Please browse our archive of stories posted by Omprakash administrators.
Interactive Education Work in GuatemalaApril 23, 2012 This week’s featured volunteer is Alyssa Hoyle. Alyssa is in the middle of volunteering for four months at Escuela de la Calle (EDELAC), a health and education organization in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. EDELAC has been working to prevent impoverished children from needing to live and work on the streets, and to reintegrate children already living on the streets since 1995. EDELAC’s school is the focal point of the organization's work, where over 190 street children and at-risk children between the ages of 5 and 15 have access to comprehensive education in math, reading, writing, nutrition, Mayan culture, indigenous languages, art and ecology. Alyssa Hoyle is one of a few volunteers currently working at EDELAC. With a background in International Affairs and experience in Spain and Ecuador she has contributed in many ways to EDELAC's goals.... |
Advocacy and Infrastructure Work in Cameroon, AfricaApril 06, 2012 This week's featured Partner is Water Collective, located in Ekanjoh Bajoh, Cameroon. The Water Collective designs and implements infrastructures that create sustainable water systems and opportunities for growth in a wide range of work for entrepreneurs, maintenance infrastructures, microfinance initiatives, marketing schemes and a variety of other areas. Like many of our Partners, Water Collective is a grassroots organization seeking the support of donations and volunteers. WC has projects for volunteers with skills/interests in engineering, economics, community outreach, documentation and fundraising. The mission of Water Collective “is to build projects that deliver a lifetime supply of clean water,” a goal that is essential to community health and requires passion and hard work by community members and volunteers to achieve. There are four project areas... |
Hands-on Volunteer Nutrition and Tutoring Work in UgandaMarch 23, 2012 This week's featured Partner is Youth Vision Uganda, a health and education organization operating in Kati Kati Village, Lacor, and the Gulu District in Northern Uganda. Like many of our Partners, YV Uganda is a grassroots organization seeking the support of volunteers with skills in education and youth development. Founder Pat Robert Larub created his organization in 2007 to respond to the needs of quality education, greater nutrition and community building through athletics in Ugandan children. today he says there are more opportunities for education, peace and stability for the children involved with YV Uganda, but there are still many youth in need. YV Uganda has continued to grow and continues to enhance their programs through the hard work of volunteers and generous donations to their education and nutrition... |
Scholarship opportunity for Omprakash alumni!March 20, 2012 We are excited to announce a scholarship opportunity for Omprakash alumni from one of our partner schools, The Monterey Institute of International Studies! Qualified Omprakash alumni who are admitted to one of the degree programs at the Monterey Institute will receive a minimum $10,000 annual scholarship. The Institute has also agreed to extend the deadline to May 15th for Omprakash alumni who want to begin a program in the fall of 2012. For more information please contact Devin Lueddeke. For more information on the degree programs, please visit www.miis.eduThe Monterey Institute of International Studies, a graduate school of Middlebury College, prepares students for professional careers with master of arts degrees in international policy, public administration (MPA), translation and interpretation, language teaching... |
Free Volunteer Gardening Work in HaitiFebruary 20, 2012 This week our featured partner program is Haiti Communitere, a Haitian based organization that strives for International and Haitian groups to work as a community on multiple projects in order to respond to needs not being addressed as well as coordinating a Sustainability Resource Center. Earlier this week Haiti Communitere briefed us through our "stories page" with an incredible view into one of the many projects they are involved in. HC volunteers Stacey Cooper and Sierra Dunn are spearheading a project with a group of boys ranging in ages from 9 to 15 years old in the creation of a community garden from an unused and overgrown section of land on the property of REBUILD Globally (a partner organization of Haiti Communitere). These six young boys, John (“Boot”),... |
