The Virtual Foundation - your donation makes it happen
Past Funded Projects Supported by the Virtual Foundation 1996-2015
Proposal Summaries and Reports
10,000 Trees to Reduce Risk of Flooding
Goal: To reduce the risk of flooding by supporting the work of the Quebrada Grande community, who will plant and take care of 10 000 trees to protect its watershed.
Region: Central America, Nicaragua
Status: Completed Budget: $1100 Year Funded:2000
Comment: The strength of this project lay in the extensive involvement of the community, who did the design as well as the execution of the tree planting. Although it was
executed by one community, the project will benefit all downstream communities by reducing risks of flooding. Final Report
2001 Survey on Student Environmental Groups in China
Goal:To document the concerns and activities of university groups concerned about environmental issues, and to encourage environmental education in Chinese universities
Region: China
Status: Completed Budget: $990 Year Funded: 2001
Comment: This was a well-organized step toward building a network connecting student environmental groups in different cities and provinces. Final Report
Adopt Trees
Goal:To protect and cultivate thousands of saplings that the government had planted in a national park near Beijing. Volunteers paid for the travel to care for the trees. Funding paid for tools.
Region: China
Status: Completed Budget: $792 Year Funded: 1997
Final Report
Ark Newsletter (Fengzhou Newsletter)
Goal: To support the creation of a newspaper on ecological issues
Region: China
Status: Funded Budget: $500Year Funded:2002
Comment: Students at South West Forestry School in Kunming, Yunnan Province had recently formed an environmental group. The creation and distribution of a newspaper on local ecological issues was their own idea. Because of lack of continuity of leadership, the group never submitted a final report.
Artisans to Generate Sustainable Income from Forest Products
Goal: To increase the quality of the crafts and the organizational skills of 60 artisans, generating a higher income for their families.
Region: Central America, Nicaragua
Status: Completed Budget: $1100 Year Funded:2002
Comment: The pine needles collected by artisans for their crafts are not harmful to the local forests. They come from trees already on the ground and from the branches of trees cut for a local wood mill. Progress Report
Basketball for Wheelchair Participants
Goal: To build strength, endurance and self-confidence, and reduce motion disorders among people newly disabled with spinal injuries
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed Budget: $605 Year Funded:2001
Comment: Basketball is a very popular and respected sport in Lithuania. The opportunity to participate in wheelchair basketball gives hope and social contacts to the participants, as well as valuable exercise. Final Report
Bills and Feathers: Environmental Education Exchange with China
Goal: To supply bird watching materials to young people in China, and to develop international linkages between young bird watchers in the U.S. and China.
Region: China
Status: Completed Budget: $550 Year Funded: 1997
Comment:From the proposal: "Birds are indicators of environmental health or sickness. They provide an early warning system when things are not well with the environment we live in. Birds migrate across continents and know no boundaries. They tell us that environmental health is a global issue." Final Report
Biosphere to Clean Up Water in Tajikistan
Goal: To clean up the water supply of the region and to involve the local inhabitants in environmental education and activism. Note: The Progress Reportdocuments the first steps.
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Completed Budget: $2178 Year Funded:2001
Comment: By increasing public awareness of a local health hazard & encouraging citizens to participate in actions for a cleaner environment, this project benefited civic consciousness as well as public health. Final Report
Bird Banding by Volunteers
Goal: To organize and train volunteers to participate in bird-banding activities in different regions of China; to raise public awareness of the value of ecosystems used by migrating birds
Region: China
Status: Funded Budget: $1139 Year Funded: 2002
Comment: This was the first-ever volunteer group to participate in the Chinese national bird-banding activities. Support for their costs for equipment and reference materials enabled them to educate themselves and contribute to this program. Though the group never sent in a final report to us, the Virtual Foundation staff received independent confirmation that the Green Earth Volunteers group had participated in these activities, with use of our funding.
Black Necked Cranes
Goal: To support the efforts of The Volunteers' Association for Black-Necked Cranes Protection in Zhaotong Prefecture of China to preserve this endangered species and its habitat
Region: China
Status: Funded Budget: $1200 Year Funded 2002
Comment: In October 2001, Virtual Foundation staff members traveled with Sun De-hui to the cranes' migratory habitat in Da Shan Bao, Yunnan Province. We met personally with local officials, farmers and village residents in this beautiful but impoverished region. Sun De-hui has made impressive progress in gathering local support for these birds; now international action and support could greatly help.
Bright Lights, Quiet Nights; Solar Energy for Nepali Community
Goal: To install Solar Electric Lighting in the local Buddhist monastery. This provides a clean source of indoor light, and improves human health (vision and lungs) by eliminating the indoor burning of wood and kerosene.
