Education Greece Project #26494

Support Skye's Nonprofit work in Eastern Europe

by GlobalGiving

Project Report | Nov 1, 2017
Final Report

By Skye Keene-Babcock | Field Traveler

Hello All!

I hope this email finds you well and Happy Halloween! As you know, January kicked off my work for GlobalGiving. I put my life in storage, and boarded a plane to Kiev to begin ten months of documenting and evaluating nonprofits across Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I hit the ground running in Ukraine, where within fifteen hours of landing I found my way through a blizzard to make my first presentation at a nonprofit convention. From my first day on the ground to my last, I relied heavily on forging connections with locals, discarding my preconceptions, and working with whatever was thrown my way in order to carry out the work I’d come to do.

After two weeks in Ukraine, I took an overnight bus to Moldova, then moved on to Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, and Greece. To accomplish my mission of 10 countries in seven months, I coordinated my own lodgings and travel options on a tight budget and scheduled meetings with 41 local organizations despite their own packed schedules. Common mishaps with food poisoning and technology snafus (fried computers, hacked bank accounts) ended up bringing me closer to locals as I hunted for medical care or internet cafes in order to remain in communication with GlobalGiving's headquarters. When I wasn’t meeting with program directors or interviewing the families these initiatives assist, I sustained an unflagging curiosity and honed my drive to connect with and photograph the less accessible, less obvious places at each stop on my journey.

Please know this work would not have been made possible without your financial support, and I deeply appreciate the efforts you have made. If you would like to see the re-cap presentation I created for the staff of GlobalGiving, please email me at skyepmckee@gmail.com since my work email will be shutdown shortly. If you have any questions about the work, favorite experiences, or need recommendations for an upcoming trip to the region just let me know. There are some photos from the past few months on my website (www.skyemckee.com), but please know it is currently under restoration!

P.S. - I know a lot is going on in the United States, but if you need ideas for Christmas presents you might consider donating to the following in the name of a loved one:

Non-governmental organization Women's Federation for World Peace in Ukraine: They are providing rehabilitation programs for refugee families and are working with internally displaced women and children to help them adapt to life after war.

Charitable Foundation Zaporuka in Ukraine: They are providing medicine, equipment, housing, and psych support for children in pediatric oncology wards.

Association for Education Neoumanist in Moldova: They are providing residental and medical care while meeting essential needs (hot meals, showers, laundry, and social support) of 250+ elders in the rural community.

Lighthouse Relief in Greece: They are still pulling refugees to saftey off the coast of Lesvos, Greece.

Also, if you have interest in supporting education for visually impaired children or dental work for refugees, let me know!

I have met with them all and each are doing fantastic work!

All the best,

Skye

Links:

http://www.skyemckee.com

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Apr 3, 2017
Two Month Report - In Romania

By Skye Keene-Babcock | Skye Keene-Babcock

Working in Panciu, Romania with Roma youth

Hello All!

Apologies, that it has taken me this long to share a project report! I had an accident befall my computer (sorry for the lack of photos, hard without the laptop) and have finally found one to borrow while here in Bucharest, Romania.

I started off my work on February 15, in Kyiv. This is the beautiful capital city of Ukraine where I met with local partners and conducted both an Online Fundraising Workshop and a Workshop for Current Partners. I was simply overwhelmed with the hospitality and warmth I recieved when meeting with locals who have seen tremendous bloodshed and trauma in the past three years. I was fortunate enough to be in the capital on the three year anniversary of The Maidan Massacre, and had the honor of working alongside refugees from Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukraine. I did manage to visit two local organizations working in Kharkiv, who are assisting blind children and those with disabilities.

Next, I crossed the border on a night bus into Moldova. I was able to meet with partners in and around the capital city of Chisinau and was excited to see one project in particular who has installed windows in the Pediatric Respiratory Disease Ward (something not available on most other floors of the state hospital). I learned a lot about the changing demographics of the country, as an estimated half of the country has emmigrated to other parts of the world. This workforce has left behind the elders, and the very young which is fundamentally changing the family structure of Moldova.

Since then, I traveled to Romania to work with several organizations. Many of them, are focusing on education and assistance for children from the Roma communities who are highly discriminated against here in Romania and other parts of Europe.

Soon, I will be busing across the border into Bulgaria. There I will be meeting with ten organizations, conducting an Online Fundraising Workshop, and a Current Partner Workshop in Sofia, the capital city, later this month. It will be a blitzkreig though, since I am not allowed to stay in the EU past 90 days and must still make it through Hungary after Serbia! The following are just a few of the organizations that I'm thrilled to be meeting with!

National Alliance for Volunteer Action: They are a social enterprise for youth at risk who are primarily coming from the Roma population who are leaving social institutions, such as orphanages. This program is supprting them with professional education and practice, so that they have new opportunities and chances for successful integration into both the labor market and society.

Education Without Backpacks: Khan Academy provides a free, worldclass education that is prominently a digital learning resource to thousands of Bulgarian children, more than 40% of which are without access to quality education.

Trotoara Foundation: They are using proven methods from Sweden and Save the Children to build a creative room for youth at risk. Music, art, hand made activities, and group sessions are utilized to support the children in their integration into society.

Phoenix Inspire: A new social enterprise has been launched by opening a high quality butcher shop (charcuterie) in Vidin, Bulgaria. This enterprise provides another opportunity--in addition to the Phoenix Inspire-founded Phoenix Cafe and Bakery--for disadvantaged youth in the poorest region in the country to be trained and employed in the food service industry. It also fulfills a market need, as a business producing and preparing high-quality meat products does not exist anywhere in Bulgaria.

All of the nonprofit partners have been so welcoming and helpful. Project leaders have often force fed me tea and cookies, as well as making sure that I'm not jumping on the wrong bus to return home.

Thank you so much for supporting me and my work as a Field Traveler at GlobalGiving! The first two months of this have been challenging yet such an incredible experience. The organizations have been so thankful that someone has taken the time to visit and offered to help with increasing their impact within these communities. I couldn't be doing it without your support.

All the best and much love,

Skye

Links:

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