Where Did the Money Flow?
Your search for Women found 98 result(s)
Education for Maria (610)
Brazil / $870
Flow Funder: Bettina Turner
Year Funded: 2010
Maria lives in rural area of Itacare, Bahia, Brazil. When I contacted her, she was studying teaching but was about to abandon her studies, due to lack of funds. Funds were shared to help Maria finish her training and she is due to graduate in February 2011. She is already teaching at the local school, and volunteering at an adult literacy class in her region. In Maria's words: "My first teacher was my mother, with whom I learned to read, write...and dream. At that time, the dream of becoming a teacher like her came to life, and in pursuit of that dream I covered a lot of ground - sometimes rocky, sometimes smooth and today only a few steps away. I feel the sensation of being realized, for on this journey, I gained significant learning experiences, unforgettable experiences and met people - many people - who directly or indirectly are part of my life, just like YOU. The importance or size of your participation, I can not describe, but I can feel and experience the results. Thank you!"
Jussara (609)
Brazil / $3,122
Flow Funder: Bettina Turner
Year Funded: 2010
Jussara is a "Worker of the Planet." She is a founding patron of the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Movimento Mecenas da Vida in Itacare, Bahia, Brazil. She works daily and tirelessly in favor of life, through actions aimed at balancing life on the planet. In her words: "Look how far we can go with a simple action! It's unbelievable the level of reach that an uninterested and selfless action of both parties can express to those who are in tune with the same things, so...this experience also embellished my process that continues, continues stronger than ever, and very determined! I am humbled and deeply grateful to the great Superior Being / Great Spirit / God who coordinates everything!"
Kaski Self-Reliant Women's Group (605)
Nepal / $1,080
Flow Funder: Chimene Hickey
Year Funded: 2009
Ram Subedi initiated this project in Nepal, in which micro-grants are awarded to 15 women for supplies and training for the development of their small businesses in Pokara, Nepal. The women's businesses are in the areas of bee keeping, goat raising and vegetable farming.
Meulaboh Women's Business Development (603)
Indonesia / $2,200
Flow Funder: Chimene Hickey
Year Funded: 2008
This branch of the Sustainable Recovery Coalition is directed by Ibu Rosni Idham, a prominent midwife/community organizer/politician in her community. A grant was shared with 17 female tsunami survivors so they could start their own businesses. The tailors were each given a sewing machine and material supplies ($2,703). The cooks were given seed money to buy gas stoves and start-up cooking supplies ($382). All of the participants were given trainings on business development and quality control ($504).
Bumi Sehat Clinic (602)
Indonesia / $4,000
Flow Funder: Chimene Hickey
Year Funded: 2008
A gift was shared to support this natural birthing/health care clinic located near Meulaboh, Indonesia the epicenter of a large tsunami, for general operating expenses and medicine ($1,065). The clinic provides free medical treatment to survivors of the tsunami. A gift was shared with Mimi Riswantu, a Sumatran translator at the clinic, who has also begun teaching English classes to the local village children ($1,870). A gift was shared to plant a medicinal herb garden on the clinic's property to incorporate more of the traditional, natural healing models into the clinic's skill-set ($401). Once the plants are established, cuttings will be available to villagers to incorporate into their own gardens. 28 fruit trees were also planted around the clinic. The food they produce will be shared amongst the community. A number of flowering plants were also planted to beautify the property, attracting beneficial insects, butterflies and hummingbirds. Scholarships for 2 clinic staff members was also provided so they may attend permaculture trainings ($420). Their knowledge will increase organic food production at the clinic, ensuring healthy, nutritious food security for the clinic. Sarongs were also purchased ($244) as part of a New Mother Care Package.
Indonesian Development in Education & Permaculture (IDEP) (601)
http://www.idepfoundation.org/GFS.html
Indonesia / $9,000
Flow Funder: Chimene Hickey
Year Funded: 2008
Several gifts were shared to train tsunami survivors in permaculture methods, providing them with the necessary knowledge and supplies that enable them to grow organic food in their own home gardens and communal co-op land. An intangible benefit of the program is the re-establishment of social networks and ties that help community members to recover from the loss and trauma experienced from the tsunami. One gift supported Permaculture Design Courses (PDCs), attended by 32 women from three different villages, teaching them technical skills related to permaculture, organic gardening and food security ($2,834). They are also given a general knowledge of nutrition, household waste management and sanitation. Two Component Intensive Trainings (CITs) were also sponsored, attended by 44 women ($1,812). Two of the participating villages, Miruek Lamredep and Krueng Kala, established women's cooperatives in order to assist each-other in implementing the knowledge gained in the Permaculture course. In addition to sponsoring the PDC and CIT courses, community grants were provided to purchase necessary tools, equipment, fences and organic seeds to implement their new knowledge and training ($4,354).
Lamsujen Village Cooperative (597)
Indonesia / $2,724
FFCH: Indonesian Development in Education & Permaculture (IDEP)
Flow Funder: Chimene Hickey
Year Funded: 2007
In the village of Lamsujen, Indonesia, seven women started a small sewing cooperative. Several gifts were shared with them, including: Ten sewing machines ($1600); Tools, materials and training in product design/quality control so their skills can be developed to meet local market needs ($373); and Cloth for their initial product of bags with environmental messages to be used and reused in the marketplace, reducing the use of plastic bags ($751).
