Service Organizations
PEACE INTERNATIONAL: PEOPLE FOR
EDUCATIONAL ADVANCEMENT AND COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT, INTERNATIONAL
EL SALVADOR
This nonprofit organization operates on the premise that one path to
a less strife-torn world is to empower selected individuals and
organizations in conflicted areas and to stimulate, on a small scale,
constructive development through reconciliation and collaboration.
Peace International currently has two project partners that represent
constructive responses by Salvadorans to advance the peace process after
twelve years of civil war that ended in 1992. One project is the
National Forest of Reconciliation, which is being planted in memory of
thousands of war dead from all sides in the civil war and also to help
some of the environmental damage that resulted from the war. The second
project is the Oscar Romero University.
The Oscar Romero University
This new university is modeled on the North American community
college model. Located in the rural province of Chalatenango, the
university offers two-year and five-year degree programs in education,
law, agronomy, veterinary medicine, and computer science, as well as
pre-academic programs for mature adults. Graduates are expected to
remain in their communities where they, along with the faculty, continue
to contribute to local socioeconomic development by opening new sources
of income and employment. Approximately half of the students receive a
scholarship to help with tuition.
Contact:
Peace International
U.S. Office
1700 Powder Mill Road
Silver Spring, MD 20903
Telephone: 301-439-4988
email: peace.int@verizon.netpeace.int@verizon.net
http://www.peaceint.org/
The Oscar Romero University (Spanish language)
http://umoar.edu.sv/
The African Child Foundation
Project (ACFP): Nigeria
ACFP is non-profit, charitable, advocacy agency and non-government
organization (NGO). The agency is committed to the overall well-being
and uplifting of the African child through the provision of necessities
and through the defense and protection of their rights, privileges,
needs, dignity and opportunities.
ACFP was established in August 1997, with headquarters in Lagos,
Nigeria. It has regional offices in Ibadan and Owerri. The policies and
programmes of the organization are coordinated by a Board of Directors,
while its activities are overseen by an Executive Director. ACFP is a
product of the observation that Africa and indeed Nigeria are
experiencing record increases in the proportion and number of children
who are neglected and abused. The scope of the operation includes the
hinterland and rural areas, and a grass-roots approach is used.
ACEP is a member of Development Information Network (DEVNET), the
Child Welfare League, and the Child's Rights Information Network.
THE MISSION is to render essential services to the children and to
sensitize the peoples and governments of Africa -- starting from Nigeria
-- on the sacred task of taking care of neglected children. Age-old
traditions of communality and being one's brother's keeper are
disappearing as a result of industrialization, rapid urbanization and
economic hardships, and the numbers and proportions of neglected, abused
and mistreated children overwhelm the existing systems.
Growing up is not an unpainful experience -- not for Nigerian
children, especially in these economic times. Still there is something
remarkable about the way in which the environment is shaping their
experience and perception. Nigerian kids just like kids from other parts
of the world, may not be good at listening to their elders, but they
have never failed to imitate them. The minds of young stars are as sharp
as their ideas are illuminating. They lack the profundity of the sage,
yet Nigerian children on whom hope for a brighter future for the country
is reposed, are quite clear in their minds about their likes and
dislikes. Things they like about Nigeria range from the dynamism of the
country (which derives from its share size, culture and diversity) to
richness in human and material resources, efforts at national
self-sufficiency, fashion, and the country's prominence in African
sports. Because of favoritism, however, many of Nigeria's children and
youth are denied their rights in the society. This applies to admission
into schools, enlistment into the Armed forces, health care delivery,
and even choice of profession. As a result of such predicaments,
children often resort to street trading and serving as house boys and
girls. Some are taken across the border to other countries to do slave
labour.
LONG TERM GOALS OF ACEP
- To establish community centers and welfare clinics for
children.
- To provide educational facilities and recreational centers for
children.
- To assist children to realize their abilities, to be more
self-reliant, and to attain higher quality of life.
