Shonali Banerjee and Aliza Appelbaum are In-The-Field Representatives for GlobalGiving.  They are visiting projects in Morocco, Spain and France.  Here is their most recent "postcard" from France: 

On August 10, 2012, Aliza and I had the pleasure of visiting Association Rêves at their office outside of Lyon, France.  Rêves, an organization very similar to the Make A Wish Foundation, operates exclusively in France, helping seriously ill children under the age of 18 realize their dreams.  We met with Aurélie Tortosa, who coordinates requests and organizes the execution of the dreams, and her colleague Virginie Degletagne, who handles administrative and accounting duties. 

Virginie Degletagne, accounting and administration

Photos of realized dreams at EuroDisney!

Reves patient with Twilight's Robert Pattinson!

Reves patient gets a kiss at sea world in France!

Violette Zhu spent her summer volunteering with Chikumbuso through her scholarship program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Below is her electronic postcard from her time with Chikumbuso.

Seven weeks ago, Chikumbuso became a zoo. We have bright butterflies and soaring birds, giant lizards and cheerful fish. Everywhere you look there are animals, both familiar and exotic. Children beam and dance as our collection of critters grows. But don’t worry, the zoo is perfectly safe, and here’s why!

While I have been here, I have facilitated a school-wide mural project, among other things. Every week, a different grade contributes another share of the animal kingdom to the formerly bare basketball wall as they learn about the animals of...

“What’s a balloon’s least favorite type of music?”
See the bottom for the answer to one awesome camper’s joke!

Britt Lake, GlobalGiving’s Director of Programs, and I recently had the pleasure of spending a morning at Take 2, a camp for kids ages 6 to 11 with Aspergers and High Functioning Autism.  We had a blast!

The team at Take 2 has done an amazing job creating a fun learning environment for the kids. The camp has taken challenging tasks like recognizing emotions, looking at and thinking about the person you are with, and uncovering the mystery of friendship and made them fun with games and prizes. The camp is a kind, patient, and supportive atmosphere for the kids, who are...

Shari Davis & Ellen Currin are InTheField Travelers with GlobalGiving who are visiting our partners’ projects throughout Nepal. Their “Postcard” from their most recent visit in Nepal:

A two-hour bus ride from The Mountain Fund’s volunteer house in Kathmandu took us to the site of their women’s cooperative farming project. A few of the volunteers were participating in a home-stay program in the village, and we first dropped of their belongings, then began our two-hour hike to Mankhu Village Farm. This site contained the land and housing for their farming project, where women suffering from domestic abuse are provided safe housing and farmland for themselves and their children. 

We spent the day digging and planting around 100...

Mountain Fund land for farming project

One housing option for families

Tree planting

After a moment of embarrassment while searching for the building where Beit Almusica had its facilities, only to realize they had a two-story banner with their organization’s name on it directly facing us, Manmeet and I made it to the Beit Almusica offices. The Community Projects Manager, Melanie Atrash, greeted us warmly as we arrived at their very impressive facilities.

We took a seat with her and the founder of Beit Almusica, Amer Nakhleh and had some very strong and very delicious Arabic coffee as we discussed their role in the community of providing music classes to the Palestinian youth in their community of Shefa’Amer, Israel.

We learned in our meeting that Israel has three different types of schools, Israeli schools, Palestinian schools, and schools...

Loay teaching Miral at Beit Almusica

The Back of the Auditorium

Manmeet getting some piano lessons

Jacqueline Lee is an InTheField Traveler with GlobalGiving who is visiting our partners’ projects throughout Southeast Asia. Her “Postcard” from the visit in Indonesia:

On July 24, I accompanied Rachel House on a home visit to one of its patients – a 7-year-old boy who has leukemia and relapsed just before he was supposed to start the new school year. 

After visiting Rachel House’s office to meet the staff and nurses, we were off to the young patient’s grandmother’s home where he and his mother stay.  They stay here so that he can be closer to treatment and support.  The mother and grandmother welcomed us with warm, sincere smiles. The patient had been improving until recently.

When we arrived,...

Shari Davis & Ellen Currin are InTheField Travelers with GlobalGiving who are visiting our partners’ projects throughout Nepal. Their “Postcard” from their most recent visit in Nepal:

The atmosphere of One Heart Worldwide's office was calm and relaxed as we spoke to Mary Richards, the midwife and in-country coordinator of One Heart’s programs in Nepal. She spoke to us about the high rates of maternal and infant mortality in the remote area of Dolpa where one of their projects is being implemented. Mary gave us details on the current implementation of trainings for skilled birth attendants and community health workers.  Using government guidelines, One Heart Worldwide builds curriculum to be used in training various healthcare workers...

Equipment for Medic Mobile program

Staff with uterine prolapse training materials

Equipment for Female Community Health Workers

Jacqueline Lee is an InTheField Traveler with GlobalGiving who is visiting our partners’ projects throughout Southeast Asia. Her “Postcard” from the visit in Indonesia:

July 23, I met with Homeless World Cup Team 2011, Rumah Cemara from Indonesia. Immediately I knew it was not an organization like others - every person I met was not only laid back, cool, and “against the grain”... every person I spoke with was inspiring and open to share the challenges and experiences faced throughout life. 

When touring the organization, It was great to see the Homeless World Cup 2011 trophies for “Best New Team” and “6^th in Tournament”.  After taking a tour, I sat down with Ginan, the founder, and he...

Interviewing Rumah Cemara Founder about the HWC

Speaking w/ a Rumah Cemara member and HWC player

Jacqueline Lee is an InTheField Traveler with GlobalGiving who is visiting our partners’ projects throughout Southeast Asia. Her “Postcard” from the visit in Indonesia:

On July 20, I was able to visit XS Project, an organization turning trash into quality products, creating jobs, and providing educational scholarships.

I arrived to the office and met staff doing everything from sorting and cleaning loads of trash, unused car seat covers, and old marketing banners, to working on product development, and sewing the products. I sat down with one of the sewers, and he explained he had been with XS since 2005. What brought him here? He said a friend was working at XS. He used to make seat covers for airplanes, but now he can make products from...

Trashpickers' community

Speaking with kids & moms