Region: Nepal, South Asia
Status: Completed Budget: $2500 Year Funded: 1998
Comment: This was truly an international cooperative venture between local communities and a motivated Nepalese enterprise with funded by Japanese donors. Final Report
Children's Ward for Busaawa-Mmanze Health Unit
Goal: to improve community health services for children in this region of Uganda
Region: Central & Eastern Africa
Status: Funded Budget: $1650 Year Funded: 2005
Comment: Construction of a children's ward will benefit the entire community. Children will receive a wider range of health services. The time and money that families currently spent to find hospital space for children at far away Health Units will be used for activities such as farming and taking children to school.
Chinese American Friendship Forest
Goal: To create a memorial for the three Chinese journalists killed during the accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in May 1999. This project had no set budget. Donations added trees, one by one, to the forest, between May 1999 and April 2000.
Region: China
Status: Funded Collected: $2430 Years Funded 1999-2000
Comment: People from the United States found a way to build bridges to the Chinese people in the aftermath of the NATO bombing. This project supported citizen-to-citizen international cooperation, and reverberated over many years, bonding those who participated from different nations. Progress Report
Chinese Environmental Leader Travels to U.S.
Goal: To enable Wang Yongchen, a dynamic environmental leader, to travel to the United States to participate in an international peace conference in June 2005, and to inform American audiences about her work.
Region: China
Status: Completed Budget: $1877 Year Funded: 2005
Comment: Wang Yongchen is an award-winning journalist and public speaker. For over a decade she has traveled around China documenting environmental damage and remediation efforts. She has won numerous cash awards, which she donates to Chinese environmental organizations. This was a wonderful opportunity for her to bring her message of hope and conviction to the United States. Final Report
Community Gardens and Sustainable Agriculture in Parque Nacional Pico Pijol
Goal: to improve nutrition and to encourage sustainable agriculture. This project coordinates members of different sectors of Honduran village societies, to develop long-term solutions to local problems.
Region: Central America, Honduras
Status: Completed Budget: $2598 Year Funded: 2002
Comment:This replaces two previous proposals: "Seeds of Hope: Gardens for Single Mothers" and "Community Nursery to Heal Hurricane Scars". Final Report
Connect Russian Activist Fighting Toxic Pollution to A Support Network
Goal: Andrei Kozlovich is a legal advocate on behalf of Russian children who are ill from exposure to toxic wastes. His work requires e-mail access.
Region: Russia
Status: Funded Budget: $440 Year Funded: 2000
Comment: Andrei Kozlovich continues to gather momentum and support for his work. Read Andrei Kozlovich's Progress Report, written February 2001.
Czech NGO Activists Seek Travel Grant To Promote Development Of Information Highway
Goal: Two activists working in the Czech Republic travel to an international conference and to the United States and Latin America, in order to exchange information concerning uses of the Internet in NGO work.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed Budget: $5500 Year Funded: 1998
Comment: This travel grant increased the level of cooperation between NGOs in Latin America and Central Europe. NGOs in these regions have much in common. These commonalities have been explored very little, as both regions have primarily focused upon contacts with the US and western Europe. Final Report
Demonstration of Sustainable Development in Rural Hungary
Goal: To model organic farming, sustainable forest management, housing alternatives, and ecotourism. Civil servants “on loan” can provide full time staff to supplement volunteer efforts, if living costs are funded.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Hungary
Status: Funded Budget: $385 Year Funded: 1999
Comment: This project represented a creative partnership between a citizens’ group and local government. It also tried to provide a creative and challenging alternative to growing consumerism in the region. However, the group did not have the capacity to fulfill its ambitious goals.
Developing Environmental Policy for Amursky Region
Goal: To support the development of environmental policy and precedent for the Amursky Region of the Russian Far East.
Region: Russian Far East
Status: Completed Budget: $1386 Year Funded: 1998
Comment: This project encouraged decentralization of policy making in the field of resource management. Environmental NGOs are providing their expertise to regional environmental officials, in order to protect the forests and the water of this ecologically sensitive region. Final Report
Development of Tourist Services in Central Asian Mountains
Goal: To establish locally-run tourist services in Fanskii Park and assist a community in establishing an NGO.
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Funded Budget: $2750 Year Funded: 2001
Comment: Helping the local community in the Fanskii Mountains establish sustainable tourist services for visitors to the park will benefit the area both ecologically and economically.
Distributing Information About Osteoporosis
Goal: To increase the level of knowledge about osteoporosis among nurses, to reduce the harm of the disease among potential patients
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed Budget: $550 Year Funded: 2002
Comment: This outreach project has provided specific information to an important group of care-givers, who in turn are imparting it to their patients. In response to the needs that emerged, the project successfully expanded beyond its original goals.Final Report
Dovainiai Peat-Bog Renaturalisation
Goal: The goal is to further restore a peat bog for the creation of wildlife habitat, with provisions for making the bog accessible to birdwatchers and school groups.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Funded Budget: $1100 Year Funded: 1997
Dukha Health Project, Mongolia 2007
Goal: To create a strategic plan for Dukha health care to be shared with local and national health workers in Mongolia, continue to create a Dukha Health Data Base, provide vitamins and research natural sustainable sources of vitamins.