- To contribute to the elimination of all forms of violence and
discrimination against children.
- To encourage the re-evaluation of cultural traditions, to preserve
beneficial practices and eliminate harmful ones.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF ACEP
- To raise and intensify awareness of the dangers of and consequences
of abusing, neglecting and mistreating children.
- To conduct and promote research into all the relevant areas of child
care.
- To sensitize policy makers and governments on the need to pursue a
sustainable development programme for the children.
- To initiate and stimulate debates on the status and conditions of
the children in Nigeria.
- To highlight the negative position and embarrassment that children
who are sexually harassed face in our society.
- To collaborate, cooperate and network with other organizations
(rural, national and international) that are committed to and concerned
with the well-being and better life for the children.
- To engage in other activities which will facilitate the realization
or our aims and objectives.
Contact:
Diala Edwin Lionel, Executive Director
African Child Foundation Project
Box 793 GPO
Marina Lagos, Nigeria
Telephone: 080-333-29403
E-mail: eddiala@hotmail.com or africhildproject@yahoo.com
The American Cultural
Institute of Beijing (ACIB)
The American Cultural Institute of Beijing is a newly established
education service center sponsored by the America-China, a service
organization supported by the Utah State Government of the United States
of America and the State Science Technology Commission of the People's
Republic of China. The organization has connections with the top 100
universities in China and a good relationship with the Ministry of
Education of China and all of the local educational administrative
organizations.
THE MISSION "is to provide opportunities for uniquely personal
interaction between American and Chinese people. By sharing their
backgrounds with one another under a spirit of partnership, the people
involved will recognize common dreams and values and will also learn of
each individual's unlimited potential to better our world. We are
dedicated to providing the most unique and effective means of
accomplishing these ideals."
Programs include:
• Educational Support Center, which provides people of America
and China with mutual exploration on a uniquely personal level, with
customized exchange programs, study abroad programs, business
enhancement trips, and other activities.
• Cross-Cultural Enhancement Center, which offers
curriculum-specific programs based on the organization's own ideas.
Program packages are in five categories: (a) college and high school
exchange programs; (b) cultural engagement programs; (c) politics and
society focus; (d) summer business programs; (e) international MBA
forums.
Cultural intensive classes for teaching American values and customs
are part of the Cultural Enhancement Center. The Politics and Society
Focus assists foreigners in understanding Chinese politics and society,
including language study; political science classes; visits and lectures
from government representatives; tours of welfare organizations,
government-related sites, and other sites.
Exchange programs are organized to encourage personal interaction
between American and Chinese college and high school students. In
addition, the Cultural Resource Center houses a multimedia library
focusing on American culture and education, which is expected to become
China's most extensive provider of media focused on American culture.
You are invited to send materials about American universities,
businesses, and any American ideals that you endear.
American Cultural Institute of Beijing
19th Floor, Wanshang Plaza
11 Shijingshan Road
Beijing, China 100043
Telephone: (0086) 10 889 15223 -- OR -- 889 16103
Fax: (0086) 10 889 15221
email: acib@sino.com.cn
Web site: http://www.edupioneer.com.cn (to become
bilingual)
Asssociation of Foot and Mouth Painting
Artists Worldwide
In 1956 a worldwide artists' organization was founded in the
Principality of Liechtenstein by mouth painter Arnulf Erich Stegman
(1912-1984). Currently, about 500 mouth and foot painting artists all
over the world belong to the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting
Artists Worldwide (AMFPA).
By organizing a wide range of exhibitions, selling original art
works, and permitting publishing houses to reproduce their works as
greeting cards and calendars, AMFPA ensures that artists with physical
disabilities can achieve self-fulfillment.
For artistically active people who, as a result of illness, accident
or a congenital disability, are unable on their own to make their works
known to a broader public, the Association has become an extended
international family which ensures their artistic development and a
large degree of financial independence.