The 1,000 Mile JourneyFebruary 14, 2012 In 2008, Vance Walstra received an Omprakash Volunteer Grant to work with a Partner in Peru. This past fall, he traveled by bicycle on an epic outreach tour that spanned 1,000 miles and crossed three state lines.Today, we are pleased to release a new video documenting Vance's journey! Watch Vance in action in this feature short film and ask yourself: "Where will Omprakash take me?"Special thanks to Carlo Ricci and Adele Thomas for their creativity and vision, Vance Walstra for his tenacity and thigh muscles, and Lacey Worel... for everything.... |
Partners! Interested in an Atlas Corps Fellowship?January 27, 2012 To all interested Partners:The Atlas Corps Fellowship is a 12-18 month professional fellowship offered three times a year. Fellows serve full-time at Host Organizations located either in the United States or Latin America working on issues that complement their expertise. Fellows develop their leadership skills while sharing best practices and supplement daily knowledge with theoretical topics presented in the Atlas Corps Nonprofit Management Series.For more information, please visit http://www.atlascorps.org/apply.php. |
2012 Costa Rica Workshop: Call for Presenters!January 15, 2012 We encourage all members of our network to consider participating in our upcoming Cross-Cultural Education Workshop in Playa Potrero, Costa Rica! Call for PresentersEven if you can't attend in person, it is possible that you can deliver a presentation over Skype. The deadline for proposals is April 1st. Please refer to these instructions when submitting your proposal to present. You will be notified about your acceptance by April 15th.Below we list the 6 topic areas for the 2012 Workshop, and, an extra-curricular category for evening and morning activities:I. Global Education(e.g. dual language instruction, language acquisition, literacy, math, special needs, project-based learning, arts-integrated learning, pedagogical frameworks, teaching for social justice, learning through inquiry, wellness in a learning community, multiple intelligences & differentiated learning, country-specific education system overview, positive... |
2012 Costa Rica Workshop: Travel Stipend and Volunteer GrantJanuary 15, 2012 We are getting excited for our upcoming Cross-Cultural Education Workshop! The workshop will be hosted by Abriendo Mentes, an Omprakash Partner based in Playa Potrero, Costa Rica, and will run from July 2nd-6th, 2012. Learn more now!Travel Stipend AvailableTo help bring together diverse members of our network-- especially Partners from Latin America-- we will be offering a limited number of stipends to help defray the costs of travel to Playa Potrero. To apply for a stipend, please send a letter of interest to info@omprakash.org in which you address the following questions:-Who are you, and what is your involvement in the Omprakash network?-What do you expect to gain from attending this workshop, and what do you expect to contribute to it?-What will be your... |
Thanks for a great 2011!January 12, 2012 2011 was a fantastic year for Omprakash! We are thrilled to announce that we surpassed our goal of raising $15,000 before the end of December. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our donors, we will now receive a matching grant of $15,000 from the Dalio Family Foundation. These funds will enable us to continue expanding the scope and impact of our work in 2012. We are grateful to all of the donors, volunteers, and Partner organizations that make our community what it is. Happy New Year!Read our 2011 Annual ReportRead our 2011 Volunteer Grant Program SummaryRead our 2011 Partner Sustainability Grant Program Summary... |
July 2012: Cross-Cultural Education Workshop in Costa RicaDecember 20, 2011 With the support of Abriendo Mentes, one of our Partners in Costa Rica, we are thrilled to announce our plans for a five-day workshop that will enable diverse members of our network to come together for an exciting exchange of perspectives and a rigorous exploration of the following question:How can we make cross-cultural interactions mutually beneficial and mutually educational?All Omprakash volunteers and project leaders are invited to attend and/or present at the workshop, and a special Volunteer Grant is available to support a volunteer who is qualified to help manage and document the event. Learn more now!... |
