Global Division

Our global division addresses issues of environmental sustainability and education in South Asia and Africa. With projects in Pakistan, India, East Africa and Sierra Leone, your contributions travel a long way in helping alleviate global poverty.

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 Updates on “Dreams for Kachra Kundi” (2012)

Thaakat launched its fundraising campaign “Dreams for Kachra Kundi” last summer and raised more than $11,000! Our Executive Director, Uzma Bawany-Ali was fortunate enough to visit Kachra Kundi this past December on her recent visit to Pakistan and recalls, “As we entered the shantytowns bordering the hills of waste, cow manure, and burning garbage, my heart dropped to see these children trying to fight the worst kind of poverty. As I walked into the classrooms of Idara Al Khair, the organization managing the school, a strong sense of hope emerged. Children with zero access to the outside world were sitting there writing in English. Their little hands passionately wrote as their smiles conquered any sense of agony.” Uzma was able to capture a few moments of her visit on camera. Click here for video footage of Kachra Kundi.

Construction for the new school site began late last year after purchasing the land. Currently, the structure has been built and the walls of the school are up with nine classrooms completed. As of August 2012, 352 children are enrolled in classes with hundreds more waiting.  Our school is called Al-Khair Campus III. Click here for video footage of the construction site.

Idara Al-Khair successfully runs primary schools in the Kachra Kundi area, educating 250 children every single day of the year and 2,200 children at their first site in Mustafa Colony. The schools run seven days a week, throughout the year, showing just how eager the children are to learn and how passionate the teachers are to educate these young, hopeful minds. With the site now complete, we have started to expand into the construction of nine more classrooms to accommodate the growing request of families wanting to enroll their children. With your success, we are making leaps and bounds.

Funds Needed for Project Completion and 1-Year Sustainability: $16,000

• 11-11-11 Help Us Heckle Hunger with Plumpy’nut®!

11-11-11- Will you make this a lucky day for those suffering?

Join the Thaakat Peanut Gallery to help heckle hunger! The people of East Africa are struggling to fight starvation. Millions of weak children are collapsing from the devastation in an attempt to make it through another day. Thaakat is working with Edesia to provide Plumpy’nut® to the famine-ravaged region of East Africa. Plumpy’nut® has a two year shelf life and requires no water, preparation, or refrigeration. Its ease of use has made mass treatment of malnutrition in famine situations more efficient than in the past. It is provided in a paste form so that young children and the weak can consume this as the body is weak when the most acute form of malnutrition hits. Please help us reach our goal of saving famine-struck victims before the effects become too devastating to reverse.

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• Project ReBorn Africa (2011)

Village: Blama Perri, Sierra Leone, Africa

We hope to support the tiniest of guests by helping build a maternity ward in the remote village of Blama Perri in Sierra Leone. This village is mainly inhabited by widows and children, ravaged by 11 years of civil war in the country. The nearest hospital, which is three miles away is reachable only by motorcycle due to terrible inroads. Even under these circumstances a woman who is 9 months pregnant cannot travel on the back of a bike. The lack of a proper birthing center has caused babies to be born under malnourished conditions with severe infections, while mothers must rest on rugged dirt floors.

Earlier this year we helped to build five child-rescue centers in Blama Perri. These centers have been housing 100 residents in total, keeping them safe from terminal disease, rain and cold. The proposed maternity ward will serve 1,000 people in Blama Perri and surrounding communities, ensuring that mothers and babies have appropriate medical care and hygiene during their most vulnerable times.

*Blama Perri has secured staff with state certified midwifery degrees.

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• Dreams for Kachra Kundi (2011)

Village: Kachra Kundi, Karachi, Pakistan

We hope to build a new educational facility for students being affected by pollution and disease in a hazardous atmosphere. Miles away from the city, a small garbage dump site is home to 300 families. This site is called Kachra Kundi, located in the outskirts nearly 50 miles away from Karachi. Many in the village earn their livelihood from collecting waste and reselling it to recycling centers. Not only are the residents of Kachra Kundi deprived of civic facilities like electricity and clean water, but there had previously been zero access to education. 8 years ago our partner, Idara Al Khair brought in 16 teachers and lots of hope to help them live their dreams. Our goal is to help provide Kachra Kundi with an improved educational facility for 250 students (40% girls), which will be minutes away from their village but in an area free from disease and garbage.