The Web site includes an art gallery and artist searches, by country
and by name. In addition, the online shop displays a selection of
AMFPA's international range of products: greeting cards, calendars, and
other items featuring designs by mouth and foot painting artists.
FL-9494 Schaan
Im Rietle 25
Furstentum, Liechtenstein
Telephone: 423-232-11-76
Fax: 423-232-75-41
http://www.amfpa.com/
English, German, Spanish, and French languages
Doctors Without Borders
(Mèdecins Sans Frontières)
Doctors Without Borders' 2000 volunteers put their personal lives and
careers on hold to save lives in some of the world's most remote and
dangerous trouble spots. Since its foundation in the early 1970s, this
organization has adhered to the fundamental principle that all disaster
victims, whether the disaster is natural or human in origin, have a
right to professional assistance, given as quickly and efficiently as
possible. National boundaries and political circumstances or sympathies
must have no influence on who is to receive humanitarian help. By
maintaining a high degree of independence, the organization has
succeeded in living up to these ideals. In critical situations, marked
by violence and brutality, the humanitarian work of Doctors Without
Borders enables the organization to create openings for contacts between
the opposed parties. At the same time, each fearless and
self-sacrificing helper shows each victim a human face, stands for
respect for that person's dignity, and is a source of hope for peace and
reconciliation.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1999
to Doctors Without Borders, in recognition of the organization's
pioneering humanitarian work on several continents.
U.S. Headquarters:
Doctors Without Borders
6 East 39th Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10016
phone: (212) 679-6800
fax: (212) 679-7016
email: doctors@newyork.msf.org
Web site: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org (English
language)
Eurasia Foundation
The Eurasia Foundation promotes the advancement of democratic
institutions and private enterprise in twelve host countries: Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova,
Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The Eurasia
Foundation believes that societies function best when citizens take
responsibility for their own civic and economic future. Foundation
programs seek to promote the skills and vision necessary to bring the
greatest social and economic benefits to individuals and their
societies.
The Eurasia Foundation employs the following methods to achieve its
mission:
• Grantmaking programs for host country organizations and
individuals;
• Grantmaking programs for American and other organizations
working with partners in the host countries; and
• Projects initiated and managed by the Foundation.
The Eurasia Foundation works from its headquarters in Washington,
D.C., and its seven NIS regional offices in Kyev, Moscow, Saratov,
Tashkent, Almaty, Tbilisi, Vladivostok, and Yerevan. The Foundation also
has branch offices in Ashgabat, Baku, Bishkek, Chisinau, Dushanbe,
Gyumri, and Minsk and works with local representatives in eleven NIS
cities. The staff includes thirty-eight Americans and more than seventy
citizens from NIS countries.
The Foundation was incorporated in the District of Columbia in 1992
and began making grants in June 1993 and, with an initial grant of $75
million from the Agency for International Development (USAID) and has
maintained a core program of roughly $20 million a year ever since. In
1997, the Foundation received additional USAID funding to continue the
core program at a comparable level. Since 1995, the Foundation has
raised over $22.9 million from non-U.S. government sources to provide
additional support to its field programs.
In its seven years of existence, the Foundation has authorized
several outside evaluations of the programs it has supported. All have
offered strong endorsements of the Foundation's direction. Through these
evaluations and its own regularly scheduled monitoring and evaluations,
the Foundation ensures that grantees use funds efficiently. This review
process also permits the Foundation to assess the changing needs of
grantees.
1350 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20036 U.S.
Telephone: 202-23407370
Fax: 202-234-7377
email: eurasia@eurasia.org
http://www.eurasia.org/
English language
Human Rights Watch
http://www.humanrightswatch.org/
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of
people around the world -- standing with victims and activists to
prevent discrimination, uphold political freedom, protect people from
inhuman conduct in wartime, and bring offenders to justice. This
independent, nongovernmental organization is supported by contributions
from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no
government funds, directly or indirectly.
