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| Malaria Operation Logo |
After a couple of months of hard work and careful planning, the Malaria Operation project is all set to go. I am very excited about this project. It is going to give volunteers that chance to tackle the problem of malaria in Buyaya in a systematic way. The project should - and will - have a positive impact on so many people.
The beauty of the project is that we can copy-and-paste to other areas that Meaningful Volunteer is based. In fact, anyone is free to use the material from the Malaria Project in anyway they see fit: All Meaningful Volunteer resources are freely available to everyone. It's not as if there isn't enough poverty to go around...
The hard work and rigor that has gone into the Malaria Operation is yet another sign of Meaningful Volunteer's growth since it started up more than a year ago. It's come along way since Steve and Ingrid - the first Meaningful Volunteers - and I arrived on the island of Romblon in the Philippines.
I'm especially pleased with staff that is now working within Meaningful Volunteer. We have the Meran Chang as our volunteer coordinator, Eden Navia as the district manager for the Philippines, Scarlet Nabwire as the district manager for Uganda, and Raymund Villanueva providing technical support and gentle prodding when needed.
The support from people outside the organization has also been phenomenal. Meaningful has received over $US 1,500 for the care of Flavia Anying: a member of Grassroots Uganda who suffered a vicious machette attack at the hands of her partner. Flavia is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kampala. Check out this picture to see how she is recovering from her wounds. The picture is a little graphic, so be warned if you get a little quezzy from such pictures.
Another kind soul is also giving 10% (!) of his income to Meaningful Volunteer. We are using this money to support our education programs in Uganda. The money is used to support about 18 students every month including all their educational materials and a decent meal at the start of the lesson.
So what's next for Meaningful Volunteer?
Meaningful Volunteer is about to send out a job description for the marketing manager position, as well as hiring a financial officer from the Philippines to take over the day-to-day financial running of the organization.
New projects on the horizon include an HIV project for Buyaya. This one is going to be especially cool and will include education campaigns, ARV programs and day-to-day support.
Exciting times ahead!