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• Raise The Roof Africa (2011)

Village: Blama Perri, Sierra Leone, Africa

Sierra Leone is a country rich in natural resources, yet faces grave issues of malnutrition, poverty, and a receding economy. Child soldiers have set the standard for the most brutal type of modern warfare in Africa. Unfortunately, people don’t often hear of the struggles that are faced by the country’s people. Thaakat Foundation launched a partnership with the Trinity United Methodist Church to help Abdulai, a young hopeful from the village of Blama Perri in Sierra Leone, to help him and is cohorts build 5 homes for single parent families (women and children). The average residency is 20 people per home. Thaakat and TUMC worked to provide funding for these 5 homes and the effort was be a collaborative one amongst villagers as they served as the laborers!

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• Hope for Japan (2011)

On March 11, the country which symbolized innovation and power was faced with shock. A triple threat combination of a shattering earthquake, wind ripping tsunami and raging radiation broke the spirit of the otherwise prospering nation. Highschools have become camp grounds for the victims and weak survivors ache in seek of support. The Red Cross has made an initial contribution of 10 million dollars to support the suffering country and continues to provide medical aid and relief. Please join us as we launch a string of campaigns to support our “Hope for Japan” initiative. Our donations will be matched dollar for dollar for the Red Cross fund for Japan.

Rutgers Thaakat “Tasukete” (Rescue me) for Japan

Thaakat National March Madness, Make Your Pick for Japan

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• Project Green Light India (2011)
  

Village: Jawhar, Thane District, India

Electricity is a widespread issue in South Asia, especially in poor, rural areas where connections can be scarce. Whether it be limited access or load shedding, many face its difficulties and in lieu of electricity, resort to using kerosene lamps, which is both dangerous and expensive. A great alternative is to provide poor villagers with solar lanterns, a clean and effective way to brighten up their evenings! These lanterns are portable, waterproof, and provide 16 hours of light after a 4 hour solar charge, making them an ideal asset for these villagers. Thaakat Foundation has partnered with Greenlight Planet in helping with distribution of solar lanterns to villagers in Jawhar.

Using a light at night holds many advantages for villagers. As an escape from the morning heat, having a light at night helps children study and learn, adults cook, and workers travel back and forth to and from work in safety. Best of all, the green light model promotes employment. People from rural areas are employed as sales agents to communicate the message of the organization and train people on its use in surrounding villages.

WSJ: Solar Lamps For Subsidy in India

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• Pakistan Flood Relief (2010 – Present)
  

Region: Rahim Yar Khan and Balochistan, Pakistan

Flood Relief Pictures on our Facebook Album

In recent days, Pakistan has seen the worst flood in over 80 years. One in 10 Pakistanis – up to 20 million people – has been affected by the flooding. That is more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake! As a country known for its rich agriculture and resources, 17 million acres of crop have been destroyed.  Millions of people have been displaced from their homes as floods have submerged a countless number of towns and villages. So far, 71 districts are flooded, destroying more than 720,000 dwellings- though the government believes that total destruction in regards to human life, property, cattle and infrastructure may be far worse than initial estimates. The scale of disaster is incredibly large. Serious help is needed across the nation, fast.

Thaakat Foundation is focusing on an area where aid can be provided to victims in the quickest way possible. The villages of Jacobabad, Sakkar, Bhong, Kot Sabzal, and Guddu Barrage in the Rahim Yar Khan* district are just a mere few that have been completely destroyed by severe flooding. Families are living in extremely poor and unhealthy conditions on bridges, road sides, roofs of homes, and open fields. Thaakat Foundation’s global volunteers in Pakistan have been traveling to these villages to provide hands-on relief through:

• Free Medical Camp (Sadiqabad)

• Distribution of food packages, mineral water, new clothes, and bedding (Guddu Barrage, Kot Sabzal, Sonmiani, Dera Allah Yar)

• Home reconstruction (Guddu Barrage, Kot Sabzal, Sonmiani, Dera Allah Yar)

*Red dot on map above indicates location of Sadiqabad/Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan

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• Put-it-in-the-Can Project Partnership with Green Gold (2010)

Village: Gutwala, Faisalabad, Pakistan

In April of 2010, we started a solid waste management project in Pakistan. Currently, many provinces do not have a privatized solid waste management process, creating a great environmental issue at hand. The garbage is either dumped in water reservoirs or burned on open grounds that could otherwise be used for agriculture promotion. These processes spread the growth of air borne and water bacteria, which lead to the deterioration of crops and human health.