Region: Central Asia, Mongolia
Status: Completed Budget: $16,147 Year Funded: 2007
Comment: In 2006, the project interviewed 75% of the Dukha families about their health needs. In 2007, the project finished the data base and has begun to advocate with the local and national health workers for a plan for adequate care. The project also supplied a solar panel, storage battery and solar lamp to the local elementary school, in addition to medical supplies to the Dukhas. Progress Report
Earthquake Relief - Loans for Village Rebuilding
Region: China
Author: ECOLOGIA (Vermont & Chengdu, China) and Rabbit King, Sichuan Province
Status: Completed Budget: $52,338 Years Funded: 2008-2010
Goal: ECOLOGIA's base of operations in China was Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Our project site was in the mountains west of Chengdu, where the 2008 earthquake damage was greatest. We used our existing on-the-ground capacity to deliver post- emergency relief aid to earthquake survivors. This included support for rebuilding and repairing damaged homes and village infrastructure. Progress Report
Comment: Our goal was to encourage villagers to engage in reconstruction that will be more earthquake resistant and also more environmentally friendly. We avoided some of the problems of post-Katrina and post-tsunami construction where people rebuilt the same kinds of inappropriate dwellings. In addition, we used this opportunity to seed the creation of community funds. Reconstruction and repair loans would be repaid to the community trust fund (over a period of one to five years). The community fund would then be used to promote environmentally and socially sustainable development, in response to the perceived needs of the villagers.
Update 2017: Ironically, our rebuilding support efforts succeeded only too well. The success and press attention to Qili Village was literally demolished by a governmental decree that forced relocation of all the villagers, several years after the reconstruction projects were completed.
Eco-Minded Youth to Clean Up Beach in Kazakstan
Goal: To restore a beach in the town of Atbasar so that the public may use it again and attract public attention to water pollution and its sources in the area.
Region: Central Asia, Kazakstan
Status: Completed Budget: $1658 Year Funded:1999
:Comment: Cleaning up the riverside beach has united youth groups, benefited public health and strengthened this community in Kazakstan. Final Report
Education for Life: Managing Diabetes
Goal: To start and run a program to educate Georgian diabetics in foot care, lifestyle management, and blood sugar monitoring; one of the goals is to reduce lower-extremity amputations among this population.
Region: Caucasus, Georgia
Status: Completed Budget: $3872 Year Funded:1999
Comment: Such preventive medical programs raise the quality of human life and health. Individuals are empowered to take control of this aspect of their lives; health professionals are able to see improvement in the population they care for. Final Report
Education for Rural Chinese Girls
Goal: To provide educational opportunities for motivated Chinese girls from rural families who are unable or unwilling to pay the girls' school fees to continue their education into middle school
Region: China
Status: Funded Budget: $3384 Years Funded: 2006, 2007
Comment: Many girls who show strong interest and ability are not supported by their families in their quest for education. The Rabbit King Poverty Alleviation Center (set up by successful Chinese entrepreneurs) identifies motivated girls from impoverished families, and provides them with scholarships and work-study opportunities. Starting in the Chengdu region, this program worked through schools which serve rural youth. Progress Report
Email: A Missing Link to Vital Information for the Armenian Public Health Center
Goal:: This project provided a complete e-mail station so that the Health Center can obtain outside information and consultation on the link between environmental conditions and health in Armenia.
Region: Armenia, Caucasus
Status: Funded Budget: $1078 Year Funded:2001
Comment: A Virtual Foundation Consortium partner, the Sacred Earth Network, provided valuable technical support to the Health Center, allowing it to develop its first direct and continual link to much needed foreign expertise.
Email Computer for the "Iskatel" Club
Goal: This group requested a complete E-mail station for communications, including publication and distribution of their own newsletter/journal, "Tourism, Ecology, Nature, and Us."
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Funded Budget: $1078 Year Funded: 2001
E-TV: Baltic Sea Video Will Promote Environmental Awareness & Action
Goal: To produce a video clip for Lithuanian television that promotes environmental action and cleaning up the Baltic Sea.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed Budget: $2227 Year Funded: 1999
Comment: Complex problems call for creative solutions - this project addresses the issue of environmental awareness in Lithuania in a way that will appeal to a wide spectrum of the population. Final Report
Ex Libris: New Hope for an Ancient Society
Goal: To open a public library in the Varketili district of Tbilisi, Georgia; to support residents of the district with information and access to news media so that they may become familiar with and involved in the changes in their society.
