Support
Children's Hospital Caregiver Project
One of the most stressful and difficult tasks for health care professionals and parents is to provide physical and emotional support to children who are ill or dying. To enable both professionals and parents meet the challenges of working with these children, Insight L.A., Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, and the UCLA Pediatric Pain program co-sponsor a quarterly daylong retreat entitled "Mindfulness, Meditation, and Coping with Death." The intent of the retreat is to help participants learn effective mindfulness practices to help prevent compassion fatigue common to caregivers and parents of critically or terminally ill children. The retreat programming and meditations draw from the nondenominational teachings of contemplative mindfulness practice (MBSR)..
During the retreat, participants practice different ways of being mindful on the job, and learn powerful methods for cultivating self-compassion and inner strength. Participants are introduced to silent sitting and walking meditation, both essential methods to replenish the emotional reserves needed for providing support for the ill or dying children.
The Global Bridge Foundation has provided strategic guidance and periodic financial support to this project during the past 4-5 years.
Heifer International
Heifer's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. By giving families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, we empower them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope.
With gifts of livestock and training, we help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. We refer to the animals as "living loans" because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animal's offspring to another family in need. It's called Passing on the Gift - a cornerstone of our mission that creates an ever-expanding network of hope and peace.
In FY2008, Heifer had 869 active projects in 53 countries/provinces and 27 U.S. states. Heifer projects around the world help families achieve self-reliance through the gift of livestock and training. Gifts are passed from recipient to recipient until entire communities are transformed.
In China, Tanzania, Kosovo, Peru and countless other areas, natural and man-made disasters have left millions displaced, impoverished and malnourished. Heifer's Disaster Rehabilitation Projects provide international aid to help these families recover and help prepare them against future natural disasters through sustainable development.
What did GBF contribute to this effort?
For more information about Heifer International, click here.
International Medical Corps
International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, International Medical Corps rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.
International Medical Corps has provided life-saving care in more than 45 countries worldwide, responding to nearly every emergency in the last two decades. It deploys quickly in emergencies and then stays on to teach life-saving skills so that people locally can become self-reliant. Its training assures continuity and a new level of care for those impacted by conflict, tragedy and extreme poverty.
Over the years, International Medical Corps has responded to the world's most devastating man-made and natural disasters, including famine in Somalia, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, the Rwandan genocide, and atrocities against children in Sierra Leone. More recently, International Medical Corps was a first responder after the 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, responded domestically following Hurricane Katrina, and is among the dwindling number of humanitarian agencies still working in Darfur and Iraq.
What did GBF contribute to this effort?
For more information about the International Medical Corps, click here.
Insight Meditation Society
Founded in 1975, the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) is a 501 (c) (3) religious nonprofit organization. Over its 33-year history, IMS has become a spiritual home to thousands of practitioners, and is now regarded as one of the Western world's most respected centers for learning and deepening meditation practice. The organization operates two meditation retreat programs - the Retreat Center and the Forest Refuge. Both facilities are set on some 200 secluded wooded acres in the quiet country of central Massachusetts.
IMS is a spiritual refuge for all who seek freedom of mind and heart. We offer meditation retreats rooted in the Theravada Buddhist teachings of ethics, concentration and wisdom. These practices help develop awareness and compassion in ourselves, giving rise to greater peace and happiness in the world. While the context is the Buddha's teachings, the practices are universal.
The Retreat Center started its program of silent meditation courses in 1976. It offers a full yearly schedule of over 25 meditation courses, ranging in duration from a weekend to three months. Most retreats run for 7-9 days. All Retreat Center courses provide instruction and practice in insight (vipassana) and/or lovingkindness (metta) meditations. In addition to the insight and lovingkindness meditation courses, a range of diverse retreats is also taught -- a people of color retreat, a course for teens (aged 14-19), a young adults retreat (for 18-32 year olds), a women's retreat and a course for families, designed to integrate meditation into daily life. All courses are led by recognized insight meditation teachers from around the world.
The Forest Refuge opened in 2003. There, experienced vipassana meditators can undertake a more independent, less-structured personal retreat, exploring freedom within a supportive environment. The duration of personal retreats ranges from one-week stays to periods of a year or more.
What did GBF contribute to this effort?
For more information about the Insight Meditation Society, click here
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International
The following information is taken from the Web site of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International:
Diabetes is a chronic, debilitating disease affecting every organ system. There are two major types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes (an autoimmune disease also known as juvenile diabetes) and type 2 diabetes (a metabolic disorder also known as adult onset diabetes).
Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes strikes children suddenly, makes them dependent on injected or pumped insulin for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. While diagnosis most often occurs in childhood and adolescence, it can and does strike adults as well.
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.
Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.3 billion to diabetes research, including more than $156 million in FY2008.
The Global Bridge Foundation has provided financial contributions to the JDRF over the past 7 years.
For more information on this project, click here.
Tilganga - Mamre Sudanese Refugee Program
In response to an emerging need in this local area (Australia) and at the request of a number of agencies, Mamre has engaged in a program to assist in the resettlement of Sudanese refugee families.
In 1984, the NSW (Australia) Department of Planning made Mamre Homestead and surrounding acreage available to the Sisters of Mercy to be developed as a training centre for the unemployed of the area. Over the years, several programs have been successfully implemented to meet the perceived needs of time. State and Federal agencies now provide funding for the continuing development and delivery of training programs.
