One big happy MONGOOSE family

June 18, 2011

Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage, South Africa

We opened up all the doors and all five of our mongooses are now together. They had to get a bit used to each other, rubbing their sent on one another. Establishing their new hierarchy, and to everybody’s’ surprise Wesel came out as the winner.

Now they all share their houses and foot. They are ready for their new enclosure we are building at the moment, twice as big!

Hmm you smell nice!

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30 Years of AIDS

June 16, 2011

Compassionate Journeys, Ghana

This year marks the 30th anniversary of HIV/AIDS.HIV/AIDS 30 year anniversary

I rewrote that first sentence over and over, trying to describe the impact AIDS has had on the world in just a few words. It's impossible.

AIDS has torn apart families. It has provoked fear and prejudice against innocent people. It has ripped mothers from their babies and left widows scared and ashamed. It has affected national economies, devastating work forces and stealing precious resources. Soldiers infected with AIDS have become walking weapons of war, brutally raping as many women as possible so that they will die a slow, tortured death.

When I first visited an AIDS clinic in Accra, Ghana, I knew that it was a good opportunity to do my part to help with the fight against AIDS. I knew,...

Three Decades of AIDS

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My Third Year Abroad with Voluntario Global

June 15, 2011

Voluntario Global, Argentina

For the last 9 months I have been volunteering with Voluntario Global fulfilling the compulsory third year abroad part of my university degree. I had volunteered before on my gap year in Ecuador where I spent a month in three different locations helping to build whatever was needed. It was that volunteer organization who introduced me to Voluntario Global. However despite my previous experience I was nervous before I flew out here. Firstly my stay in Argentina was going to be three times as long as my previous stints abroad, secondly I was only going to be based in Buenos Aires (which as a girl from the English countryside I was terrified I would not like!) and finally it was helping in a totally different way...

Volunteering in Communication

Volunteers and VG staff: A dream team

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Themba feeding a squirrel

June 15, 2011

Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage, South Africa

Gemma, one of our volunteers, was teaching Themba, one of our kids, today in an one on one lesson. This squirrel decided it was a good moment to beg for some food. He got on to the table and Themba gave the squirrel a little nut! The squirrel was so happy he jumped onto Themba’s head! This was a great new experience for Themba and the squirrel.

Themba & squirrel

Themba & squirrel

Themba & squirrel

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The Yak Loan Project: A Success!

June 15, 2011

Pentok Institute , China

During the week of June 6, staff from the Pentok Institute traveled to Mukbo village to implement the Yak Loan program. Getting to the village was difficult and exhausting, especially because of some high flood waters. Yet, eventually, we made it to Mukbo, a community of Tibetan herders located about 250km Southwest of Xinghai County, Hainan(Tsolho) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It is 300km away from Xining, the capital city of Qinghai Province.

The village has a population of 740 people comprised of 100 families. Of the population, there are 350 men, 270 women and 120 children under the age of eighteen. Xining, the closest developed city in the area, is 14 hours away by private jeep. In order to reach the closest town, one must travel via horseback or motorcycle because no...

Yak Loan

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Daktari children at Kruger Park

June 14, 2011

Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage, South Africa

Yesterday, 12th of June, we took 10 children to the Kruger National Park. These children are the 10 most improved children who have been to Daktari from the last 10 weeks.

We collected the children from the school at 5.15 in the morning! They were all there, really excited and ready to go. Lufuno of the Kruger National Park welcomed us; she did an introduction of the park and told us a bit about the history. The rest of the day we were all spotting animals, trying to tick as many boxes as we could. The children were amazed by what they saw, specially the Elephants, Cheetah, Buffalo, Crocodile, Hippo and Rhino.

We thank Kruger National Park for giving the children the opportunity to see all these wonderful animals in their natural...

Daktari kids in Kruger Park.

Daktari children in Kruger Park

Daktari children in Kruger Park

Daktari children in Kruger Park

Daktari children in Kruger Park

Daktari children in Kruger Park

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The Journey of Voluntario Global and the Inauguration of its’ Digital Center

June 10, 2011

Voluntario Global, Argentina

Voluntario Global was an idea created a little over 6 years ago by social activists living inside and outside the city of Buenos Aires. We wanted to provide accessible resources to members of self sustaining cooperatives in hopes of contributing and enabling the education in community centers and social organizations.

First Objective

We started with the first goal of improving the education and opportunities within the community through volunteer service programs. Through donations we were able to manage the various resources for our organizations. 

Second Objective

The first objective propelled us to create the next goal…

We wanted to instill the idea that the students should concentrate a lot of time on their studies in order to get a good job in the future.

However, many young people have to work in order to continue with...

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You-The Movement, of Kenya, Interviews Jim Killon of Changes for New Hope

June 05, 2011

Changes for New Hope, Peru

Interview with Changes for New Hope!  Jun 2, 2011 By TheYouTeam News- This week You! has our attention grabbed by amazing people in Peru.Among those is Jim Killon who works for Changes for New Hope.

So its only natural that we decided to have a chat, and here is what he had to say:)

You: Hello Jim!Tell us about yourself,and Changes for New Hope please! 

Jim:  Hello everybody at You-The Movement. I’m Jim Killon from Baltimore Maryland in the United States. A few years ago, after visiting Nicaragua and Costa Rica, I saw the poverty among the children and wanted to do something about it. I came to Peru in 2009, initially to work for an NGO that said they helped children. After a few disappointing months observing anemic efforts and ulterior motives, I left and decided...

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A Summer of Reading

June 03, 2011

VE Global, Chile

 Lily Gordon

New York, USA

¡Ganadora! I yelled as one of my girls from Aldea succeeded in pinning the cola on the burro.  She happily chose a sheet of temporary tattoos from the prize bag and then skipped off to the next station. As I looked around, I saw children of all ages running around from station to station to either play a game, get their face painted or hair braided, participate in a limbo contest, or receive a balloon from Alex, our payaso for the day.Carnaval was turning out to be a huge success, and I felt both thrilled and proud to have been a part of it. But Carnaval also marked the end of ¡Vamos a Leer!, our two-month reading program, meaning that the summer was over and it was time for the children to return to school. Would they...

Carnival!

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Second Anniversary of Travesuras Kindergarden

June 03, 2011

Voluntario Global, Argentina

On Friday 20th of May, volunteers from different project visited the ‘Travesuras’ Kindergarten in celebration of its second anniversary. Opening in 2009, the project offers day care for children aged 3 to 5, most from immigrant families. Taking part in the celebrations the volunteers played with the children, painted their faces and handed out sweets which they had brought to give out. The kindergarten had been decorated with balloons and streamers and a bouncy castle was brought in for the day. The celebrations also included a birthday cake and a piñata, pleasing the excited children. The joyous event commemorated all the hard work which has been put in the past two years, by the funders and volunteers, for such a good cause. For two years Travesuras has been providing children...

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