Region: Caucasus, Georgia
Status: Completed Budget: $1091 Year Funded: 1998
Comment: Varketili is one of the poorest suburbs of Tbilisi, Georgia. Most residents cannot afford a newspaper. Opening a public library is vitally important for the local community. It will fill the information deficit that was created by the financial and political crises. Final Report
Ex Libris II - Continuation of Varketeli Library
Goal: To sustain the Varketili library project in Tbilisi, Georgia, and to keep the facility open to the public until additional funds are obtained.
Region: Caucasus, Georgia
Status: Completed Budget: $550 Year Funded: 1999
Comment: The Varketili Community Based Organization started this library in 1998. The library is meeting a public demand for information and a place to exchange ideas in this low-income neighborhood. Final Report
Farmer-Monks Teach Children by Solar Power
Goal: To provide solar-powered electric lighting to monasteries in Nepal. Farmer-monks traditionally tend to the education of village children by kerosene or wood fire light, often at great risk to their eyes, lungs, and health.
Region: Nepal, South Asia
Status: Completed Budget: $1496 Year Funded:1998
Comment: International aid often misses remote villages in Nepal. Although they have very little, villagers matched Mr. Tamura's VF donation by providing shelter and food for technicians while they installed the equipment. Final Report
Field Research in Vilkija Region
Goal: Field studies and practical outdoor activities develop young people's feelings of responsibility toward their natural environment.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed Budget: $1087 Year Funded: 1997
Comment: Organizers and teachers worked in cooperation with a local museum, developing programs to combine ecological and traditional Lithuanian culture studies. Final Report
Fruits and Vegetables for Pregnant Uzbekistani Women
Goal: To improve the health of pregnant women by building a greenhouse to grow fresh fruits and vegetables.
Region: Central Asia, Uzbekistan
Status: Funded Could not be implemented due to the political crack-down on NGOs in Uzbekistan and confiscation of their bank accounts. With the approval of the donor, the Virtual Foundation eventually used this money to fund a family health project in South Korea.
Budget: $3619 Year Funded: 2006
Comment: This project would have improved the health of pregnant women and their babies in Uzbekistan, by growing fresh fruits and vegetables and distributing them to the most needy pregnant women during the cold season.
Give Injured Waterfowl Another Chance to Live
Goal: To create better conditions for injured waterfowl which live in captivity, designing a captive living environment that is closer to the natural environment that waterfowl are accustomed to.
Region: Balkans, Bulgaria, Central and Eastern Europe
Status: Completed Budget: $500 Year Funded: 2004
Comment This project was designed and carried out by a 16-year old volunteer at the sanctuary. Final Report
Gobi Women's Song - Documentary Film, Mongolian Nomadic Women
Goal: Through an educational film about nomadic women's health and lifestyle, to document a way of life that is disappearing as modern life impinges, providing nomads with an alternative to their traditional reliance on the environment.
Region: Central Asia, Mongolia
Status: Completed Budget: $59,257 Year Funded: 2006
Comment: This 73 minute film is being made available to Mongolians and to others who need to know about the sustainable life of some of the most remarkable people on our earth. Final Report
Green SOS Small Grant Fund - 2002
Goal: To support Chinese university student organizations as they develop and carry out environmental improvement projects on their campuses or in their communities
Region: China
Status: Funded Budget: $3000 Year Funded: 2002
Comment:The students took their responsibilities very seriously. They reported on these projects in 2003.
Green SOS Small Grant Fund - 2003
Goal: To support Chinese university student environmental activities in the less developed western interior provinces, as a student group organizes and carry out a small grant competition for environmental projects
Region: China
Status: Completed Budget: $3300 Year Funded: 2003
Comment: The Green SOS Council posts project proposals on their Green SOS website. Their decision-making process is visible to the public, as is the Virtual Foundation's. In their start-up year, they modeled openness and fairness in their own decision-making, and attracted participants from a variety of universities in different provinces.Progress Report
Green SOS Small Grant Fund - 2004
Goal: To provide opportunities to student environmental groups in the western interior provinces of China, by enabling them to administer and to apply for grants for their projects
Region China
Status: Completed Budget: $3300 Year Funded: 2004
Comment: Green SOS has built a dynamic network of student university groups by providing grant opportunities and by creating a transparent, decentralized and accessible process. Final Report
Green SOS Small Grant Fund - 2006
Goal: Through an annual student-run grant competition, to support projects initiated by Chinese university student groups throughout southwest China
Region: China
Status: Funded Budget: $3300 Year Funded: 2006
Comment: The Green SOS organization has worked for four years to encourage student environmental groups throughout their region of China. This project gives students - the future leaders of China - valuable experience in working with communities and local government agencies, and carrying out their ideas from start to finish.
"Green Wall" to Stop Desertification of the En Ge Bei Desert in China
Goal: To organize 20-30 Beijing students and their parents to plant trees during their summer vacation and create a "Green Wall" barrier against desertification.