Our partnership with Green Gold allows us to assist approximately 3,500 people in the village of ‘Gutwala’ with environmentally friendly solid waste management techniques. Through the use of new machinery and equipment along with hands-on training by Green Gold and Thaakat staff, the village composts 95% of their garbage. This garbage is in turn sold by the residents as manure and recyclables for reinvestment into the future of the community. The profit made from recycling goes towards sponsoring the education of children in the community who cannot afford to attend school.

Promoting green, giving hope and changing attitudes will be just some of the great things we hope to accomplish in our partnership.  We  keep our supporters informed through video journals and notes from the field on our Facebook page!

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• Water Sanitation Project Partnership with The More Than Tomorrow Foundation (2009 – 2010)

Village: Yelkiatta, Andhra Pradesh, India

A few years ago, the More Than Tomorrow Foundation worked with the small village of Yelkiatta to promote computer literacy to the villagers but suddenly came across a larger problem at hand. The villagers had complained of rotting teeth, stomach problems and health issues which they believe came from their village water source. This water source is being contaminated by pollutants from nearby rice factories and the villagers have no other option than to consume it as it is.

We are partnering with the More Than Tomorrow Foundation to provide overhead funding so that this little village with a lot of promise, can continue towards a bright future- with safe water. Thanks to your donations, we already have a solid $3000 to commit to this project.

As of July 2010, the water is undergoing formal testing for pollutants and we will follow with a final budget and plan for a solution. Clean water Yelkiatta- Here we come!

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• Burn Safety Comic Book Distribution (2010)
  

Partnership with Cents of Relief

Cents of Relief is an organization that works in high risk prostitution areas in India to provide women and children located in these districts proper healthcare and access to prevention from human trafficking.

Recently CoR created a “Burn Safety” comic book to reach out to young children with the message of fire hazards and what they can do to prevent and protect themselves from these dangerous instances.

Thaakat Foundation has helped to translate this to “Urdu-Hindi” for distribution in South Asian shelters located in the United States as well as in villages in Pakistan. We are currently looking for sponsors to help us cover the costs of printing.

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• Project Clean Slate Recycling Camp with More Than Tomorrow Project (2009)

Village: Jawali, Maharashtra, India

Thaakat Foundation sponsored “Project Clean Slate”, a recycling camp that took place in December 2008 for the Himachal Children & Development Organization. Participants (through a learn-by-doing process of education) were taught how to turn discarded paper products into recycled paper by hand. Participants then learn how to bind the recycled paper product into a journal that can be sold for the community’s direct benefit.

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• Sindh, Pakistan (2007 – 2008)

On a winter trip in December of 2008, Thaakat Foundation provided cartons of milk to malnourished children of a small community.

It was the summer of 2007, when Thaakat Foundation first became inspired to take on its first giving project. On a visit to a poor village and was approached by a woman, Rooma, who did not have the funds to fix her roof. Her children had been sleeping outside for months while her and her husband spent nights throwing rain water outside of the house with small pots. Inspired, this became Thaakat’s first unofficial global initiative in providing the funds to re-build Rooma’s roof.

Another one of our first hopefuls were Afzalbee and Bipasha, both widowed women with several children. Afzalbee has 6 daughters and one son. Both her and her son work outside the home doing odd jobs to make what they can. The families are both significantly poor and we were able to help them financially in getting their remaining daughters married.

We helped another woman who had worked as a house maid until she was diagnosed with TB and became terminally ill with cancer. She has several children and is the sole income earner for her home. We donated to her so that she may have income to provide her family with food and necessities and hopefully lessen her burden of working outside the home while sick.