Mireuk Lamreuduep Village Cooperative (596)
Indonesia / $2,293
FFCH: Indonesian Development in Education & Permaculture (IDEP)
Flow Funder: Chimene Hickey
Year Funded: 2007
Located in the village of Mireuk Lamreudeup, this women-run cooperative established several organic home gardens in their village, using self-propagating organic seeds and organic compost production systems. Several gifts were shared with this cooperative, including: Gardening tools and equipment ($445); Fencing to protect gardens from wild pigs, goats, and other animals ($852); Organic seeds and seedlings ($312); Tools and equipment for seed saving and production ($417); and Establishing compost production systems ($267).
Global Women's Water Initiative (GWWI) (595)
http://africanwomenandwater.org/
Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria / $15,000
Flow Funder: Jan Hartsough
Year Funded: 2010
A gift was shared in the form of seed grants with African women implementing water projects, through three small non-governmental organizations (A Single Drop, Crabgrass, and Women's Earth Alliance). These three organizations have combined to create the Global Women's Water Initiative (GWWI), and have organized Safe Water Trainings in Africa. Because over 1.2 billion people - over 60% of them women - lack access to safe water and the fact that more people die from polluted water than from violence (including wars), a year-long training program was created with the goal of empowering local women with technology and project-planning skills to launch Safe Water Projects in their home communities. Attendants come from Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Nigeria, and Cameroon.
Support for Cyclone Nargis Survivors (594)
Myanmar / $20,000
FFCH: Business Kind Myanmar
Year Funded: 2008
A gift was shared for immediate relief (the first 4 weeks) for survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma), including medical/supplies, shelter, clean water and food. Another gift was shared for intermediate relief (the next 4 to 12 weeks), which included pond/crop restoration and re-building schools, churches and monasteries. A gift was then shared for long-term recovery (the next 4 to 8 months), which included income-generation programs for widows and orphaned daughters, as well as economic start-up funds for sewing, baking, fish-drying, noodle-making, and candle-making small businesses.
Shelly Claflin (581)
United States - Michigan / $500
Flow Funder: Penny Kelly
Year Funded: 2010
A gift was shared with this avid gardener in Kalamazoo, Michigan USA who used the money to fulfill her dream of owning a small tiller for her garden.
Lori Evesque (579)
United States - Michigan / $2,000
Flow Funder: Penny Kelly
Year Funded: 2010
A gift was shared with Lori Evesque to teach local women how to can, freeze, and dehydrate foods from their gardens.
Shirley Sherrod (573)
United States - Georgia / $500
Flow Funder: Larry Yee
Year Funded: 2010
Shirley Sherrod, a black woman from Albany, Georgia, was asked to resign from her position as the USDA Director of Rural Development for the state of Georgia. She was the target of conservative bloggers and radio talk shows, and was branded a black racist, because of remarks she made during a speech to a meeting of the NAACP. The excerpt that was used was taken out of context. Her speech was actually about redemption and how she evolved from an experience where she acted slightly discriminatory toward a poor white farmer, but whom later she helped to save his farm. Both USDA and the White House acted in haste by asking for her resignation. After they realized their mistake in rushing to judge, they apologized, but the damage had been done. I have the utmost respect and admiration for Shirley Sherrod, as I have personal experience of her character and her integrity is impeccable. Shirley plans to fight her case legally, and this Flow Fund gift will help with her legal fees. This case has re-opened the conversation of race in this country and brought attention to the destructive and hate-filled agenda of ultra conservative groups.
Coastal Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) (568)
http://www.coastalalliance.com/
United States - California / $3,000
Flow Funder: Larry Yee
Year Funded: 2010
CAUSE was established in 2000 by the Ventura County Living Wage Coalition to promote economic and social justice for the working people of the Central Coast region of California, through policy advocacy, research, organizing, leadership development and community building. CAUSE has successfully undertaken developing several important community planning and public policy initiatives addressing such issues as living wage jobs, uninsured working families, women's economic justice, fair political representation, environmental cleanup, health access, and regional transportation. My Flow Fund gift went toward general support of this organization.
A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity (A.W.I.S.H.): Sierra Leone (558)
http://www.awish.net/projects/115.html
Sierra Leone / $4,000
FFCH: First Peoples Worldwide
Year Funded: 2010
A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity (A.W.I.S.H.): Sierra Leone works with the Mende People of Sierra Leone to restore their traditional agricultural practices from pre-war times. By helping to facilitate the return of agricultural services and production, A.W.I.S.H. is restoring women's traditional role in agriculture to provide food through subsistence farming. Cultural traditions are also being renewed, ensuring that these gender sensitive roles are maintained. Women are also reviving traditional cloth-weaving activities to create additional income for themselves and their families.
Sisterhood is Global (SIGI) Institute (541)
Afghanistan, Iran, Islamic Republic of, Iraq / $500
Flow Funder: Ocean Robbins
Year Funded: 2009
This gift was shared to support the Sisterhood is Global (SIGI) Institute, which is a network of women working for peace, justice and human dignity throughout the world. SIGI pioneered the first global campaign to make women's unpaid labor visible in national accounts, and they created the first human rights manuals for women living in Muslim societies, which have been translated into 13 languages. This funding supported their work to create virtual communities of women working for human rights and living in the Muslim world.