Region: China
Status: Completed Budget: $1040 Year Funded: 1998
Comment: Desertification at the edges of the En Ge Bei Desert, located in China's Northwest, is causing sandstorms and altering the weather of China's interior. Final Report
Greening the Wounded Czech Landscape
Goal: to encourage the start of landscape revitalization in the Czech Republic, through one initial project
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed Budget: $1375 Year Funded:1998
Final Report
Help a Local NGO Fight Construction of a Nuclear Power Plant
Goal: To allow members of an environmental NGO to travel to Moscow and testify in proceedings to halt the construction of a nuclear power plant
Region: Russia
Status: Completed Budget: $220 Year Funded: 1999
Comment: Up against a complex Russian bureaucracy, the participants did not succeed in their goals. However, they deeply appreciated the financial support which made their efforts possible. Final Report
Help the Usolye Nature Museum
Goal: To develop a museum exhibit about Lake Baikal for public education of schoolchildren and adults in and around Usolye.
Region: Russia, Siberia
Status: Funded Budget: $1430 Year Funded: 1997
Hydroponics to Give Delinquent Youths a Second Chance
Goal: To provide juvenile delinquents in custody with work skills (maintaining hydroponic gardens; growing and marketing produce)
Region: Central America, Nicaragua
Status: Funded Budget: $1100 Year Funded: 2002
Comment:This project was designed to help troubled youths to gain experience and work habits that will prepare them to start a new life
Improve Mother and Child Health in Uganda
Goal:to improve access to medical treatment for expectant and child-bearing mothers; to increase community public health service
Region: Eastern Africa
Status: Funded Budget: $1850 Year Funded: 2004
Comment: The donation of $1074 was wire-transferred to the Mmanze Center in early 2004, so that they could start on the project, combining these funds and their local resources. December 2004: Thanks to several generous donors who selected this project, we received enough additional support for this project in late 2004 to enable it to be fully funded, including finishing the roof (the last step).
In the Shadow of Shamans: Reindeer Herders of Mongolia
Goal: To complete an educational film about Dukha Reindeer Herders' struggle to maintain their spirituality and way of life; these are now being changed by the forces of global warming. To continue traveling with and filming the Dukhas, because indigenous people take time to share their stories.
Region: Central Asia, Mongolia
Status: Funded Budget: $39,585 Year Funded:2011
Comment: In summer 2007 and 2008, extensive footage was filmed, including five shaman ceremonies, and interviews. The goal for 2010-2011 is to transcribe the conversations, log the footage and prepare the rough edit.
This film will be made widely available to Mongolians, to colleges and universities, and to community and faith groups. (Note: this budget reflects only what is needed to complete this multi-year project. More than $70,000 has already been invested.)
Keeping Toxics Out of the Samarkand Reservoir
Goal: To enable local citizens to monitor and prevent mercury and phenol seepage into the Samarkand Reservoir and River Nur.
Region: Central Asia, Kazakstan
Status: Completed Budget $346 Year Funded:1997
Comment: Supporting citizen monitoring efforts promotes public participation and democratization at the local level where real reforms first take root. Final Report
Launching the Virtual Foundation Japan
Goal: To support the start-up costs of the Virtual Foundation Japan
Region:East and South Asia
Status: Completed Budget: $2000 Year Funded: 1997
Comment: This $2000 grant led to the creation of the Virtual Foundation Japan organization and website, including web translation into Japanese. The VF Japan funded several projects in Nepal, and was affiliated with Virtual Foundation until 2002.
Leadership Growth for Green SOS Council
Goal: To encourage Chinese student initiatives by developing young people's capacity to run a small grants program
Region: China
Status: Completed Budget: $1760 Year Funded: 2002
Final Report
Let the Voices of Greens In Central Siberia Be Heard
Goal: To provide Valentina Dmitrieva and her Public Education Center of Sakha with e-mail costs, so that this remote region’s only e-mail connection for activists continues.
Region: Russia, Siberia
Status:Funded Budget: $495 Year Funded: 2004
Comment: The Center also provides information to the media, campaigns against polluting industries, lobbies for legislation, and operates environmental education programs for school children.
Libraries and Eco-Education in Central Asia
Goal: 40 members of the ecoclub, and 2000 schoolchildren of the Bishkek school "N77" will participate in ecological education activities such as nature studies and planting trees around their school. A public-access library on environmental issues will be established at the school. In addition, 4 regional libraries will be given $100 support grants for new books.
Region: Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan
Status: Completed Budget: $990 Year Funded: 1999
Comment: These projects will increase access to knowledge and will strengthen environmental activities at several sites in Kyrgystan and Tajikistan. Final Report
Linking US & Russian Communities Through Environmental Management Councils
Goal:To provide a Russian intern with training in a community-based approach towards environmental management systems, so that this model may be replicated in the Russian Federation.
