In 2019, the AllPeopleBeHappy foundation provided a Project Grant to CoCoDA (Companion Community Development Alternatives) to help the small rural community of Zacataloza in Nicaragua construct a new solar powered water system.  The project involves capitation of the spring, digging and laying nearly two miles of piping, the construction of a distribution tank, and the installation of solar panels and pumps.  CoCoDA reported that “One of most interesting aspects of this work was discovering what a perfect match solar power is for water systems…Solar power gives the communities independence, a public utility and a sustainable model for clean, affordable water.” 

Over the past 3 years, the AllPeopleBeHappy foundation provided a $120,000 Challenge Grant to a joint venture between LifeNet International and Global Emergency Care (GEC).  As a result of this joint project, nine LifeNet nurse trainers were trained at a dedicated GEC emergency care training facility in emergency care triage, assessment, and treatment skills.  These nurse trainers have gone on to train hundreds of additional clinical staff in 174 health centers in Uganda in some aspects of emergency care.  This may include triaging patients, fever, trauma care, obstetric emergencies, pneumonia emergencies, and neonatal emergencies requiring resuscitation.  More than 1,000,000 patients in Uganda have been treated by trained staff members, and we are seeing improved health outcomes in the patient population across the Masaka District of Uganda. 

The AllPeopleBeHappy foundation ended 2019 with a bang; we met and exceeded our Annual Fundraising Campaign goal of $100,000 with a final tally of $104,009.  Thank you, thank you to our donors.  The funds allow us to continue to grow and do good work in 2020.  For 2019, we expended $254, 205 in carrying out our five programs.  With our Opportunity Project, we provided solar power to 36 primary schools in Tanzania.  We funded the final year of our Challenge Grant to the joint venture between LifeNet International and Global Emergency Care.  With our Project Grants, we supported 13 projects in 10 countries.  We also granted 13 Volunteer Service Awards and made 4 Fellows Program grants.  We are proud of what we have accomplished and will be providing more details in the year ahead.

The Pangea Network was born over 13 years ago and exists to equip women and youth with education, life-skills and resources to improve their overall quality of life and realize their full potential.  The Network has over 600 active members in cooperatives across Kenya, and in 2017 created its Women’s Health Initiative (WHI).  The WHI provides much needed training workshops for greater understanding of the female reproductive system, the male reproductive system, sexually transmitted infections, the science of fertilization, stages of pregnancy, proper nutrition during pregnancy, the birthing process and menopause.  With the help of a $10,000 grant from the AllPeopleBeHappy foundation in 2018, the Network completed 11 workshops in 2017-2018, training 447 women in 15 coops (caring for 1,800 children).  A second $10,000 grant was awarded in 2019 to conduct 40 days of WHI training to 250 additional women in July to December of 2019.

A third $10,000 Project Grant has been awarded to A Breeze of Hope Foundation (ABH) in 2019 to support its school-based sexual violence awareness project in Cochabamba, Bolivia.  Since 2009, ABH has been changing school cultures and helping those who’ve suffered sexual violence to disclose the crimes committed against them and begin healing.  ABH has reached over 80,000 people through this longstanding effort.  During 2017-2019, A Breeze of Hope 1) conducted 192 workshops in middle and high schools in Cochabamba, reaching 10,872 students, 1,205 parents, 516 educators, and 552 school-based professionals and justice officials, 2) provided students with current information on their human rights, ways to get help, and the benefits of disclosing sexual violence, and 3) ensured that professionals trained in trauma-informed response are prepared to provide legal assistance, therapeutic support, social services, academic support and advocacy to children who disclose sexual violence during or after workshops.

Sunflower is a new non-profit organization founded by a 2017 AllPeopleBeHappy Volunteer Service Award grant recipient.  Sunflower currently runs The Sunflower Literacy Lab, located in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya, home to a community library space with seating for 80 students, as well as four academic classrooms, and an outdoor hall.  In 2019, with a second $10,000 Project Grant from the AllPeopleBeHappy foundation, the renamed Sunflower Global launched the PALE (Pathways to Alternative Learning and Education) program, a more structured education program for upper primary school girls.  The PALE program serves fifty poorly-educated primary school girls daily, providing students with a variety of alternative education and literacy programming, including extensive literacy training, reading and writing skills, sports and physical activity, counseling and social emotional support, and academic field trips. 

Established in 2011, Sunsar Maya is a small, non-profit organization based in San Francisco, California and Kathmandu, Nepal.  The services they provide are centered on after-school education, teacher training, and physical and mental health care.  They directly serve 185 children and women in Mahalaxmi (Lalitpur) and Jorpati (Kathmandu).  A second AllPeopleBeHappy Project Grant of $9,617 was awarded to Sunsar Maya for its SuMa Women’s Literacy Program.  This program teaches 90+ women in conversation and written English, Nepali, and mathematics.  The English skills enable students to use communication devices, i.e., cell phones and computers which use English characters.  By building the women’s literacy and numeracy skills in their native language, they can more easily manage daily tasks, such as shopping and paying bills, and perform life skills such as navigating government offices, using a bank account, and participating more fully in their communities. 

This Spring 3 volunteers with Manna Project International in the Los Chillos Valley, Ecuador were each awarded $1000 Volunteer Service Awards.   Kelly Teshima-McCormick and Gaby Hochu each were also awarded 2018 Volunteer Service Awards and have been in Ecuador since July 2018, planning to return to the US in August 2019.  Kate Clendenen has been volunteering since January 2019 and will also be returning home in August.  As Program Directors they help run the day-to-day operations.  For example, teach English to both children and adults, run libraries, teach nutrition and cooking classes.  They also work in partnership with a local shelter for adolescent mothers who are victims of sexual abuse.  Program Directors are given a degree of autonomy which enables them to propose and design programs with match their interests and skills.  Finally, each of the Program Directors are responsible for evaluating and tracking metrics or each of the programs they are involved with. 

Victoria Lichtman is spending 6 weeks this summer in the Mbarara District, Western Uganda volunteering with The University of Michigan Global Interprofessional Experience in Uganda (GIEU).  She received a $1000 Volunteer Service Award grant.  GIEU is part of a project that connects American social work, nursing, and medical students in civic community projects in rural southwestern Uganda for six weeks.  The aim of the project is two-fold: serve as a rotation for Ugandan health professional and to promote improved health outcomes and treatment-seeking behavior for individuals and families in the rural and remote areas of Uganda.  Victoria is the only social work student selected for this project and is joining a cohort of seven U-M nursing students and three U-M faculty members.  After her time in Uganda, she will be expected to report on her findings on current and developing community health interventions in the village communities where she was placed and on the role of social work in Uganda as a discipline and a professional practice.

Maria McDonough is spending 6 months in Bocas Town, Bocas Del Toro, Panama volunteering with Lacrosse the Nations!  She was awarded a $1000 Volunteer Service Award grant.  This new organization utilizes the sport as a conduit for grassroots development, helping to change the lives of youths via camps, afterschool programs, in-school PE classes, etc.  As a long-term volunteer for a this newly piloted program (their flagship location is Nicaragua), Maria will be responsible for wearing many hats under the label of Program Director.  Part of her days will be spent planning and coaching youth lacrosse programs and developing Life Skills Curriculum.  The other part will be filled with assisting with fundraising, marketing, doing community outreach, managing logistics for the volunteer groups, and taking charge of the measuring and evaluation processes.