Groundbreaking on Senegal School Construction Project
June 16, 2008 - Education and Literacy

In Senegal, EGCF has embarked on another school construction project through an innovative partnership with Building with Books (BwB). BwB and Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization that works with impoverished communities, national and local governments, and partner organizations to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), have partnered to bring education and hope to thousands of children in western Africa. Read more

Scholarship Program Recipients Selected in the Solomon Islands
May 9, 2008 - Education and Literacy

EGCF is pleased to report on the outcomes of its partnership with Conservation International (CI) to support the innovative Tetepare Scholarship Fund in the Solomon Islands.

As the largest uninhabited island in the South Pacific, Tetepare's pristine Rainforest has been untouched for over a century and represents a key conservation target of biodiversity. The indigenous landowners of Tetepare formed an organization in 2003, TDA, to protect Tetepare from the imminent commercial logging that has taken most of the country's remaining rainforests. The EU has committed to funding the operating costs of TDA through the year 2010. In return for the significant income forgone from choosing conservation over logging, economic incentive agreements from CI provide tangible benefits for TDA members in 14 villages. One of the most vital incentives is a program that provides educational scholarships for children unable to afford basic school attendance fees. This spring, EGCF supported the selection of 14 scholarship recipients from various villages. Out of nearly 145 applicants, 89 students were selected overall. Read more

Update on India Business Training Program
May 1, 2008 - Microfinance and Microenterprise

As an update to the Spring pilot program in India (see Jan. 2nd article) through our partnership with Accion, the training pilot was conducted in the first quarter of 2008 using 7 newly translated “Training of Trainer” (TOT) modules. Based on the number of facilitators, number of participants, and general participant satisfaction, the success of this first pilot was deemed very promising. The TOT Pilot included 50 potential trainers with a goal to have at least 25 certified trainers graduate as a result. This intensive classroom-training pilot included the general program for licensing trainers that is used in Accion’s Latin America program. The next step is to launch the business-training pilot itself. Currently, Accion is in the middle of translating 13 business educational modules in time for an October 2008 launch. The estimate for the first micro-business pilot is approximately 50 participants. Read more

Guatemalan Mobile School's Project Underway
March 3, 2008 - Youth Empowerment

In rural Guatemala, the cycle of poverty for women and children is made worse from cultural attitudes that discriminate against woman's participation in education and decision-making. EGCF has partnered with CARE to support a year long initiative in the southwestern department of San Marcos, Guatemala to bring change to some of Guatemala's poorest communities of indigenous mayan women. Read more

New Nicaraguan School Construction Complete
January 9, 2008 - Education and Literacy

In July, EGCF partner Building with Books (BwB) brought high school students from California to Nicaragua to work with community members in the village of Las Bonansas to construct a new community school. Read more

Business Training Program to launch in India
January 2, 2008 - Microfinance and Microenterprise

EGCF has partnered with Accion International to sponsor a Spring pilot program in India to bring Accion’s highly successful business training model to the country’s small entrepreneurs. Read more