Region: Russia
Status: Completed Budget: $ 5,285 Year Funded: 1999
Comment: Investing in the education and technical expertise of Russian citizens will have long term benefits for both Russia and the US. Final Report
Lorena Stoves to Protect Lungs and Forests
Goal: To build 100 Lorena wood-burning stoves in the community of Champigny
Region: Central America, Latin America, Nicaragua
Status: Completed Budget: $1710 Year Funded: 2001
Comment: Lorena stoves have various advantages over traditional stoves. They allow the smoke from burning wood to get out of the house, and therefore reduce the risks of lung diseases. Their design also makes them more fuel-efficient; they use half as much wood as traditional cookstoves. Final Report
Medical Staff House for Ugandan Community
Goal: to improve health and medical services provided by Busaaawa-Mmanze Health Centre
Region: East Africa
Status: Funded Budget: $1650 Year Funded: 2005
Comment: With a Staff House, the medical staff could be available 24 hours a day; this would greatly improve public access to health and emergency services
Musical Therapy for the Mentally Ill
Goal: To apply musical therapy for people with mental illnesses, in order to help them overcome their problems.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status:Completed Budget: $660 Year Funded: 2003
Final Report
Nesting Platforms for Storks in Lithuania
Goal To build stork nesting platforms in Taurage region in order to save the population of White Storks in Lithuania.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed Budget: $440 Year Funded: 2003
Final Report
Organic Foods to Heal Korean Infants and Children
Goal: To heal infants and children suffering from atopic dermatitis ("topi"), a painful skin disease prevalent in South Korea
Region: East Asia
Status: Funded Budget: $3619 Year Funded: 2013
Comment: The clinic, "Hwan-Hee's Home", treats infants and children by switching the entire family to organic foods (to avoid pesticide and herbicide residues, which are higher in South Korea than in any other nation), and providing a calm low-stress environment for daily visits.
Potpourri: Flowers and Employment for Single Mothers
Goal: To provide work and a source of income for single mothers through the creation of a potpourri micro-business.
Region: Central America, Honduras
Status: Completed Budget: $957 Year Funded:2000
Comment: Part of the profits will be used to help poor rural families to pay for medical exams, medicines and transportation to the hospital for their children when ill. Progress Report
Preserving History and Nature's Beauty
Goal: In order to continue their voluntary work and make it more efficient, the Friends of Vilnius University Botanical Garden would like to acquaint themselves with the activities of volunteers in the botanical gardens and heritage parks in Finland.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed Budget: $2200 Year Funded: 1999
Comment: The group will spend seven days in Finland touring arboretums and botanical gardens. Final Report
Promoting Alternative Energy to Prevent Deforestation in Tajikistan
Goal: To develop and demonstrate a biogas apparatus that will process organic waste materials and provide rural residents energy, thereby reducing deforestation.
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status:Funded Budget: $1760
Comment: The Youth Creative Coalition of the Tajikistan Academy of Sciences are responding to conditions of disrupted gas and electricity caused by a civil war.
Protecting Family Farms from Desertification in Kyrgyzstan
Goal: To prevent desertification of 30 hectares of farmland and renew this land for families in Kyrgyzstan by returning water taken from them by other regional farms after the break up of the USSR.
Region: Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan
Status: Completed Budget: $2310 Year Funded:1998
Comment: The livelihood of two hundred families was significantly improved, by providing them with a low-cost sustainable irrigation system. Final Report
Public Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Ashgabat
Goal: A water resource assessment of the Karanku-Gyunduvarski Reservoir will examine changes in water levels related to recent rapid development of hotels in Ashgabat (the capital of Turkmenistan). Scientists and social activists in this Turkmen NGO will prepare a report, conduct a public information campaign, and work with local and national governmental agencies to develop a realistic plan for sustainable drinking water use.
Region: Central Asia, Turkmenistan
Status: Funded Budget: $2904 Year Funded: 1998
Comment: This project could be a model for NGOs and policy makers in many other arid world regions which are also experiencing population and economic growth, and depletion of fresh water supplies.
Romanian Civil Society Experts Seek Travel Grant To Attend International Fellowship In Nonprofit Governance
Goal: Program participants from four continents will gather for two weeks of intensive training, workshops and networking on issues of board development.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Romania
Status: Completed Budget: $1540 Year Funded: 1998
Comment: The two representatives from Romania needed funding for their travel and visa costs, in order to participate. The National Center for Nonprofit Boards, Washington DC, covered all of their expenses inside the U.S. Final Report
Save the Beaver!
