Longevity, Sustainability, and Human Relationships

Some of you may know that I applied for a grant to fund the next 4 months of my time here in Cape Town through an organization called Omprakash.  Omprakash is an organization that 'builds partnerships with grassroots health, education, and environmental projects around the world, and connects them with volunteers, donors, and classrooms that can learn from and support their work.'  One of their main goals is sustainability--something most non-profits lack.  In fact, the average life span of a non-profit organization in South Africa is only 3 years.  New ones are formed all the time, but almost as often as baby organizations close.  The key to long term success in a community development organization is longevity and that can only be accomplished by sustainable funding and resources.

Here's a bit of back story on the organization, one I really believe in...

While volunteering at a hospice center where six nuns care for three-hundred physically and mentally disabled residents, the co-founders met Omprakash: an old gentleman who had been living at the center ever since suffering a severe stroke thirty years earlier. The conditions at the center were far from what most people would call ideal, but Omprakash said that he felt like he lived in paradise, simply because the nuns treated him with such kindness. This comment sparked everything that our organization has become. With a new appreciation for the power of human relationships, we began working to connect our communities in the United States with a handful of organizations in India. Today, this same effort links over a hundred organizations in more than twenty-five countries with classrooms and communities around the world.

The Amy Biehl Foundation has been around for 14 years now and thus it's programs are well established.  But, as with any organization, there is ALWAYS room for improvement and growth.  I think that's what makes my job so exciting--the potential development in a community so dear to my heart.

I have been blessed beyond belief in raising funds to support my stay at the Amy Biehl Foundation up until now and Omprakash has allowed me continue my efforts for the next 4 months.  That's right, I am an official Omprakash Volunteer Grant Recipient of 2011!!!

My proposal included several different roles at the organization, but my main focus will now be on creating and implementing a computer competency course for a group of grade 8 students.  I hope to connect my classroom with a classroom in St. Louis by giving both students the same project and swapping stories.  If all goes well, the kids will be able to learn the differences and similarities of learners their age who live a continent away!  In addition to this, I will still be helping with web development, social media, and marketing and fundraising event coordination.

The registration process is almost done and I hope to hand in my papers by the end of the week and begin my computer class in a week and a half.  Stay tuned for updates, pictures, and hopefully some video coverage of the whole process.  I'll have a profile on Omprakash for those of you wanting to follow more specifics there.

Here's to another round of adventures and learning!