Anasa Troutman (532)
http://www.anasatroutman.com/anasatroutman.com/hom
United States - Georgia, United States / $1,000
Flow Funder: Ocean Robbins
Year Funded: 2009
This leadership award was shared with Anasa Troutman. Anasa is a fellow with Movement Strategy Center, and has done extraordinary work as a social justice organizer and community builder with many organizations. Anasa also has a spectacular voice with an incredible message. This award specifically targeted bringing her music to the world. She is now working on an album, and has premiered a concert in her home town of Atlanta.
Activists at The Farm Midwifery Center (527)
http://www.thefarmmidwives.org/
United States - Tennessee, United States / $3,000
Flow Funder: Ocean Robbins
Year Funded: 2009
Please click the image to view the video.
A gift was shared to underwrite natural, midwife-assisted, home-style births, for two young activists, giving birth at The Farm Midwifery Center. Birth is a profound moment for every family, and too often insurance considerations are forcing activists, many of whom have given up financial opportunities to give their lives to the betterment of their communities, to have their babies in hospital settings where Cesarean rates now exceed 33%. These two young women are: Malika Sanders, African-American community-organizer and founder of Grassroots Democracy Coalition and president of 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement in Selma, Alabama USA; and Coumba Toure, West African director of Ashoka and a leader in the Institute for Popular Education in Bamako, Mali. Malika’s father is an Alabama State Senator who is now lobbying for legalization of home birth in the state. Coumba is working to bring midwives over from Mali to be trained in midwifery and bring that knowledge back with them.
Art for New Planned Parenthood Clinic (519)
United States / $6,000
The Flow Funder and five artists met with architects, designers and management to discuss the use of art throughout a new women’s health facility which serves women from all socio-economic backgrounds, providing high-quality, fine art which creates a soothing and healing atmosphere. A gift was shared with the five artists involved, who then created and donated the art.
Ladakh Nunnery Center Building Project (515)
India / $1,250
Flow Funder: Aigul Dyusenova
Tibetan Buddhist nun, Tsering Palm, lives in Ladakh, India. She is also a Tibetan traditional medicine doctor and directs a nunnery school which supports young women from poor families to gain proper education. There are twenty nuns staying at the nunnery center, five of whom are staff, and the rest students. There is big shortage of rooms at the nunnery - currently six nuns have to share one room, and seven nuns are sleep in the office. A Flow Fund Gift supported new rooms to be built for the nuns.
Flower Aceh (513)
Indonesia, Thailand / $2,500
One of the oldest women's rights organizations in the province, Flower Aceh has been actively helping women who have fallen victim to violence, including torture and rape, during and after the bloody conflict between the Indonesian army and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Of all the areas hit by the tsunami, the Indonesian province of Aceh, suffered most. In the aftermath of the tsunami, Flower Aceh also provided basic necessities and ran a Women's Crisis Center in conjunction with other local women's groups. Using the experience garnered from empowering women in conflict situations, Flower Aceh is working to include women in the re-construction process, post earthquake and tsunami. A gift was shared with 3 women from this organization to attend the Sustainability Leadership Training program, which was held for activists, community leaders, and representatives from organizations around Asia and held at Pun Pun, an earth-house, organic community based in Chiengmai, Thailand.
Women for Water Partnership (WfWP) (511)
United States, Philippines, Armenia / $1,000
This worldwide strategic alliance of local, national and international women's organizations and networks is active in the areas of sustainable development, water & sanitation, poverty, and gender. It consists of 24 women's networks with subsidiaries in approximately 100 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Western Europe.
Women's Clinic (507)
Nicaragua / $350
Flow Funder: Fran Peavey
A gift was shared with this women's clinic that teaches economic skills.
Traditional knowledge in Central America (506)
/ $500
The Flow Fund gift was to a woman working with women’s healing using traditional herbs and medicines.
Center for Protection of Women and Children (504)
Serbia and Montenegro / $2,000
Center for Protection of Women and Children Kosovo
Tibetan Women's Association (487)
India / $10,000
A gift was shared with the Tibetan Women's Association to cover board, lodging and tuition for one Tibetan refugee nun to pursue Buddhist Philosophy study for 11 years at Dolmaling Nunnery and for an additional 2 refugee nuns to study for 9 years at Shungseb Nunnery.
European Tibetan Nuns Project (475)
India / $1,500
A travel scholarship for a project based in Europe that supports Tibetan Buddhist nuns.
Tibetan Nuns: Shugsep Education Project Funds (459)
India / $5,000
Gift to assist the educational program, including teachers' salaries and educational materials at Shugsep, a nunnery that supports Tibetan Buddhist nuns of the Nyingma sect. Dharamsala, India
S.A.N.D (Support After Neonatal Death) (451)
United States - California / $4,000
S.A.N.D. is a bi-monthly support group for parents who have lost an infant through miscarriage, genetic abortion, stillbirth or death during or shortly after birth. The purpose of this unique bereavement group is to enable parents to grieve, preserve their marriages, and to continue to confidently parent their existing children (if any). This is the only group of its kind in San Francisco, California USA.
Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO) (446)
United States / $500
A gift was shared to support the work of the Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO).
Travel Grant for Community Leader (442)
Myanmar / $200
Flow Funder: Anonymous
A gift was shared with a leading Kachin woman for travel through northern Burma to meet with Baptist women's groups about alternative development projects.