Goal: To protect Elbe River beaver populations by halting the construction of a dam.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed Budget: $880 Year Funded: 2003
Comment: Public participation in the siting and planning of development projects helps to balance the interests of humans, animals, and the ecosystem. Final Report
Schooling for Children in Matopeni, Kenya
Goals: To provide continuing support for sponsored children attending the school; To contribute to the Secondary School expansion project, to enable the children to continue their education
Region: East Africa, Kenya
Status: Funded over seven years, 2009-2015 Budget: $4000/ year
Comment: This project provides continuing support for an elementary and secondary school organized and run by the residents of Matopeni, a low-income area on the outskirts of Nairobi. The goal is to provide educational opportunities for orphans and children of destitute families. ABOUT THE SCHOOL: The school receives support from various neighborhood organizations. Their goal with this project is to raise money to cover school supplies (books, pens, paper, uniforms), daily lunch, etc. Roughly $212 USD covers the expenses for one child, for an entire year. NOTE: This district has a mixed ethnic/tribal composition; its people did not become involved in the violence after the 2008 Kenyan Presidential election.
Specialists Seek Training for Wetlands Restoration
Goal: To allow two specialists from Lithuania to travel to the US to gain valuable knowledge about wetland restoration.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed Budget: $3517 Year Funded: 1997
Comment: Currently there are few resources available in Lithuania to aid groups restoring wetlands. Training in the US enabled two specialists to return to Lithuania with needed information and strategies. Final Report
Storks in Focus
Goal: To build 3 new platforms, repair 2 nests, and monitor/aid around 200 nests in South Bohemia, North Bohemia (Czech Republic) and part of Slovakia in the year 2000.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed Budget: $330 Year Funded: 2000
Comment: Storks are severely threatened as a result of human activities within their habitat. By protecting their nests, this project contributed to their long-term survival. Final Report
Students Monitor Air in Beijing
Goal: Twenty students and 2 teachers will sample and test air in industrial and residential sites of Beijing. Students will use their project to raise awareness of air quality issues among other students and encourage environmental protection activities.
Region: China
Status: Funded Budget: $1100 Year Funded: 2002
Support for Environmental E-mail Center in Central Asia
Goal: To fund monthly e-mail costs for Yuri Skochilov. He distributes a bulletin on environmental issues in Tajikistan, and provides e-mail service to environmental groups who are otherwise isolated.
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Completed Budget: $138 [Year Funded: 1998
Comment: We have seen the extraordinary impact of e-mail access, which connects groups to outside information and moral support. Final Report
Thanka Painting School Supports Community in Nepal
Goal: The Buddha Darshan Club will provide the local community with painting skills to be used for job development.
Region: Nepal, South Asia
Status: Completed Budget: $3482 Year Funded: 2000
Comment: This project will bring greater independence through development of skills (teaching the ancient art of Thanka painting, and also basic literacy). Provision of a sustainable source of electricity - a solar photovoltaic system - enables classes to be held at night. Final Report
Traditional Sweets and Dairies: Women as Microentrepreneurs
Goal: To assist Uzbek women to organize small food processing micro-businesses.
Region: Central Asia, Uzbekistan
Status: Completed Budget: $1089 Year Funded: 2002
Comment: A group of 60 women is learning how to organize and run their own small businesses, preparing and selling traditional food products. This donation is making a real difference in a region where women lack access to training and credit. Final Report
Translating and Printing Worldwatch Paper 75
Goal: To educate the public about Soviet style reactors, this project translated, printed and distributed copies of Worldwatch Paper 75: Reassessing the Nuclear Power: The Fallout from Chernobyl, by Christopher Flavin.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Slovakia
Status: Completed Budget: $935 Year Funded: 1997
Final Report
Trees for Life-- Grow a Tree (First Year)
Goal: This project will provide funding for 140 elementary school students to grow saplings in their schoolyard, which will be later planted in the countryside.
Region China
Status: Completed Budget: $825 Year Funded: 1997
Comment: This project was so successful that it inspired the original funders to support its continuation and expansion in future years. Final Report
Trees for Life - Grow a Tree (Second Year)
Goal:Children learn to respect the natural environment through caring for their own small trees, from germinating in their classrooms, to planting outdoors.
Region: China
Status:Completed Budget: $1100 Year Funded:1999
Comment: This year's expansion of "Trees for Life" enabled children from 10 elementary schools in Xinjiang Autonomous Province to participate. Final Report
Trees for Life - Grow a Tree (Third Year)
Goal:Children from different elementary schools throughout China participate in this project, which consists of germinating and planting their own trees. They will also write short papers on their experiences.
Region:China
Status:Funded Budget:$500 Year Funded: 2001
Comment:The American donor, "Friends of the Fragile Earth", has ensured that this project was replicated and expanded to involve more schools and children in the coming year.
Trees for Life - Grow a Tree (Fourth Year)
Goal: To continue this education and reforestation project, in response to increasing interest from new schools in the Beijing and Xinjiang areas.
Region: China
Status: Funded Budget: $1430 Year Funded: 2003
Comment: Previous activities of "Trees for Life" involved hundreds of schoolchildren in planting and caring for their own trees.