Human Rights Watch investigates and exposes human rights violations
and holds abusers accountable; challenges governments and those who hold
power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights
law; enlists the public and the international community to support the
cause of human rights for all; and reports on human rights in regions of
the world and on specific rights issues.
Internships
Academic semester and summer internships for undergraduate and
graduate students are available in the New York, Washington, and Los
Angeles offices as follows:
Regional divisions: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe/Central Asia,
Middle East/North Africa.
Thematic divisions: Arms, Children's Rights (New York only), and
Women's Rights.
Special initiatives in New York: Prisons, free expression, academic
freedom, refugees, and the campaign for an International Criminal
Court.
Special initiatives in Washington, DC: Business and human rights, the
campaign to ban landmines, labor and human rights, and human rights in
the United States.
Organizational support in Washington, DC -- advocacy; in New York
City -- communications (including publications and the press office),
the general counsel, the HRW international film festival, and the UN
representative; in New York and Washington -- finance, human resources,
network administration; in New York and Los Angeles -- development
(including special events, membership, major gifts, and grant
writing).
Graduate interns monitor human rights developments in various
countries, draft reports on human rights conditions, and engage in
advocacy efforts aimed at curtailing human rights violations.
Undergraduate internships are primarily administrative and clerical in
nature, but other projects can be assigned as they arise and match the
student's interests and abilities, including research, drafting
documents, translating, and helping researchers prepare for
missions.
Internships are generally unpaid, although work-study funds are
available. Academic credit can usually be arranged, as HRW interships
offer direct exposure to the workings of an international human rights
organization, close supervision by HRW staff, interaction with other
U.S. and international organizations and foreign and domestic officials,
and opportunities to attend lectures and special events relating to
human rights.
Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Avenue,
34th Floor
New York, New York 10118-3299 U.S.
Telephone: 212-290-4700
Fax: 212-736-1300
Email: hrwnyc@hrw.org
Human Rights Watch
1630 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20009 U.S.
Telephone: 202-612-4321
Fax: 202-612-4333
Email: hrwdc@hrw.org
Human Rights Watch
11500 W. Olympic Blvd, Suite 445 Los Angeles, California 90046 U.S.
Telephone: 310-477-5540 Fax: 310-477-4622 Email: hrwla@hrw.org
Information at the web site is in English, Russian, Arabic, Spanish,
French, Portuguese, and Chinese languages
http://www.humanrightswatch.org/
Junior Achievement
http://www.ja.org
Junior Achievement's purpose is to educate young people to value free
enterprise, understand business and economics and be workforce ready.
Junior Achievement (JA) programs teach students to understand and
appreciate free enterprise. In the process, JA programs promote
entrepreneurism and economic self-determination while giving young
people the skills they need to play an active role in our global
economy. This is done by bringing volunteer business people into the
classroom to share their experiences with young people.
Junior Achievement International
http://www.jaintl.com/
Junior Achievement International (JAI) makes these programs
available in many countries. The mission of JAI International is to
recognize and serve Member Nations that develop and implement economic
education programs for young people through a partnership between
business and education. The programs are implemented by Member Nations
to help young people gain an understanding of:
- The importance of market-driven economies;
- The role of business in a global economy;
- The commitment of business to environmental and social issues;
- The commitment of business to operate in an ethical manner;
- The relevance of education in the workplace;
- The impact of economics on their future.
Motse Wa Badiri: A Camphill
Community for Vocational Education and Employment in Otse,
Botswana
In the Setswana language, "Motse Wa Badiri" means "the village where
people work." This is a Camphill Community located on Otse, a rural
village 45 kilometers south of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. Motse
Wa Badiri is a charitable non-governmental organization (NGO) that
offers vocational training, employment, and, where necessary,
accommodations and social support to people with disabilities. These
services are made possible through the operation of four
income-generating workshops in the Camphill Community.
There are several categories within which people with disabilities
live and work at Motse Wa Badiri.
Within the work and vocational training realm, there are two basic
categories. Sheltered employees and sheltered vocational trainees
receive board accommodations and social support, and receive pocket
money each month to meet personal needs. Employees and vocational
trainees receive a monthly wage and a variable production bonus.
