News & Trends for Donor-Advised Giving to Asia

Ray of Light in India: A Conversation with Sister Lucy Kurien

The February issue of Vision Magazine includes an interview with Sister Lucy Kurien, founder and head of Maher, which is a Give2Asia fiscal sponsorship partner that helps women who need shelter from domestic violence. The article begins below, and the full article can be found by clicking here.

By Elyssa Paige, Vision Magazine

A tear stricken young woman with bruises on her face and a baby in her arms arrives at a gate in Pune, India. She is seeking refuge from her abusive husband whom she believes is going to kill her.

 Her story is one of thousands in India, where domestic violence, alcoholism, the dowry system and the caste system are some of the conditions that lead to patriarchal injustice and the widespread oppression of women. Uneducated and destitute, these women often end up facing starvation in the streets with suicide as the only escape.

That was until Maher.

Click here to continue reading.

Make a donation in support of Maher.

Recovery from Fall 2009 Disasters will Take Months or Years

Beginning in the final week of September, Asia has been battered by several deadly natural disasters. Multiple typhoons have struck the Philippines, killing hundreds. The first, Typhoon Ketsana, moved on to cause destruction in Southeast Asia as well.

The most deadly events were consecutive earthquakes in western Sumatra that killed over a thousand in Indonesia. In addition, massive flooding in south India, and an earthquake and tsunami in Samoas have destroyed entire towns.

While the immediate response to these disasters has included significant corporate giving and donations from large international groups, such as the Red Cross and the UN, the longer-term recovery process will likely outlive this initial surge in philanthropy from the international community.

The initial provisioning of food, water, shelter and medical care often takes a few days. Based on needs following past disasters, affected communities will likely require the following support and services from local groups: rebuilding of homes and schools; microfinance and job training for those whose businesses were destroyed; psycho-social services to relieve stress from death and hardship caused by the disaster; and education and scholarships for affected students.

Click here for more information on Give2Asia's short-term and long-term disaster relief efforts to these affected areas.

Philanthropy & diversity: Q & A with Meghna Shah

Interview by Dien Yuen, Give2Asia Director of Philanthropy
Reposted from Asian American Giving Blog

Rockefeller Professional Advisors (RPA) produced three studies on diversity in philanthropy last year. Meghna Shah, a former Associate at RPA, co-authored the reports, Philanthropy in a Changing Society and Diversity and Inclusion: Lessons Learned from the Field. Meghna also served as Editor of Diversity in Action: Strategies with Impact. We were honored to have the opportunity to ask Meghna several questions about the findings. Meghna Shah is currently a William J. Clinton Fellow of the American India Foundation. She will be spending the next ten months working on capacity-building projects for Saath, an NGO that creates market linkages for India's urban and rural poor.

1.  What were some of your responsibilities as an Associate at RPA?

At RPA, I worked on a diversity portfolio that included a series of publications on diversity in philanthropy, made possible by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, as well as the Cultures of Giving Fund, a Special Project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Fund empowers emerging donor communities to lead, develop and grow philanthropic resources for community social change causes. We made grants to culturally-specific and multi-cultural social change funds to increase the impact and effectiveness of individual and collective giving in these communities.  The fund invests in the capacity of community organizations to address community needs.

Give2Asia's Philanthropic Community Takes Action in Response to Consecutive Asian Disasters

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Give2Asia, a U.S. public charity which empowers donors and local Asia-based charitable groups, is partnering with corporations, foundations and individuals to help on-the-ground organizations respond to recent disasters in Taiwan, Southeast Asia and India.

Since August, Give2Asia’s donors have supported disaster relief projects across Asia in response to typhoons in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, massive flooding in South India, and successive earthquakes in Western Sumatra in Indonesia. Donors have given over US$400,000 for disaster relief since August. Contributions to support disaster relief projects can be made online at www.give2asia.org/relief.

IDE-India featured on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Amitabha Sadangi, a 2005 Skoll social entrepreneur and head of IDE-India, a grantee of Give2Asia, was featured in a news video on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on September 14, 2009. NewsHour correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on how India is trying to feed its growing population while maintaining the environment. The segment focuses on how IDE-India uses market approaches to help subsistence farmers become income farmers.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/social_issues/social_ent/