Rural Community Artists' Cooperative (440)
Lao People's Democratic Republic, India / $2,000
A Flow Fund Gift was shared to create an Artists' Cooperative in the village of Kerala. With the funds shared, this Cooperative was able to bring in a traditional weaving expert from Vientiene to teach them new weaving patterns and help them develop a distribution plan for their weaving business. Another group of tribal artisans used funds to produce a marketing brochure to advertise their beautiful, locally-handmade clay products for distribution to interior designers and architects in southern India.The economy of this once destitute village did a complete financial turnaround, though the work of this Artists' Cooperative.
Gifts of Delight (434)
United States - Arizona / $1,000
A gift was shared with a Catholic health care volunteer who works with Hispanic elderly and sick women in the Tucson, Arizona USA region. While she herself does great hands-on healing and is a nurse, her desire is to use this gift to bring "gifts of delight," such as food and flowers, to the people she works with.
Ekta Parishad (431)
India / $1,200
Ekta Parishad (which means "Forum of Unity") is working on advancing women's rights and power within traditional Indian society, as well as working with indigenous people's rights by protecting tribal land rights and tenure in the face of development pressures.
Travel Grant for Catholic Activist (424)
Thailand, Philippines / $600
"Betty" is a creative and influential Catholic activist who is interested in working with indigenous tribal peoples in her region of the Philippines. A Flow Fund Gift was shared to provide travel costs for "Betty" to attend the Interfaith Solidarity Walk.
Pema ljn Mingaborn's visit to USA (421)
India, United States - Colorado / $1,200
We shared this gift with Pema ljn Mingaborn, a Tibetan Nun from Dharamsala, India, to pay her airfare to Boulder, Colorado for a period of study at Naropa University. Naropa agreed to offer a full scholarship for her. Pema ljn Mingaborn is the head of her monastery and she wished to further her dharma education to bring back the teachings to her sister nuns. She speaks and writes English fluently.
Nun Ordination (415)
Thailand, Sri Lanka / $350
This grant helped support the travel of three Theravaden nuns from Thailand to Sri Lanka to study and take full bikkhuni ordination. There has been no full ordination of nuns in Thailand for 1200 years. As a result, nuns have a surprisingly low status in this patriarchal culture. There is a growing movement among women activists to improve the role of nuns and we are actively involved in this work.
Legal Literacy in India (407)
India / $10,000
The Justice Sunanda Bhandare Foundation was established in 1994 to facilitate a more gender-equitable society in India. In the course of its work, it has embraced women as their main constituents, in addition to the physically challenged and the vast majority of Indian people who live in villages. In India, 49%) of women and 30% of the total population is illiterate. While the National Literacy Mission has embarked on a massive literacy project throughout the country, this Foundation is concerned with spreading awareness of the legal rights, particularly those of women. Its legal literacy mission is designed to make more people aware of their legal rights as well as gender biases in laws, so that eventually public opinion will support the removal of these anomalies. The courts in India are becoming more pro-active, particularly when addressing women's rights in the areas of maintenance, divorce, inheritance and adoption. The' Foundation's experience shows, however, that very often the women themselves seem unaware of these rights.
Women for a Plutonium-Free World (406)
United States - California / $500
Radio producer, Penny Rosenwasser and writer/activist Margaret Pavel produced a series of four, one-hour radio programs on Berkeley, California's KPFA 94.1 FM radio station called "Women for a Plutonium-Free World," in which they interviewed: activist, Priscilla Settee; Navaho leader, Esther Yazzie; Dr. Mildred McClain; ecology activist, Claire Greensfelder; and journalist, Fusako de Angelis. Copies of the interview were distributed to the communities of the interviewees and with other public radio stations.
Mrs. Vaihere Bordes & Hotu Tiare Maohi (396)
French Polynesia / $1,000
Flow Funder: Mayumi Oda
Hiti Tau is a network of locally-based community organizations throughout the islands of French-Occupied Polynesia. Through this organization, I found out about Mrs. Vaihere Bordes, an energetic Maohi woman, who has organized a women's cooperative called Hotu Tiare Maohi to produce traditional coconut oil also known as "monoi." This Flow Fund gift helped to find ways to distribute the monoi products and thus increase the financial self-sufficiency of all the Maohi women involved in the project.
Sokhoeun & The Naga Women's Party (388)
Cambodia, United States - California / $2,500
Flow Funder: Mayumi Oda
Sokhoeun fled Cambodia as a young woman and came to the USA. Since then, she has supported hundreds of Cambodian refugees, artists, and cultural figures. Sokhoeun studied International Studies & Buddhism at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and travels frequently to Cambodia to help women in business and grassroots organizing. Encouraged by many Buddhist teachers, including Maha Goshnanda, she developed the Naga Women's Party.
Lokenath Divine Life Mission (378)
India / $500
Lokenath Divine Life Mission Mission projects include the establishment of women's empowerment groups, women's healthcare, child education, creative development, adult education, eye surgery & care, homeopathy, farmers clubs/conservation awareness. The Mission is committed to raising the socio-economic level of the impoverished people of the slums and villages in and around Calcutta, and addresses fundamental problems at the grass root level. They conduct school classes "on the streets" and health care in a medical mobile where care is needed most.
Looking Grand, Feeling Great (366)
http://www.darcaleenicholson.com
United States - California / $2,500
A gift was shared with Darca Lee Nicholson, a healer and bodywork practitioner, to complete her natural health book, "Looking Grand, Feeling Great: Simple Practices for Beauty and Health."