11/11/11: A night to rememberNovember 10, 2011 Vance Walstra, volunteer extraordinaire and avid cyclist, has been putting the pedal to the metal to spread the word about Omprakash through a bike outreach tour of epic proportions. He's hit up colleges and universities from Seattle to San Francisco. Now it's time to celebrate.Join us at Amnesia (853 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110) on Friday, 11/11/11, at 7:00 pm for a night of music and laughter with special guest Cello Joe, a fabulous silent auction and great company! We will also be selling, for the first time ever, special edition Omprakash t-shirts and buttons. I can confirm that they are ultra stylish.The auction list is, dare I say, stupendous!!! We don't mean to brag. Special thanks to Omprakash Outreach Coordinator Lacey Worel... |
Partner Sustainability Grant: Supporting Social Enterprise in Ecuador and ArgentinaNovember 02, 2011 | 2 comments The WinnersAfter reviewing impressive applications from 32 Omprakash Partners, we are excited to offer Sustainability Grants to Intag in Ecuador and Voluntario Global in Argentina! These strategic grants are aimed to help our Partners jumpstart entrepreneurial initiatives that will reduce donor dependency and broaden social impact.Grant funding awarded to Voluntario Global will support the expansion of their student-run laundromat by purchasing a new industrial-sized washing machine. The new washing machine will expand the laundromat's capacity by 50%, and thus Voluntario Global will be able to offer part-time employment and semi-professional training to more local students. Voluntario Global's partnerships with five hotels in Buenos Aires will ensure a consistent demand for the laundromat's services. Meanwhile, Voluntario Global will use the extra revenue... |
11/11/11: Celebrate Omprakash in San Francisco!October 17, 2011 If you are in San Francisco, please come celebrate Omprakash with us on November 11, 2011! See attached flyer for details, or download it here. |
2011 Book Distribution: Final SummaryJune 09, 2011 IntroductionThis story offers a detailed summary and a critical reflection about our recent effort to send recycled children’s books from the United States to our educational Partners and affiliated projects in India. We executed a similar project in 2008, but hadn’t given serious consideration to a initiating another distribution until an Indian-American named Sunita Casula contacted us in June, 2010 and offered to help spearhead the logistics.This set the ball rolling, and in May 2011, Omprakash facilitated the distribution of roughly 80,000 children’s books to educational projects in India. All of the books were written in English and had been collected in the United States by Worldwide Book Drive, a social venture founded in 2005 with the intent of collecting used books in the United States... |
Update from recent Volunteer Grant recipients!June 02, 2011 From grant cycle ending February 15, 2011Utsav Bansal (Helping Hands, Peru) made great strides in outreach before departing for Peru. By putting flyers up around his campus at University of Pittsburgh and speaking with the Premedical Organization for Minority Students, he helped spread the word about Omprakash and Helping Hands. He also received a gift card from WalMart to purchase supplies to bring with him on his trip. His stories suggest that a mutually enriching volunteer tenure is beginning to unfold in Peru!Kathryn Spectorsky (SOTENI, Kenya) is working on making video stories to post on her and SOTENI’s profile. She has been helping SOTENI update their profile and working with offices at University of Cincinnati to get... |
Initial Feedback from Book Distribution 2011May 16, 2011 We received the following emails on 17 May and 16 May, 2011. We will be posting a more comprehensive and critical summary of this project in the near future. ---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Ravi M <ravimani66@yahoo.com>Date: Tue, May 17, 2011 at 9:39 AMSubject: Re: Children's Book donations by lLP and Om Prakash FoundationDear Mr.Jaron Brown, Mr. Willy Oppenheim and Ms. Elisabeth Oakham and Ms.Sunita CasulaGreetingsThanks a ton for you kind contribution for the wealth of our children, we will certainly take the responsibility of reaching these books to the children and also help them to read/use them and build their knowledge of wealth. God bless you and your family members and all those who had contributed directly or indirectly.thanking you once againRavi Mani ---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Titus IRCDS <ircds1986@gmail.com>Date: Tue,... |
