As with all our reports, we’d like to start off by expressing our gratitude to all of you who have generously donated to this project.
You may have noticed that we reduced the funding goal for this project, meaning it is now fully funded. This reduced funding target is due to an organisational decision to phase out our welfare/poverty relief projects. We are replacing these less sustainable projects with income generating opportunities. Our aim has always been to make the communities less reliant on outside assistance.
While it has been useful in the past to give communities a helping hand with basic necessities, we’re happy to say that they have now reached a point where more sustainable projects are inline with their current and future needs. To read more about the changes to our focus areas, please click here.
Your donations towards this project have led the local community to a point where they are more empowered. Your generosity has also allowed us to focus our attention on projects that provide long-term sustainable solutions.
All the funds from the project have now been disbursed and have provided the following to the Shan Refugee Camp:
As this project will soon be closed, we hope to draw your attention to our education project within the same community. We feel that this education project will bring long-term positive change to the Shan Camp community and we truly hope that you will consider being a part of it:
Empower Ethnic Burmese Refugees Through Education
With sincerest gratitude,
Tom Rosen and The Branch Foundation Team.
Links:
Happy holidays all the way from Thailand!
The Branch Foundation would once again like to express our enormous thanks for your generous donations. The unwavering support you’ve shown has given peace of mind to vulnerable communities across South-East Asia.
Fortunately no emergency situations have affected South-East Asia since our last report. In light of this lack of disasters in the region, we’d like to bring your attention to a prominent food security concern we’ve been combating over the last year.
The residents of the Shan Refugee camp (Koung Jor), based in northwestern Thailand, have scarcely enough space to raise livestock or grow vegetables. This geographic challenge has led to a distinct lack of available protein, making the community prone to malnutrition and illness. Throughout 2012, we’ve supplied the camp with protein-rich Yellow Beans, ensuring that those in the community can lead healthier lives. This March, we plan to use $300 of your donations to continue providing the Shan Camp with Yellow Beans for 3 more months. Without these beans, health conditions within the camp would decline once again.
Your continued generosity is essential to the livelihoods of those in the Shan community. Upon realizing that people benefit as much from healthy minds as the do from healthy bodies, we recently launched an exciting education project based in the camp. We hope you can take a moment to click the link below and empower the Shan youth to realize their full potential:
Empower Ethic Burmese Refugees Through Education
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season,
Tom Rosen and The Branch Foundation Team
Links:
The Branch Foundation would like to say a big 'Thank You' to all those who have donated to this project so far!
Fortunately no emergency situations have occurred in the communities we work with since our last report. This means that after helping to rebuild the boarding house/orphanage at the Shan Refugee Camp, that we currently have US$ 866 left in the Emergency Relief Fund.
Although, the communities have been fortunate enough to not need emergency assistance since our last report, this does negate the importance of this vital fund to quickly respond to emergency situations. This week, two of our staff are visiting the Shan Refugee Camp to discuss possible ways in which we can further implement income generation opportunities for the community. This will mean that they can start building their own emergency relief fund so that they are self-empowered and free from the reliance of outside aid. However, until that point is reached, the community is extremely thankful for your part in putting their mind at rest and creating more stability in their lives.
We still have yet to reach our target funding goal, please share this project with your friends and family to enable us to do so and we will be sure to keep you updated as and when we use funds from this Emergency Relief Fund.
Once again, we'd like to express our sincere gratitude for your generous support.
Kind regards,
The Branch Foundation Team
Once again, we would like to sincerely thank every individual who has donated towards this vital project.
I’m pleased to inform you all that with the money that has been raised so far, we have been able to contribute to fixing the roof of the girl’s boarding house in the Shan Refugee Camp, which provides a safe and comfortable living/sleeping area for 10 girls who are either orphans or whose parents are not otherwise able to support them.
In recent months, the old thatched roof and supporting beams have been deteriorating quickly due to the rainy season. This has meant that the girls not only have been sleeping in an area that is becoming unsafe but also have been subjected to the outside elements. Many girls became sick due to the dampness in the boarding house and their quality of sleep was badly affected by the wet conditions. A quote from one of the girls from the boarding house is as follows:
“We don’t have worry for the rain now and we can sleep sweetly by listening the sound of rain drops onto our new roof. Before we were very worried if it was cloudy and there was thunder. We prayed for it not to rain but it rained anyway and we had to cover our clothes. Sometime we got wet because we had to cross the small lake in our house. Now all the water is gone. Thanks a lot to the donors”
As you can see, the girls are now able to sleep in a comfortable environment, maintain good health and also ensure that they can have a good night's sleep so that they can continue their studies at their full potential.
This shows just how important it is that we have a contingency fund in which we can quickly react to situations like these.
To see more pictures of the construction of the new roof and beams, please click the following:
Please continue to follow and support this project so that we can respond to emergency relief situations quickly and effectively. We will be sure to keep you updated!
With sincere gratitude,
The Branch Foundation
Links:
Firstly, we'd like to sincerely thank everybody that has donated to this vital project so far. The aim of this project is to enable us to quickly respond to emergency situations with the communities we work with and your generosity has taken us closer to that goal.
The disbursement of funds for the project from GlobalGiving has only just reached our Organisation's account, and we hope that with further donations from people like you, we can continue to build on this contingency fund so that unexpected situations can be rectified with the urgency in which they require.
In the past, The Branch Foundation has helped emergency situations such as school bus funding, food relief and new thatched roofs for houses which were affected by severe storms. These are the type of activities that your kind donation will allow us to quickly undertake in the future.
We hope that you continue to advocate and support this much-needed project, and we will keep you updated with any news regarding the activities we undertake from this vital contingency fund.
With sincere thanks,
The Branch Foundation
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