Mona Foundation Programs
MANAUS, BRAZIL: ADCAM began in 1985 as a small orphanage in San Jose, one of the poorest neighborhoods of Manaus, Brazil. Since then, ADCAM has developed organically to meet the needs of migrants who come from disparate parts of the Amazonas state to the city. Today, it is a nationally recognized educational institution, serving over 4000 students from pre-school through college and beyond. These include a youth apprentice program that trains youth ages 15 through 24 how to perform with excellence in the workplace, and then places them in internships; a program to assist juvenile offenders to return to daily life with “assisted liberty” community service; and a program offering “street children” after school programs. Mona Foundation support scholarships, capital improvement, and programs at ADCAM.
MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA: The Barli Institute addresses the challenges confronted by socially and economically marginalized girls and women in Madhya Pradesh. The rural and tribal communities these young women come from are considered the most underprivileged in India. Barli's mission is “To initiate and build the process of sustainable development through empowerment of young rural and tribal women to become agents of social change. In this process Barli is focused on building their capacity with a wide range of skills and knowledge needed to improve the lives of their families, their communities and themselves.” Barli uses education to empower young women to overcome systemic obstacles they face in achieving education, health and employment. Training combines practical knowledge to assist women in advancing their material well-being, and education to help raise self-esteem - providing abstract skills that can assist them in pursuing their goals. Mona Foundation proudly supports the programs and scholarships at Barli.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
The successes of the projects Mona Foundation partners with around the world are due to the hard work and determination of the people on the ground, the life-lines of the projects. Mona Foundation simply supports their efforts. Recently, we had the joy of seeing one of these successes when Teaching Kids Programming (TKP) brought their program to a remote island, Moloka’i, Hawaii. Over 50% of the population is native Hawaiian. There are no big resorts, not one stoplight on the island and no building taller than a coconut tree. Moloka’i is often treated as the “poor country cousin” of Maui County and usually last in line for resources such as the ones TKP provides.
TKP was there for 10 days and provided training to approximately 200 students from K-3 and middle school. Founders, Lynn Langit and Llewellyn Falco, worked with students to learn coding, create computer functions, and work with JAVA.
We firmly believe that providing access to technology for children, especially girls, is incredibly important. The percentage of girls in math and sciences has been steadily decreasing in the past several years, enlarging the digital divide and income disparity. There is no doubt that education transforms a child’s life and positively affects the family and larger community.
The needs of the projects Mona Foundation partners with are many, from scholarships to building an entire school. This year one of our greatest commitments is to the New Horizon School in Haiti. Their primary needs are to complete the construction of their school and launch a sustainable environmental initiative by reforesting the hills surrounding the school with edible Jatropha plants. We have committed $188,000 to New Horizon this year to support them in this phase of their development plan.