Gates Foundation- Global Health Explorations Grant- OPEN TO ALL, DEADLINE MAY 19thApril 29, 2011 Rewarding Innovative Ideas in Global Health For More Information Visit the Gates Foundation Website One bold idea. That’s all it takes.Unorthodox thinking is essential to overcoming the most persistent challenges in global health. Vaccines were first developed over 200 years ago because revolutionary thinkers took an entirely new approach to preventing disease.Grand Challenges Explorations fosters innovation in global health research. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $100 million to encourage scientists worldwide to expand the pipeline of ideas to fight our greatest health challenges.Launched in 2008, Grand Challenge Explorations grants have already been awarded to 495 researchers from 42 countries.Open to All Disciplines: Anyone Can Apply The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline, from student to tenured professor, and from any organization – colleges and universities,... |
Books, bureaucracy and international shipping.April 25, 2011 80 000 books arrived in Hyderabad, India, a week ago. Donated by the World-Wide Book drive they are destined to various schools and educational institutions all over India . Owing to bureaucracy, including payment of minor accessory fees, obtaining and filing a few random documents, and an internal dispute between a shipping company and its contractor, we haven’t seen hide nor hair of the books yet despite spending almost every day on the phone with folks in Houston, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pakistan, California, Udaipur, Bangalore and Chennai.Piece by piece, we are prising the books loose from sticky bureaucratic hands. They should be released on Wednesday, which means they will be on their merry way to partners all over India by the end of the week. (Touch wood, cross your fingers, go... |
Fellowship Opportunity for Non-US Citizens - APRIL 8TH DEADLINEApril 03, 2011 Global Health Corps (GHC) is currently searching for exceptional young people to become a part of their 2011-2012 fellowship class. They are offering fellowships in Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, and the US. GHC'S mission and model is built on a commitment to service, social justice, and health equity. They also make personal and professional development of fellows a priority in their programs. Non-Us citizens should apply by April 8th at www.ghcorps.org/apply.---Global Health Corps (GHC). GHC aims to mobilize a global community of emerging leaders to build the movement for global health equity. We do this by providing emerging leaders with one-year fellowships with outstanding organizations on the frontlines of the fight for global health equity.... |
New website features...March 24, 2011 Over the past few weeks, we've been happy to release a number of new website features that increase transparency and ease of communication between members of our network.The new view expenses feature allows Partners to help their supporters learn exactly where the money is going-- here's an example from Buenos Aires.The new Volunteer Info tab on Partner Profiles allows users to quickly see volunteer logistics and connect with past volunteers-- here's an example from India.The new Media tab on Volunteer Profiles allows volunteers to consolidate and share photos and videos as new experiences unfold-- here's an example from Peru.Stay tuned for more new updates coming soon...a centralized media gallery, a new resource gallery, a new home page, and more!... |
Nytimes' Kristof mentions Omprakash in Op-EdDecember 12, 2010 Now Grandma Can ‘Win a Trip’ Too by Nicholas D. KristofLook up Global Citizen Year, which places gap-year students in Africa and Latin America. Or find a country to teach English in through WorldTeach .org. Or volunteer through omprakash .org. Click HERE to read the rest of the article announcing Kristof's annual "win-a-trip" contest. |
Nicholas Kristof from the NYTimes Posts about Omprakash on Facebook and Twitter!November 02, 2010
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Nicholas D. Kristof For those of you interested in volunteer teaching in Africa or Asia, check out http://omprakash.org/ It is run by some university students, led by a Rhodes Scholar now at Oxford, and doesn't charge for placements. And that mini-Peace Corps experience of working abroad can be transformative.
NickKristofWant to volunteer as a teacher in Africa or Asia? Check out http://omprakash.org/ . It doesn't charge for placements....