Clean and Healthy Food Production Project (354)
Russian Federation / $500
Dana -a Nikolaev women's organization Unlimited Possibilities Award to Natasha Pokrass a 'Can-Do' lady. When we did a check-in at the women's circle to see what the life focus was for each participant. Most said "family" but not Natasha. Although she has a family, her goal was to help make positive changes in the health of her community.. "She's not happy unless she's too busy" said a friend at the circle. She has already found a donation of bread baking machines and is sponsoring a seminar to encourage and support others to produce healthy clean (as opposed to irradiated) food.
Unlimited Possibilities Award to Ludmilla Zhirina (353)
Russian Federation / $645
There are some people who you know are working every day to make a difference and will use whatever money you give them thoughtfully with the idea of making an impact. Ludmilla is one of those people. She comes from a small city near the Ukrainian border that was the most heavily radiated as a result of the Chernobyl accident. She was inspired by our alternative energy seminars and the information she heard at the 10th Anniversary of Chernobyl conference. When I offered her the grant of $500 with no strings attached, she immediately produced a simple booklet on energy production in her area to present at a series of seminars which she did for teachers who are working in schools and environmental centers throughout her region. She reports that her booklet is very popular and that there is a demand for expanding the energy seminars. Booklets will be used by the teachers with their students throughout her area and she wants further help in expanding the energy seminars. Previously, I provided her with a $145 grant for supplies and translation for an experiential ecology seminar
Advocacy, Ecology/Sustainability, Education, Media, Nuclear, Women
Beijing Conference fees (335)
Russian Federation, Uzbekistan / $600
Beijing Conference fees I am trying to raise the money for both of the women heading two projects, to represent areas of extreme ecological devastation at the Beijing Women's Conference in September. One participant has already raised her own airfare.
Perzent Karalkalpakistan, Uzbekistan (334)
Uzbekistan / $2,500
Many large international agencies have done research in the Aral Sea area, but few actually have operational programs. Mothers' breast milk is toxic, the drinking water is polluted, and there is the highest rate of infant mortality in the FSU. I first funded a pamphlet written in the Karalkalpak language for teenagers who marry and have children at 16-19 years of age, concerning sanitation, drinking water, and health. After consulting with Oral Atanyazova in Nukus, I've decided to additionally fund a monthly women's bulletin based loosely on the book "Our Bodies, Ourselves" Oral is an independent woman Gynecologist and now Ph.d, of Karalkalpak origin, who is deeply committed to the health of her people and is bursting with good ideas. She is a real hope for change and I am working to get UNICEF involved with her visionary future for the women of her region.
Advocacy, Ecology/Sustainability, Health, Nuclear, Water, Women
Edie Harshome's Work with Bosnian Women (331)
Bosnia and Herzegovina / $1,000
Flow Funder: Vijali Hamilton
Year Funded: 1996
A gift was shared with Edie Harshome for travel expenses to meet with grassroots women's groups at Desa, a women's center in Dubrovnik, Sarajevo Bosnia. Her work with refugee women helps them reorganize their lives and regain a means of livelihood after the Bosnian War.
Cottage Industry for Village Women (329)
India / $2,000
Training women to weave, make cotton cloth etc. and to start small businesses.
Sri Sarada Society (324)
United States - New York / $1,000
Flow Funder: Vijali Hamilton
A gift was shared with the Sri Sarada Society in Albany, New York, where women are given a platform to teach and express their spiritual insights.
Siberian Womens Circle (320)
Russian Federation / $2,000
Siberian Womens Circle At the time of the World Wheel in Siberia, a women's group was formed out of the inspiration of our time together. These women meet regularly and not only support each other but address the needs of their environment at this very difficult time for Russia.
Tibetan Buddhist Nuns Living in Shoto Terdrom, Tibet (319)
China / $1,000
Flow Funder: Vijali Hamilton
I fell in love with the Tibetan Buddhist Nuns living in Shoto Terdrom, Tibet. Their cave hermitage is located at 16,000 feet in one of Tibet's most sacred sites. I carved my "Rainbow Bodhisattva" in one of their local caves. They are extremely poor but courageous and joyous women and I was greatly inspired to share this gift with them.
Feminist International Radio Endeavour (FIRE) (308)
http://www.fire.or.cr/indexeng.htm
Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras / $1,000
Flow Funder: Kazuaki Tanahashi
Please click the image to view the video.
Based in Colon, Costa Rica, Feminist International Radio Endeavour (FIRE) has done path-breaking work on organizing women for peace and environmental work. This gift helped them with their work with women in Central American countries, focusing on dialogue and action for disarmament and demilitarization.
Sangha Savika (295)
Thailand / $2,500
Buddhism came to Thailand over 2,000 years ago and it is its major religion, however, women are considered inferior and women's ordination is even illegal. Women who seek ordination have to go to Sri Lanka to be ordained, but they are not accepted by the Buddhist institution. Sangha Savika is a group of lay women who support the spiritual practice of Buddhist women. Sangha Savika used our Flow Fund Gift to help build a place for Buddhist spiritual practice for women and female monks. Female monks who have no place to stay can also live here. Funds were also used to run four seminars and retreats which aim to support women's ordination, as well as travel to visit with other female monks around the country, and help individual female monks, who still have no place to stay, find a community to live and practice with.
Whistle Home & Oasis Project (294)
Thailand / $2,500
Chansuda Suwanchandee was a single mother of three young children and she had HIV. She founded and ran the Oasis Project. It was her dream to provide shelter, food, and health care for homeless people with HIV in Bangkok, Thailand. The Whistle Hom provides child care for mothers with HIV. Children receive food, diapers, and nourishment. Since mothers with HIV cannot breast feed their children, the home also provides instant milk powder for free. Some children live permanently at Whistle Home because their mothers have passed away.