Around 24 Sudanese women with approximately thirty four small children are currently participating in a special program that runs four days a week at Mamre. One training program focuses on "spin" farming. SPIN-Farming is a non-technical, easy-to-learn and inexpensive-to-implement vegetable farming system that makes it possible to earn significant income from land bases under an acre in size
GBF assisted Mamre in strategic planning with regard to implementation of a "spin farm" project. In addition, GBF supported a documentary of this uniquely tailored urban farming and marketing program.
The Tsoknyi Lineage Nuns of Nangchen (Tibet)
The nuns' story is a classic example of dedication and tenacity. Organized in nunneries comprised of several "Ani houses" (dwellings where up to 15 nuns live together), they perform their spiritual practices in a group, teaching and helping each other all their lives. In a culture where female practitioners have struggled to gain respect, these nuns have risen to a high level of status, with many monks and lamas seeking their teachings and instruction.
Not only is the power of their practice evident in the atmosphere of harmony and cooperation within the nunneries, but also there is a profound impact on the surrounding communities. The communities and villages that surround the nunneries become very peaceful and markedly happier as violence, alcoholism, excessive drinking and harmful smoking habits dramatically decline. Even harsh speech becomes rare.
The nuns also serve the community through spiritual support and counseling, helping with ceremonies, death and so forth, giving love, compassion and emanating peace directly into people's minds. This is a tangible example of the power of spiritual influence. The values that nuns have--peace, love and compassion--affect an entire community and continue to branch out to the rest of the world.
The Global Bridge Foundation has provided periodic grant/monetary support to the Nuns over the past 3 years.
For more information on this project, click here
Pundarika Foundation
Under the guidance of Tsoknyi Rinpoche III, Pundarika Foundation was established in 1994 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit religious organization and as a 501(c)(3) church in 2006 (FEIN No. 84-1295990). Pundarika is a volunteer organization that relies on the generosity of students' time and commitment. It has the support of over 2,000 students throughout the world who attend retreats, practice Dharma under the inspiration of Rinpoche and contribute time, money and prayers to its success.
Pundarika Foundation's primary mission is to support the teaching activities and humanitarian work of Tsoknyi Rinpoche by:
•Keeping alive the wisdom of the Dharma
•Sustaining practitioners who preserve the teachings of the Buddha as a vital tradition
•Helping people experience inner peace, to better face the challenges of modern life with compassion and sanity
The Pundarika Foundation offers seminars and retreats around the world. Examples of topics to be addressed in 2010 include:
•Fearless Simplicity: An Introduction to Dzogchen
•Devotion: The Profound Path
•Distinguishing Between Awakened and Subtly Deluded States of Mind
What did GBF contribute to this effort?
For more information about the Pundarika Foundation, click here
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Spirit Rock Meditation Center is dedicated to the teachings of the Buddha as presented in the vipassana tradition. The practice of mindful awareness, called Insight or Vipassana Meditation, is at the heart of all the activities at Spirit Rock. The purpose of Spirit Rock is to help each individual find within himself or herself peace, compassion, and wisdom, through the practice of mindfulness and insight meditation (vipassana), and to support the individual in taking those qualities into the world.
The Center hosts a full program of ongoing classes, daylong programs, and residential retreats. Daylongs are suitable for beginning and experienced meditators (unless otherwise noted) and include basic meditation instructions.
Programs include:
•Paths for awakening
•The Path of Engagement
•Essential Dharma
•Mindfulness yoga and meditation training
What did GBF contribute to this effort?
For more information about the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, click here
Unitus
The vision and purpose of Unitus, as found in their web site, is as follows:
At Unitus, we believe in the inherent value of every global citizen. We see the potential of all individuals to change their world for the better, given the opportunity.
The World Bank estimates that more than 2.5 billion people live on $2 a day or less. In India, 76 percent of the population lives below this line; the total is 73 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa. The persistence of this extreme poverty is a structural and moral failure to recognize the fundamental promise of nearly half of the world's population.
We believe we can transform the future for millions of the world's least fortunate by scaling up highly leveraged, market-based approaches to fighting poverty using the power of microfinance. Once the working poor are no longer excluded from the resources and opportunities of the world's financial markets, they are empowered to realize their full potential, building stronger families, communities, and lives.
Unitus fights global poverty by accelerating the growth of microfinance--small loans and other financial tools for self-empowerment--where it is needed most. The organization targets high-need regions of the developing world where microfinance has promise but is struggling to grow. Basically, Unitus focuses its efforts in three areas:
•Accelerating microfinance growth;
•Promoting innovation and efficiency;
•Advancing social entrepreneurship
What did GBF contribute to this effort?
For more information about Unitus, click here.
Women for Women International
Women for Women International believes that when women are well, sustain an income, are decision-makers, and have strong social networks and safety-nets, they are in a much stronger position to advocate for their rights. This philosophy and a commitment to local leadership builds change and capacity at the grassroots level.
As a result of war and conflict, women and girls often lose everything that ever mattered to them, including their sense of self. Their voices are silenced. And even if they were to speak, there is no safe place where they can voice their pain.
Participation in Women to Women's one-year program launches women on a journey from victim to survivor to active citizen. Women for Women identifies services to support graduates of the program as they continue to strive for greater social, economic and political participation in their communities.
Women begin in a Sponsorship Program where direct financial aid from a sponsor helps them deal with the immediate effects of war and conflict such as lack of food, water, medicine and other necessities. While continuing to receive sponsorship support, women embark on the next leg of the journey and participate in the Renewing Women's Life Skills (ReneWLS) Program that provides them with rights awareness, leadership education and vocational and technical skills training. Women build upon existing skills and learn new ones in order to regain their strength, stability and stature on the path to becoming active citizens.
How has GBF contributed to this effort?
For more information about Women to Women, click here.