Student Book Premiere at E Street Cafe in Encinitas-9/18/2010September 17, 2010 Media Advisory from Pacific Ridge SchoolStudents from Three Local Schools and Across the World to Debut and Sell Co-Authored Book at E Street Café in Encinitas Students Pledge $6,000, Raised from Book Profits, to be Donated to Build Children’s Resource Centre in India WHO: Student groups from three San Diego schools – Cathedral Catholic High School’s Key Club, Kearny High School’s Omprakash Club, and Pacific Ridge School’s Otesha Club – have joined hands with the India-based non-profit Movement for Rural Emancipation and the U.S.-based non-profit Omprakash, an educational community connecting volunteers, classrooms and communities. WHAT: The premiere of Ravi Revs and Reads, a children’s book written and illustrated by local students after interviewing Indian student counterparts. The proceeds will help fund a new Children’s Resource Centre (CRC), a permanent structure that will assist underprivileged students... |
Omprakash Camera Grant Now Accepting ApplicationsAugust 09, 2010 Are you interested in teaching digital photography at an Omprakash partner site? Do you need cameras to make this happen? We'd love to hear your ideas, and see if you are a good fit for the newly created Omprakash Camera Grant!We currently own eight digital cameras that are available for Omprakash volunteers to apply to use to teach digital photography. The cameras will soon be returning to the United States from Quito, Ecuador along with a couple Omprakash volunteers who have been teaching a youth digital photography program at Campamento Esperanza.If you are at all curious or interested, please visit the PhotoPals page under the "Classroom" tab of this site. ALso, please feel free to email Sam Modest (s.j.modest@gmail.com) or Roz Worcester (rosalind.gael@gmail.com) for more information about the grant.... |
Welcome New Omprakash Partners!July 25, 2010 Omprakash is excited to welcome three new partners from around the globe!Hope for HIV/AIDSBased in Nigeria, Hope for HIV/AIDS was founded in the year 2000 with the mission to inspires, motivate, educates and mobilize the very poor and rural communities in order to provide holistic home-based care and supports services to people who are very sick of AIDS, TB, Cancer and other terminal illnesses, while they enhance access to basic essential service to their orphans and vulnerable children.Shanti BhavanShanti Bhavan, based in Tamil Nadu, India, works to help the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children of India’s lowest caste - the untouchables or the “dalits”- to enable them to aspire to careers and professions of their choice – engineering, law, medicine, education, the arts - through world class education and globally shared values. Shanti Bhavan welcomes... |
New Volunteer Grant Recipient Anoop Jain Departs for India to serve LHA!July 13, 2010 Anoop Jain of Evanston, Illinois departed for northern India today to serve Omprakash partner LHA and work with Tibetan refugees in the region. In preparation for his trip, Anoop raised over $25,000 to help build a community kitchen for the residents of Mcleod Ganj! We wish him a safe and successful journey and look forward to reading his stories and resources in the future. Be well Anoop! |
Two Volunteer Grant Recipients Depart for El Salvador!July 12, 2010 Two of our recent volunteer grant recipients departed today for El Salvador to serve our new partner, the Hilda Rothschild Foundation. Emma Fullinwider and Sofia Weir of Dallas, Texas are rising high school seniors with a passion for Montessori education. Before their trip, they collected over $5000 worth of educational materials from Dallas area Montessori schools! They have plans to start a pen pal program and upload Montessori-focused Classroom Resources to our site. Stay tuned for stories, photos, and video! |
How to post images on your profile or in a story!June 28, 2010 Thanks for using our site! Here is a video demonstrating how Partners or Volunteers can add images to a story or profile after logging in to our site.After you click "Browse Server," you need to click "Upload" and then browse files on your computer and select one. After an image is uploaded, just double-click and it should appear in the story or profile box where you are trying to enter it. |
How to use our website!June 20, 2010 This video is meant to help Omprakash Partners learn how to use our website more effectively. Check it out! |
New website launch!We are extremely excited to rollout our new website! Thanks to the support of a generous donor and the hard work of dedicated web designers from Vermont to Switzerland, we can now offer all users of our network a more streamlined and user-friendly platform through which they can connect with each other. Volunteers can search for Partners that offer appropriate volunteer opportunities; Partners can search for Volunteers that can meet their needs; teachers can share resources for teaching abroad and for using our international network to enrich their academic curricula at home-- the list goes on! Please browse the site and consider registering so that you can create your own profile and get involved!... |