agers living on the streets of Zimbabwe’s capital city.  Some are orphans; others have been driven there by HIV/AIDS, brutal poverty, or conflict.  “Survival is tough and each day is lived just to get to the next.  [The young people] are easy scapegoats for police aggression, and for the most part residents of Harare ignore the fact that these children exist.”  One way of giving them a voice is to use art “as a tool to tell their life stories,” and to that end Mr. Buzzard is offering twice-weekly sessions for a group of children he has gotten to know.  They are receiving both technical instruction in painting, writing, and photography and an opportunity to explore individual expression as a means of communication.  The culmination of their efforts will be a book that compiles their painting, drawing, writing, and photography; it will be “printed locally and … circulated both locally and internationally.”  Sale proceeds will be used to pay the children’s school fees, and the book itself will also “raise awareness … of the existence and situation of street children in Harare and throughout the world.…” Funds from the Trust are being used for the purchase of art and photography supplies, and for the layout and printing costs of the book.