Choreography, women and ecology - Cultural Center Chandralekha (287)
India / $2,500
Chandralekha, India's most controversial choreographer broke new ground in the 1980s when she merged traditional Easter and modern Western forms.
Consortium for Young Women (258)
United States - California / $4,000
Flow Funder: Sobonfu Some
A gift was shared with this organization that works with young girls to provide them with different ways of relating to the world and different way of better taking care of themselves.
Self-Development Program for Activist Leader (248)
Myanmar / $1,000
Flow Funder: Anonymous
A Flow Fund Gift was shared to provide a scholarship for an outstanding activist in Burma who has been working as Program Director of the Metta Development Foundation, since its conception. The Metta Development Foundation is the first local non-governmental organization (NGO) in Burma, and it concentrates on empowering grassroots community development work for self-reliance. This organization provides people at the grassroots level throughout Burma with valuable and effective programs to empower communities and individuals and improve the capacity for community development. Programs include: Women's Development; Early Childhood Care & Development; Community-Managed Healthcare; Rural Reconstruction; Farmer Field School for Sustainable Agriculture, and more. With this gift, this activist leader plans to visit an alternative community in the United Kingdom in order to enhance her knowledge about alternative development. She will explore the ideas of alternative community management and other issues so that she can apply this appropriately to her work in Burma. She will also have the opportunity to visit some international NGOs.
Parbhani Seed Savers, (236)
India / $496
The project promotes growing of native vegetable varieties in home gardens by women in efforts to improve the nutritional security of women and children. Apart from conservation of traditional vegetable varieties, the project helps revive the tradition of backyard home gardens and also make a significant contribution to the food and nutritional security of poor families.
Nganga and Village Health Project (229)
Zimbabwe / $2,000
The Nganga Project, a non-profit organization, recognizes that collaboration with traditional healers is essential in confronting AIDS in Africa, and so is working in alliance with the native ways of traditional African people to address AIDS, hunger and other community issues. The project seeks to establish alliances between practitioners of different healing modalities – traditional, Western, Chinese, Native American, etc. Starvation continues to be a major cause of death in Zimbabwe. In addition, Zimbabwe suffers from the highest infection rate of AIDS in the world: 25% of the population is HIV positive. Traditional rites of initiation for young men and women have been largely lost in the past two generations, which the elders see as directly connected to widespread alienation among youth and the exacerbation of the local AIDS crisis. The Nganga Project is collaborating to revive the old rites and make them relevant for those coming of age in contemporary Zimbabwe. The Village Health Project seeks to help alleviate the suffering of those with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe by starting a free Chinese Medicine clinic there.
Maher Center (227)
India / $2,500
Flow Funder: Rachel Bagby
The Maher Center is the first refuge for battered women in the city of Pune, India. This caste-free, interfaith, ecologically-operated center has become instrumental in opening satellite centers of caste-free, transformational communities across India.
Kembatta Women's Self-Help Center (KMG) (226)
Ethiopia / $3,000
Bogaletch Gebre embodies Ghandi's call for us to be the change we want to see in the world. She was the first girl in her village/district to be educated beyond the fourth grade. After studying microbiology, physiology, epidemiology and public health in Israel and the US, she taught health sciences in Ethiopia and the US before returning home to establish KMG. While lead by women, KMG works holistically, via three interrelated programs that help women and their families to help themselves improve community: Reproductive health education, including the elimination of female genital excision (FGE); HIV/AIDS prevention; Vocational training and advancement of women's entrepreneurial skills; and Restoring depleted watersheds and damaged ecosystems.
Advocacy, Children/Teens, Ecology/Sustainability, Economic Development, Women
Seeking Educational Equity & Diversity (SEED) Project (225)
United States - New Jersey, United States - Massachusetts / $2,000
Flow Funder: Rachel Bagby
A gift was shared with the Seeking Educational Equity & Diversity (SEED) project, which sustains an international community of educators devoted to developing more inclusive curriculum for the Kindergarten through High School population in New Jersey USA. Teams of educators attend a week-long training and return home to co-conduct ongoing study groups with teachers and administrators, complete with support materials. All participants work on two questions in their seminars: What would curriculum look like if the diverse lives of women and girls were seen as co-central with the diverse lives of men and boys? and How can curriculum and teaching methods provide, in the metaphors of Emily Style, both windows into others' experiences, and mirrors of each student's own reality and validity?
Sistership Grant for Alternatives for Girls (222)
http://www.alternativesforgirls.org/
United States - Michigan / $400
This Sistership Grant was by far my most creative and gratifying one. While preparing to be a presenter at the Woman & Power Conference, a still, small voice told me to have travelers checks in hand to demonstrate the power of generosity. I asked for girls age 18 and younger to come tell me their dreams for themselves, the world and the future. Seven girls came up as a collective, and I learned how their work with the organization Alternatives for Girls was helping them to change their lives around. They talked about their hopes for friends who were still struggling with drugs and difficult relationships and some shyly shared about contributions they hoped to make to the world. I gave them each $25-$50 to support their individual dreams and $100 to contribute to their community. Their assignment was to decide amongst themselves how to wisely distribute the funds and to let me know how they did it. They divvied the gift up equally to purchase lunch and toys because you need both fun and food in life.
