Hello Everyone,
Thank you all once again for your incredible generosity during The Branch Foundation's fundraiser last month!
I am thrilled to announce that the Research and Capacity Building project has now been fully funded. Through all of your donations and a solid amount of matching funds from GlobalGiving, we raised over $4,000 for this project!
In the coming months, The Branch Foundation will receive all of this funding from GlobalGiving. Our first priority is to secure year-long Thai education visas for The Branch Foundation's Executive Director and Project Manager. Through mastering the Thai language, these key staff members will be able to effectively communicate directly with members of our partner communities. Without the use of a translator, The Branch Foundation will be able to establish stronger relationships with these marginalized populations by better understanding their needs and developing tailored projects to create sustainable community development.
The remaining funds from this project will be used to research and cultivate new partnerships within Thailand and South-East Asia. As I mentioned during the fundraiser, The Branch Foundation has successfully implemented several projects within the Koung Jor Shan Refugee Camp and with the CCPCR at-risk girls shelter in Phnom Penh, Cambodia among others. We recently visited the project in Cambodia (documented in a blog post from Iona, our Executive Director: http://thebranchfoundation.tumblr.com/) and received overwhelmingly positive feedback regarding our landmark solar panel project at the Shan Camp (documented in a final report from Tom, our Project Manager: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/solar-lighting-for-600-burmese-refugees/updates/).
Given these recent successes, we at The Branch Foundation are now even more confident that we can effectively implement these project models within other marginalized South-East Asian communities. We plan to use your funding to extensively research which populations are in the direst need of our help, visit these sites and meet with community members, and create promising new projects in order to continue growing the organization.
This will be the final report from this particular project, however, we will keep you updated on all of the exciting new developments at The Branch Foundation through our quarterly newsletter! And please never hesitate to contact me at shonalibanerjee@thebranchfoundation.org.
Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart-- not just for supporting The Branch Foundation, but for always supporting me in my global endeavors. I promise to make you proud.
With love and gratitude always,
Shonali
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Firstly, we'd like to thank you again for your generous donations towards this project. Giving the children at the Shan Refugee camp the opportunity to better their education is a truly wonderful gift -- one that will last forever.
With the funds we have received so far, we managed to pay 6 months of wages for both the resident computer teacher and project/education coordinator. This not only rewards them for their dedicated work but also creates an incentive for their students to pass down the knowledge they've gained to their own community in the future.
We've included a couple of videos below so you can see firsthand the benefits that you have helped bring to the youth of this vibrant community:
Since the creation of this project, another donor has provided enough stationary to the refugee camp to last them well into the future, so we decided to reallocate money for much needed school desks (15 in total).
Whilst many people would simply buy the desks from the shop, the community members decided to build the desks themselves. This not only shows that they make the most of the money that is donated but that they utilise skills that exist within the camp. The building of the desks brings welders, carpenters and other residents (including the children themselves -- they provided the final coat of paint!) together.
We sincerely hope that you follow this project along its journey and perhaps let your friends and family know how they too can bring hope and empowerment to people who would otherwise receive little or no help at all.
Many thanks,
Tom Rosen and The Branch Foundation Team
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Over the past two weeks, our on-site Project Coordinator has been hard at work interviewing the residents of the Shan Refugee Camp, the community which you helped bring clean and green lighting to in 2012. The interviews assessed how the solar panel project has affected their lives over the last year.
We are very proud of the results, and you should be too. You are the ones who helped us make 'the world's first solar-lit refugee camp'! The project had three main objectives - to reduce fire risks in the thatched houses, allow the children to study after dark and to save the household's money. Camp residents previously spent high amounts on expensive candles and kerosene lamps. Here is a summary of what the residents had to say and the benefits of the project within the refugee camp:
Not only did the project achieve the objectives we set but it also allowed some residents to carry out other activities with the improved lighting such as weaving, embroidery and making thatched roofs at night. Many residents also mentioned an improvement in their health due to not having to breathe in the smoke from the kerosene lamps/candles.
Here are some quotes from the residents themselves:
Loung Kaw La (46 years old) - "I can see that my son's English is getting better as he reads out loud at night."
Nong Kam Kham (30 years old) - "I am very happy to be using solar lighting as my little girl was previously badly burnt from a candle and still carries scars. Thank you very much to The Branch Foundation and it's supporters. I can now save money and use it for different purposes. I have safer light for my children so I wish you a brighter life!"
Mae Tao Yen (75 years old) - "I have less headaches and bad smells in my house due to not having to use kerosene lamps."
One thing that was brought to our attention from reading the interviews was that some of the bulbs which came with the solar lighting pack did not last very long. Since hearing this information, we are committed to replacing them with light-emitting diode (LED) strips which not only last a lot longer but are even brighter!
You can see the faces of the residents and read ALL their opinions about the Solar Panel Lighting project by downloading the following documents.
Interviews Part 1 (5.7 MB)
Interviews Part 2 (6.4 MB)
As you can see, you really can make a large difference to the lives of people in this vibrant community. Please consider donating to our EDUCATION PROJECT in the same refugee camp. Remember that GlobalGiving is matching ALL donations by 30% on the 13th of March starting at 2PM GMT, making your donation go that much further!
Many thanks,
Tom Rosen and The Branch Foundation Team
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