Give2Asia Giving Forum

GIVE2ASIA’S PHILANTHROPIC COMMUNITY TAKES ACTION IN RESPONSE TO CONSECUTIVE ASIAN DISASTERS

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Give2Asia, a U.S. public charity which empowers donors and local Asia-based charitable groups, is partnering with corporations, foundations and individuals to help on-the-ground organizations respond to recent disasters in Taiwan, Southeast Asia and India.

Since August, Give2Asia’s donors have supported disaster relief projects across Asia in response to typhoons in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, massive flooding in South India, and successive earthquakes in Western Sumatra in Indonesia. Donors have given over US$400,000 for disaster relief since August. Contributions to support disaster relief projects can be made online at www.give2asia.org/relief.

7.0 Earthquake Strikes Indonesia

Dozens have been killed and hundreds reportedly injured after a 7.0 earthquake struck Indonesia shaking buildings in Jakarta. The epicenter of the quake was located just off the south coast of Java,the country's largest island. The government is sending medical teams to affected areas to meet the needs of local hospitals and medical centers.

Give2Asia is monitoring immediate needs, and working with its partner The Asia Foundation in Indonesia to identify opportunities for donors interested in supporting local relief and recovery.

For more information on specific opportunities to support those affected, please contact Gillian Yeoh at gyeoh@give2asia.org or by phone at 415.743.3371.

(image: STR/AFP/Getty Images)

NGOs Put a New Spin on Microfinance & the Environment

One of the many satisfying parts of working in international philanthropy is coming across young, innovative organizations that are doing new kinds of work for impoverished and rural communities.

On March 12, Give2Asia was able to feature two such organizations during a spring wine reception for our donors, friends and trustees in San Francisco.  The two groups, Wokai and Photovoices International, working respectively in microfinance and the environment, beneift from energetic, well-spoken leaders and interesting, well-executed programs.  

WOKAI

Wokai's co-founder and CEO Casey Wilson explained how her organization's programs nurture microfinance in rural China by connecting donors to small entrepreneurs to receive small loans to start their own businesses. Through online community-building, it connects individual lenders in the US to borrowers in China, who are taking their first steps toward starting or expanding a busienss. Wokai, meaning "I start," allows impoverished people in China to start their own small businesses.

This organization benefits people like Zhang Rong who borrowed a loan of $900 to open up a hot pot
stand to support her son's high school education and increase her household income. Rong is receiving more than just money, she will gain confidence, economical independence, and the ability to support her family.

PHOTOVOICES

Ann McBride-Norton of Photovoices International offered an overview of how Photovoices was conceived. She then embarked on a narrative presentation of Photovoices' project sites with an accompanying slideshow. Sites include Lamalera Village in Eastern Indonesia, Yunnan Province of China and Boti Village of Timor.

Photovoices is a project that allows indigenous peoples to communicate their culture and way of life in a universal language, through pictures. The program trains the local people to use cameras, with a few workshops on technique and composition. Then for a year, the people document their way of life. Translators come in once a month, to capture the "words" to accompany these pictorial stories. The goal of this program is to get the local voice without losing meanings and important messages often lost in verbal translation.

To find out more about these organizations and how you can help check out their sites:

www.wokai.org

www.photovoicesinternational.org

Mumbai Attacks Reinforce Need to Solve Terror's Root Causes

By Birger Stamperdahl, Give2Asia

We at Give2Asia were stunned by the Mumbai attacks at the end of November. Taking place within the communities we support, these attacks are a reminder of the hard work that still must be done to promote prosperity and peace. It also highlights how quickly local problems can become global problems. To truly solve a problem such as the threat of terrorism in North America and Europe, we must think about the problem globally and in regions like South Asia.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, in an address to the United Nations in November 2007, talked about the causes of terrorism, and listed (1) prolonged unresolved conflicts and (2) social/economic marginalization as two of the key conditions that lead to this kind of violence. These are issues that global philanthropy is working to solve, and it may be cathartic, following the Mumbai attacks, to consider some groups that are doing work in Asia to support peace and prosperity.

We are highlighting groups in four countries where violence and poverty have put families at risk. The following projects take place in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, in places where the communities benefit from education and vocational training programs. These programs build understanding between groups and help to aid in personal recovery following periods of conflict.

(Above image courtesy of Reuters)

Transformational Social Entrepreneurs

By Betsy Merzenich, Give2Asia

Across the globe, social entrepreneurship is on the rise. In Asia and elsewhere, entrepreneurial individuals are directing their efforts at complex social issues, finding new solutions to meet difficult problems. These social entrepreneurs are characterized by an ability to identify new opportunities and a willingness to bear the inherent risks. Just as entrepreneurs transform business, social entrepreneurs have the potential to revolutionize society by seizing opportunities, inventing new approaches, improving systems, and transforming the status quo. Given the exciting and promising nature of the work of social entrepreneurs, we are interested in bringing visibility to their efforts, and have done so a number of times on this blog. This week we are profiling a collection of social entrepreneurs whose successful innovations are positively impacting millions of people throughout Asia.