Youth Sistership Grant for Dana Pauly (219)
United States - Virginia / $1,000
A gift was shared to create the Youth Sistership Grant which supports the work of Dana Pauly in agroecology. Dana was a leader in creating "Grown in Nelson," a farm-based group in Nelson County, Virginia that strengthens local agriculture by increasing new markets for local farmers. Her contributions to agroecology farming practices include learning how to make biodynamic preps and helping a small CSA farmer (Screech Owl Farms) to expand operations to full-time.
Preservation of Cultural Traditions for Young Girls (202)
Brazil / $1,155
A gift was shared to support a women's dance program, in which women are taught, through dance, movement and story telling, the Afro-Brazilian traditions, so that they may become tradition-bearers in the future. Located on an island off the coast of Bahia, Brazil, this gift enabled the group to extend itself to include girls of all different ages.
Dia Nacional da Consciencia Negro (200)
Brazil / $1,155
Flow Funder: Edmundo Barbosa
A gift was shared with a group of women dancers on an island off the coast of Bahia, Brazil who preserve their Afro-Brazilian traditions through dance and movement. Funded last year as well, this year's funding supported them in their ongoing work of bringing Afro-Brazilian traditions to other islands, as well as the creation of the 1st Annual Dia Nacional da Consciencia Negro (A National Day of Black Consciousness).
Funeral Expenses (198)
Brazil / $2,125
A gift was shared to facilitate the return by plane of the body of a woman who made a three-day bus trip from her home to the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil to find treatment for her cancer. She did not survive the journey and her three children could not afford to bring her body back for a proper ritual burial. This gift helped make that return journey possible.
Cows for Village Women (189)
Kazakhstan / $700
Flow Funder: Vladimir Korotenko
A gift was shared to purchase two milk cows and a calf, to aid village women to give them an opportunity to improve their life conditions.
Purchase of Gas & Water Meters (179)
Kazakhstan / $203
Flow Funder: Tamara Sabitova
Roza is a single mother with three young children. She has no money to buy meters for the gas and water going to her apartment, so authorities charge her a "fixed fee," which is six times the amount she would have paid if she had the meters. A gift was shared to help pay for registration fees for the apartment, the purchase of gas/water meters, and bathroom pipes.
Sewing Machines & Carpentry Supplies (176)
Kazakhstan / $1,300
Flow Funder: Tamara Sabitova
Year Funded: 2005
Please click the image to view the video.
We met with six women from the village of Dikhan in Kazakhstan, who are very skilled tailors, but had no start-up capital to buy sewing machines to open their own business. In fact, there were no sewing machines in this village at all! A gift was shared to purchase six sewing machines and carpentry materials/equipment. A local school heard about the women and gave them a room to put all their equipment in. In trade, during school hours, one woman teaches the girls how to sew and the boys learn carpentry. Through learning this new skill, the boys ended up making all the desks and chairs themselves. In the evening, women use the machines for their business. In gratitude, the women made New Year's costumes for the children and beginning in September 2005, they will make all the school uniforms, with the understanding that children from poor families will receive the uniforms for free. Regional administration decided to help too and they are providing a salary to the sewing teacher. The accompanying video highlights many of the Flow Fund Projects in Kazakhstan.
Plowing & Planting of Seeds (173)
Kazakhstan / $188
Flow Funder: Tamara Sabitova
A gift was shared for the plowing and planting of seeds with a mother who is able to grow wheat on her land and use the income to buy food for her farm animals and have seed for next year. Her hope is to have enough money to give her children a good education.
Women's Sewing Project (164)
Kazakhstan / $450
Flow Funder: Sakan Aubakirova
A gift was shared to purchase fabric for various sewing projects of this collective of women.
Chickens for a Folk Festival (163)
Kazakhstan / $1,450
Flow Funder: Sakan Aubakirova
A center for single mothers is preparing for a folk festival and they needed chickens to prepare and serve.
Support for Local Family (134)
Kazakhstan / $800
Flow Funder: Mira Bocharnikova
A single mother and her three children requested help in buying a piece of land, a used motorcycle, a chain-saw, and 2 goats. With the motorcycle and chain-saw the sons will be able to make money cutting firewood for villagers and delivering it using the motorcycle. They also plan to plant fruits and vegetables on their land to support their family's budget, by transporting and selling the vegetables and fruits at the market. The family is also willing to cut firewood at a discount for other single mothers in the area.
Sewing Equipment & Materials (118)
Kazakhstan / $2,100
Flow Funder: Kalima Kulbatchaeva
Funds were shared to purchase sewing equipment and materials for a workshop. The working space for this project has been provided by local businessmen, free of charge and a local woman with disabilities, who is raising 2 children alone, will teach 7 young women sewing skills and then employ them to make clothing for sale.
Local Businesswomen's Group (114)
Kazakhstan / $609
Flow Funder: Kalima Kulbatchaeva
Funds were shared to create a local businesswomen group where ten women farmers pooled their money in order to pay the land ownership fees for their land plots. They now all own their land, through community support.
Bakery Run by Single Mothers (108)
Kazakhstan / $1,200
Flow Funder: Gulmira Beketova
Through a Flow Fund Gift, a group of single mothers opened this bakery, which provides baked goods and money for their families. This bakery provides employment for some and extra income for those who are already employed.