Trees to Benefit & Beautify Community in Brest
Goal:To empower local residents by showing them that they can improve their environment and beautify their surroundings.
Region: Belarus, Central and Eastern Europe
Status:Completed Budget: $1661 Year Funded:1999
Comment: This project not only addressed an environmental issue in a Belarussian city, it also encouraged citizens there to organize and participate in civic activities. Local journalists were able to cover the story. Final Report
Tsunami Relief - Sri Lankan Community Support
Goal: To provide direct assistance - volunteer labor and building materials - to Sri Lankan communities damaged by the December 2004 tsunami.
Region: South Asia
Status: Funded Budget: $ 2,500 Year Funded: 2005
Comment:Tr-Ac-Net, an international accountability organization, worked with Volunteers Sri Lanka (VSL) to track the flow of money and volunteer labor into its Sri Lankan community projects, and to link these contributions to sustainable results. Working in cooperation with Sri Lankan community members, VSL aimed to provide appropriately scaled support and follow through, to identify the most effective and enduring impacts.
UN Chernobyl Expert Travels to US
Goal: To share and discuss the policy implications of the recent United Nations report, The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident. Hundreds of communities and millions of people in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are involved.
Region: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine (areas affected by the fallout).
Status: Completed Budget: $2755 Year Funded: 2002
Comment: Professor Cherp participated as the UN's ecological expert in the fact-finding commission which traveled through the affected areas in Summer 2001, and released its controversial report in February 2002. Final Report
Village Community and Nature Tourism in Estonia
Goal: To develop nature tourism, through such community activities as restoring meadows and building a camp by the sea
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Estonia
Status: Completed Budget: $528 Year Funded: 2002
Comment: This project encouraged a group in the Western Estonian islands, and was funded by other Estonians. Final Report
Vitamins for Reindeer Herders
Goal: To provide Dukha (Reindeer Herders) in Northern Mongolia with basic vitamins which they do not find in their environment, to promote better health and thus ability to sustain their lifestyle.
Region: Central Asia, Mongolia
Status: Completed Budget: $8667 Year Funded: 2005
Comment: Damage to gums, loss of teeth, and impaired vision are some of the signs of vitamin deficiency experienced by the Dukha; vitamins A and C will be of great help to them. Final Report
Wells- What is the Water We Drink?
Goal: Thanks to this donation, town residents and the local government in the city of Siauliai were informed about the pollution levels of their well water.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed Budget: $1090 Year Funded: 1997
Comment: Public education leads to constructive political involvement. Final Report
White Stork Protection in Czech Republic
Goal: To continue protecting White Storks in Czech Republic. Funding is needed to build new platforms, repair nests and implement bird monitoring this year.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Funded Budget: $550 Year Funded: 2005
Comment: This group has a strong record of combining professional expertise with community support to protect this beloved species.
"Wild Cherry Tree" Sustainable Desert Restoration
Goal: Planting selected indigenous species in a "tipping point" desert area will help to stabilize and restore a crucial ecosystem in Alashan, Inner Mongolia.
Region: China
Status: Funded Budget: $30,000 Year Funded: 2010
Comment: The Herders' Cooperative took responsibility for the long-term success of this project. The "wild cherry" (Prunus mongolica maxim, or Mongolian Bian Tao) trees yield an income-producing crop, valuable in traditional medicine, in three to five years. Companion plants provide additional forage for camels and goats, as well as stabilizing the soil.
Windows on Nature
Goal: To clean three parks in Vilnius and to make an educational film for the public depicting the beauty of these recreational areas.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Partially Funded Budget: $830 Year Funded: 1999
Comment: This project was only partially completed. Progress Report
Women Sewing for a Better Future in Nicaragua
Goal: To provide female heads of households with technical skills in dressmaking to facilitate their integration into the workforce and to improve their standard of living.
Region: Central America, Nicaragua
Status: Completed Budget: $5,742 Year Funded: 2001
Comment: Fundacion Nicaragua Nuestra successfully gathered the equipment to carry out the sewing courses, in advance of this project. Our donations covered the cost of hiring teachers and of lighting the workrooms. Final Report
Women's Health: The Power of the Printed Word
Goal: To create and disseminate quality informational materials for Lithuanian women regarding domestic violence, alcoholism, depression, breast cancer and the Women's Center services.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed Budget: $1650 Year Funded: 2002
Comment: Donors who funded this project helped to enable Lithuanian women to receive quality health care and social services information. Final Report
Youth to Preserve Nature and History in Czech Carpathian Mountains
Goal: To start an international summer camp of youth volunteers who will restore natural and historical sites, thereby catalyzing local preservation efforts.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed Budget: $374 Year Funded: 1999
Comment: The American high school students who chose to fund this project liked the idea of a teenage summer camp devoted to natural and historic preservation efforts. One expressed the wish to attend the camp himself. Final Report