Within the domestic realm, there are three basic categories. Some
people live in Otse Village and come to work each day. Some people rent
a room and cooking facilities at Motse Wa Badiri but are otherwise
essentially self-sufficient and self-supporting. Some people take part
in a shared communal life with the volunteers and their families; this
includes board, accommodation, and social, recreational, and cultural
activities.
More information is shown on the Web site (English language).
http://www.info.bw/~mwb/.
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps has three goals:
• To help the people of interested countries in meeting their
need for trained men and women.
• To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the
part of the peoples served.
• To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on
the part of Americans.
Currently, more than 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers are serving in 77
countries, working to bring clean water to communities, teach children,
help start new small businesses, and stop the spread of AIDS. Since
1961, more than 155,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, serving
in 134 nations.
The Peace Corps web site explains the program and how to become a
Peace Corps volunteer, and also contains news from Peace Corps sites,
volunteers' stories, a site map of Peace Corps locations, and other
information.
http://www.peacecorps.gov/home.html
PRO UNI-RIO Foundation --
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The PRO-RIO Foundation is a nonprofit organization concerned with
social development through activities and projects in many fields of
education, conducted independently or in partnership through public and
private entities in many regions of Brazil or abroad.
Activities include:
• Fund raising, management, operation of programs and projects
of national and international bodies;
• Planning, organizing, conducting, integration; promotion,
publishing; sponsoring studies, followups and assessments; events;
scholarships, internships, and awards;
• Acting as a social organization responding to the demand for
projects in cities, states, the country of Brazil, and abroad, in both
public and private sectors;
• Creation, execution, and coordination of congresses,
seminars, and professional development activities;
• Altruistic, philanthropic, cultural, and educational programs
that focus on maintaining the environment, volunteer and citizenship
practices, community welfare, and general support;
• Social programs supporting hospitals, health services, and
general management.
Renato C. Paes, Executive Director
PRO UNI-RIO Foundation
Av. Presidente Vargas
502/3 andar, Centro CEP 20071-000
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Telephone: 011-055-21-518-4554
Web site: http://www.prounirio.org.br.
Project Concern International
Project Concern International provides children, parents, and
worldwide partners with medical training, support, and health care
crucial to protecting the well-being of children and families. The
organization's programs save lives by ensuring basic medical care,
halting the spread of infectious disease, feeding those in need of
nutritious food, helping keep families small, safeguarding the health of
communities, and ensuring clean water. The organization operates ongoing
projects in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Romania, and Zambia/
By training people within a community and working with local health
ministries, Project Concern ensures that life saving health care
continues after Project Concern moves on to another area of need.
Additionally, Project Concern helps establish locally operated
community-based organizations to continue health care and training
efforts.
Programs focus on training volunteers to bring health care to their
neighbors; often these volunteers provide the only health care a family
will ever receive. In several countries, Project Concern also provides
medical training to health care trainers. These trainers, in turn, train
scores of health workers to protect the health of their communities.
This way, Project Concern is able to reach more than three million
people on a modest budget of just over $12 million a year.
The Web site includes information about, and stories from,
individuals who have been assisted by Project Concern, a photo library
and videos detailing the organization's work, and other information.
Project Concern International
3550 Afton Road
San Diego, California 92123 U.S.
Telephone: 858-279-9690
Fax: 858-694-0294
http://www.projectconcern.org
English language
World Vision
U.S.
World Vision U.S. is an international Christian humanitarian
organization serving the world's poor and displaced by providing
programs that help save lives, bring hope, and restore dignity. This
assistance is provided without regard to people's religious beliefs,
gender, or ethnic background.
World Vision U.S. shares opportunities for involvement in a
child-focused ministry that touches more than 70 million people each
year.
The web site includes links for visiting World Vision web sites in
many countries.
http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/master.nsf/home.
|