Support Group for Mothers (104)
Kazakhstan / $2,000
Flow Funder: Bayan Akhmetzhanova
Twenty women who lost their children in custody battles formed a support/community group to provide practical and psychological support for each other.
Sewing Machine & Supplies for Local Families (96)
Kazakhstan / $227
Flow Funder: Kalieva Balzhan
A Flow Fund Gift was used to purchase two sewing machines and various supplies to be used by a local union of mothers with many children. This gift will go a long way towards eliminating poverty in this village.
Support for Single Moms (90)
Kazakhstan / $1,100
Flow Funder: Sonya Aubakirova
This support center for single, temporarily unemployed mothers with young children uses land for farming to create work for the moms and their adult children.
Job Training for Former Drug Addicts (86)
Kazakhstan / $700
Flow Funder: Sonya Aubakirova
A Flow Fund Gift was shared to purchase sewing materials in order to teach sewing skills to former drug addicts, so they can find jobs after their rehabilitation period.
Semyonovka Village School Daycare (85)
Kazakhstan / $2,000
Flow Funder: Sonya Aubakirova
A Flow Fund Gift was shared with the Semyonovka Village School Daycare, so parents can leave their children for longer hours, which gives them opportunity to find jobs, and/or work longer hours in their potato fields. Because of this opportunity, four women were able to find jobs and then formed a farming collective. They are now growing potatoes and contribute part of their new incomes towards the maintenance and growth of the daycare.
Micro-Credit Program for Single Moms (84)
Kazakhstan / $890
Flow Funder: Bayan Akhmetzhanova
A Flow Fund Gift was shared to create a Micro-Credit Program for low-income, single mothers. This program helps these women find jobs as well as organizing mutual help groups so the women can support each other during the difficult times. Through the program, money is shared collectively, so no one is without funds. So far, thirty mothers have found employment and support through this program. Five women received micro-grants to start their own small businesses, which include baking pirozhkis, making salads, cooking dinners, and doing laundry. After two months of making a profit, these women will provide the start-up money for the next five women who want to start their own business and so on.
Equipment for Local Zhinocha Gromada (82)
Kazakhstan / $328
Flow Funder: Bayan Akhmetzhanova
A Flow Fund Gift was shared with the local branch of this major women's organization to purchase a copy machine.
Advocacy Organization for Mothers (75)
Kazakhstan / $900
Flow Funder: Aigul Dyusenova
A Flow Fund Gift was shared to help create an advocacy organization developed by mothers of military personnel in Kazakhstan.
Benedictine Sisters of the Mosteiro do Salvador (68)
Brazil / $115
Flow Funder: Sonia Cafe
A gift was shared with the Benedictine Sisters of the Mosteiro do Salvador, who are in need of certain household and personal hygiene articles.
Tibetan Dance Project (58)
United States - Washington / $1,000
A gift was shared to support Tsering Wangmo to teach traditional dancing to Urgan Tibetan girls in Seattle, Washington USA.
Jolom Mayaetik (Mayan Weavers) (56)
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8031388018
Mexico / $5,000
Flow Funder: Margo Segura and Marine Dominguez
Jolom Mayaetik, meaning "Mayan Weavers," is a collective founded in 1996, with over 800 indigenous women members who are weavers and represent several different areas in San Cristobal de Las Casa, Chiapas, Mexico. It is an advocacy cooperative program which focuses on many areas of business, fair trade, marketing, women's rights and the development of financial means to help support their families in food, housing, medicine and education.
Al-Fatiha Foundation (42)
United States - California / $500
A gift was shared to support the work of the Al-Fatiha Foundation, which fosters contact among gay Muslims through conferences, local chapters, and internet news groups.
Muslim Women in Action (36)
http://www.muslimwomeninaction.com/
United States - California / $250
A gift was shared to support social services, including a shelter, for Muslim women and children in San Diego.
Maiko: Women's Drum & Poetry Ensemble (32)
http://www.artsopolis.com/org/detail/174
United States - California / $3,000
A gift was shared to support a 16-week course for high-school students fostering self-esteem through percussion and vocal expression with Maiko, a women's drum and poetry ensemble.
Model Mugging Scholarship for 25 Teen Girls (30)
United States - California / $850
A gift was shared to support 25 teen girls in taking a class for female youth, which addresses molestation/rape, how to set boundaries, how to be aware of and avoid danger, and practical, life-saving, defensive fighting.
Women's Conference on Conscious Eating (24)
United States - California / $400
A gift was shared to support a conference on conscious eating as an act of healing.
Women's Bush Medicine (10)
Australia / $1,075
A gift was shared to support this program that transmits traditional medicine from older women to young girls in a remote aboriginal Australian setting.
Jade King Productions: Multi-Ethnic Resource Website (3)
United States - California / $4,000
A gift was shared to help develop a screenwriters' resource web site, focusing on authentic, multi-ethnic screen and television characters to challenge stereotypes and explore alternative options for expanding the range of ethnic characters in films.
Latina Battered Women's Program (2)
United States - California / $5,000
Flow Funder: Margo Segura and Marine Dominguez
A Flow Fund Gift was shared to assist in developing a Latina Battered Women's Community Outreach Program at the San Diego, California YMCA, which includes the production of bilingual materials.
California Latino Women's Book Project (1)
United States - California / $5,000
A gift was shared to assist in the production of a black-and-white photography book by Victoria G. Alvarado, which highlights California Latinas who are successfully impacting the well-being of the California Latino community.